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As I’m sure everyone in the UK has seen at this point, there has been a spike in not only our energy bills but the cost of filling our cars up!  There are many reasons for the prices of energy to rise which I will touch on, since to understand where the future lies we need to understand the present.

The Present and Future of Energy in the United Kingdom

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<html><head></head><body>Over the past few years I have asked for books at Christmas to add to my growing collection of books I intend to one day read. They tend to be non-fiction and cover subjects I found to have gaps in after my education, for example philosophy, economics and history. Expanding my knowledge on my own terms has been the best decision I have made for broadening not only my understanding of the world but also has helped my vocabulary and knowledge for those pub quizzes we have all been going back to after lockdown!So with that in mind, I have put together a list of books you should all have on your Christmas list or to use those Amazon vouchers on and take the time to read over the Christmas and New Year!<h2>1. The English and Their History – Robert Tombs</h2>This book written by a Professor of History at Cambridge simply tells of the history of England from the dawn of historical writing, as early as the 7th century and St. Bede, all the way to the publication date in 2014. It is an excellently written narrative with many references keeping the story of the English both interesting and objective as possible. All parts of life are included from the monarchy to the serfs in mediaeval sections and our political leaders to the working class in more recent history. The book refutes some national myths as unfounded such as the “Lions being led by donkeys” line of World War 1 Britain as the book remains factual and only pushes truth. This is the perfect book for anyone interested in any period of English History.<h2>2. The 48 Laws of Power – Robert Greene&nbsp;</h2>This book, written by an ex-Hollywood writer, is a collection of behaviours of the Hollywood elite observed by Robert Greene. Realising these elites were acting in a similar manner to elites and leaders throughout history he compiled the laws together in this book that should be read by everyone with any sort of drive to be hyper successful in the world. Greene’s writing style in this book is very direct and is deliberately emotionless. Each chapter has an explanation of the Law, an example or 2 of the Law being played out or broken by a historical figure, from Caesar to Houdini, and some even have examples of how to detect and stop a person following the law. There is a good reason this book is referred to as “Hollywood back-stabber's bible” and one of the most requested books in American prisons, with some prisons even banning the book, it is best to read this book and recognise the nature of power.<h2>3. 12 Rules for Life – Jordan B Peterson&nbsp;</h2>Jordan Peterson’s classic, an interesting read with excellent advice from the clinical psychologist with decades of experience to distil his best self-help advice. Each chapter covers a rule first explaining why for example “Stand up straight with your shoulders back” is practical and helps you gain confidence in the real world. The chapters will then delve into mythology, both ancient and modern, sometimes even biblical, to explain how this advice has been implanted into Western culture since time immemorial. Peterson even goes into his own life and in the final chapter explains how even enjoying little things got him and his wife through the painful years of his daughter’s poor health. The perfect book for those wanting to improve their confidence and current life situation.<h2>4. 1984 – George Orwell&nbsp;</h2>The first fiction book of the list, this book is a classic that everyone knows the meaning of; that authoritarian governments inevitably lead to a total loss of all liberty. The book follows the life of Winston Smith who works at the inaptly named Ministry of Truth, the propaganda machine of the government, and how they manipulate media to push the party’s narrative that contradicts the past and what happens when you go against the party. The book also follows Winston Smith’s personal life and how the telescreens and spies (party run children’s scouts) make sure the people of Airstrip One do not dissent and are always monitored. This book is not only a great work of fiction but also is the quintessential British text of anti-authoritarianism.<h2>5. Basic Economics – Thomas Sowell&nbsp;</h2>The perfect text for learning about economics, Sowell’s straight to the point writing style and constant real-world examples affirm realities of economics such as supply and demand, interest and black markets. Basic Economics covers a vast range of topics including price ceilings/floors, centralised economics and government debts. There is no need to read the whole book in one go, it has been my go-to textbook for when the current talking points on economics jump from quantitative easing to rent controls to government bonds. This book is excellent for those of you who have little knowledge on economics and need somewhere to start.<h2>6. Prisoners of Geography – Tim Marshall&nbsp;</h2>This book written by British foreign affairs journalist Tim Marshall attempts to explain how geography has affected global politics and relations. Each chapter takes a country or continent on Earth and explains the country or countries’ politics of the past and present with geography of the place at the forefront of explanations. Such as Russia’s constant interest in the Crimea since it would allow Russia to have access to a warm water port all year round in Europe. The book delves into Africa, explaining how large jungles, mountain ranges and deserts meant Africans struggled to develop in the past and allowed European empires to take advantage of this fact leading to poorly placed borders today. A good book for those interested in global politics and history.<h2>7. The Two Treatises of Government – John Locke&nbsp;</h2>The Father of classical liberalism, Locke’s Two Treatises of Government is the foundational text for common law. The first treatise is a line-by-line refutation of Sir Robert Filmer's Patriarcha, Locke makes 2 main arguments. Firstly, Locke argues scripture supporting the divine right of kings put forward by Filmer are weak or don't support it at all and second that the divine right of kings can only lead to all those not being of royal blood to slavery. Secondly, Locke develops natural/freeborn rights of life, liberty and estate, called so because in Locke's conception of the state of nature we are not subordinate to anyone and are free to live and create wealth. The book goes through subjects on property, conquest and even revolution with logical arguments for natural rights using hypothetical narratives along with biblical scripture to support his concepts. A book for anyone wanting to explore the origins and ideas of English common law.<h2>8. Abolition of Britain – Peter Hitchens&nbsp;</h2>Abolition of Britain goes through several subjects of British life that have affected British life between the funerals of Winston Churchill and Princess Diane. Hitchens believes that Tony Blair committed a slow-motion coup d'état throughout the British government and institutions creating cultural reform not demanded by the British public. The book covers changes to education, such as history now focusing on common people of the past rather than grand events between political leaders and monarchs. Changes to attitudes to drugs, sex and religion, pushed by media and various political actors away from British Christian attitudes are documented well and constant comments from Hitchens about outcomes on these changes give a helpful insight into a classic conservative mind. A book for those wondering why Britain went from Victorian cultural standards to looser modern standards over the second half of the 20th century.<h2>9. Starship Troopers – Robert A. Heinlein&nbsp;</h2>A political manifesto disguised as a sci-fi war book, the book follows Filipino Juan Rico on his journey out of high school into the Terran Federation’s military. We follow Rico’s journey through basic training to the Mobile Infantry, power armoured units equipped with nuclear capable weaponry in their fight against the bugs, a thinly veiled parallel to communists. As mentioned this is a political manifesto disguised as fiction, there are sections where Rico studies in History and Moral Philosophy classes, where Heinlein places his critiques of Marxism, moral decline and even natural rights. The book is perfect for both sci-fi fans and those with an interest in modern philosophy, not recommended for Marxists.<h2>10. Why Nations Fail - Professor Daron Acemoglu &amp; James A. Robinson&nbsp;</h2>A book that destroys the myths that geography and genetics are destiny, a look throughout history as to why some nations prosper and others don’t. In 2 words the answer is “property rights” and the proper enforcement of property rights by political bodies. The book looks at the history of the world for reasons as to why there are economic differences between countries and finds that geography, culture and religion are all secondary reasons for this. The book also goes into the idea of extractive and inclusive economies, the former being economies that exclude most of society from being entrepreneurs and politicians, the latter including the majority of society. Of course, inclusive structures tend to lead to better outcomes in their research, I recommend this book for anyone interested in international politics and history.<h2>11. The Righteous Mind – Jonathan Haidt&nbsp;</h2>A precise look into the human mind and why it is naturally tribal, Haidt explains in this book how his research has found how people tend to form opinions and rationalise them. Haidt has found through his research that people do not tend to base their opinions and moral attitudes on facts but instead intuition, a mind elephant, with rationality being the tool to explain why we have these attitudes, the rider. Using this analogy Haidt goes into why throughout history and today people split into tribes and have such hate towards those we do not morally see eye to eye. Haidt also includes his theory for how we can change people’s minds on deep moral positions and how we need to be less tribal to succeed as a civilization. A great books for those wanting a deeper understanding of human social psychology.<h2>12. Socialism: The Failed Idea that Never Dies – Kristian Niemietz</h2>The final book on my list is a simple text that demolishes the idea of Socialism, an ideology Kristian Niemietz of the Institute of Economic Affairs has had many dealings with over the years. The book simply states that, from a Western perspective, socialists go through 3 stages, first the honeymoon phase directly after a country becomes socialist, Western socialists will use it as the beacon of socialist freedom. Second, when socialist countries start to fail, there will be excuses about why the country is failing outside of the socialist government. Finally, when the country collapses we get the “that wasn’t real socialism” line. Niemietz uses many examples from the 20th century to illustrate these points, such as East Germany and Cambodia, and even directly quotes socialists going through each stage and contradicting themselves. A great book for anyone wanting a simple understanding of why Western socialist rhetoric lives on and what to look out for with socialist talking points.</body></html>

Over the past few years I have asked for books at Christmas to add to my growing collection of books I intend to one day read. They tend to be non-fiction and cover subjects I found to have gaps in after my education, for example philosophy, economics and history. Expanding my knowledge on my own terms has been the best decision I have made for broadening not only my understanding of the world but also has helped my vocabulary and knowledge for those pub quizzes we have all been going back to after lockdown!

The 12 Books of Christmas (Recommended Reading List)

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<html><head></head><body><h3>High Status vs Low Status Opinions</h3>As everyone should know by now, social media is the number one place for people to have their ego’s fed, especially for those who&nbsp; espouse ‘high-status’ opinions on Twitter. Examples of this includes:<a href="https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1445712851486732296"> journalists posting about how Boris Johnson is not pandering to them enough</a>,<a href="https://twitter.com/ClaudiaWebbe/status/1444581497722359811"> Labour MP’s claiming the well known history of Africa is hidden</a>, or<a href="https://twitter.com/istrebki/status/1445329450686722050"> Tankie’s with small accounts showing how well known business practises are evil and unique to capitalism</a>. These posts exemplify ‘high-status’ opinions: generally left-wing, anti-British/West and anti-capitalist in nature. These are the types of things you see regularly on the twitter trending tab. ‘Low-status’ opinions, such as right-wing, pro-British/West and pro-capitalist, rarely make it to the trending tab.Social media culture is very much skewed towards rewarding ‘high-status’ opinions and punishing, even by Twitter’s own hand, ‘low-status’ opinions. Twitter is well known for banning accounts for ‘low-status’ opinions while allowing high-status ones to remain active despite similar breaches of the terms of service, even allowing some to keep their checkmarks! An obvious example of this is Donald Trump who was banned for alleged calls to violence outside of twitter, conversely <a href="https://www.thewrap.com/film-producer-jack-morrissey-apologizes-for-deleted-covington-woodchipper-tweet/">journalists calling for the Covington Kids to be put through a woodchipper</a> kept their accounts. If this was where it ended I wouldn’t have that much of a problem as Twitter is a private business, but unfortunately the law seems to be following Twitter’s lead.The law has been punishing social media communications for some time now, again it is ‘low-status' opinions or media which receives exclusive punishment. The most famous example of this was<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/count-dankula-nazi-pug-salutes-mark-meechan-fine-sentenced-a8317751.html"> Count Dankula, fined £800 for saying “Gas the Jews” to his dog on YouTube</a>, however there are many others too. The most recent being<a href="https://www.itv.com/news/central/2021-09-30/west-bromwich-albion-fan-jailed-for-8-weeks-for-racially-abusing-footballer"> a man who was not only ordered to pay over £1,000 in fines but will also spend 8 weeks in jail</a> for the crime of making a racially charged insult on Facebook towards black footballer Romaine Sawyers. Although the man claims autocorrect changed buffoon to baboon this shouldn’t even matter, as it is every British subject’s freeborn right to be at liberty to say what he wants as long as it does not infringe upon another person’s freeborn rights.It should be obvious to every human being alive that an insult, racially motivated or otherwise, does not infringe on anyone’s freeborn rights, if it did the courts would be constantly packed with claimants. Despite this, it was deemed to be a ‘low-status’ opinion and an insult levelled against a celebrity. Our courts, who have a culture of supporting ‘high-status’ opinions, decided harsh punishment was needed. I need not go on about how this is a miscarriage of justice, but I do find the need to point out something that ought to be obvious a block button exists. If anyone insults you in a way you don’t like, on any social media, you can simply block that profile and never have to worry about it again.This button exists for all people, including footballers, so instead of pressing charges for a crime that should not even exist, the footballer, or more likely their agent, could simply block the individual. There are a few reasons this does not happen though, firstly it’s a ‘low-status’ insult and must be punished. The narcissistic people need their ego fed and ignoring a chance to show how much you agree with ‘high-status’ opinions cannot be missed. Often, as is the case with a number of my linked examples, the police have to approach the alleged victim and ask, “Do you find this offensive and want to press charges?” If the police have to ask this then the answer is probably “no”, but as said before, it is not in their culture to let a chance for ‘high-status’ praise go! Even the judges get involved with this ‘high-status’ nonsense; the judge said of Simon Silwood’s insult that, “the offence was a ‘grossly offensive racial hate crime” which had impacted on all black professional footballers and wider society, putting it into a higher category of harm caused.” I must say I have my doubts about this given the post had to be actively sought out by a police officer whose role is as a “dedicated hate crime officer within a football unit” rather than being a direct report from the affected party.<h3>So What's the Solution?</h3>So not only are we wasting tax-payers money by jailing a man for a silly post for 8 weeks, but we are also funding a police force that dedicates officers to surf the web for ‘low-status’ posts that fewer than 20 people will ever see. The solution to this is to completely reform the Communications Act 2003, with a particular focus on section 127 and its infamous and ambiguous “grossly offensive” wording. As a result,&nbsp; no police officer would be trawling the internet for ‘offensive’ content (as ‘low-status’ insults or content posted online would no longer be illegal) thus freeing them to be on the street, preventing the real crime like they are paid for.My final suggestion concerns anyone who experiences content or comments that they would prefer not to see: use the block button, it is there to stop you seeing posts you don’t like from users you clearly don’t want to hear from. At present there exists&nbsp; a privilege to not only ignore the block button but also to have publicly funded officers actively search for&nbsp; posts which may cause people, typically ‘protected’ classes, to take offense and to prosecute the poster. This is obviously a moral wrong, as is posting racially charged insults, but two wrongs do not make a right as the old saying goes. We will never fully get rid of hate or racism from society but if you think infringing on the freeborn rights of a person is the solution; expect your efforts to be counterproductive. The block button is there, use it.</body></html>

As everyone should know by now, social media is the number one place for people to have their ego’s fed, especially for those who  espouse ‘high-status’ opinions on Twitter. Examples of this includes: journalists posting about how Boris Johnson is not pandering to them enough, Labour MP’s claiming the well known history of Africa is hidden, or Tankie’s with small accounts showing how well known business practises are evil and unique to capitalism. These posts exemplify ‘high-status’ opinions: generally left-wing, anti-British/West and anti-capitalist in nature. These are the types of things you see regularly on the twitter trending tab. ‘Low-status’ opinions, such as right-wing, pro-British/West and pro-capitalist, rarely make it to the trending tab.

The Unjust Right to Ignore the Block Button

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<html><head></head><body><h4>This article was originally intended as a speech for the Nomos event in Manchester on 23 October 2021.</h4>It has come to my attention that people on internet communities tend to be full of people desperate for communities that are a bit more local. This is perfectly natural as humans are social creatures needing constant communication and physical contact. However, what a local community looks and acts like is all so romanticised it is hard for someone who has been active in his local community to take seriously. So luckily I am here to tell you of my experience getting involved in my local community and the town’s history.I come from a leafy suburb in Manchester and lived there most of my life. Throughout my childhood summers my mother would make sure I had plenty to do in my holidays, whether that was giving me extra schoolwork, putting me in a summer sports camp or volunteering for charitable causes. I was very rarely far out from my town, other than when I was in London for a summer job or in central Manchester doing a 3 week “citizenship service” set up by the national government. While there are some good memories outside my town in my summers but none compare to the sports camps, carnivals and friends you make nearby.<h3>The History</h3>My town has been a market town ever since 1290, as it was a centrally located town with many access roads allowing traders and farmers to sell their wares in the weekly market. This tradition of my town still goes on today with the market being open 6 days a week, mostly being attractive to local food retailers with arts, crafts and florists being found there too. Being a market town for over 700 years my town was a central transport hub, being one of the first towns with access to the Manchester ship canal allowing easy trade with Manchester and Liverpool. In this time market gardening was popular with the locals and became famous for it, a tradition that also is seen with well-maintained allotments where carrots and other vegetables are still grown.As transport developed so did my town and the mid-19th century after the Manchester South Junction was constructed my town had easy access to Manchester and the rest of the country. Not long after my town became a place attractive for commuters and the middle class to live, and the population more than doubled over the next 30 years, with some areas becoming industrial estates and other areas having terrace estates built for workers and commuters. Even further out in more rural areas more cottages were being built as more people were getting into the food market, one of which is the very house I grew up in.With the industrial revolution and industrialisation areas of my town went into a time of urbanisation. Much of the town is now urban with a large middle class, the rural areas were a great area for middle class commuters to grow the old hamlets turning them into leafy villages with their own markets. The population went from about 12 and a half thousand to almost 17 thousand in just 10 years at the end of the 19th century. We even got our own football team in the early 20th century which was created when 2 local teams merged as the town became more centralised and unified the areas around the town.This is where my family now come into the story as my family is well known in the town, the older relatives are anyway. My great uncle was a family butcher, opening his first butcher’s shop in the 50’s and eventually opening 5 around the local area. The man was famous around town, as he was a regular at the Conservative Club, was director of local football club in the 70’s and being the largest family butcher in town you can see why he was very well known. He was very involved in the community beyond providing cuts of meat as he ran charity events for local efforts and influenced businesses with his leadership and good work ethic of his own.He was so famous that when he passed away the funeral was strictly for immediate family only as there were justified worries of overcrowding. The funeral being a very Northern affair, no black clothing at the funeral and Lancashire hotpot was served at the wake at the Conservative Club. You can still find forum pages on the football club’s website of people talking about my uncle with very warm words when news of his passing made the local paper.This legacy of being involved in the local community didn't go away with my uncle's unfortunate passing, for example as mentioned before I have been involved in plenty of charity events in my summers, but the biggest example comes from efforts from my local church. As mentioned I live in an old rural area of the town which turned into a small market village that has seen recent redevelopment and turning rather upper class as footballers and business CEOs moved in. With this a local churchgoer saw an opportunity, as my area lacked a community centre for locals of my village to have large events. So, with the Church’s and communities help he decided to organise a carnival with the intention of raising half a million pounds to build a church hall.Being a regular member of this church, as an altar boy, then Eucharistic minister, I was more than happy to help along with my family, especially my mother who was on the organising committee. Starting in 2016 the church community started to organise the carnival, securing the local school field for the location and getting large acts, including 1970’s sensation Odyssey to play for the evening (don’t worry I hadn’t heard of them either). Smaller acts such as cover bands were planned for the afternoon, local fairground attractions were more than happy to have their business there along with local street food and arts and crafts vendors. The spirit of the market town is clearly still alive and well in the 21st century and growing out to areas outside the centre.With that the first carnival was launched and ending very successfully in 2017 we now have a new tradition in the village carrying on the spirit of the market town. The next few years saw larger sponsors, such as Manchester airport, paying for the larger stages and bigger acts. Apart from 2019 thanks to the pandemic there has been a yearly carnival each improving on the last, with the number of helpers ever increasing. My family obviously being an example and with my brother and sister’s partners even getting involved to help. I myself also get involved with setting up, taking down and helping on stage with the acts, I am a cog in a machine for this carnival playing a part in its success along with the other volunteers. With the success came donations and sponsors for the church hall to be constructed, we passed the half a million mark this year and construction began in August.<h3>What to Do in Your Community</h3>So, at this point you may be saying “That’s all very well and good and your town seems like a lovely place to live, but where are you going with this?” Well, my point here was to put forward my anecdotes for what makes a local community a local community. Mine has been around for 700 years, and the virtue is only growing, even with some international immigration. The town is seeing the market area pedestrianised and refurbished in a rustic style, encouraging more local businesses to open. Though with this there are downsides of course, some refurbishment on the market street took the approach of disgusting monstrosities, huge glass only fronts and big businesses opening there, while the option is nice comparing it to photos from the 1800’s does make one nostalgic. However, this is of course my personal taste, and redevelopment of this sort stopped, probably due to funding but no one complained that it stopped. There are still local pubs on the street that keep the aesthetic, and some are official pubs for the local sport team, the local spirit persists despite ever changing businesses and development of the area.The reason for this is because community is very bottom up, examples in my town are very much about the local businesses. My uncle opened a butcher’s shop, people came from towns miles out just to get their cuts of meat from him as his friendly attitude and good nature was much appreciated by customers. Farmers and market gardeners were everywhere before industrialisation thanks to transport links, though ironically this top-down organisation of the trainlines brought along the industrialisation, though this was again set up by a bottom-up community of local businesses. Even the football teams were created from the bottom up, with small local teams agreeing to merge to grow and make it into the FA cup for years! You could argue that this all stems from a top-down decision, the lords of the 13th century wrote up the town charter to be a free borough, in hopes the trade and tolls from the market and turnpikes would increase his wealth. Though to make the exclusive top-down argument you need to ignore the context of the next 700 years of my town’s history.To conclude, the top and bottom influence each other to some degree. Where I come from is a market town for a few reasons, the central location and old roads to larger cities making trade incredibly easy. Although the lords and mayors through history have been influencing and encouraging and getting involved in local market affairs, and the community played their part in the expansion of the town, opening businesses, having constructive jobs and keeping the local economy healthy. I can still see this happening today, with the local carnival I help with, the organisers hear constant feedback from carnival goers and volunteers and changes are made to the event constantly such as more bins to reduce litter, free water and food offered to volunteers and better measures made to keep the riff raff out. That is just one example of how you improve a local community, actively be part of it and actively influence it in the ways you see fit. Anyone can do it, just get involved like me and my family did for generations, and you will see your virtues spread and have other virtues spread to you.</body></html>

It has come to my attention that people on internet communities tend to be full of people desperate for communities that are a bit more local. This is perfectly natural as humans are social creatures needing constant communication and physical contact. However, what a local community looks and acts like is all so romanticised it is hard for someone who has been active in his local community to take seriously. So luckily I am here to tell you of my experience getting involved in my local community and the town’s history.

Articles written by Harry

The Present and Future of Energy in the United Kingdom

The 12 Books of Christmas (Recommended Reading List)

The Unjust Right to Ignore the Block Button

The History of My Local Community and How to Improve Yours

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