James Maker Statement: Is Morrissey a racist?

Statement:

Is Morrissey a racist?

The answer is an emphatic 'no'. In the forty years that I have known Morrissey, I have never once heard a racist epithet pass his lips. The terms 'racist', 'fascist', and 'Islamophobe' are so freely used nowadays against those whose opinions and worldview differs from our own, that they have lost their power and meaning.
Also, there is a worrying trend on the Left that, ironically, echoes fascism in its intolerance of reasoned debate. One is not only 'wrong' in expressing a different opinion, but one is also now 'evil'. I believe that calling Morrissey a racist is unjustifiable and wrong.
However, if you want to run out of the house wearing a garment ill-suited to the elements in order to throw Viva Hate into the Manchester Ship Canal, then that is, of course, your right.

In supporting Brexit, this does not make Morrissey an immigrant-hating 'Little Englander' who lives only to reverse the metric system and bring back steam trains. The truth is, there are myriad reasons why people voted to leave the EU. One of them is a mistrust of Brussels technocracy where unelected representatives make decisions that are arguably a matter for sovereignty.
Patriotism and Nationalism are very distinct: the former is characterised by an affection for one's country; the second is a more extreme and unforgiving form of allegiance to one's homeland. Morrissey might be guilty of patriotism, but not of nationalism.

Opposing Sharia Law in the UK, or FGM, or institutionalised misogyny—which is (trigger warning) widespread in the developing world—is an appropriate Western response borne of democracy and the development of civil liberties. It is neither racist nor Islamophobic.
After all, if I were to move to the United Arab Emirates in search of a better life, I wouldn't reasonably expect to be able to build a hot dog stand empire, serving pork products whilst dressed in a gender-neutral miniskirt.

To oppose halal slaughter is to oppose slaughter with additional cruelty. The zakat tax payable for Halal certification is used by Islamic organisations to fund mosques and religious schools. Such is the many-tentacled nature of zakat, it is difficult to determine whether it is also being used to crowdfund Islamist extremism. There is a growing concern in some quarters that it might be.

Hitler was indeed 'Left-wing' in the sense of incorporating the word 'socialist' into the party's name to cynically draw voters away from communism and towards populist nationalism dressed as socialism. Hence, 'Hitler was Left-wing.' Morrissey was not suggesting that Hitler and Yvette Cooper (for example) share the same political ideals. The fact is, Left-wing totalitarianism looks little different to Right-wing authoritarianism — if you're being oppressed, it's the same experience.

Again, is Morrissey a racist?
My answer is an emphatic 'no'.

James Maker.
26.04.18

Regards,
FWD.

 

[reelfountain]

Here's what I think.

Morrissey is probably not a racist. In fact, I'll say he's not a racist, forget "probably". I'd say he's certainly a xenophobe as his comments about foreign accents in London and various other things (back from the days of the Channel Tunnel) have shown.

That's all by the by, though, to be fair.

What looks increasingly clear though, is that he doesn't at all mind racists. He doesn't mind them anywhere near as much as he minds anti-racists. He doesn't mind a party with Tommy Robinson in it, the leader of an organisation, the EDL, which for years harboured tons of openly fascist thugs.

Please take 10 seconds to google: "EDL fascist salute". You'll be presented with endless pictures of thugs with swastika tattoos (or not) doing it at every single EDL demo, with former BNP member Tommy Robinson happily present and leading the group for more years to come (though I will happily concede that he himself never did a fascist salute, at least there's no public record of it).

Morrissey doesn't mind that, and he openly backs a party full of such people.

He could still criticise various aspects of Islam, as I personally do, on so many levels, without openly endorsing a far-right party created by UKIP rejects who were deemed too extreme for UKIP (Nigel Farage said so unequivocally, and he's no "loonie leftie").

Trouble is though, there is no nuance in Morrissey's little world, as we saw with his abhorrent comments post 1984 Brighton bomb, or when he sided with the Animal Liberation Front's terrorist strategies, or when he also said "I wish Prince Charles had been shot", after an incident where an Australian student fired a starting pistol at the Prince of Wales in 1994.

99,9% of republicans may not be keen on Monarchy as an institution but they don't strut around with puerile t-shirts like "We hate William and Kate" like the Big Child did around the time their first kid was born.

Most vegetarians abhor the ALF's tactics.

Most people despise Islam radicalism and terrorism but they'd rather be slain than even remotely support the BNP, Britain First, For Britain or the EDL.

Most English people despair at the souring crime rate in their (my) country, England, but they don't start banging on about immigration because they know full well that there isn't a clear correlation, nowhere near in fact.

Etc, etc.

Bungalow

When somebody gives a Nazi salute at an EDL rally they're most likely doing it to wind up the lefties. I'd bet any money on this. It's the equivalent of shining a cross at a vampire. Do a salute and watch the opposition cower in offence then froth at the mouth with impotent anger. The mythical jackbooted skinhead with a swastika stamped on his forehead is a wet dream of the left that died circa 1983. Groups like EDL are made up of the ordinary working class who fear a future Sharia Britain, whereas the opposing leftist groups shouting at the sides seem made up of scruffs, misfits and oddbods with pink and blue hair who don't know if they're male or female. These leftist mobs are always embarrassing to witness, screaming and tantrumming away about Fascists Out! and Refugees Welcome! Laurie Penny-types from obscenely rich backgrounds who have enjoyed educations in Britian's finest (white) private schools.

 

[Anonymous]

Shut up, weirdo.

That's right , everybody is racist AND fascist. It is what it is.
That includes all commies (left wing like Hitler) and libertarians, and commie libertarians.
All fellow travelers are included in this group.

 

[Anonymous]

I read that Sweden is raising taxes to pay for their immigrants. You would think that any sane human being would instead of raising taxes would decide that mass immigration is too expensive. Teachers, professors , and people posting on facebook who speak against mass immigration are getting fired. Arthur Miller wrote the Crucible , which is about the Salem Witch Hunt in colonial America. Basically, the town officials starting accusing people of witchcraft if they were different.The sad sad part of it was even when they realized what they did was wrong they kept doing it . Even worse , they doubled down and went to other towns even tbough they new it was wrong. why? they wanted power and were too proud to admit they were wrong. Sound familiar? be very very scared if you are in Sweden.

 

[StalinsPipe]

You must be from the Cheswick school of incoherent thought
What the fook is 'liberterian communism"? Communism is about people who cant make it running
everyone lives Libertarians dont want to be run by anyone?
Commuinsm and Socialism( including Hitler) have killed probably 100 million for no cause-and counting-
but all it needs is a little 'tweak'.
USSR was not communist and the liberal democracies are not democratic

USSR is not socialist but if you are a socialist you view it as an ideal?
Ayatollah Cheswick has messed up your mind this is some crazy insane post.

I'll give you another history lesson. Libertarianism existed long before American right wingers appropriated the term and bastardised its meaning.

The word libertarian, derived from the Latin word "libertas", meaning freedom, is traced back to French communists and anarchists. It was first used to describe political views by the French libertarian communist Joseph Déjacque in 1857.
It was then later adopted by French anarchists in the 1890s, as a synonym of anarchism, because anarchism had been banned by the Third Republic, the government of France. It was always a word associated with leftist views, particularly communism and anarchism. People who described themselves as libertarian communists sought the abolition of the state, private property and private ownership of the means of production.

It wasn't used in the USA until 1955, and it was used to describe views which are essentially classic liberalism: small state, unregulated market capitalism and inalienable rights.

As well as showing your complete lack of knowledge of libertarianism, your post also shows that you don't understand communism and socialism. Communism is on paper the most democratic form of social order. In an ideal communist nation, the state would not exist, there would be no private ownership of the means of production (they would be democratically controlled by the workers), and the country would essentially be run by local direct democracy. The USSR was not a communist state because the state still existed, the means of production were not democratically controlled by the workers, and there was no democracy. It was an authoritarian socialist state. I'll say it again, the state does not exist in communism. Marx and subsequent Marxist writers, have explained this many times.

Also, while authoritarian socialist states have killed many people, the capitalist world is built on bloodshed, warfare and systematic violence. - - The death toll of Native Americans, in North and South America is estimated to have been between 95,000,000 to 114,000,000.
- Former CIA station chief in Angola, John Stockwell, estimated the USA was responsible for 6,000,000 deaths in the Third World. That's the death count for the Holocaust.
- In Desert Storm there were 158,000 civilians killed. In the War in Iraq there were 500,000 civilians killed. In Afghanistan there were 20,000 civilians killed. These are just a tiny selection of the USAs constant warfare since the end of WW2.
- Every day 17,000 children die because of starvation, despite the world having enormous wealth. That's over 6 million a year. Those are figures from the UN.
- Every year, 5 million children die from preventable diseases. 5 MILLION EVERY YEAR. Again, this is something that could be easily prevented with the mass of wealth held by the west.

This is just a tiny selection of the death and destruction caused in the foundation and continuation of capitalism and western hegemony.

 

[gordyboy9]

page 18 and still going.its Saturday morning people give it a rest.

12 incher trying to keep this thread going for as long as he can,why,because he or she hasn't got a life.

 

[StalinsPipe]

When somebody gives a Nazi salute at an EDL rally they're most likely doing it to wind up the lefties. I'd bet any money on this. It's the equivalent of shining a cross at a vampire. Do a salute and watch the opposition cower in offence then froth at the mouth with impotent anger. The mythical jackbooted skinhead with a swastika stamped on his forehead is a wet dream of the left that died circa 1983. Groups like EDL are made up of the ordinary working class who fear a future Sharia Britain, whereas the opposing leftist groups shouting at the sides seem made up of scruffs, misfits and oddbods with pink and blue hair who don't know if they're male or female. These leftist mobs are always embarrassing to witness, screaming and tantrumming away about Fascists Out! and Refugees Welcome! Laurie Penny-types from obscenely rich backgrounds who have enjoyed educations in Britian's finest (white) private schools.

Good generalisations there. Manchester Anti-fascists are made up of ordinary working class people.

I, an anti-racist, am a normal working class person, brought up on a council estate in Rochdale. I went to a normal state comprehensive school, went to Salford University and live in Manchester. I know many people who aren't racists who come from ordinary working class backgrounds.

 

[reelfountain]

I'll give you another history lesson. Libertarianism existed long before American right wingers appropriated the term and bastardised its meaning.

The word libertarian, derived from the Latin word "libertas", meaning freedom, is traced back to French communists and anarchists. It was first used to describe political views by the French libertarian communist Joseph Déjacque in 1857.
It was then later adopted by French anarchists in the 1890s, as a synonym of anarchism, because anarchism had been banned by the Third Republic, the government of France. It was always a word associated with leftist views, particularly communism and anarchism. People who described themselves as libertarian communists sought the abolition of the state, private property and private ownership of the means of production.

It wasn't used in the USA until 1955, and it was used to describe views which are essentially classic liberalism: small state, unregulated market capitalism and inalienable rights.

As well as showing your complete lack of knowledge of libertarianism, your post also shows that you don't understand communism and socialism. Communism is on paper the most democratic form of social order. In an ideal communist nation, the state would not exist, there would be no private ownership of the means of production (they would be democratically controlled by the workers), and the country would essentially be run by local direct democracy. The USSR was not a communist state because the state still existed, the means of production were not democratically controlled by the workers, and there was no democracy. It was an authoritarian socialist state. I'll say it again, the state does not exist in communism. Marx and subsequent Marxist writers, have explained this many times.

Also, while authoritarian socialist states have killed many people, the capitalist world is built on bloodshed, warfare and systematic violence. - - The death toll of Native Americans, in North and South America is estimated to have been between 95,000,000 to 114,000,000.
- Former CIA station chief in Angola, John Stockwell, estimated the USA was responsible for 6,000,000 deaths in the Third World. That's the death count for the Holocaust.
- In Desert Storm there were 158,000 civilians killed. In the War in Iraq there were 500,000 civilians killed. In Afghanistan there were 20,000 civilians killed. These are just a tiny selection of the USAs constant warfare since the end of WW2.
- Every day 17,000 children die because of starvation, despite the world having enormous wealth. That's over 6 million a year. Those are figures from the UN.
- Every year, 5 million children die from preventable diseases. 5 MILLION EVERY YEAR. Again, this is something that could be easily prevented with the mass of wealth held by the west.

This is just a tiny selection of the death and destruction caused in the foundation and continuation of capitalism and western hegemony.

You sure love sitting on your arse with your capitalist technology gadget in front of you giving long-winded history lessons. I'll edit your content down to a few bite-sized chunks. Communism good, capitalism bad. White people, oppressors. Non-whites, victims. Top marks for original thought.

 

[reelfountain]

Good generalisations there. Manchester Anti-fascists are made up of ordinary working class people.

I, an anti-racist, am a normal working class person, brought up on a council estate in Rochdale. I went to a normal state comprehensive school, went to Salford University and live in Manchester. I know many people who aren't racists who come from ordinary working class backgrounds.

You might be working class but most socialists aren't - and you know it too! In fact I'll go further. They actually hate working class people - the very people they're supposed to defend.

 

[StalinsPipe]

You sure love sitting on your arse with your capitalist technology gadget in front of you giving long-winded history lessons. I'll edit your content down to a few bite-sized chunks. Communism good, capitalism bad. White people, oppressors. Non-whites, victims. Top marks for original thought.

 

[StalinsPipe]

You might be working class but most socialists aren't - and you know it too! In fact I'll go further. They actually hate working class people - the very people they're supposed to defend.

How many socialists and how many working class people do you actually know?

 

[reelfountain]

I am working class. The vast majority of socialists I have met (certainly in London anyway) are not.

 

[Anonymous]

I am working class. The vast majority of socialists I have met (certainly in London anyway) are not.

There is no one that still believe socialists are working class but they are all on welfare and that they consider working.

 

[Anonymous]

When somebody gives a Nazi salute at an EDL rally they're most likely doing it to wind up the lefties. I'd bet any money on this. It's the equivalent of shining a cross at a vampire. Do a salute and watch the opposition cower in offence then froth at the mouth with impotent anger. The mythical jackbooted skinhead with a swastika stamped on his forehead is a wet dream of the left that died circa 1983. Groups like EDL are made up of the ordinary working class who fear a future Sharia Britain, whereas the opposing leftist groups shouting at the sides seem made up of scruffs, misfits and oddbods with pink and blue hair who don't know if they're male or female. These leftist mobs are always embarrassing to witness, screaming and tantrumming away about Fascists Out! and Refugees Welcome! Laurie Penny-types from obscenely rich backgrounds who have enjoyed educations in Britian's finest (white) private schools.

Yeah I guess that's why thay have swastikas tattooed as well, to wind up the lefties. That makes them even more imbecilic then.

In the meantime, I have a question for you, given that you're gumming about "the ordinary working class": what about the ginormous mega overwhelming majority of working class kids who don't support the EDL?

How dare you suggest that working class and EDL are almost natural synonyms?

Liverpool has a glorious working class tradition with tens of thousands of working class lads, and your mates from the fascist far right regularly fare 0.0001% at the election here. Just sayin

Bungalow.

 

[Anonymous]

You might be working class but most socialists aren't - and you know it too! In fact I'll go further. They actually hate working class people - the very people they're supposed to defend.

Once again, I've got to repeat myself.
"For Britain", the party millionaire Morrissey openly backs, is so "working class" that its political manifesto calls for the scrapping of the Working Time Directive, which grants basic rights to ordinary working people such as paid holiday, toilet breaks, a cap of 48 working hours a week etc.

So, while you're spending your time writhing in front of your screen justifying the unjustifiable and posturing about "working class kids" in your sad little world made of Morrissey quotes and overpriced CDs released by a sociopathic narcissistic millionaire, you obviously don't give a monkeys about working people in the real world.

bungalow.

 

[Anonymous]

I am working class. The vast majority of socialists I have met (certainly in London anyway) are not.

This sad childish game of "I'm working class than you" confirms the Peppa Pig world inhabited by the Morrissey weasels.
Being working class or upper class is f***ing irrelevant if your political ideas entail tattooed swastikas, depriving working people of protection and beating people up for the colour of their skin or sexual orientation.

I'm not a socialist, never will be, but I'll be f***ed if I have to stand by a bunch of knuckledraggers who think the Holocaust is a conspiracy, beat up people for being gay and such dickheadness.
You knock yourself out in the meantime.

 

[StalinsPipe]

Once again, I've got to repeat myself.
"For Britain", the party millionaire Morrissey openly backs, is so "working class" that its political manifesto calls for the scrapping of the Working Time Directive, which grants basic rights to ordinary working people such as paid holiday, toilet breaks, a cap of 48 working hours a week etc.

So, while you're spending your time writhing in front of your screen justifying the unjustifiable and posturing about "working class kids" in your sad little world made of Morrissey quotes and overpriced CDs released by a sociopathic narcissistic millionaire, you obviously don't give a monkeys about working people in the real world.

bungalow.

Very nice.

I always find it odd that right-wingers get pissed off when a socialist isn't working class or poor. They find it shocking that some middle class and wealthy people actually care about improving society. I think they find it even more shocking when someone from a working class background gets an education, gets a decent paying job, lives comfortably and wants the same for all working people. Right-wingers, like reelfountain, pretend that they actually care about working class people, yet they try to undermine any initiative to improve the lives of the poorest in our society.

 

[reelfountain]

Very nice.

I always find it odd that right-wingers get pissed off when a socialist isn't working class or poor. They find it shocking that some middle class and wealthy people actually care about improving society. I think they find it even more shocking when someone from a working class background gets an education, gets a decent paying job, lives comfortably and wants the same for all working people. Right-wingers, like reelfountain, pretend that they actually care about working class people, yet they try to undermine any initiative to improve the lives of the poorest in our society.

I'm not right wing, left wing or any other wing. I'm not bound by any ideology or religion. I'm a freethinker. I form my opinions from the evidence I see around me. You've got your opinions, I've got mine.

 

[vegan.cro spirit #2525]

I'll give you another history lesson. Libertarianism existed long before American right wingers appropriated the term and bastardised its meaning.

The word libertarian, derived from the Latin word "libertas", meaning freedom, is traced back to French communists and anarchists. It was first used to describe political views by the French libertarian communist Joseph Déjacque in 1857.
It was then later adopted by French anarchists in the 1890s, as a synonym of anarchism, because anarchism had been banned by the Third Republic, the government of France. It was always a word associated with leftist views, particularly communism and anarchism. People who described themselves as libertarian communists sought the abolition of the state, private property and private ownership of the means of production.

It wasn't used in the USA until 1955, and it was used to describe views which are essentially classic liberalism: small state, unregulated market capitalism and inalienable rights.

As well as showing your complete lack of knowledge of libertarianism, your post also shows that you don't understand communism and socialism. Communism is on paper the most democratic form of social order. In an ideal communist nation, the state would not exist, there would be no private ownership of the means of production (they would be democratically controlled by the workers), and the country would essentially be run by local direct democracy. The USSR was not a communist state because the state still existed, the means of production were not democratically controlled by the workers, and there was no democracy. It was an authoritarian socialist state. I'll say it again, the state does not exist in communism. Marx and subsequent Marxist writers, have explained this many times.

Also, while authoritarian socialist states have killed many people, the capitalist world is built on bloodshed, warfare and systematic violence. - - The death toll of Native Americans, in North and South America is estimated to have been between 95,000,000 to 114,000,000.
- Former CIA station chief in Angola, John Stockwell, estimated the USA was responsible for 6,000,000 deaths in the Third World. That's the death count for the Holocaust.
- In Desert Storm there were 158,000 civilians killed. In the War in Iraq there were 500,000 civilians killed. In Afghanistan there were 20,000 civilians killed. These are just a tiny selection of the USAs constant warfare since the end of WW2.
- Every day 17,000 children die because of starvation, despite the world having enormous wealth. That's over 6 million a year. Those are figures from the UN.
- Every year, 5 million children die from preventable diseases. 5 MILLION EVERY YEAR. Again, this is something that could be easily prevented with the mass of wealth held by the west.

This is just a tiny selection of the death and destruction caused in the foundation and continuation of capitalism and western hegemony.

Oh, so you meant Libertarian not in its modern usage but in its archaic 1857 one.
Where it meant anarchy, anarchy no govt and communism being just about the same thing.
Maybe we should go back to the Roman horse and buggy days and use the term as they
properly understood. The Romans were known to be very respectful of other peoples rights,
peaceful and wouldn't hurt a fly or squeeze and olive.

If John Stockwell estimates the Pope is Catholic it must be so, no need for further argument
John Stockwell whoever he may be estimated so.

Here is an idea. How about these shithole countries take care of the 5 million children themselves
instead of stealing all the money we already give them. Try to create some wealth instead of always
wanting charity
How much more money? So they can blow even more. How about a trillion? And another trillion?
Or better yet, how about we spend more money
to hire more lazy loon layabouts who are otherwise unemployable so they can sit around making
reports on John Stockwell and his insane ramblings.
I would like you all to go out and sell insurance, produce something.
Native Americans, bows and arrows, beer, drugs and to top it off John Stockwell.
O yes, the Spanish Civil War "Project".

None of these left wings want to work. If its not the Native Americans its the Roman Senate.

 

[vegan.cro spirit #2525]

How many socialists and how many working class people do you actually know?

There are about 3 dozen socialist nutters on his forum alone, along with their fake anons, with every now and then a new one popping out its loon head. So we all know them.

Many thousands of working class people, but 0 working class socialists. Socialists avoid work and only engage
in such things as teaching and academics and govt jobs where they can sit around. Writing up projects and
dissertations about unimportant matters.
Tell them to go build a fence or something and they develop symptoms almost at once.

 

[reelfountain]

Yeah I guess that's why thay have swastikas tattooed as well, to wind up the lefties. That makes them even more imbecilic then.

In the meantime, I have a question for you, given that you're gumming about "the ordinary working class": what about the ginormous mega overwhelming majority of working class kids who don't support the EDL?

How dare you suggest that working class and EDL are almost natural synonyms?

Liverpool has a glorious working class tradition with tens of thousands of working class lads, and your mates from the fascist far right regularly fare 0.0001% at the election here. Just sayin

Bungalow.

A photo of men Nazi-saluting. This, I'm afraid, is what happens when you leave working class people without jobs, treat them like second class citizens and alienate them in their own country - a country that meanwhile is allowing an alien religion to grow, thrive and breed terrorism. This is what happens when massive networks of Muslims are raping white kids and the police and authorities are too frightened to do anything for fear of being branded racist. This is what happens when little girls get blown to pieces at pop concerts and people are expected to light a candle, have a singsong then forget all about it.
I'll bet not one of these men has ever read Mein Kampf - the salutes and tattoos are more likely their way of saying f*** YOU to an establishment that hates them and would rather see them decimated and a mosque built over their remains.
But of course to you they are just Fascists! and Racists! and Lowlife Scum! who deserve no rights and no say and should just keep their heads down and move along.