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D-Day Film archives on Facebook

Byrichard

Yesterday D-Day Film Archives were shared on Facebook. These film archives were of landing crafts landing troops on the beaches, of battleships firing rocket salvos at the coast, of gliders being pulled by planes, of paratroopers getting and more.

Over the years films have been preserved by transferring the footage from one film stock to another and then transferred from film to tapes. The problem with film and tape is that they are stored in a physical location that only archivists have access to. This means that if we’re curious about seeing the footage, like the footage included in this post we would have to go to the film archive and ask for permission to see this footage. Within a few hours, days or weeks we might get an answer. We would have transport costs, access costs and more.

The advantage of digital video archives accessible online is that everything is accessible within a few seconds with the right keywords. This means that a child hearing about the Second World War for the first time can do a quick search and see this footage. History, rather than being words on a page, is brought to life. It stops being an abstract subject for the mind. In this footage, we see our grandparents and our nephews and nieces see their great-grandparents.

An effort, by the international community, should be made to preserve, digitise and then make available as much of this film material as possible. The technology exists today so that, at the very least, we can have digital backups of all of this material and in the best case scenario for this material to be available for future generations to watch and study.

I have already spent 15 months as a video archivist and media asset manager and I would like to continue this line of work. I find it to be a fascinating and interesting way to learn about history. It inspires to find books that contextualise the material that I am seeing on screen. This material makes us more informed citizens of the society in which we live.

 

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Brainless television and the Tabloid Media

Byrichard

I saw the headline to this article and feel that we should discuss brainless television and the tabloid media. The article was written by a fifty year old who blames the number of distractions for voter apathy.

The answer, I fear, is they’re too busy being mesmerised by an ever-increasing plethora of high-tech distractions directed specifically at them. The changing nature of the youth-obsessed entertainment industry is in danger of inadvertently creating a race apart, an entire generation that instinctively prefers the cyber world to the real world.

Rather than blame the youth of today and technology for the situation that Brexit England is currently in I would look at where people got their anti-European rhetoric from. They got it from decades of anti-European articles in the tabloids. They got it from decades of Anti-European Tory rhetoric and they got it from radio and the sides of buses. Even the Guardian and the BBC are guilty of consistent anti-European rhetoric. Just look at the amount of airtime given to MLP rather than Macron. In a recent feature Katya Adler gave minutes to the far right and seconds to pro-europeans. The same is happening during the French election.

In times gone by, the 18-24s tended to feel alienated by mainstream entertainment that wasn’t for them. The counter culture flourished because there wasn’t enough for young people to do. The atmosphere was ripe for passionate anti-establishment politics. Now, with global corporations focussing all their efforts on capturing the lucrative youth demographic, there’s way too much for young people to do. The poor things barely have time to think.

I was both a teenager and a twenty something year old in the Internet age and I can say with certainty that the counter culture has not suffered as a consequence of new technology. I would point to youtubers, snapchatters and others as examples of this. I would point at Anonymous and other groups as well. I would point to the various critical mass events and more. Footage I took of a Silent Disco flash mob was used in an ARTE documentary about the walk man. Counter culture is alive and well. It’s just a matter of using the right medium.

It’s easy to blame the youth for apathy and it’s easy to say “A more likely scenario is that the vast majority of these allegedly pro-EU teens would not have made it to the polling booth” but maybe if the older generations had not been indoctrinated by years of Anti-European rhetoric they would not have voted the way they voted. The reason that young voters are pro-European is simple. They haven’t spent decades reading anti-European propaganda so they understand the benefits of Europe. Online culture contributes to this.

 

 

An emotional BREXIT
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An emotional BREXIT

Byrichard

The More I think about BREXIT and the more I think that those of us, like me, who see themselves as British Europeans the more the BREXIT referendum is painful. BREXIT is painful for us because we are born in one country but we are nationals of at least two or three nations. We cannot call ourselves British because we went to uni but not school so we have not picked up that culture. We visited family on holidays but we are not locals. I believe that a high percentage of my generation went to uni in England probably worked at least temporarily before leaving again.

As Europe based brits we remember when we were thinking about which universities we would go to and we thought about whether we would have home fees / Europe fees or international fees. At the time the difference was from 1000 GBP to more than 7000 GBP, excluding all other costs. That does shape whether you go to university as well as when. As an EU citizen living in Switzerland I always have the frustration of counting as an EU rather than British citizen and if I am really unlucky because of the current mood of politicians then I end up on international fees. In theory that is no longer an issue.

Another aspect that I rarely see discussed in BREXIT discussions is that of emigrating from the UK to find jobs. In the post I shared a few days ago I had seen that several industries that were in Northern England migrated to France, Germany and other EU countries. In theory those who say they lost their jobs could migrate to continue doing the job that they enjoy. the European Union provides people with the opportunity to study, work and more with great freedom. The only challenge is to learn the local language. In Switzerland we see that Brits and other English speakers spend twenty years in the country without becoming fluent.

At this moment in time we can travel from any country in Europe to any other country in Europe without a second thought. I really appreciate this freedom. My friendships and activities revolve around spending time with emigrants. I could use the word expat but it does not feel like an accurate portrayal of our identity. I was brought up in the international community where everyone is a migrant so see ourselves as citizens of the world. In this sense at least the International Baccalaureate has achieved its goal.

BREXIT is a direct attack on the identity that friends, colleagues, family and fellow citizens of the world have. We can see endless opportunities as long as we are willing to travel, as long as we are willing to re-skill and as long as we are willing to adapt to new situations. The remain campaign and Pro-European movements are looking forwards rather than backwards. We are enthusiastic about the future rather than nostalgic about the past. BREXIT aims to destroy something that has been built over decades rather than weeks or months. The European Union is organised. Verhofstadt and others still believe passionately in the European Union and the benefit that it can bring to Europeans and those they deal with. We need to listen to such people. They have a vision for the future, they have an action plan. We should collaborate with them to turn it into a reality that we can all benefit from.

The European Union is about a continental rather than national identity. It is about a set of universal values of equality, education, open mindedness and more. We need to keep that ambition alive and make it thrive. In a healthy media environment it makes sense for the whole of society to want what is best for everyone.

“Why We Voted leave: Voices from Northern England

Byrichard

This short video provides us with voices from Northern England. We hear about the closures and about the strikes that took place decades ago. We hear superficially about migration but the key message is that the North feels abandoned by the South. The North has been fed the message that austerity is the fault of the European Union and that the European Union imposes its will on people rather than provide them with the freedom to choose.

from Guerrera Films on Vimeo.

Although mentioned briefly London has failed rural England. Mines closing down and jobs disappearing is one thing. To have poverty and the sense of hopelessness continue for generations is harder to understand. What about education and regeneration projects?

Parts of the city region experience skills shortages, particularly in key growth sectors and clusters. There are also significant problems of low basic skills levels, which are quite acute within some disadvantaged communities. In parts of the city region, educational performance remains lower than the national average. The city region’s labour market functions below its optimum. It has a higher than average level of worklessness, especially in inner urban and isolated rural areas. Source

If there are skills shortages then couldn’t the local community provide those who are unemployed with vocational training to learn the skills that are required? We see the same problem in Spain. There is unemployment but the source is an educational system that has not kept up with the job market. 
“It’s a paradox,” said Valentin Bote, head of research in Spain at Randstad, a recruitment agency. “The unemployment rate is too high. Yet we’re seeing some tension in the labor market because unemployed people don’t have the skills employers demand.” source. 

 

Caretaker Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, the front-runner to lead the next government after posting gains in Sunday’s election, has pledged to add half a million jobs a year, but his campaign focused on posts for the legions of unemployed, rather than producing skilled workers to power the economy. Rajoy’s opponents say his policy of driving down wages and stripping back job protection has mainly created poorly-paid low-skill posts. source

We see that as certain jobs go to where labour is cheaper people are saying “But I want to keep doing my old job.” The European Union allows people to migrate to do the job they want to do. They could move to France, Germany or other countries. Instead they stay home and express nostalgia. Their attitude if they want to stay in England should be “Well, if you take away my current job then train me to do a higher skilled job.” England has a diversity of vocational training schemes at numerous levels, from BTEC to foundation degrees and more. There is no reason not to upskill when there is a shortage of work.

At a European level, Doncaster is part of the Yorkshire and the Humber (European Parliament constituency) constituency and is represented by six MEPs.(source) 

The European constituency of Yorkshire and the Humber is coterminous with the English region. After the European Parliament election in May 2014, Yorkshire and the Humber is represented by three UK Independence Party two Labour and one Conservative MEPs. (source)

Until 2011 Yorkshire Forward was the Regional Development Agency charged with improving the Yorkshire and Humber economy, where some 270,000 businesses contribute to an economy worth in excess of £80 billion. With over 5 million people living in the region it ranks alongside some small countries including Ireland, Greece, Norway and Singapore. Source

According to the Leeds City Region wikipedia page a diversity of jobs are available in a range of professions:

Economic drivers and innovation

City region growth sectors include

• Financial and business services

• Electronics and optical

• Communications

• Health and public services

Niche clusters are

• Digital and media

• Bioscience and medical research

• Advanced niche manufacturing, including defence

• Logistics and distribution[15]

Six universities in the region produce 40,000 graduates a year. Source

Democracy is about the flow of information and we see that people voted without understanding the situation. Every time a person is asked a question we see that they speak in generalities with very few concrete examples. The strongest point is about the protest and the mine closures. Look at the interview in the library. One person was in favour of remain but he was unable to explain how to affect change at an EU level. These people have six MEPs to represent them in Brussels. These are the people they should have been encouraged to bring their concerns to.

I probably spent an hour researching this blog post. I was surprised by how positive the situation looks. With what seem like minor changes the inequalities currently present in Northern England could be rectified.