“Mommy, what’s worse, murder or Brexit?”

Sir, Bronwen Maddox writes: “Britain’s Parliament Square has returned to a kind of peace. MPs are off on their Easter break, thanks to the latest Brexit deadline extension. Most of the protesters are taking an Easter break too, it seems, and have suspended their pageantry of 12-foot banners and elaborate costumes, competing for the world’s attention. “Brexit has broken the political parties, not the constitution” April 16.

But Maddox predicts the peace is just temporary, because “the deadlock of Brexit is a political failure”.

Sir, I absolutely do not know enough about Britain’s constitution or political systems to opine on the article, but what I do know for sure is that in the Brexit vs. Remain type of deep divisions you are not alone. These odious divisions are happening everywhere, with all type of issues, as a result of polarization and redistribution profiteer being able, often anonymously, to send out their messages of hate, envy or fake news, on the web, at a marginal zero cost.

On April 13, briefly visiting London, while walking on Fleet Street, I heard a 7-8 years old girl ask: "Mommy, what's worse murder or Brexit?” “Thank God, in this case, the mother was at least very clear about the answer, but how could that question have popped in this girl’s mind? 

And I know that many children around the world might ask similar questions about for example: murder or Trump, murder or climate change, murder or filthy rich, murder or etc.

Sir, I do believe we should declare a worldwide emergency, before we lose all possibilities of a civilized social cohesion.

What to do? I don’t have a complete answer, but I would suggest the setting up parallel social media, in which no one that has not been completely identified can participate, so as that we can at least shame anyone producing excessive divisions.

To instate also a very small payment for each web contact produced by anyone that might be looking for some type of political funding, could be helpful.

PS. Yesterday I went to Speakers' Corner. There was no one speaking there.

@PerKurowski

Instead of looking out for fake news, which is a mission impossible, go after what motivates and facilitates it.

Pilita Clark writes that “Britain’s health secretary, Matt Hancock, later warned social media companies could be banned if they failed to remove harmful content [and] ministers were looking at new laws to force social media companies to take down false information about vaccines spread by ‘anti-vaxxers’”. “Facebook is not our friend, no matter what their adverts say” March 29.

Ok, they identified one fake-news. Congratulations! 

But let me assure you that for each one of these you are able to track down, at least one hundred new ones will be spreading like wildfire.

To stop fake news, as well as to stop that odious messaging of hate and envy by polarization and redistribution profiteers, you have to be able to identify who is making money on it, and make it harder for them to make money on it.

Two things are needed for that. First to set up a parallel social media in which only duly identified individuals can participate, so that they could be individually shamed; and then place a minimum minimorum access fee on each social media message, so that they can not operate with a zero marginal cost.

Where should that access fee go? Clearly to us citizens whose data is being exploited and not to some other redistribution profiteers, and much less to some on the web-ambulance-chasers.

Pilita Clark also refers to George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four”. Rightly so, we need to read and reread it so as to fully understand that the worst that could happen to us citizens, would be these mega social media enterprises teaming up with Big Brothers here and there.

@PerKurowski

Magical thinking is not limited to political actors from right or left, many technocrats indulge in it too.

Sir, Edward Luce referring to “brassy slogan” and “fabulism” among politicians of all sides writes: “Facebook’s algorithm rewards magical thinking” “Magical thinking crosses party lines” March 21.

Yes, solid common sense thinking and truth generates much less advertising revenues than grandiose idiocy or mindboggling fake news.

So what are we to do? There’s no easy answer. 

I would suppose that limiting some social media use to duly identified citizens, would at least reduce all the anonymous noise that is so much harder to put to shame, when it should be shamed. 

Also charging a truly minuscule fee for each web access would help limiting the polarization and redistribution profiteers from marketing their messages of hate and envy at zero marginal cost. (That fee could help fund a universal basic income).

But, magical thinking is not limited to political actors from right or left, or needing the web for its promotion.

The Basel Committee’s risk weighted bank capital requirements are pure unabridged utterly dumb magical thinking, imposed by a bunch of loony technocrats.

Their magical thinking guarantees us a weak economy, and especially severe bank crisis, resulting from especially large exposures, to what was especially perceived as safe, against especially little capital.

@PerKurowski

For access to confidential private Swiss banks accounts, why not “wealth asylum”, something like political asylum?

Sir, John Gapper writes “there are decent reasons apart from tax evasion, or even legal tax avoidance, for the wealthy to put money in Swiss banks”, yet he with reason asks “the rich”, whether that is “any way to behave”, since doing so they will “resemble money launderers”, “Private banks must be more than laundries” February 12.

But Sir, why should a rich have to give up his private Swiss bank account if his reasons are decent?

It seems that what could be needed is something like a Swiss government office where a person can go and request “wealth asylum”. He would there of course have to present reasonable evidence of his source of wealth not being illegal.

If granted, such asylum would offer special confidentiality rights, which would be guaranteed for as long as the Swiss government does not receive substantial proof that shows the application contained major falsehoods.

If Robin Hood could hide in Sherwood Forest why can’t wealthy hide in private banks? I mean let us be frank; there are many bad Sheriffs of Nottingham out there.

If persons are allowed to carry guns against bandits, why not, in these Piketty days, can the wealthy carry private Swiss bank accounts against some overly greedy government bureaucrats?

And sometimes even if its not all "legal": If a poor North Korean managed to evade paying taxes and escape with some money, should not his capital have right to anonymous asylum?

But why on earth should you think about putting the burden to decide about what’s decent and what’s is not, on a small bank clerk who might rarely been out of his country?

PS. Am I wealthy? No! But just like for instance a shoe-artisan in Milan knows it, I know that the higher the number of wealthy around me, the more likely I am to be better off… and so, sometimes, though not too frequently, I also have to think a bit about how to keep the wealthy wealthy. If you have to be a servant, then most often, though not always, you are better served having to serve a wealthy master.

I am very suspicious of those who seem wanting to promote shared poverty… because quite often it sounds like their populist business plan for trying to become very wealthy themselves. And I do oppose the redistribution profiteers

PS. But then, now and again, I get hit by the thought: "If the wealthy could not safeguard their wealth in other countries, then perhaps they would make a stronger stance and defend their wealth more in their own country". And that sometimes could be what is really most needed.