Whatgetsmygoat

It's going to be a cringefest this week. Gordon Brown is going to present himself as the saviour of the world at this week's G20 summit. On top of that, he is going to suck up US President Barack Obama with a shamelessness that will be breathtaking.

Oh Dear!

Gordon Brown is the perfect embodiment of that saying: be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.He wanted to be Prime Minister so badly that he practically forced Tony Blair out the door(mind you, Blair's time was up)to get into 10 Downing Street.

Since he took over in 2007, Brown has seen the British economy hover on the precipice of a recession. By 2010, it is estimated that over 3 million people will have lost their jobs.And yet our Gordon seeks to lecture other European nations about economic management.The so called Anglo Saxon model of capitalism , which was fuelled by credit was seen as the model to be emulated.Now we know that Gordon's claims was pure bullshit. We were living in a false paradise in a fantasy.We, all of us where seduced by this. From the mad housing boom, the easy availibilty of credit, the crazy mortgages that people took out and the willingness of banks to take ever more risks.

The banks were not regulated because Brown refused to reign them in. He was too busy getting cosy with them. The same Fred Goodwin of RBS who is now being labelled as Public Enemy Number One, was once his pal.Blair and Brown were dazzled by bankers and financiers.New Labour was a like a wannabe Wag meeting a footballer, the knickers come not drop fast enough!

Now, as the world economy crumbles and we all feel the pinch, Brown will try to present himself as Superman.Next year we will prove that his claims of financial prudence were total spin and bullshit.

The media love anniversaries. For example, last year was the 40th anniversary of 1968.They love 1968, as it is year filled with dramatic events like the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King.Just you wait until November, it will mark the 20th anniversary of the Berlin War coming down in 1989. Effectively, that meant that the Cold War over.You can expect lots of interviews and documentaries to reflect on that event.

So what about 1979?

In my humble 1979, is one of the most significant years in post war history.The current world we live is largely shaped by events that took place in that year.

In 1979, the Shah of Iran fled the country and a revolution took place in Iran.For the first time in history a modern state became an Islamic republic.With Ayatollah Khomeini as its spiritual leader, the world had to learn how to deal with an oil rich state that marched to its own drum and not to the West. To this day, the West has not worked out how to relate to Iran. Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan,George Bush(father and son) all failed.Barack Obama is trying, especially by offering incentives, especially to prevent Iran gaining nuclear weapons.Iran has also exerted herself abroad in places like Lebanon and Iraq.

1979, is the 30th aniversary of the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. Despite this, we are no nearer peace. The Palestinians do not have a state and Israel is still not at peace with her neighbours. In 2006, Israel invaded Lebanon and in 2008, she invaded Gaza.Neither actions have made her any more secure from terrorist attack.Until the Palestinians have a home and Israel ends her occupation of the Golan Heights, there will be no peace. The Arabs have state publicly that Isreal is here to stay and they should live with it.

1979 saw the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan. Who could have predicted what would happen next? CIA sponsored resistance,bleeding the Red Army and the eventual Soviet withdrawal. The Taliban take over, giving refuge to Al Qaeda. From there they launch terror attacks on the West, including attacks on New York. You know the rest.Only Jack Higgins or Freddie Forsythe could have dreamt up such a story in 1979!Today, we have Nato bogged down in Afghanistan, unable to withdraw but unable to defeat the Taliban.

Let's not forget that in 1979, the United States opened its embassy in Beijing giving full diplomatic recognition to the Peoples Republic.Effectively, the Americans were sayng that China was too big a country to ignore. Today, China is on its way to being a superpower with an economy and military to back it up. Where once we feared the power and influence of Japan, its now China we worry about.Last year's Olympic Games was China's announcement to the world that she was a world power-live with it.

Last but not least,1979 was the year that a certain woman became Prime Minister in Great Britain.The Conservatives kicked the post was consensus to the curb. The market was all,with state susbisidised business allowed to fail. British Gas, BT, British Water were all sold off. Margaret Thatcher believed that capitalism without state control was what Britain needed.She was revolutionary in that she wanted to shatter the Tories acceptance of the consensus. Where she failed is that she gave the impression that she was heartless. From the miners to the printers she threw thousands out of work.No Briish Prime minister inspires so much hatred.The Tories have failed to shake off her long shadow. The handbag looms large even today.The Labour Party more or less accepted Thatcherism. You can argue that the current financial mess is a direct result of Tony Blair(and Gordon Brown's) acceptance economic theory.They hardly reigned in the banks, which saw an economic boom based on credit not industrial output. WHAT exactly do we make now???

1979 what a year!