A revelatiojnary question
Posted by Carol_Noble at 07:57, 07 Aug 2009I should not let myself wander in my thoughts. This can be dangerous.
THis blog is mainly for those who live in the EU, but others are very welcome to add their thoughts.
I live in the North East of England which is part of the UK or United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. As part of the EU, the UK is a member state (not a country as such) and my part of the island of Great Britain is a Region, just as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are Regions within the EU, not countries.
I remember once on a radio station that people phoned in to talk to the then Director General of the BBC and asked that Radio Newcastle be called a different name because it covered more than just the city of Newcastle, but the counties of Northumberland, Durham, Tyne & wear as well. People wanted it called Radio North East because that is how we all think of our area (region). The DG said that wasn;t possible because this would be confusing to those who lived in say North East Scotland, or North East Wales. But those places never call themselves The North East.
The North East refers to the North East of England, yet in the EU England as a country does not exist for England is divided up into several regions as far as the EU is concerned.
My revelationary question is: What is the precise name of my region as far as the EU is concerned>
If it is North East of England, then England clearly does exist within the EU despite our being told otherwise. If this also the name the EU then surely we in this region should be perfectly entitled to call ourselves the North East without any argument?
If we are just called the North East Region by the EU and don't have the word England attached to it then how can we be called the North East at all as we are situated in the central part of the island of Great Britain?
Yet again words by our leaders are misleading and disingenuouse.
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Comments
10 August 2004
5 hours 58 min
Dear Carol. It's probably all part of the general homogenising plan where no-one is allowed to have any individual identity any more. Individual identities can be dangerous, as those individuals with individual identities may actually be able to think for themselves, and thinking can lead to conclusions other than those which the PTB wish us to conclude.
Having lived in that area, I fully agree that it is The North East (of England), but if England as an identity doesn't exist, then it is no longer The North East, which leaves it precisely nowhere.
Where I live on the Oz coast doesn't seem to exist either! There is North Queensland, Central Queensland and the South East. My town is right on the border between North and Central, but in reality seems to belong to neither. For some of our major services we are aligned with the nearest city 200 km to our north, and for others to the nearest city 200 km to our south. For the weather forecast it is always given as 'from' this town or 'to' this town, but they don't seem to consider that between the 'from' and the 'to' there IS actually a town, and we'd really like to know about our own weather! Same with maps - we're either at the bottom right-hand corner or the top right-hand corner. Bit like Brigadoon really, however it's a nice place to live.
Love, Kathrinn.
22 November 2004
2 weeks 13 hours
I don't like in EUland, although I know my way around the place.
The bureaucrats who run the place live in a world all unto themselves. Check out their light bulb regulation for example.
This sort of world view causes them to have strange ideas of what places and things exist, and do not exist.
As for local naming conventions, they often these seem to require strong local context. I find that annoying sometimes.
If you are in the suburbs of some place, no matter how small, they always refer to "the city". If you got there in the dark and you are not sure where you are, this is not very helpful.
Newspapers refer to "the bay", or "the beaches" or "North county". What bay? North of where?
There are towns called "North East". I drove by there, really, "North East" is the entire name, and there is nothing close to the place. Was there a place called "East" that just went out of business, and this was the northern part of it?
I lived in a place called "Pacific Beach". Oh sure, that narrows it down. Also I lived right next to "Atlantic Beach". A little more precise, given that the Atlantic is somewhat smaller.
And one of my favourites, "West Palm Beach" in Florida. The only thing east of there is the ocean.
People should think of more original names for places, and stick to those names.
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No amount of cursing at the round earth will make it flat.
10 August 2004
5 hours 58 min
Come on EU members - not a single one has offered an opinion on Carol's pertinent blog, only me and from the other side of the planet.
Some of you must have an opinion, so please share it with us.
Regards to all, Kathrinn
3 June 2008
8 weeks 6 days
Thanks very much for your thoghts, and I can certainly relate to the problem of your own town's position. Clearly this is not just a UK problem.
You are right about the homogenising taking place, but it is also becoming very confusing for those who are trying to understand. My son has improved tremendously in his mental abilities but he still comes up with questions that many a child would ask simply because there is no practical sense in what is happening or being said by those in positions of authority. I find it hard to explain in a way that does not alienate him from the rest of society even more.
Carol A Noble
21 February 2009
1 day 4 hours
Hi Carol,
I'm from just down south of you, well- by a couple of hours anyway.
Our county used to be South Humberside, a larger county cut down the middle by the River Humber. Owing to local politics regarding our taxes heading to the north side of the river and being spent disproportionately over there while they let the south bank rot then an attempt to screw over our education system the county split in two. We became North Lincolnshire.
That was an age ago, more than a decade, but even now because companies use that same ancient list whenever i select my address on a webpage North Lincolnshire is not available. I have to select South Humberside. Even now alot of my mail does not use the right county.
I live in a county that doesnt exist! :)
This is an oddity that feels like it is part of my makeup. Part of the reason that i fell in love with geology is that it doesnt do this sort of nonsense. The Earth doesnt particularly care about us in any way other than the feedback loops we play our part in. It is much simpler than the human level of our existence, which twists and turns in cultures and narratives of its own invention. These are perhaps some of those.
I would like to believe they play no part in my self identity, but this is not true. What is more likely though is that if you dont pay any attention to something on the 'human layer' it is much less likely to play a part in your identity - unless it is made real in physical form in which case you dont have much choice. The physical form obviously intersects with the realm of ideas when we make it real, but the change in county name, or the lack of it on forms has not affected me in any way i can see. I guess it depends on what connotations we place on it, but this is a matter of self responsibility if it is in the realm of ideas rather than the physical realm, so long as it is not pressed on us in some way we cannot ignore.
3 June 2008
8 weeks 6 days
Hi Daydreamer, nice to hear from you.
I admit I am ignorant of the role of Humberside in modern times. I do understand how the boundary changes over the past few decades have affected people often in harmful ways. Usually due to incompetence and ignorance.
The northern counties of Northumberland, Durham, Cumbria, Tyne & Wear, are often forgotten as far as the south east of England is concerned. Time and again the south consider that the northen boundary of England is at the Humber, and that anything above that belongs to Scotland, whilst Scotland knows where the boundary is and ignores these northern parts of England.
We are in a black hole it seems.
Strangely back in the Past, the County of Durham, did have an autonomy om the rest of England which suggests to me that this contributed to this attitude.
Identity is a strange thing, and I have learned that working what your identity actually is often is more difficult than you would think.
All European countries have different rules with regards to nationality. What does identity really mean? Is it our nationality or ethnicity, or genetic makeup which makes our identity? Is it something else?
Carol A Noble
12 April 2007
4 min 53 sec
National identity is about culture. It's about the music you enjoy, the food you like to eat, the festivities you celebrate. If you see it only in terms of ethnicity, then national identity ended in the mid XIX century.
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It's not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me...
It's all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!
Red Pill Junkie
3 June 2008
8 weeks 6 days
I am surprised at the idea you put forward. I have to say I disagree.
If identity was only culture, then I am afraid I would have to say that my culture is not the same as that of my country. My country's culture died out years ago when they started to bring in multi-culturalism. It has happened in the past in my country's history and the culture becomes that of those from a different country and nationality, who are determined to impose their ways on other people. I don't agree with that.
Culture has got a part to play, but the culture should be based on the land environment you live in. Culture is how you live your life within that environment and manage to survive. But as the land changes so does the culture.
I am not interested in the present culture which is now being "lived" in many countries in the world, even those with totally different environments. This culture is false, and unrealistic. This is why so many religions fail to transfer properly from one type of country to another. Many of the customs of muslims, jews, and others were formed because of the landscape that they originated in. Put these customs into a different landscape and you will find you have to change quite considerably if you want to survive. However, today people don't change, they expect to continue in the same old way even when it is totally inappropriate to do so.
For example. The reason cows have been considered to be precious and not for killing is due to the fact that in some countries these animals were rare, and therefore prized. This in turn was modified to become a ban on killing or even eating the animals to maintain some livestock. Even today we are prohibiting people from fishing in some seas because of a fear that certain fish stocks are dwindling and heading for extinction.
Yet when people come into countries where the animals are in abundance by keeping the old attitudes and "cultural values" they are encouraging an overpopulation of certain species which can in turn become a danger to others.
I have little interest in the desire by many to watch lots of tv programmes, or go to a gym when I can do plenty of exercise just by doing housework or even dancing around the house. I don't enjoy getting drunk like some people in my country, nor do I smoke or take illegal substances just to make myself happy!.
Most people are now doing jobs that are office based and unnecessary, they like to believe that technology will solve all their problems when in reality it can create even more.
Our so-called societal values are destructive these days especially considering that getting and using money to buy things is the most important thing in the world - and yes there are many who have this attitude. Looking out for other people, working within a group for the benefit of all, working hand in hand with nature, loving life and the environment, are the most important things to culture or cultivate. We used to do this, but now are made to act like idiots, given toys that are destroying our abilities instead of improving them.
I don't like the way our leaders are turning us into criminals just so that they can bring in ever more surveillance and anti-terrorist laws and systems.
This is the culture that exists in my country, and is being replicated throughout the world regardless of environment. Sorry but if this culture is the only means of forming an identity then I would rather be a non-entity than consider this the only way of being me, a person, a being who is alive on this world called Earth!
Carol A Noble
12 April 2007
4 min 53 sec
Let me put it this way:
The only cultures that are immutable and stay the same are cultures like those of the ancient Greeks or Romans.
Why? Simple: there are no living ancient Greeks and Romans around anymore.
The land has certainly a very important environmental factor to play in how a culture keeps evolving. But a more important factor nowadays is the ease in which human group can move and translate to different places.
All cultures receive foreign influences. This is hardly a new development; a fine example of this is the beautiful art you can find in Granada Spain. All of that is Muslim-inspired, but it influenced the Spanish culture in may other different ways: in their language, their music, their medicine, etc etc etc.
So what's new nowadays is that this phenomenon happens much more rapidly; in a matter of decades instead of centuries.
But cultures will keep evolving. Because as I said earlier, the only cultures that stop evolving are dead ones.
I'm not saying that you should embrace all new changes with open arms. But fearing them will not do any good either. Better to acknowledge that this is an inherent aspect of human civilization, and try to channel those changes so that they influence the culture in a positive way.
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It's not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me...
It's all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!
Red Pill Junkie
22 November 2004
2 weeks 13 hours
The world keeps changing. Some aspects for the better, some for the worse. Some changes just make things different, no better and no worse.
Most people and most societies keep changing as well. Those who stay in a local society often don't notice the change.
For myself, I have moved a few times and lived a few places. Nothing involving really dramatic changes, it was all mostly "western" stuff.
I have found that whenever I went back to a previous place, the place had changed. Sure I saw it differently based on some outside experience. And I myself changed simply because I got older. But still the local culture was different.
This is not always pleasant, but it is unavoidable. There were times when society changed so slowly that you would not see changes over two or three generations. In most places those times have been over for centuries.
What is not over is the common view that things should not change. This view is common not only in people who stay in the same place all their lives. It is also common in people who leave one culture and move to another. Many seem to expect that they can unpack and unfold their home culture in a new place, just like they unpack their clothes form a suitcase. Of course it won't work that way.
Look at history. The English, as a good and recent example, moved their culture to many places. From York to New York, to this York and that York. None of these four Yorks are much like the old one in, say, 1700 AD. And it's not AD any more.
Then there are people who move around. They are often viewed to be outsiders in the new places they go, and (more interestingly) in the old places if they return. Ask Thomas Jefferson, who saw himself as an honorable English gentleman. Only the English would not let him be that.
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No amount of cursing at the round earth will make it flat.