Monthly Archives: January 2020

TikTok memes like WW3, impeachment, and Australian fires prove the platform is political – Vox.com

Posted: January 25, 2020 at 2:33 pm

As 24 million acres of Australia burned in record bushfires between September and January, Australian teens turned to TikTok. Chlo Hayden, a 22-year-old motivational speaker and YouTuber based in Victoria, had barely used the video-sharing app, but her peers were flooding it with their frustration with Prime Minister Scott Morrisons mishandling of the crisis and footage of the dense smoke as a way of raising awareness among a largely ignorant public.

Chlos video was a perfect encapsulation of the TikTok sensibility: She used a popular meme format to show the hypocrisy of the lack of media attention by comparing it to the immediate outpouring of financial support after the Notre Dame fire. It was equal parts funny and incisive, and ended up being viewed nearly 300,000 times.

I love that through the use of short comedy sketches, teens are getting a bigger point across than most lengthy, informative articles posted by some old bloke who we cant relate to in the slightest, she explains. Its both parts a coping mechanism and an incredible way to speak our minds where were all equal, and I genuinely dont think theres any other platform that you can do that in a similar way.

TikTok has, in its barely year and a half of existing, become the most effective way for a random person to spread a message to the widest possible audience in the shortest amount of time. It takes the best of Twitter (brevity, as videos can be a maximum of 60 seconds but most are much shorter) and YouTube (the ability to see someones face as theyre speaking to you) and adds the ability to go viral with virtually zero followers.

That the app is populated largely by teens also means that so much of what happens on it participates in a brand of ironic internet comedy that complicates the idea of serious news-sharing. TikTok videos on geopolitical events, from the Australian fires to the vague threat of World War III, can be viewed variously as awareness-spreading of underreported stories, coping mechanisms, exercises in nihilism, or goofy videos that no one should spend too much time analyzing.

Though its always tried to position itself as a joyful space for creating and viewing silly and inspiring content, TikTok has unintentionally become one of the best means of disseminating ideas on the internet. Its a power thats being used for better or for worse, and largely by minors.

TikTok was never supposed to be political. The app was expressly designed to discourage news-sharing its home feed is non-chronological, and there are no visible timestamps for when a video is posted, making it nearly impossible to understand what happened when. Political advertisements are not allowed, and until recently, TikTok had vague content guidelines that reportedly encouraged moderators to censor content sensitive to local governments. Its slogan is Make your day, presumably by distracting you from *gestures widely at everything*.

TikTok was never supposed to be political, but of course it was always going to be. During 2019s widespread climate strikes, TikTokers used jokes about e-girls to spread awareness about e-missions. When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was revealed to have worn brownface, TikTok had fun brutally roasting him. In November, a New Jersey teen posted a viral TikTok discussing the Chinese mass internment of Muslims (and was subsequently locked out of her account). Another teen used the app to organize a strike in solidarity with her school districts teachers. When adults on TikTok mocked teen climate activist Greta Thunberg, there was a flood of comments with just one phrase, sparking one of the years biggest memes: ok boomer. US Democratic presidential candidates are on TikTok. Police officers, soldiers, and the Israel Defense Forces are on TikTok. Nazis and terrorists are, too.

Most importantly, millions of regular people are on TikTok, all of whom have at least some awareness of what happens in the world and who probably have opinions about it. In the first week of 2020, just a few days after memes about new year new me and leaving negativity in 2019 proliferated on the internet, the world seemed to explode: President Trump ordered the assassination of Quassem Soleimani, pushing the US and Iran to the brink of war. Puerto Rico was hit by a series of massive earthquakes, cutting off power for nearly a million people and access to clean water for hundreds of thousands. Bushfires, worsened by climate change, continued to rage across Australia, killing at least 28 people and an estimated 1 billion animals and destroying 2,000 homes. The most powerful man in the world faced an impeachment trial.

World War III seemed imminent, but on TikTok it was already raging. Me in the trenches doing my 10-step Korean skincare routine, read the caption on one video by 19-year-old Australian student Isaac Tuazon. Gays when we get drafted into WW3, read another in a video of TikToker Sir Carter voguing with Nerf guns. Me after getting my first kill in WW3, wrote one TikToker while doing a Fortnite dance.

I just thought the idea of bringing my entire skin care routine with me to the battlefield would be a little extra and would earn a few laughs, Tuazon tells me about his K-beauty WW3 TikTok. He likes the app because it gives him a chance to see average kids, no matter their country of origin, ethnicity, or sexual orientation, having fun and laughing together.

Its the same for Juana Isabelle Sarenas, an 18-year-old student in Hong Kong who recently posted a video about Cabin 6, the theoretical cabin where all the cool TikTok kids will end up when Trump is impeached and President Mike Pence sends queer teens to conversion-therapy summer camp.

The LGBT community there is huge, Sarenas says of TikTok. The jokes dont erase the tragic events if anything, they use the memes to bring light to them in a humorous way. I learned more about concentration camps and other horrifying current events from TikTok than I had any other platform.

Cabin 6 memes, in general, are a pretty joyous way to react to the reality that the US vice president once advocated for allocating federal dollars to conversion therapy groups instead of HIV/AIDS patients. As many of the memes reference, conservative boomers sending a bunch of queer kids to a summer camp together seems like a great way to encourage the very sexuality those people find so repugnant. We all know that if [Pence] tried to force people to go to camps, it would never be passed as a law, one 16-year-old told Mel Magazine. I just find it funny to joke about that like summer camp with the fellow gays.

Like the rest of the internet, as much as TikTok is a place for blas nihilism kids self-deprecating about how ugly they are, or begging for Harry Styles to run them over its also proved to be a great way of getting other people to listen. On TikTok, users dont have to follow anyone to see videos the app thinks they might like. As on Reddit, information can come from anywhere, as long as enough people favorite it. Thats how Gem Nwanne, a 24-year-old grad student, data analyst, and activist in New York, went viral after posting a video about the citys crackdown on subway fare evasion using the same meme format as Chlos.

Nwanne was used to the kind of discourse that takes place in activist and academic circles on Twitter and Instagram, with long threads and jargon-y paragraphs. Its a little difficult to engage on Twitter because if you ask the wrong question to the wrong person ... there will be a pile-on. Youll get kicked the shit kicked out of you, Nwanne says with a laugh. But with a platform like TikTok, its way more accessible. Im dancing. Its a joke. Its a lot easier to teach or to spread an idea when people are laughing.

The subway fare video helped Nwanne gain 10,000 followers in a month on TikTok, where they continue to post videos about race, queer identity, capitalism, and leftist politics. I think TikTok as a tool for education can be so revolutionary, and I would really love to see more people on my side of the political spectrum using it, moving away from these academic Twitter threads. Lets meet the people where they are.

Its much easier to see the humanity of someone whose ideas youre hearing when you can actually see them. The dominant TikTok aesthetic is a person in their own home, alone, speaking to the camera without knowing who will end up seeing their face on their screen. Its like YouTube one of the most effective platforms for sharing ideas, for better or for worse but TikToks take even less effort to produce.

Conversations are difficult to have on Twitter or Instagram because of how reactive everybody is on those apps, Nwanne says. Comments on a video about the Australian fires were like, folks asking questions and people answering them. On Twitter or Instagram theyd be like, How dare you ask the question? The communitys a lot chiller, and I do think its because theyre younger, and so they dont know to be pretentious douchebags yet.

I always compare TikTok to all of the rhymes and hand games that we played in middle school, says Sophie Dickinson, an associate editor at Know Your Meme who covers TikTok. The bushfires, other things that are happening now, its all the same jokes over and over and over again. It has to do with whatever the popular opinion is. It could be dangerous, but its also nice for kids to be coming together over something that might be very difficult and challenging to wrap their heads around.

It would be easy to make TikTok out to be a utopian Gen Z playground, where authenticity sells and love wins and the rest is mostly just dancing, but thats not the whole story. Nwanne, for instance, doesnt read their comments because they say the platform is often quite conservative like Facebook-lite. The #impeachment hashtag on TikTok seems to have nearly as many earnest Trump supporters as it does people poking fun at the president using a popular Camila Cabello song.

TikTok has some of the same political pitfalls as YouTube ironic memes and jokes can seduce people into believing harmful ideologies and its mysterious algorithm makes it such that the TikTok I see, the one with hilarious and well-meaning teens goofing off in their bedrooms, is not the same one that someone else sees. That certain songs and sounds, dances, and memes go hugely viral, and fast, also ends up with many people using those memes to spread false or extremist information. Nurse Holly, a nurse on TikTok with nearly 2 million followers, recently received major backlash when she used a popular song and video format to post a video that said the best way to prevent STDs was by waiting for sex until marriage. Even mostly harmless jokes about getting drafted for WW3 led at least some college kids to briefly panic over the idea of being forced to join the Army, even though the US hasnt had a draft since 1973.

Bad stuff has been happening in the world forever, and the internet has always been full of very funny and very sad people to make jokes out of it. TikTok is now a crucial part of that machine, one that can set the discourse in practically zero time. Whatever comes of it, Nwanne knows one thing is certain: Were gonna set some shit on fire on TikTok.

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Color Out Of Space Movie Review – Book and Film Globe

Posted: at 2:33 pm

If ever there were a recipe for the kind of audacity needed to bring some of H.P. Lovecrafts more challenging stories to life on film, it would include a director like Richard Stanley, an actor like Nicolas Cage, and the studio that brought us Mandy last year.Twenty-three years removed from his last directorial outing, which famously ended after just three days, Stanley makes a triumphant return behind the camera with Color Out of Space. Lovecraft fans can rest assured that this is one of the best direct adaptations of the weird fiction writers seminal works since Re-Animator.

COLOR OUT OF SPACE (3/5 stars)Directed by:Richard StanleyWritten by: Richard Stanley, Scarlett Amaris, and story by H.P. LovecraftStarring: Nicolas Cage, Joely Richardson, Madeleine Arthur, Elliot KnightRunning time: 111 min

The film makes a few major changes to the short story, namely bringing it into the present day and telling the story from the perspective of the family rather than as a second-hand account of events. These changes succeed in making the story more immediate and dont sacrifice any of the spirit of the source material.

Thie story marinates in the cosmic nihilism one would expect from Lovecraft. The Gardner family, headed by the super dorky Nathan Gardner (Cage), has an idyllic life together, until one day a meteorite strikes their farmland and begins poisoning everything. Animals, insects, plant life it all starts giving off an eerie pink glow. Its like cosmic bowling!

Luck has it that a very intelligent hydrologist happens to be surveying the Gardners land around this time because of a city-proposed new reservoir, and he discovers that the water contains contaminants. Theres just poison all over this damn place now, and for some reason this family ignores the red flags long enough to descend into the kind of madness normally reserved for mountains.

Madness and Nic Cage go together, so theres no shortage of instant classic outbursts from him , but the rest of the cast perceivably attempts to match that energy. While they dont quite ever get there, and who could blame them, they make a commendable effort. They do just enough to sell the family drama and add some absurd levity so that we can enjoy what we really came here to see. The realized vision of an unimaginable terror awaits.

The central horror comes from the source of the spreading mutagen poison, which is an indescribable, incomprehensible hue that doesnt register on the known color spectrum. How the hell do you film that? Stanleys answer is mostly to use magenta and morphing neon, which are en vogue right now with many cinematographers, but it works.

While some of the CGI Special effects leave a little to be desired in spots, they build to an ethereal atmospheric effect not unlike what we saw in Annihilation. The practical effects pick up the slack on grotesquerie and give the film the kind of verve thats lacking in a lot of modern horror films. As a result, a pack of four alpacas and an unspeakable familial monstrosity are the real stars of this movie.

Lovecrafts fingerprints are all over horror classics that were not direct adaptations of his work, like Alien and The Thing, which is why its so exciting when we get a film like Color Out Of Space that comes from a place of deep reverence and understands what the audience wants from cosmic horror.

At a Q&A for an LA premiere of the film, Stanley clarified that Color Out of Space is the intended beginning of a Lovecraft film adaptation trilogy, with the next script hes working on drawing from The Dunwich Horror. One can hope he gets to follow through on that vision.

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Joe Pera Talks With You Is the Best Thing Adult Swim Has Ever Done – VICE

Posted: at 2:33 pm

Joe Pera Talks With You is unlike anything else on Adult Swim. Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block is known for the maximalist absurdity of Tim & Eric; The Eric Andre Show and its demented, ranch-obsessed host ; Rick & Morty's animated nihilism; and the bizarre and surprisingly violent short Too Many Cooks. But it's now also home to a show where comedian Joe Pera plays a fictionalized version of himself, a "soft-handed choir teacher" who lives in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and, though in his thirties, boasts the unhurried mannerisms of a senior citizen. As it approaches the end of its masterful 14-episode second season, the show has become an essential salve against cynicism: It's relaxing and gentle TV that revels more in its meditative beauty than its eccentric comedy.

While the shock-value fanfare typical of Adult Swim has its own inherent comedic value, there's a warmth radiating throughout Joe Pera Talks With You that feels equally, if not more, needed in 2020. This is doubly true given Pera's sincere commitment to his character. (The fictional) Pera's disarmingly earnest in everything he does, from his teaching jobwhere he rewards students with green applesto his trip to the Friday fish fry with his Nana. Each 12-minute episode of the series finds Pera musing on one of the smaller things in life, like taking a hike, going to the grocery store, or waiting for someone at the beauty salon. With its ethereal soundtrack; Pera's calming, grandfatherly voice; and its surprisingly gorgeous cinematography, the show feels like a distant and often funny cousin to Bob Rossor a millennial version of Mr. Rogers.

Where many comedies lean on vulgarity and edginess, Pera finds his beat in everyday gratitude and basking in the mundane, to surprisingly amusing effect. In this season's first episode, Pera decides to create a bean arch in his garden so that when the vines are fully grown, they meet at the crown of the structure. As he explains to the audience the many pros of raising your own beans, he looks up at the arch and says, Imagine that not having to bend over to pick a bean, a simple observation so off-the-cuff and innocent that it's shockingly funny. It's unlikely that most of the show's target audiencetwenty- and thirtysomethingshave spent much time thinking about the best way to pick a bean with such sincerity, yet here they are, taking a moment to consider it. With too much of modern day-to-day life spent being chronically online, overstimulated, and filled with anxiety, the good-natured humor in Joe Pera Talks With You provides a brief but deserved respite. Hey, why aren't we growing bean arches?

On a lesser show, Pera's character would be treated like a punchline: an oafish, painfully Midwestern rube whose wholesomeness is sneered at. Instead, Joe Pera Talks With You and its world actively root for him. One stellar episode from 2018's first season, "Joe Pera Reads You The Church Announcements," deals in the joy of discovering a song for the first timein this case, it's "Baba O'Riley" by The Who, a track so ubiquitous his ignorance of it is both hilarious and beguiling. In a sleepless daze from spending the previous night calling into every local radio station to play the song (he doesn't think to Google it himself), Pera asks the congregation if they've heard of The Who. It's not just played for laughs; in fact, at the end of the episode the churchgoers join Pera on a sing-a-along of the iconic classic track and it's surprisingly moving.

Though he's awkward and doesn't quite fit in during most social interactions, it's clear the other characters genuinely like being around Pera. There's a small-town joy in seeing him interact with his community even though it's rarely seamlessan episode where the straightlaced Pera is a last-minute invite to a boozy bachelor party is a particularly funny example. But his relationships with his neighbors the Melskis, his elderly best friend Gene, and his coworkers are especially affecting, especially when he navigates his newfound romance with his girlfriend Sarah (Jo Firestone). Just as Pera's clear passion for each episode's topic of the week is infectious, his enthusiasm for life's ostensibly ordinary things rubs off on those closest to him. It's this refreshing kindness that makes Pera so easy to cheer on. The genuine, honest, and full-hearted life his character lives in rural Michigan isn't treated with scorn; instead, it's aspirational.

It's easy to get caught up and overwhelmed by the fast-paced and demanding nature of just being alive in 2020. But even when things get hard, Joe Pera Talks With You is there to remind us to take a step back and appreciate the smaller things that make up our days. Pera's thoughtfulness is the series' emotional centerpiece, and when true obstacles are thrown his way as the second season progresses, it's heartrending, even devastating. But no matter what, he endures, leans on those closest to him, and remembers to take stock on the simple things that bring him joyto Pera, it truly is a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

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Review: The Sunset Limited (Boulevard Theatre) – WhatsOnStage.com

Posted: at 2:33 pm

Having opened late last year with Dave Malloy's gorgeous but esoteric supernatural song cycle Ghost Quartet, Soho's tiny theatrical jewel box, the Boulevard, continues its' policy of defiantly left-field programming with this UK premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy's challenging talk-piece.

There are shades of Beckett and Mamet in the male-focussed nihilism and austerity of this bleak script, apparently set in a rundown New York tenement apartment immediately after a black ex-convict has stopped a white college professor from leaping to his death in front of a subway train. I say "apparently" because, as the play progresses, it starts to possibly look as though the suicide did in fact go to plan and we are eavesdropping on a conversation in some sort of purgatorial anteroom. McCarthy's opaque text first seen in Chicago in 2006 and subsequently turned into a film with Samuel L Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones remains tantalisingly ambiguous on this and several other points.

The characters are named simply 'Black' and 'White' which proves less of a racial statement and more of an indication of their opposing standpoints on the "Big Stuff" such as human suffering, whether suicide is a valid response to life's difficulties, and the relevance and existence of God. Much of it is very interesting and one is left in little doubt as to where the author's allegiances lie (and it's not with Gary Beadle's devout, watchfully chirpy Black).

"The one thing I won't give up is giving up" says the sardonic White (Jasper Britton, painfully convincing) in one of a few comic moments, however bitter, that leaven the existential gloom. The lengthy anecdotes and monologues as each character propounds his viewpoint are beautifully written, but collectively have a slightly deadening effect, as though one should be reading them rather than listening to them in a theatre, despite the technical brilliance of these fine actors. The lack of true drama makes the play feel rather longer than its 95 minutes.

Terry Johnson's production - from Tim Shortall's atmospherically grimy set to the accomplished lighting and sound designs by Ben Ormerod and John Leonard respectively is pretty much flawless however. Plus it is hard to imagine another pair of actors inhabiting Black and White with as much skill and commitment as Beadle and Britton. They precisely capture the rhythms of McCarthy's spiky prose and the middle ground it occupies between naturalism and poetically heightened.

Thought-provoking and technically impressive, but frustratingly elliptical as a piece of drama, this feels like an evening that is more to admire than truly engage with. "I yearn for the darkness" says White at one point...by the end of The Sunset Limited, I was starting to feel the same way. See it for the acting.

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The 10 best TV shows to watch this week, from The Goop Lab to Curb Your Enthusiasm season 10 – inews

Posted: at 2:33 pm

CultureTVThere's also Star Trek: Picard, Bring Back the Bush on Channel 4 and a documentary following Nigel Farage's Brexit campaign

Friday, 24th January 2020, 7:00 am

Star Trek: Picard

From Friday 24 January, Amazon Prime

i's TV newsletter: what you should watch next

The Goop Lab

From Friday 24 January, Netflix

Providing yet more evidence that actress-turned-lifestyle guru Gwyneth Paltrow is in on the Goop joke, this six-part documentary about the wellness brands research group is a rare insight into the controversial company. Taking on everything from contacting the dead to recalibrating their biological age, Paltrows troupe of guinea pigs are up for anything, making for a bizarre, fascinating show.

Keeler, Profumo, Ward and Me

Sunday 26 January, 10pm, BBC Two

As The Trial of Christine Keeler comes to an end, ex-journalist Tom Mangold who reported first-hand on the Profumo affair in 1963 presents this documentary on the scandal. Featuring previously unheard interview recordings with Keeler, the film provides evidence that she was pressured into giving evidence against Dr Stephen Ward, who introduced the young girl to thepolitician.

Bring Back The Bush: Where Did Our Pubic Hair Go?

Monday 27 January, 10pm, Channel 4

Chidera Eggerue, aka Twitters @theslumflower, presents this investigation into Britains lack of pubic hair. Eggerue herself takes on the shame often associated with having hair down there by growing out her own pubes and presenting them as part of a public exhibition all in the name of self-love, of course.

The Windermere Children

Monday 27 January, 9pm, BBC Two

A one-off drama about the group of children who arrived at Windermeres Calgarth Estate in the Lake District after surviving the Holocaust. Based on first-person testimonies from Jewish people who made a new life in the UK after the Second World War, it is a heart-breaking but ultimately hopeful watch as the children rebuild a family together.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Tuesday 28 January 9pm, Sky Comedy

The Sky channel launching on Monday brings Larry Davids miserable alter ego to the UK only a couple of weeks after it premiered in America. In the first episode, Larry begins 2020 by creating a new rival for himself Mocha Joe, who owns a coffee shop where the coffee is too cold and the scones are too soft. Nihilism at its most entertaining.

Young, Sikh and Proud

Tuesday 28 January, 10.35pm, BBC One

Jagraj Singh is often credited as the most popular Sikh leader in modern Britain, attracting young people to return to their faith before he died in 2017. This documentary follows his brother, the journalist Sunny Hundal, in his attempt to understand the allure of Singhs Sikhism and examine why the pair fell out over their different interpretations of the same religion.

Next In Fashion

From Wednesday 29 January, Netflix

Queer Eyes Tan France and model Alexa Chung present Netflixs first fashion competition. Competing for the chance to have their designs sold on luxury site Net-a-Porter and a cash prize of $250,000 (190,000), 10 designers from around the world take on various sartorial challenges. Guest judges include the designers Tommy Hilfiger and Christopher Kane, and the model Adriana Lima.

Farage: The Man Who Made Brexit

Wednesday 29 January, 9pm, Channel 4

Christian Trumble, the director who brought us Carry on Brussels, goes behind the scenes of Nigel Farages 2019 European election triumph, in which his Brexit Party won more votes than the Conservatives and Labour combined. In the months following, the controversial politician attempts to get soon-to-be PM Boris Johnson on side a dream that ends with tales of bullying, threats and phone calls from Donald Trump.

Auschwitz Untold: In Colour

Wednesday 29 January, 10.30pm, More 4

Almost 75 years to the day since the liberation of Auschwitz, 16 Holocaust survivors tell their stories alongside newly restored and colourised archive footage of the genocide. Among the contributors are a Roma resistance fighter and a Jewish artist, who tell their stories of survival with admirable bravery.

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Religion news Jan. 25 – The Republic

Posted: at 2:31 pm

Services and studies

Dayspring Church Apostolic Worship begins at 11:15 a.m. at the church, 2127 Doctors Park Drive, Columbus. On Sunday, the church will be inspired by, A Special Lady. This is taken from Judges 4 where, I will surely go with thee is the prevailing response. Every visitor will receive a free gift.

The Sunday Education Session starts at 10 a.m. and covers the First Mission of the Twelve, as shared in Luke 9:1-10.

Bible Study is Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. and is a Group Session sponsored by Heart Changers International, LLC on Depression, Stress and Grief. These help build our Personal Empowerment and walk.

Our Prayer of Power starts at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and is preceded with requests and instructions on prayer.

The Celebrate Recovery Group session starts at 6:30 p.m.

Ignite is the Youth Growth Session that happens every third Friday.

For more information please call (812) 372- 9336, or email dayspringchurch@att.net.

East Columbus United Methodist Sunday events begin at 9 a.m. at East Columbus United Methodist Church at 2439 Indiana Ave. in Columbus, with fellowship time in the foyer with beverages and snacks. Worship begins at 9:30 a.m.

Sunday School begins at 10:40 a.m. for all ages and Bible interests.

First Presbyterian Jesus performed many healing miracles, but one with unique details is in Mark 5:1-20, which the sermon will focus on: Story from the other side of the tracks.

Worship begins at 9:30 a.m., 512 Seventh St., in Columbus. Infant and toddler care is available 9:15 a.m. to noon. The Mens and Womens Support Groups meet on Fridays at 7 a.m., and a second Mens Support group (working age men) meets every Monday at 6:15 a.m.

People in the community in need of a meal are invited to our Hot Meals offered at 5 p.m. Friday. (please enter through the glass doors on Franklin). We are an LGBTQ-friendly church. Open and affirming to ALL.

Information: fpccolumbus.org

First United Methodist On Sunday, Jan. 26, at the 9 a.m. Traditional Service and 11 a.m. The Table, Reverend Sarah Campbell will deliver the message, Light in the Darkness at the church, 618 Eighth St. The scripture will be Isaiah 9:1-4 and Matthew 4:12-17.

Sunday School for all ages begins at 10:10 a.m. Child care is available during the service.

Information: 812-372-2851 or fumccolumbus.org.

Flintwood Wesleyan The church is located at 5300 E. 25th St.

Sunday services are Amplify (non-traditional) at 9 a.m. and The Well (traditional) at 11 a.m in the main sanctuary and led by Rev. Wes Jones, Senior Pastor. Sunday School classes at 10 a.m. in their regular room.

The Prayer Team meets at 8 a.m. Adult Choir Practice is 5 to 6 p.m.

Sunday evenings Celebrate Recovery begins with a meal at 5:25 p.m. in The Friendship Center and the meeting starts at 6 p.m. upstairs in Curry Hall. The public is invited to attend.

Connections, a ladies study group, led by Pastor Teri Jones. The group meets the second and fourth Monday of each month at 10 a.m. in The Friendship Center.

In the Beginning, a small group Bible Study, meets Tuesday evenings at 6 p.m. They are now meeting in the basement of the church in the young adult classroom. They are studying the book of Genesis. You can start at any point so new members are welcome to join.

Wednesday activities begins with a meal at 5:30 p.m. The program, iKids (Ignite Kids) On Fire For Jesus! starts at 6:15 p.m. This program is for kids in Pre-K through the sixth grade. The Prayer Team meets at 6:15 p.m. in the Prayer Room. Youth meets at 6:30 p.m. downstairs in the church. Bible study is at 7 p.m. in the sanctuary.

Thursday: Cub Scout Pack # 588 will meet when events are scheduled and Boy Scout Troop # 588 will meet at 7 p.m.

Small group Cover to Cover is a Christian book club that meets the second Saturday of each month at 10 a.m. AM to select a new book and discuss the book they just read. Group meets in The Friendship Center. If interested contact Kim Rutan at 812-343-2217 (call or text) or via email at flintwoodoffice@gmail.com.

For further information, call 812-379-4287 or email flintwoodoffice@gmail.com. Church office hours are Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Our website is http://www.flintwood.

Garden City Church of Christ Starting Jan. 5 at the 10 a.m. service, Garden City Church of Christ is hosting a four-week sermon series called Reset. Everyone in the community is invited to attend.

The topics of the series include Reset My Heart, Reset My Mind, Reset My Voice and Reset My Hands.

Garden City Church of Christ is located at 3245 Jonesville Road, Columbus.

For more information about the church, visit gardencitychurch.com or call 812-372-1766.

Grace Lutheran Rev. John Armstrong will preach on Sunday. Worship is at 8 and 10:30 a.m., with Sunday School for all ages at 9:30 a.m.

Alpha, an introduction to the Bible continues Tuesday, Jan. 21, 6-8 p.m.

Searching Scripture continues Tuesday, Jan. 28, 6-8 p.m.

Old Union United Church of Christ Scriptures for the 10 a.m. Sunday service will include Isaiah 9:1-4, 1 Corinthians 1:10-18, and Matthew 4:12-23. The message will be A New Possibility.

Sunday school will be at 9 a.m. with fellowship at 9:40 a.m.

The church is located at 12703 N. County Road 50W, Edinburgh.

Petersville United Methodist Church The Rev. Stormy Scherer-Berry will give her message, Claim Your Vocation, at the 9 a.m. worship service on Sunday morning at the church, 2781 N. County Road 500E, Columbus. The theme this week continues with the idea that God has called us, not just by name, but to a special purpose.

Scriptures from Isaiah 9 and Matthew 4 will be shared by liturgist Patsy Harris; Teresa Covert will give the childrens sermon, and the choir will provide special music, directed by Kathy Bush.

The loose change offering for the coming six months will be given to the Love Chapel Food Bank. The goal for the Hope Food Bank is 2020 items for the year. A time of fellowship will follow the service.

The Bakers Dozen Bible study group will meet on Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the home of Larry and Connie Nolting; the Journey Bible study group also will meet on Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the home of Chris Kimerling. The Sit and Stitch group will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, also at the Noltings. All three groups welcome new members.

Choir practice is Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. at the church with Kathy Bush directing. Prayer Time is Thursday morning at 10 a.m. in the church fellowship hall led by Barb Hedrick.

Information: 812-546-4438; 574-780-2379

Sandy Hook United Methodist The church will be having a Bible study on the book of Ruth for six winter Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. starting Jan. 8 through Feb. 19 (there will be no study January 29). This video-based study is part of the Epic of Eden Bible studies.

Please contact the church office at 812-372-8495 or office@sandyhook.org if interested in participating (so books can be ordered).

The church is located at 1610 Taylor Road, Columbus.

St. Paul Lutheran The third Sunday after Epiphany will be celebrated Sunday at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 6045 E. State Street, at the 8 and 10:45 a.m. worship services with Pastor Doug Bauman presenting the message The Great Light in Darkness and Death based on Matthew 4:12-25.

Christian Education classes for all ages will begin at 9:30 a.m. Vicar Fickenscher will lead worship at the 2:30 p.m. Spanish Service with Spanish/English Sunday School following at 3:30 p.m.

Open enrollment for the 2020-2021 preschool and kindergarten registration begins on Monday, Jan. 27. Classes are for children who are 3, 4 or 5 by Aug. 1. Information: 812-376-6504 or stpaulcolumbus.org.

Financial Peace University classes will begin Monday, Jan. 27, 6 p.m. at the church. Classes teach how to beat debt and make a plan for the future together. Information: philburbrink@gmail.com

Information: 812-376-6504.

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbus On Sunday at 10 a.m., Good Without God: Religious Humanism in the 20th Century will be presented by the Rev. Nic Cable and Lori Swanson.

Unitarian Universalism has been influenced by many sources and traditions of truth and wisdom. One of these was the humanist movement in the 20th century. From the Humanist Manifesto (1933) to the present, the church will explore how a non-theistic worldview has shaped who humanity is today.

The church is at 7850 W. Goeller Blvd., Columbus.

Information: 812-342-6230.

Westside Community Pastor Robert Vester will lead the service this Sunday at 10 a.m. at the church at the corner of West State Road 46 West and Tipton Lakes Boulevard.

The childrens program for children through sixth grade meets at the same time as the 10 a.m. worship service.

For more information on studies or small groups that meet throughout the week, contact the church office at 812-342-8464.

Music

North Christian Church The church is looking for singers to join their Chancel Choir. Rehearsals are Wednesdays at 6 p.m. at the church, 850 Tipton Lane, Columbus.

For more information, contact the Music Director, Travis Whaley, at music@northchristianchurch.com.

Events

Community Church of Columbus An eight-week parenting course entitled Parenting with Love and Logic is designed for parents of children ages 6 and under. Starting Tuesday, Feb. 18th at 6:30 p.m., the course will be offered at Community Church of Columbus, 3850 N. Marr Road, as part of the Tuesday Connection series. Dinner is also available each week at 5:30 p.m. along with child care at no cost.

First United Methodist Tuesday evenings from Jan. 7 to Feb. 25, the church will host a grief support group. Meetings will begin at 5:30 p.m. The group will explore grief using Julie Yarbroughs book, Beyond the Broken Heart: A Journey Through Grief. It will take place in the Blue Room (Room 216) at the church, and is open to anyone. To register, or for more information, call the church office at 812-372-2851.

On Jan. 26, the church will host its first Life Planning Seminar. Possible topics include end-of-life planning, assisted living and funeral planning, and financial planning topics like retirement and college planning. There will be a dinner at 5:15 p.m. with the session to follow at 6 p.m. Anyone in the community is welcome to attend.

North Christian Church The Centering Prayer Group that meets in the North Christian Prayer Chapel, Lower Level #6, on Friday mornings from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. This is a drop-in prayer group, meaning that you can come as your schedule allows. Familiarity with Centering Prayer and its spiritual practices is not necessary. For more information, consult the Centering Prayer page at northchristianchurch.com.

St. Paul Lutheran An eight-week grief support Bible study entitled, Hope When Your Heart Breaks continues on Monday, Jan. 27 at 2 p.m. in the churchs Conference Room. Those learning to live without a loved one are welcome.

St. Peter Lutheran Church On Sunday, Jan. 26, the church will host a soup supper and Euchre party 11750 W. County Road 930S, Columbus.

The soup supper will start at 5 p.m. and admission is $5. The Euchre party starts at 6:30 p.m. and admission is $5. Proceeds will go to Love Chapel in Columbus and Anchor House in Seymour.

Zion Lutheran Church The church, at 1501 Gaiser Drive, Seymour, will hold its Annual Ham and Turkey Dinner with all the trimmings Sunday Feb. 9, from 4 to 7 p.m. The public is invited.

A freewill offering will be taken. Proceeds will go to mission projects. Carry-out will be available. Call the church office with questions at 812-522-1089.

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Fellowship Breakfast to Honor MLK Jr. on Jan. 27 – Livermore Independent

Posted: at 2:31 pm

The Pleasanton Community of Character Collaborative will host the 20th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Fellowship Breakfast on Monday, Jan. 27, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Pleasanton at the Club.

The breakfast, which draws community leaders from throughout the Tri-Valley, is to remember and honor the legacy of Dr. King. This years keynote speaker will be Kym Johnson, executive director of BANANAS, a state-designated child care resource and referral agency, who will talk about care and compassion in local communities.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Legacy Awards for 2020 will be presented to Jeffery and Danielle Pennewell, Todd Utikal, and Ann King. A special award will be presented to Tri-Valley Haven.

Entertainment will be provided by Pleasantons newly appointed teen poet laureate, Kanchan Naik.

The two-hour breakfast and awards presentation begins at 8:30 a.m. Tickets are available at pleasanton.org.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 2020 Legacy Award Winners:

Jeffery and Danielle Pennewell

Jeffery and Danielle Pennewell are changing the world one kind word at a time. As a part of a "Choose love" curriculum, Jeffery Pennewell and his 5th grade dual immersion class at Junction Avenue School in Livermore created Words Matter, a project designed to show students the power of their words good and bad and how a small act of kindness can have a positive impact on someone's day.

The kids decorated small cards with motivational quotes and compliments and Jeffery and his wife, Danielle, a human resources professional and life coach, handed them out in the middle of Union Square in San Francisco. They were able to record the reactions of some of the recipients in order to show the kids the impact of their work.

The owner of SideTrack Bar + Grill, Utikal is being recognized for volunteering with a variety of nonprofit organizations, helping others raise funds through his restaurant, his willingness to always call out the good he sees in people, and the courage to call out the things that need to change.

Born and raised in the Tri-Valley, he has called Pleasanton home since 2003. As a student at Saint Marys College, he helped coordinate blood drives and weekly meal service for the homeless in Peoples Park in Berkeley. After graduating with a degree in business and accounting, Utikal worked various jobs in the hospitality and service industry, including

three years as the youngest assistant cruise director for Holland America Cruise Lines.

He later began booking cruises for Frosch Travel, while pursuing a real estate license. He has now worked in the mortgage industry for nearly 20 years, while also maintaining his travel business.

In 2015, he began developing the concept of a casual, family friendly restaurant in downtown Pleasanton. Three years later, he and mentor Skip Hinsley opened SideTrack Bar + Grill.

Ann King and Tri-Valley Haven

Now in its fourth decade, Tri-Valley Haven continues to be a vital community resource serving adults and children who have experienced domestic violence, sexual assault, or homelessness. It not only provides a safe place for people who need to be protected, it is also committed to helping them move on and build a culture of personal empowerment. It remains an essential component of the safety net for families in need in the Tri-Valley.

Since 1997, Safe Haven has been led by Executive Director Ann King, who grew up in an Irish Catholic family in the Midwest, where social issues were common dinner topics and community involvement was the norm for her family. After earning a Masters Degree in social work in 1987, she has worked as a service provider and manager specializing in domestic violence, sexual assault, ex-offenders, homeless populations, and poverty.

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Topeka religion roundup: Church to hold hymn-fest with musicians from several local congregations – The Topeka Capital-Journal

Posted: at 2:31 pm

A hymn-fest titled "Epiphany! Let Your Light So Shine" will be presented at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 26, at Our Savior's Lutheran Church, 2021 S.W. 29th.

The bell choir from Prince of Peace Lutheran Church will be featured, along with a mass choir composed of members from First, Faith, Our Savior's and Trinity Lutheran churches in Topeka and St. John Lutheran Church in Alma. The concert is in celebration of the Epiphany season.

A freewill offering will be received, and a reception will follow. The concert is sponsored by the Lutheran Fine Arts Council of Topeka.

In other religion news:

The annual Women's Conference of the Topeka Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will take place from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, at the Topeka Stake Center, 2401 S.W. Kingsrow Road. "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me," from Philippians 4:13, is the theme of the conference for women ages 16 years and older. After a short opening session on the conference theme, women will be able to attend three classes on topics such as personal revelation; emotional resilience; dealing with adversity; financial fitness; continuing education; meal planning and food storage; and addiction prevention and recovery. Lunch will be provided. Before the conference, at 9 a.m., women may help assemble freezer meals that will be given to the Topeka Rescue Mission and the YWCA Center for Safety and Empowerment. The conference is free and open to women in the community. For more information, call Tracie Haddock at 785-478-1235.

The Topeka City Mission Union Early Morning Service will be held at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 26, at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, 1100 S.E. Washington. The Rev. T.D. Hicks will bring the year's challenge message. Musical selections will be rendered by members of the Antioch church. Hair-care products for veterans will be provided by the Antioch church.

St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church, 2222 S.E. Madison, will offer fish, chicken and rib dinners from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1. The cost is $10 for chicken and fish and $13 for rib dinners. All dinners will include a choice of two sides, dessert and drink. Sides will include spaghetti, green beans, potato salad and baked beans. Proceeds will benefit the church's annual pastor's anniversary celebration. Call 785-207-4054 or 785-207-6357 for deliveries or carry-out orders.

Topeka Bible Church, 1101 S.W. Mulvane, will begin its next session of GriefShare at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 3. This 13-week video-based class and support group is for people who are grieving the death of a person close to them. Each session lasts until about 8:30 p.m. The fee for the class is $15 per person for materials and is due at the first session. Participants are encouraged to register in advance at http://www.DiscoverTBC.com. Visit http://www.GriefShare.org to find other class locations and dates in northeast Kansas.

Faith Temple Church, 1162 S.W Lincoln, will have its annual bishop appreciation services from Friday, Feb. 7, and Sunday, Feb. 9. The event will honor Bishop R. K. Lassiter Sr. for 45 years in pastoral ministry. The event will include a service at 7 p.m. Feb. 7, with the Rev. Keith Newton, of Kansas City speaking, and a service at 11 a.m. Feb. 9, with Bishop James Everett, of New Jersey, speaking. For additional information, call the church at 785-235-1834.

Homemade chocolates and other treats will be offered for sale during the annual "Taste of Chocolate" event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8, at Central Congregational United Church of Christ, 5221 S.W. West Drive. Guests may fill a 4-by-4-by-2-inch box with their choice of chocolates for $7. Cakes, pies, cheesecakes and other items will be packaged by the piece and sold separately. This year's event will feature candies made from recipes in the churchs 1913 cookbook.

Proceeds from the sale will aid the ongoing mission work of Central Congregational Church, which supports community programs such as Doorstep, Lets Help, the Sheldon Head Start School and the Topeka Justice Unity Ministry Project, as well as several individual local schools.

Miracle Life Church, 3136 S.E. Minnesota Ave., will have an "Old-Fashioned Black History Program" at 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8. The theme is "We've Come a Long Ways." The program will feature old songs,skits and poetry.

Zsolt Eder and Friends will present a concert featuring the Italian and French Baroque music of Corelli, Couperin, Vivaldi and Monteverdi at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 9, at Grace Episcopal Cathedral, 701S.W. 8th Ave. The concert is part of the cathedral's Great Spaces Music & Arts Series. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for students. Advance tickets are available at http://www.greatspaces.org or at the door.

Creation Club will begin the first of its monthly meetings at 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 9, at Kansas Avenue United Methodist Church, 1029 N. Kansas Ave.

Harveyville United Methodist Church will have a taco salad fundraising dinner from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 14, at Mission Valley High School, 12913 Mission Valley Road near Eskridge. The dinner will take place during the basketball game between Mission Valley and Marais des Cygnes Valley High School. The suggested donation is $8 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under.

Miracle Life Church will have a "Valentine's Sweethearts" dinner and dance at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 14, at the church, 3136 S.E. Minnesota Ave. The cost is $25 for couples and $10 for singles. For reservations or more information, call 785-224-9952, 785-231-8159 or 785-408-8874.

Kansas Avenue United Methodist Church will have its annual chili and vegetable soup supper from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21. The cost is $8 for adults and $3.50 for children 10 and under. The menu includes chili or vegetable soup, relishes, drink and dessert. Carry-out will be available. The dinner is sponsored by the church's New Spirit class.

Doorstep will have its 17th annual Operation Soup Line fundraiser from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25, at the Stormont Vail Events Center Agriculture Hall, near S.W. 17th and Tyler. The cost is $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under. The menu will include chili, chicken tortilla or Portuguese green soup, along with dessert and drink. Local celebrity servers and entertainment will be featured. Delivery will be available for 10 or more meals that are ordered in advance. Call 785-357-5341 for deliveries by Feb. 21. Proceeds will benefit Doorstep, a Topeka social service agency supported by more than 50 local congregations.

Barry Crawford will present a Lenten lecture series on "The Lost Gospels" from 9:30 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. Sundays, March 8, 5 and 22, at First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1701 S.W. Collins.

TobyMac will be the headliner at the "Hits Deep Tour 2020" at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 8, at Sprint Center, 1407 Grand Blvd. in Kansas City, Mo. Also performing will be Tauren Wells, We Are Messengers, Ryan Stevenson, Aaron Cole and Cochren & Co. Ticket prices range from $19 to $135. For more information, visit http://www.sprintcenter.com or call 816-949-7000. Group discounts are available.

Jerry Schemmel, a radio announcer with the Colorado Rockies Major League Baseball team, will be the featured speaker at the 59th annual Kansas Prayer Breakfast at 6 a.m. Wednesday, March 18, at the Ramada Hotel and Convention Center, 420 S.E. 6th Ave. Tickets are $20 each or $200 for a table of 10. Reservations are requested by March 1. For more information, call 785-380-2901 or visit http://www.kansasprayerbreakfast.net.

MercyMe will present its "20/20 Tour" at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 20, at the Silverstein Eye Centers Arena, 19100 E. Valley View Parkway in Independence, Mo. Also featured in the concert will be Jeremy Camp and David Leonard. Tickets range from $30 to $155. For more information, call 800-653-6000 or visit www1.ticketmaster.com.

Bethel Music, Matt Maher, Martin Smith of Delirious?, Unspoken, Apollo LTD, Peabod and Elle Limebear will be featured in "The Roadshow Tour" at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 26, at the Silverstein Eye Centers Arena, 9100 E. Valley View Parkway in Independence, Mo. Tickets are $20 to $65. Family four-packs are available for $99. For more information, call 800-745-3000 or visit http://www.silversteineyecentersarena.com.

The seventh annual Easterfest event is set for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 11, at Garfield Park, 1600 N.E. Quincy. The event will feature a parade at 10 a.m. followed by an Easter egg hunt, a health fair, live music, a petting zoo, vendors, pony rides, face-painting and food trucks. Admission is free.

The annual State of Kansas Holocaust Commemoration Service will take place at 1 p.m. Monday, April 20, at the Ramada Hotel and Convention Center, 420 S.E. 6th Ave. The speaker will be Megan Felt, program director of Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project, which is based in Kansas. Participants will include Kansas clergy, political leaders, choirs and students. A reception will follow the program. Admission is free.

Grammy Award-winning Christian music group Casting Crowns will present its "Only Jesus" tour at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 23, at the Stormont Vail Events Center, near S.W. 19th and Topeka Boulevard. The special guest will be Matthew West. For more information, visit http://www.castingcrowns.com.

Temple Beth Sholom, 4200 S.W. Munson, will have its 55th annual Blintze Brunch from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sunday, April 26.

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Topeka religion roundup: Church to hold hymn-fest with musicians from several local congregations - The Topeka Capital-Journal

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Hull asks to be first UK city to trial universal basic income – The Guardian

Posted: at 2:31 pm

Hull wants to become the first UK city to test a weekly universal basic income for its residents after a cross-party group of councillors formally backed the idea.

The proposal would mean every adult would be paid a basic sum potentially between 50 and 100 a week regardless of income, and do away with the need for welfare.

People receiving disability payments would instead get the equivalent sum in universal basic income (UBI) and there would be higher payments for pensioners and lower sums for children.

The ambitious scheme has been trialled with varying success in Finland, the US and Kenya but the idea has been gaining traction in a number of UK cities, particularly in the north of England.

Matt Jukes, the chief executive of Hull city council, will write to Sajid Javid, the chancellor, to request permission to pilot UBI after winning the backing of councillors last week.

The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, had promised to allow trials of UBI if Labour won last months election, with Liverpool and Sheffield earmarked as two pilot cities. The Conservative government, however, has been less keen on the idea. It said previously that the proposal would not work for those who need more support such as disabled people and those with caring responsibilities.

Sam Gregory, who chairs a UBI lab in Sheffield in support of the scheme, said Hulls backing was an important moment for basic income in the UK. He said: Three major northern cities Liverpool, Sheffield and Hull have now asked to host pilots of this radical new idea, because the Westminster way of doing things has failed these communities for far too long.

Even the Conservative councillors in Hull voted for this motion, saying that they were open-minded about a pilot in the city. We dont know if UBI is the answer, but theres a growing consensus between different political parties that we need to test it out.

UBI trials in Finland, the only advanced economy to pilot a widespread scheme, found that people receiving basic incomes were happier, but they were no better and no worse at finding employment than a control group.

Economists on both left and right have argued for UBI as a source of personal empowerment, providing citizens with more choice over work, education, training, leisure and caring. Others argue that UBI would be too expensive and would be difficult to set at the right level, and believe higher spending on public services would work better.

Jack Haines, a Liberal Democrat councillor on Hull city council, said Britains welfare system was broken and that UBI could be a better way of helping those most in need. He said: Hull is a progressive city and Im proud the Liberal Democrats here as well as the other parties have chosen to try out this new policy, which has the possibility to transform the city and the country.

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Yes, aspiration can be a socialist idea if the left can rid it of its baggage – The Guardian

Posted: at 2:31 pm

There were a few raised eyebrows last week when Rebecca Long-Bailey, at her slick launch event in Manchester, unveiled the cornerstone of her Labour leadership pitch: aspirational socialism. Its fair to say that previous attempts to articulate the two together have failed to convince. Andy Burnham made his own version of aspirational socialism the central pillar of his largely forgotten leadership bid in 2010, though the focus of his proposals was more on individual social mobility than any discernible commitment to socialist transformation.

Long-Baileys vision of aspirational socialism is evidently more substantial, even if it has yet to be fully fleshed out. In her set-piece speech, she criticised the view, widespread in modern politics, of aspiration as mere social climbing helping the more fortunate individuals make their way up the career ladder and leaving it at that. Far from being indifferent to individual self-fulfilment, Long-Baileys aspirational socialism appears to regard collective uplift and the empowerment of working class and marginalised communities as a necessary precondition for it. Her broader point is that socialists aspire (or at least should aspire) to change society decisively for the better, and not simply to fill their own boots.

Still, theres something instinctively jarring about this attempt to reconceptualise socialism as aspiration. Under the New Labour governments, and in the years since then, aspiration has served as a euphemism for catering to the interests of the middle classes over those of people lower down the social hierarchy. Both Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn were often criticised for being out of touch with the aspirations of the upwardly mobile, and for not speaking in a language that would resonate with them. In the wake of Labours 2015 election defeat, for example, Miliband was roundly rebuked for, among other failings, having supposedly done too little to appeal to would-be John Lewis shoppers.

The trouble with this discourse on aspiration is that it doesnt reflect the reality of life in Britain since the financial crisis, whatever relationship it previously bore to it. A survey from the Social Mobility Commission published this week appeared to indicate that social mobility had gone into decline in Britain, with regional inequality a factor; respondents in northern England were more pessimistic about their future prospects than their southern counterparts. Especially among young people stuck in the rental market, talking about aspiration in the old way just sounds like a tasteless joke. Their overriding aspiration is merely to keep their heads above water, and the only mobility theyre experiencing is downward.

Where the Tories once positioned themselves as thrusting torchbearers for aspiration, the actual results of a decade of Tory-led government have made that much more difficult, as Phil Burton-Cartledge has pointed out. Feeble wage growth, runaway house prices and rents, mounting personal debts, the paucity of secure, fulfilling and dignified work, and an increasingly inadequate social safety net have all combined to undermine the aspirations of many who had previously imagined themselves to be on a steady ascent into the ranks of the comfortable middle classes. Thus the Conservative right has been deprived of one of its most potent ideological props, forcing it further down the path of nativism and tawdry culture war.

But even if this sort of individual social mobility were attainable, would it make Britain a fairer, healthier and happier society? The economist Chris Dillow has suggested that prioritising the pursuit of social mobility over that of equality risks lending gaping social inequalities a patina of legitimacy, while piling additional pressure and shame on to those who are unable to make their own way up the ladder.

The odd problematic term has crept into Long-Baileys talk of aspiration she has referred, for instance, to working-class voters aggrieved that other people are getting handouts. But she still approaches it more in terms of social empowerment than individual self-improvement. This aspiration to build collective working-class power has been the guiding inspiration of the British labour movement since its foundation. It is a striving in the face of ferocious opposition, and despite countless defeats and disappointments to give working people greater control over their lives and surroundings, instead of casting them adrift to fend for themselves, and to create the conditions that allow them to reach their full personal, intellectual and creative potential.

In power, however, Labour has tended to function in a more paternalistic mode, with minimal input from those below. As Ralph Miliband put it, Labourism in government (both local and central) has been above all concerned with the advancement of concrete demands of immediate advantage to the working class and organised labour. These have been kept within tightly-drawn boundaries, preventing them from leading in turn to other, potentially more ambitious demands. Long-Baileys emphasis on constitutional reform and economic democracy, and her work under Corbyn as an architect of the green new deal and alternative models of ownership, point to an encouraging understanding of the need to go beyond these limitations, and of the necessity of doing so.

Long-Bailey hopes that in aspirational socialism shes found a way to communicate radical ideas in a media environment largely unreceptive to them, and of signalling to Labours lost voters that she heeds their concerns. But building a genuinely empowering and aspirational socialism would necessitate a distinct break from the partys established traditions of administering palliatives from above. What remains to be seen is whether the ideological baggage attached to aspiration as a term will allow it to be redefined convincingly by the left, and whether this socialist reappropriation of distinctly Blair-era language can be made to cut through. Long-Baileys underlying message is nonetheless correct. Socialism is about transforming society in order to put people in charge of their own lives and what could be more aspirational than that?

Tom Blackburn is a founding editor of New Socialist

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