Outsider


I grew up in Northern Ireland and have been a teacher and lived in England, Ghana, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Malawi, Mexico, Colombia, The United Arab Emirates, Australia, Brunei Darussalam and Malaysia.

These are my memoirs which are arranged chronologically by year. Much is social commentary.

Aside from narrative recount, the style is often anecdotal, aphoristic and ironical. I try to soften the heavy social commentary with humour. Some friends have said I tend to 'rant' at times. I don't deny it! Perhaps it is the Irish in me. I apologise in advance then, if that is your impression too.

I do not intend to stereotype various nationalities but inevitably I will generalise for dramatic effect.

In a globalised multicultural world there is an urgent need to identify and face up to our national idiosyncracies and shortcomings. Nationalism has always seemed to me to be a bogus substitute for a genuine sense of connectedness and community. It is a highly dangerous concept when manipulated by politicians to get citizens to do things that are unpalatable to them-like going to war for instance.

If we don't begin to see ourselves as others perceive us - and not as we would like to see ourselves, then catastrophe looms.

I contend we can be comfortable with our heritage and still be able to criticize and even laugh at ourselves at the same time.


The two are not mutually exclusive.

Outsiders are in a unique position to show us our shortcomings because we simply cannot see them ourselves.

I believe that no culture has found the ideal 'solutions' to the challenges of life. Every culture I have lived in has both positive and disturbing characteristics.

In which cultures do people appear happiest? (notwithstanding natural and man-made disasters such as war and famine)

What question can be more profound than that?

The results may be surprising. In my experience, the happiest cultures were Ghana, Malawi, Mexico and Colombia. At the bottom of the list would be England, Ireland and Australia.

I think we need to learn from each other-not try to 'teach' each other...there is a big difference.

Please send me an E-mail if you would like to comment on anything.


Outsider


Outsider1952@gmail.com









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Retirement, Kota Kinabalu

Retirement, Kota Kinabalu
This is where I would like to be after I have robbed the bank

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Winners and Losers
Debate 2008 Winners and Losers Editor at left.

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

2017 Women and friendship



Married women are incapable of true platonic friendship with a man outside marriage. The friendship will eventually upset the partner and the woman will betray the outsider.

So, there can be no true friendship between a man and a woman who is partnered.


In the marriage, as she gets older the woman  gradually ignores the man and substitutes the  relationship with the partner for relationships with her children.


As for men, most men are incapable of friendship of any sort with men or children.  Most end up in the pub. Nevertheless, a few have true platonic friendships with other men.

Women have many more friendships with women (than men do with men)  but they are more shallow and lead nowhere in the end except the coffee house.

Maybe it exists, but I have not seen true platonic friendship between women to the same depth or extent as  as I have seen and experienced between men


Women are more pragmatic.They will negotiate and keep the peace but will sacrifice anything including friendship to support and maintain a good relationship with their spouse and children.

Men are more wreckless and will risk anything  for a principle

Men are therefore more lonely than women, and they are prone to desperate acts of folly to assuage their feeling of isolation....desperate acts of  folly which, although comprehensible to women, will never be tolerated by the partners such women.


Without men, both men and women would all still be living in slavery in caves.

Leaving asexual reproduction aside, without women, the human race would have destroyed itself

God fucked it up.



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