A General Election, Generally Speaking

I have viewed a recent election with an almost a-political perspective.

That previous sentence is nigh-on nonsense, yet what I mean is that my view of the election had less to do with party strategy, policy or even personality. In truth, I believed that each of these usual factors were almost completely hollow on the part of every candidate in the election. I did not see any major benefit in favouring any of the candidates. Not due to political apathy I should point out, more due to a sincere feeling of political futility.

This allowed me to view the election in a different light. I was hoping for a result that would be, as I saw it, "most democratic". This involved a hope for candidates of all different viewpoints that they would get a chance to gauge their opinions against the electorate and then, if appropriate, represent them on a national level for the country. To an extent, I believe that this has happened. There is more likely to be varying views expressed in this country's government.

The second main aspect that I looked at was voter turnout. Again, whatever the result, I felt that it was essential for this country's democracy to be as fully representable as possible. For whatever a political party may stand for, it is the people that give them the reins to power and it should therefore be the choice of all of the people. Apathy does seem to be shaking from the electorate.

These abstract issues being generally fulfilled, the next government of this country will therefore be a truer test of the democratic procedure.

-The English Student

Radiohead, The King of Limbs: How Not to Review an Album

Radiohead surprised the public this week with both an announcement of a new album and subsequent release of this album.

The internet was a hive of activity yesterday as rumours swirled around about their new release. When the album was in fact released, the predictable race to write a review began. I myself kept an eye on this development, watching people's snap judgements and early opinions emerge, allowing them to influence my own decision as to whether I should pick up the album or not. After watching these reviews and after getting my hands on the album, I found myself wondering what on earth had just happened.

In effect, I was swept away whilst browsing the net in a manic search for opinion on this album. This was a first for me as I have usually been content to wait a few weeks before making a decision on an album. I think the manner of release of this particular album has underlined the 'fast-food' tendencies of the contemporary music industry. The space of time between the announcement and release of this album was one week. With digital distribution, the space of time between the release of this album and the attainment of it for the consumer is, depending on your internet connection, about 10 minutes. We are getting very close to instantaneous consumption. In fact, this album was released a day earlier than initially advertised. It was practically pre-instantaneous. With such speed of consumption, the rush to form and find opinions was not far behind. If we can get music so quickly then of course we will hunt for opinions on that music quickly. It is no longer products that we wish to ravenously consume, it is also thought.

I have heard the album twice since yesterday. The first time I was reading while listening, the second I was travelling. Music is the kind of thing that you live with and that becomes part of the environment. As such, I still have not made any kind of value judgement on the collection. I will allow it to grow or wither on its own merits, within the atmosphere of my own musical life.

Perhaps then I will bother to write a review, when I have fully understood my relationship with The King of Limbs.

-The English Student

A Guilty Week

I feel guilty about everything.

If I take any action that leads to the slightest negative consequences for anyone, by and large I will feel guilty. There are of course exceptions to that rule, as some people are truly not worth the energy that this guilt would cost me. But mostly any possible joy I can have from a situation will be tempered by the potential that it costs someone else the same joy.

I realised yet another aspect to this early in the week. I heard of something tragic and I instantly felt guilty for my own inaction in remedying the situation. I engaged in a hypothetical understanding of the situation, yet the only hypothetical I would allow was the one that made me feel the most guilty. More than this, I began to feel guilty that my own guilt was de-railing the true tragedy of the event and that I was being selfish.

Can I actually do anything or not do anything without feeling guilt? I am getting pretty sick of it myself and I cannot imagine how tired my friends must be of my constant efforts to martyr myself. I hope that I can get this under control and at some point, feel worthy of the compassion that they show me at every possible opportunity.

Or perhaps I will feel guilty for taking up their time too.

-The English Student

Tomatoes

Bread and milk are an interesting medium for checking the cost of living in any country.

These statistics always strike me when I'm buying such products as they constitute what has various been called "basic". Indeed there are surely methodological issues with such a measurement as it does not show the quality of the bread or milk in terms of the cost that you are paying for that quality.

This is where tomatoes come in for me. I am not suggesting that they be used as a new measurement of the standard of living. Instead, I think that they are very useful in gauging the difference between different supermarkets and shops in any specific area.

As a friend of mine recently summarised, tomatoes are something that you always need to buy. They are clear cut, relatively inexpensive and pretty much essential. Yet the quality of a tomato does vary quite noticeably from shop to shop. You can generally always buy a pack of 6 tomatoes for a certain amount of money and this makes comparison easy.

So let's adopt the tomato as a standard of the quality and cost of living, alongside traditional products.

-The English Student