I fear that Simon Elmer may be steering close to Molly Klein territory in that he has demonstrated an increasing defensiveness. I was on amicable terms with him but there was an argument that blew up over this essay:
Here he maintains that one of the hallmarks of a colonial state is that the ones who represent the state are not at all like the masses that make up the state’s population. This is obviously true of e.g. India under British rule where it is the white invaders who are taken as representatives of the country. But Elmer then goes on to say that Britain is now a colonised country in the sense that the increasingly non-white casting of political figures and TV actors/newsreaders deliberately excludes the majority of the population who are overwhelmingly white. Now he isn’t saying that “the foreigners” have taken over but that the corporate forces have chosen media and political representatives who are deliberately “marginal” thereby making the majority feel themselves marginal.
It was probably an unwise course to take since his position easily dovetails into that of the racist Right. And one other writer Rusere Shoniwa really laid into Elmer for this. I made an attempt to “mediate” between the two here but Elmer deleted the comments I made on his own site and then blocked me from his twitter account! I have no idea what is going on with him.
On the topic of “Mickey Mouse” history (cf. Antony Sutton) one of the most amusing examples for me was the case of a blog which investigated a “dodgy” book that seemed to be rubbishing the sexual revolution, then made a big song and dance about the fact that the book was published by Polity – who also publish .... Teddy Adorno! Aha! That puppeteer of The Beatles! You could practically hear a voice triumphantly shouting, “Case closed!”
Re: Oliver Stone showing Putin “Dr Strangelove”, I reckon Putin probably thought it was a documentary!
it should be noted that I have blocked our resident troll again. Upset with our comments about communists (and we are ,all of us, by and large, socialists or communists of some variety) and thereby PROVING why we dislike on the individual level so many of them. Case in point.
I fear that Simon Elmer may be steering close to Molly Klein territory in that he has demonstrated an increasing defensiveness. I was on amicable terms with him but there was an argument that blew up over this essay:
https://architectsforsocialhousing.co.uk/2023/11/17/woke-racism-and-the-great-reset/
Here he maintains that one of the hallmarks of a colonial state is that the ones who represent the state are not at all like the masses that make up the state’s population. This is obviously true of e.g. India under British rule where it is the white invaders who are taken as representatives of the country. But Elmer then goes on to say that Britain is now a colonised country in the sense that the increasingly non-white casting of political figures and TV actors/newsreaders deliberately excludes the majority of the population who are overwhelmingly white. Now he isn’t saying that “the foreigners” have taken over but that the corporate forces have chosen media and political representatives who are deliberately “marginal” thereby making the majority feel themselves marginal.
It was probably an unwise course to take since his position easily dovetails into that of the racist Right. And one other writer Rusere Shoniwa really laid into Elmer for this. I made an attempt to “mediate” between the two here but Elmer deleted the comments I made on his own site and then blocked me from his twitter account! I have no idea what is going on with him.
On the topic of “Mickey Mouse” history (cf. Antony Sutton) one of the most amusing examples for me was the case of a blog which investigated a “dodgy” book that seemed to be rubbishing the sexual revolution, then made a big song and dance about the fact that the book was published by Polity – who also publish .... Teddy Adorno! Aha! That puppeteer of The Beatles! You could practically hear a voice triumphantly shouting, “Case closed!”
Re: Oliver Stone showing Putin “Dr Strangelove”, I reckon Putin probably thought it was a documentary!
yeah I am getting the sense Elmer has a very inflated sense of his work. And while some of it is terrific. Some of it is very dubious.
it should be noted that I have blocked our resident troll again. Upset with our comments about communists (and we are ,all of us, by and large, socialists or communists of some variety) and thereby PROVING why we dislike on the individual level so many of them. Case in point.