4 ms·

Honest question, what do you mean by this? In your opinion, what is The Guardian’s bias / “politically loaded view of the decade”?

mellosouls 7y ago
It's a significantly leftist-paternalist outlet, that somehow seems to be seen in some quarters as a neutral voice of reason. Many of it's day to day comment articles either obsess over or take a political line on subjects that most people I live among would find eyebrow-raising at best. There is no mention here of (just off the top of my head, and biased to it's British base): Brexit Immigration Austerity Trump Scottish Independence London Olympics Depression (illness) Instead - with a couple of exceptions - we seem to have a few middle-class-liberal echo chamber subjects, by anointed writers, which may well be worthy of discussion, may document genuine traumas with important impact on individuals and families in small numbers, and may be the ethically (as well as politically) correct view - but it bears little relation to the world as lived and discussed by most people I know, and certainly doesn't define a decade.
- NeedMoreTea 7y ago
  Have there been any canonical or defining books on these topics? Most of them are still playing out so a definitive book would be a huge surprise, and in most cases downright impossible. Austerity is a policy choice, so any exploration will be deeply and inherently political. Economically, there have been wider views of the current cargo cults in economics, such as Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century, or Keen's Debunking Economics. I'm a little surprised to see mention of neither.
  - 9nGQluzmnq3M 7y ago
    Agreed, Piketty was a very surprising omission (particularly given the lambasting here about the Guardian's left-wing bias). Agree with it or not, it certainly had a much larger impact on real-world policy making than any of the literary award winners listed.
- IfOnlyYouKnew 7y ago
  Setting aside the fact that you're listing event/issues, and not books: In what universe can anyone believe a single Olympics should rank anywhere near the term "defining a decade"? There's winter and summer, so every decade sees five and your top-10 is half full. Personally, I think the Soccer World is at least as important, and that, considering their singular relevance for the fate of the world, some tournaments surely see two books written about them, the list is full. So maybe that "book" about some regional independence in a has-been empire, which isn't even independent, just didn't make the cut. By the way: half a million people died in Syria this decade.
  - mellosouls 7y ago
    In the UK the Olympics being home based were a once in a century event, and was a massive cultural moment. Agreed football is generally more important there and if a home team ever win the world cup again, it will be of decade defining importance. I'd agree Syria/ISIS etc is appalling and is notable by it's omission from The Guardian list, there have been plenty of books written about it, event/issue or no. As for your jab at the UK's irrelevance now, that's a significant factor in the discussion about its identity, which you would think a British publication would have acknowledged.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

mellosouls 7y ago

It's a significantly leftist-paternalist outlet, that somehow seems to be seen in some quarters as a neutral voice of reason. Many of it's day to day comment articles either obsess over or take a political line on subjects that most people I live among would find eyebrow-raising at best. There is no mention here of (just off the top of my head, and biased to it's British base): Brexit Immigration Austerity Trump Scottish Independence London Olympics Depression (illness) Instead - with a couple of exceptions - we seem to have a few middle-class-liberal echo chamber subjects, by anointed writers, which may well be worthy of discussion, may document genuine traumas with important impact on individuals and families in small numbers, and may be the ethically (as well as politically) correct view - but it bears little relation to the world as lived and discussed by most people I know, and certainly doesn't define a decade.

NeedMoreTea 7y ago
Have there been any canonical or defining books on these topics? Most of them are still playing out so a definitive book would be a huge surprise, and in most cases downright impossible. Austerity is a policy choice, so any exploration will be deeply and inherently political. Economically, there have been wider views of the current cargo cults in economics, such as Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century, or Keen's Debunking Economics. I'm a little surprised to see mention of neither.
- 9nGQluzmnq3M 7y ago
  Agreed, Piketty was a very surprising omission (particularly given the lambasting here about the Guardian's left-wing bias). Agree with it or not, it certainly had a much larger impact on real-world policy making than any of the literary award winners listed.
IfOnlyYouKnew 7y ago
Setting aside the fact that you're listing event/issues, and not books: In what universe can anyone believe a single Olympics should rank anywhere near the term "defining a decade"? There's winter and summer, so every decade sees five and your top-10 is half full. Personally, I think the Soccer World is at least as important, and that, considering their singular relevance for the fate of the world, some tournaments surely see two books written about them, the list is full. So maybe that "book" about some regional independence in a has-been empire, which isn't even independent, just didn't make the cut. By the way: half a million people died in Syria this decade.
- mellosouls 7y ago
  In the UK the Olympics being home based were a once in a century event, and was a massive cultural moment. Agreed football is generally more important there and if a home team ever win the world cup again, it will be of decade defining importance. I'd agree Syria/ISIS etc is appalling and is notable by it's omission from The Guardian list, there have been plenty of books written about it, event/issue or no. As for your jab at the UK's irrelevance now, that's a significant factor in the discussion about its identity, which you would think a British publication would have acknowledged.
deleted 7y ago
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