"Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muß man schweigen" ~ Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent. ~ Ludwig Wittgenstein
Samuel R. Delany's sci-fi novel Babel-17 tells the story of a humanity encountering an alien language in the far future galaxy. This language "appears" to threaten invasion, but in order to counter the threat, the messages must first be understood. Not only the above consideration from Wittgenstein is implicit in this contention, but also:
"...my work consists of two parts: of the one which is here, and of everything which I have not written. And precisely this second part is the important one."Here we have two considerations: The limitation of language and the limitations of what we select in order to use language to communicate. In fact Wittgenstein manages to get to the heart of the story in Babel-17 without giving away the underlying plot of the story.
Now imagine these 2 core elements of the language used in the our politics of EU Referendum and Brexit in the Legacy News-Media broadcasting the ideas from the Top Tiers of the Political Food Web:-
- (1): Without the core concepts of understanding - one cannot speak without being able to think first.
- (2): What is said necessarily omits a vast range of potential communication.
- (1) + (2) = (3): Combining both: If the language itself omits the words and hence ideas, then these in reverse prevent the necessary thinking!!!
A "low drone" dominates and is broadcast incessantly
Now, instead of travelling far into the future and facing the seemingly inscrutable dangers of an alien language, let us take a journey back into the recent past that already looks so far away: PANORAMA The Great Euro Debate TX. 27/1/97.
Panorama: The Great Euro Debate - 27.01.97
- "The words used in the argument are a foreign language."
- "Strong passions"
- "Most of us aren't well informed"
Our next witness is John Monks, the General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress, a man who fears for Britain’s workforce, that if they are outside a single currency life will be a cold and uncomfortable place, and Peter Sutherland questions him first. I should just point out that friendly witnesses are questioned for a rather shorter period than hostile witnesses, which is why Ruth Lea had rather more time than you did. The opposite will happen when the other witnesses come in. Peter Sutherland. Peter Sutherland Well let me take up the invitation from that introduction. What is your view as a union leader of the effect on jobs of staying out of a single currency when it is created? What will the effect be? John Monks Well on balance I think it would be Caption: damaging. Immediately I think we would JOHN MONKS pay a premium in interest rates. I think GENERAL SECRETARY, TUC our interest rates would go higher than that for the Euro area and I think that would be a damaging consequence.
Peter Sutherland So that would cost business and investors money? John Monks Well it would cost everybody - mortgage, people who have got mortgages and so on. Because we’ve got a record of devaluation and the Germans haven’t, which will be the core of the system, we would pay I think greater, a premium on our interest rates. I think too that we would lose some of the inward investment which has been very important to Britain. Something like forty per cent of our exports at the moment come from foreign-owned firms and that’s been a tremendous boost at a time when a lot of British industries of the traditional kind have been struggling. And the third reason I would say it’s damaging is that our influence in this thing called Europe, the European Union, would be so much less. We would be peripheral to what was going on. We would be in a small minority of countries and I think for Great Britain that’s a pretty hopeless future. We want to be at the centre of things, not on the edge. Peter Sutherland Do you think it would be possible to Caption: sustain membership over the medium to long PETER SUTHERLAND term by remaining outside a single CHAIRMAN, GOLDMAN SACHS currency with virtually everybody else in INTERNATIONAL the European Union inside a single currency?
John Monks You see I think it would be difficult to stay in the European Union indefinitely if we were floating our currencies against the Euro. If, as some people would argue, we actually pegged the level of the pound to the Euro then we get all the disadvantages of being in the Euro without any of the influence and the advantages and probably still pay a premium on interest rates but I think, if we float against it, then it’s a matter of time before there’s tremendous tensions between us and the Euro area about devaluations or revaluation, probably devaluations on the long-term given our recent economic history, and that could blow us out of the European Union which would be tremendously damaging. Peter Sutherland Thank you, Mr Monks. David Dimbleby Norman Lamont.
What is absolutely fascinating is that the time is different, yet the pattern of the subject is almost identical to the present prevalent "LOW DRONE" we find drowning us in the Legacy News-Media in the newspapers, webpages, radio and television mediums.
You can read the above or watch the video link.
I was just watching the latest BBC Question Time and the deception over the Norway Option was manifest once again:-
Summary from White Wednesday refining Paul Reynolds "Norway Scorecard"
Unfortunately this scorecard won't be broadcast far and wide by the BBC so instead we have:-
- Shabana Mahmood - Labour MP for Birmingham Ladywood
- Sal Brinton - House of Lords Peer and President of the Liberal Democrats
Here's a most illuminating consequence of our "Babel-17" language on the EU Referendum: Pawel Swidlicki now TALKS FOR PEOPLE!!! because he knows what they want - OR, because people like him exploit the "low drone" language that people use to speak about the subject.... [Details: Norwegian model or Norway Option a lot like EU / Europe; Flexit or FLEXCIT]
There are 2 very hard results to discuss here:-
- The language of the EURO matches the language today of the EU immaculately in it's shape, it's pattern, it's tendencies: Above all: It's severe limitations.
- This language allows our "betters" to think for us and hence speak instead of us.
Yet more Babel-17; coming to cinemas near you in 2016!!!
