Tuesday, December 23, 2008

so this is christmas

so it's the 23rd of december which means in a day or two it will be christmas day. because i am an atheist i will be celebrating a purely capitalist christmas. this is the best type of christmas where you get the opportunity to get lots of presents and get even more presents for other people. this is good. could this be the first year that i haven't heard everyone moan about the capitalist christmas? probably - everyone is desperate for everyone else to forget about charity and religion and goodwell and go and spend shit loads on a pile of worthless stuff or food or whatever. i fully agree. plow millions back into the economy.

its not very odd that "christmas" has become commercialised. i never know why people try to pretend its a bad thing. it started as being a chritian festival but now in our multicultural nation everyone "celebrates" it. it is one of the most important holidays of the year - it has 2 massive days of debauchery (christmas day and newe years eve) and 2 whole weeks of almost compulsory office closure. the muslims, sikhs, jews, hindu's, atheists and christians all get a well earned break. religion is irrelevant to this. Uproar that is associated with not being allowed to put on a nativity play at a multicultural school may be a dent to our christian pride but it certainly isnt a dent to our national pride. In some sense banning of the play is retarded - but in others it is perfectly fair. it purely depends on if the school is marketing the story as historical/ religious fact or if they are marketing it as a nice christmas play which is inevitably intertwined with Western tradition. The latter is perfectly legitimate but due to the sickeningly polar views of many people it is probably best to scrap the thing altogether to avoid the inevitable problems that would occur from a little jew girl wondering why the three wise men were following a star rather than a menorah. still i would be happy to have put on a play based on the festival of ights purely due the fact that even at 8 i knew it was a jewish story and didnt necessarily start rushing to the synagogue every yom kippur. Islam has an alternative story of jesus - one which i would have loved to have learned about when i was 10 after hearing the nativity playing on loop for 5 years. and on top of all of that father christmas represents the christmas of western culture and is linked to this culture as much as the religions that make it. In the same way i use to revel in food available at Eid i am sure that a jewish or islamic family are partial to a bit of kosha/ halal turkey on christmas day.

i think its got something once again to do with the inherent separation which stems from differences in culture. i dont know where it comes from - maybe as an athiest it is easier to be open and liberal to cultural and religious ideas that it is for a strong detemined christian or whatever to open their mind for once. The worst thing about all of this is that british tradition (as distinct from its modern culture) is essentially christian - we needn't sacrifice these traditions because they have remnants of religion in them - why do we (the nation as a whole) feel the need to ignore some customs yet embrace others? is this what we are trying to call multicultural integration? because i would argue that it's not.

Monday, December 22, 2008

the lost generation

i am a man who is trying to get a job. i have a masters degree and a great deal of acumen so i shouldnt have a problem. my father paid my way through univeristy and in the holidays i went to work at his company to see what it was like and get some experience. i got paid quite a bit for doing this and the experience was far more hands on that the people who volunteer at the local CAB or police station. i should have no problem getting a job soon.

i am a disabled man who is trying to get a job. i have poor vision in my left eye and no use of my left leg. i have a masters degree and a great deal of acumen but i am unable to get a job because i have no experience: i tried to get some but no one would give me any experience. all employers seem to want is experience but i never got any. i could have applied for vacation schemes while i studied but the communte would have been difficult because of my disability. i could have volunteered at the local CAB but my eyes get tired too quickly. thankfully there is a new scheme which means that if you meet the minimum criteria for a job you must be interviewed. this means i can work hard and impress at my interview - i an explain why i dont have much experience but why i am still best for the job. i can show them how intellegent i am, how i'm good with people and work hard. i can get myself a job.

i am a man who is trying to get a job. but for the odd financial difficulty i have nothing to complain about in my life. i have a masters degree and a great deal of acumen but i am unable to get a job because i have no experience: i tried to get some but no one would give me any experience. all employers seem to want is experience but i never got any. i could have applied for vacation schemes while i studied but i had to work evenings and weekends and every holiday to pay for my course. i could have volunteered at the local CAB but i was tired all of the time due to working evening shifts in a bar. they turn me a way and say their shortlist for interview is simpy made up of people with more experience. i have been trying to get a job for 2 years but so far have had no luck. i am an intelligent man and will keep trying.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

xenophobe

i live in london, sheffield, england, britain. my english is perfect. i have no accent. i am defined by my appearance. i appear pale and young and nervous but i am none of these things. i dont define myself by my ethnic origins. i dont say "i'm not a very good muslim". i dont say "i have jewish blood so i dont eat pork". i have english blood, jewish blood, islamic blood, italian blood, swedish blood, saxon blood, fascist blood, racist blood. i have given blood. now other people have my blood too. a palestinian now has jewish blood. a jew now has fascist blood.

i only buy my spices from the market: i have to support my people. i buy halal meat, i buy kosha meat. i write "jewish" on equal opportunities forms so that i can define my difference. my father is irish so now i am "white irish". i put "other" to confuse them. i am none of these things. i am all of them.

i am in love with a white boy. my father hates white boys. my father speaks with such a heavy accent i cant understand him. i grew up here. i was originally from argentina. i was born in england. i was born in pakistan. i am embarrassed by my white boy. he tries to understand. he learns a bit of punjab. he reads about moses, the holocaust, learns how to cook bahjis, learns about the culture, the history. i am embarrassed and i cannot take him home. he is a black boy, he is a white boy and my father has a history of white power bands and black hand gangs. my father hates my boyfriend from nigeria, my boyfirend from india, my boyfriend from israel.

my estate is ghetto. i live in an ethnic area. the food here is better than yours. i live in brick lane, headingly, bradford and glasgow. i am loyal to my culture: i fight to preserve it, i fight to emphasise it, i cannot lose it. i teach my children to braid hair and to play the drums, to dance. i teach them their history i tell them "you are jewish you will live like this", i say "this is your culture, your heritage". they will never see a synagogue, they will never see a church or mosque but they will live the culture.

we are modern people. we are a multiculture. i am multiculture. my children will not sing christian carols at school, they will not go on a field trip to derby i will deny them their multiculture to preserve their heritage. They will fear the black man, they will fear the WASPs, the jews, chinese people, all of them, they are all better and more successful, they are cooler, they can dance better, they are richer, they are taller, they are more intelligent, they are more cultured, they write better, talk better, love better, live better, stronger, happier. we will be divided and we will be conquered.