Issue 106
January 2005
Contents
Red-state sneer
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
Many Democrats blame the unenlightened people of red-state America for John Kerry's defeat. But most working-class Americans remain politically centrist and a rising number simply want to live in the fast-growing suburbs of middle America. Liberals should stop sneering at the people they aspire to lead
Indelible paint
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
By proclaiming the triumph of painting in 2005, Charles Saatchi is following, not leading, a trend. Painting is indeed "back," but this time it is more than a fad. The great argument of the modern movement - between expressionism and conceptualism - is over. Painters have absorbed the debate and moved on
Tribal preservation
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
Fifty years ago, Brazil's indigenous peoples faced extinction. Thanks to a long campaign, led initially by white sympathisers but now by the Indians themselves, land rights and political protection have been won. Indian reserves now cover an area bigger than France and Germany combined
Global left turn
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
Martin Wolf and I come from similar backgrounds and agree about much in the globalisation debate. But while he regards liberal markets as sufficient, I think the globe needs a turn to social democracy
The return of philanthropy
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
In the past 20 years, the number of very rich people in Britain has risen sharply and tax incentives for giving are now similar to America's. But Britain does not yet have a US-style culture of giving, and mixing public and private money is not always easy
Mother tongue
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
What does the fashion for books about the state of the English language tell us? People care about their language because it forms part of their identity, and part of the resistance to changes in English is a resistance to change itself. But correct usage is not an elite affectation; it is a badge of competence
GK Chesterton
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
Chesterton is dismayed at the onward march of relativism and secularism. He also thinks the novel has lost its way, understands Islamic grievances against the west and is a proud mentor to satirists
When to intervene
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
Neither Robert Skidelsky's revival of just war theory nor the latest plan for the UN solve the intervention riddle
Has Mugabe won?
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
Zimbabwe's opposition MDC is losing momentum. It should boycott next year's elections
Blair's chance
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
Climate change presents Tony Blair with his last chance to become a world statesman
A split Ukraine?
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
A humiliated Russia may try to split Ukraine if its supporters lose the next vote
After Van Gogh
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
How should the centre-left respond to the implosion of the multicultural ideal in the Netherlands?
Nonsense on jobs
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
Predictions about the decline of permanent full-time jobs and a new age of uncertainty at work have proved wrong
A less important Ireland
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
Ireland no longer needs self-pity or hyperbole to tell its story. Here is an account that returns to the Irish the right to be unremarkable Europeans
Dylan talks, Zappa shouts
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
The legend of Bob Dylan can survive and even thrive on a work of self-exposure, but the mystery of Frank Zappa is that anyone should bother to enquire
What drives the human?
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
Are we driven by ancient genes or our own cognitive faculties? Human beings may have two distinct cognitive systems in conflict with each other
Television forecast
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
As Christmas is all about television, a Dennis Potter season will be true to it. The man embodied television
Musical notes
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
The Wigmore Hall has changed under its new artistic director, Paul Kildea, and not necessarily for the better. An opportunity for the Queen Elizabeth Hall?
Smallscreen
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
The Culture Show's worthless nibbles at "accessible" arts at least produce one big message: the BBC needs to go right back to the basics of arts coverage
Widescreen
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
Does Hollywood reflect social change or initiate it? A depiction of Alexander the Great's bisexuality seems to have left middle America unfuming
Serious swimmers
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
Pale from night living and wasted by narcotics, Gail reaches into the pool to find her son
Brussels diary
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
French Socialists fail to come to Blair's aid on the constitution, but the Tories may yet do so. And Norway is no advertisement for a semi-detached relationship
France profonde
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
Summits of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie should be celebrations of French values. But African squabbles spoiled this year's event
Out of mind
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
Our minds are partly shaped by mimicry, which is why Phil makes me feel alert and Jeff leaves me empty — and why Tony Blair apes the way George W Bush walks
Notes from underground
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
We underground staff are a sour, cynical group to manage — it's a combination of job security with no satisfaction or prospects. But it's better than the "real world"
Washington watch
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
British Tories are riding high on a new wave of Euroscepticism in Washington. And Cheney braves the terrorists of Kabul — anything not to be called a chickenhawk
My top ten fears
16th January 2005 — Issue 106
Elliot Perlman, 40, is a writer and lawyer. His novel Seven Types of Ambiguity is published by Faber.