The Pautz Blazon of Arms

I have always contended that the Pautz family does not have a Blazon of Arms (the formal name for a "Coat of Arms") as our Pomeranian pregenitors were peasant farm labourers, and only the nobility had coats of arms. But a recent look at Wikipedia has made me revisit
the issue:

"The ancient Romans used similar insignia on their shields, but these identified military units rather than individuals. The first evidence of medieval coats of arms is found in the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry in which some of the combatants carry shields painted with crosses. Coats of arms came into general use by feudal lords and knights in battle in the 12th century. By the 13th century, arms had spread beyond their initial battlefield use to become a flag or emblem for families in the higher social classes of Europe, inherited from one generation to the next. Exactly who had a right to use arms, by law or social convention, varied to some degree between countries. In the GERMAN-SPEAKING regions both the aristocracy and "burghers" (non-noble free citizens) used arms, while in most of the rest of Europe they were limited to the aristocracy. The use of arms spread to the clergy, to towns as civic identifiers, and to royally chartered organizations such as universities and trading companies. Flags developed from coats of arms, and the arts of vexillology and heraldry are closely related. The coats of arms granted to commercial companies are a major source of the modern logo."

I have not been able to varify that in the German-speaking regions, regular free "burghers" (citizens, of a town) also used coats of arms, but the idea is an interesting one. All of the Pautz settlers to British Kaffraria (now the Eastern Cape of South Africa) in the 1850's were "Tagelöhner" (Tageloehner) or "day labourers" - the lowest standing in a predominantly agricultural society. But interestingly enough, tagelöhner were free. While the estate labourer on the vast estates, on the whole belonging to titled gentry (and had to get the landlord's permission for every move he wanted to make - "May I marry this girl?" for example), the Tagelöhner, although very poor, was master of his own destiny. This is not worth much if one has not the means to fulfil plans and dreams, but if a Tagelöhner could scrape together the money for the fare to Africa or America, he was free to go. On the other hand, the farmhand, employed by a landlord, and more often than not living in a "tied cottage" (the house goes with the job), had to ask permission to leave. As this was not easily given, many emigrants had to abscond and could only breath a sigh of relief once they were on the ship and sails were set.

So our South African progenitor, Karl August Ferdinand Gottlieb Pautz, was a free man, and MAY have had a Blazon of Arms. However, In my four decades of research through achive material in South Africa, Poland and Germany, I have never seen evidence of this, and have no first-hand (or anecdotal) family references to Arms. So I still doubt whether the family actually has its own Blazon.

The South African Pautzes originated from the towns of Wisbu and Woldenburg in Landkreis Regenwalde in Hinterpommern. Regenwalde was owned by nobility, namely the old Pomeranian family, the von der Ostens, who themselves have an interesting history.

I've been lucky enough to visit the area and the villages a number of times, and it's a beautiful, rural environment with a fascinating (and somethimes tragic) history. Over the past two decades, I have aquired a number of old maps and documents from Hinterpommern and Landkreis Regenwalde which reveal that the most common symbol of Pomerania is the Griffin, so I'd expect there to be a Griffin in the Pautz coat of arms, if it existed.

On my honeymoon in Scotland in 1995, at Loch Ness, I fell into a tourist trap and bought a Pautz Blazon of Arms from a company that claimed to have it on file (Heraldic Art and Design, 36 Swanston Avenue, Inverness, IV3 6QW, Scotland - I've searched, but don't think they exist anymore). They sent it to me in South Africa and this is it...

Utterly boring, seems to be generic, and there's not a Griffin in sight!

Nevertheless, the scroll itself was fairly nice - the artwork was hand painted and the caligraphy, pleasing on the eye...

The accompanying text was interesting:

"The surname Pautz is of Polish origin, though ultimately derived from the ancient Wendish word "pust", Polish "pusty", signifying "swamp, fen" and thus was first applied to a resident in or by such a spot. The place name Bautzen, where a related Slavonic language was spoken until the middle of the eighteenth century, is from the same root and may, in fact, sometimes have given rise to the surname."

By all accounts the family motto is "Pro Patria" (i.e. "for my country") - very ironic, as that was the name of the medal awarded to those of us who fought in the "Border War" in Northern Namibia and Angola in the 1970's. As I said - interesting - but there are no sources or references provived for this information, so someone in Aberdeen could have just sucked it out of his or her thumb!

Back in Pretoria in 1992 I also bought this (cheap, dot-matrix-printed) document from one of those guys in shopping malls. It probably has even less validity than the hard-written and -painted Aberdeen scroll, but here it is for completeness.

It's most likely a load of concocted nonsense (i.e. once again no sources of references cited) but here's the interesting, but probably generic, bit of the text:

"The German surname Pautz can derive from two sources. Firstly, the name is of nickname origin, deriving from a personal or physical characteristic of the original bearer. In this instance, the name derives from the Middle Hight German term "buz" which was interchangeable with the term "puz" (The letters "B" and "P" are interchangeable in German). Puz was literally translated as "small", therefore one of small stature was so named. Nicknames were very common in medieval Europe, they were terms of affection and endearment and they were also functional so that bearers of the same personal name could be easily distinguished. Alternatively, this name can derive from a patronymic source, from the first name of the father. In this case, the name derives from the Old Germanic name Pautz which was a pet form of Paul. The surname was thus denoted as "a son of Paul\Pautz". An early instance of this name occurs in the "Urkunden des Staatsarchivus": one Heinrich Bautz is listed therein in 1474. The "Freiburger Diozesanarchiv" lists one Johann Pautze in 1486."

So - there it is, for what it's worth! Personally, I remain very sceptical about the validity and reliability of the information presented in the two documents, but will continue to hunt for supporting evidence. Hey - at some stage I may formally lodge a coat of arms with the official registry here in the UK, but will certainly get professional heraldic input (and broad family consensus) before doing so!

Cheers, MAlfaRK ©

Somme 100 Brexit

Today is the 100th anniversary of the commencement of the Battle of the Somme in World War I, and I've been listening to an album that has a tenuous link to the horrors of the trenches.

In 1980 The Clash released my favourite triple album of all time, "Sandinista!" I bought it at the Hillbrow Record Centre soon after it was released, while on pass from operational service in the army. I recorded it and the tape accompanied me to Ruacana and M'pacha (in Namibia), where I served out the final year of my national service in South Africa. I played it till my ears bled! Musically it's one of the challenging variations on the Sandinista! album, with The Clash experimenting with Music Hall, one of British music's oldest genres that stretches back to Victorian and Edwardian times. The campy vaudeville elements sound an odd contrast to The Clash's intelegent, reggae-infused Punk Rock. One of the standout song came at the end of side A of album 1/3 and is called "Something About England." I know every word and nuance of the song (which has frequently brought a tear to my eye), and it's particularly relevant today, in post-referendum, low-road Britain.



Take, for example, the opening four lines of the track:

They say immigrants steal the hubcaps

Of respected gentlemen
They say it would be wine an' roses
If England were for Englishmen again

Sounds all too familiar. Structurally, the lyric is a conversation between the narrator (guitarist Mick Jones) and a wistful old tramp (singer Joe Strummer). The first verse cited above is a putdown of lazy racism - higher social classes blaming immigration for a society's ills, which all sounds eerily familiar 36 years on. Because of the musical complexity of the track, and the worry that the first verse may be misinterpreted by right-wing xenophobes in the audience, the song was never performed live.

The tramp's lyrics in "Something About England" are some of the most political and social commentary in The Clash's back catalogue, bemoaning how two World Wars and mass industrialisation still couldn't break down the class system which is at the root of so much disharmony in England. The final verse drags us from the World Wars and the Cold War into the stark reality of Britain in 2016:

The streets were by now deserted
The gangs had trudged off home
The lights clicked off in the bedsits
An' old England was all alone

Damn - I miss music like this. In under four minutes, the eloquent lyric takes you through a century of British history, protests against social ills, sticks one up at the establishment and brings into focus what's happening on the streets around us today. Here's the full lyric for your reading pleasure. Why am I not posting the customary YouTube link? Interesting that. There used to be at least a dozen iterations of the track available on YouTube till recently. But take a look today - the links are there but the message one gets back is that the content is "now blocked in your country". Too incendiary? Too close to the bone? The truth has always hurt, and it still does.

In the absence of a video, here's an audio stream from Vietnam...



Here's the full lyric...

The Clash - "Something About England" (Sandinista! 1980) 

They say immigrants steal the hubcaps
Of respected gentlemen
They say it would be wine an' roses
If England were for Englishmen again

Well I saw a dirty overcoat
At the foot of the pillar of the road
Propped inside was an old man
Whom time would not erode
When the night was snapped by sirens
Those blue lights circled fast
The dance hall called for an' ambulance
The bars all closed up fast

My silence gazing at the ceiling
While roaming the single room
I thought the old man could help me
If he could explain the gloom
You really think it's all new
You really think about it too
The old man coffed as he spoke to me
I'll tell you a thing or two

I missed the fourteen-eighteen war
But not the sorrow afterwards
With my father dead and my mother ran off
My brothers took the pay of hoods
The twenties turned the north was dead
The hunger strike came marching south
At the garden party not a word was said
The ladies lifted cake to their mouths

The next war began and my ship sailed
With battle orders writ'n in red
In five long years of bullets and shells
We left ten million dead
The few returned to old Piccadilly
We limped around Leicester Square
The world was busy rebuilding itself
The architects could not care

But how could we know when I was young
All the changes that were to come?
All the photos in the wallets on the battlefield
And now the terror of the scientific sun
There was masters an' servants an' servants an' dogs
They taught you how to touch your cap
But through strikes an' famine an' war an' peace
England never closed this gap

So leave me now the moon is up
But remember all the tales I tell
The memories that you have dragged up
Are on letters forwarded from hell

The streets were by now deserted
The gangs had trudged off home
The lights clicked off in the bedsits
An' old England was all alone

Cheers, MAlfaRK ©

** Also see Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros **

The Return of Perfidious Albion

June 24, 2016

On the two week run-up to yesterday's referendum in Britain, I posted a few comments to Facebook: 

Just a reminder - don't empower Farage's UKIP on June 23.

The hypocrisy of Brexiteer Boris, who's clearly just working his own political aganda and quest for power. This is what he said in his book just two years ago: "It was his (Churchill’s) idea to bring those countries together, to bind them together so indissolubly that they could never go to war again - and who can deny, today, that this idea has been a spectacular success? Together with Nato the European Community, now Union, has helped to deliver a period of peace and prosperity for its people as long as any since the days of the Antonine emperors.”

£65b takes flight, on for fear that the UK will vote to exit the EU. Thanks Farage and the Brexiteers - there go our pensions

Bloody foreigners - come here; take our jobs! It will be interesting to see what impact Brexit would have on these individuals working in the EU. Back to a ball-reaking yearly work permit process, I expect. Been there; done that, and I don't wish it on anyone! And I have no doubt that leaving the EU would put paid to my dreams of retiring to Portugal one day. All this because we're xenophobic and nationalistic :-( Good grief - it's sounding more like central Europe in the 1920's and 30's. 

No "Project Fear" required. If this mugwump gets the US top job and the UK proletariat elects to self-flagellate by imploding the EU, we're doomed. Fact. The end of the (generally) safe, secure and prosperous world as we know it, and the tipping point for "Western Civilisation". The Barbarians filled the void after the fall of Rome. I have no doubt that history will repeat itself.

Member of Parliament, Jo Cox, was murdred today. This is one of the last links she posted to her Twitter feed. To quote Franklin Medhurst, DFC (RAF 1939-46): "If the nation should fall for this deceit (i.e. voting "leave") I can only conclude that the lives of my comrades – Irish, Scots, Welsh and English – were lost in vain. They will be rattling their bones, wherever in the world they fell, at the loss of the beliefs for which they fought. Britain in Europe will enhance progress to higher values in the greater world; Britain out means a return to the early-20th-century chaos of warring states against each other. I am 96. I remember how far we have come. I know what we stand to lose."

The Times backs Britain remaining in the EU. Bottom line: "staying in may not sound as exhilarating or romantic as a defiant march to Brexit, but it is the better choice for Britain and Europe."

To all those Brexiteers who "want their country back", PLEASE read this eloquent piece. There is a reason that most of the people who want to leave the EU are old while those who want to remain are young: it’s because the young aren’t infected with "Bisto nostalgia" and have enjoyed a good life in the EU...

Welcome home Tim Peake - great job :-) "So a British man has just returned from space. He never would have got there if it hadn't of been for the incredible work of people from over a dozen countries working in collaboration and co-operation over the past few decades. That work means we have the ISS, a permanently manned outpost in space doing essential research in preserving the future of our species and it's been there for nearly twenty years. As a basis of comparison, China, who have worked solo on manned spaceflight since the 60's, only launched their first man into space FIVE years after the ISS launched. It's not a perfect analogy by any stretch but it highlights how much better, more effective and stronger countries can be by working together rather than seeking isolationism. Tim Peake would have never got to space if we had just made a spitfire out of sauce pans and iron gates and tried to will it to escape the clutches of Earth's gravity by shouting 'Rule Britannia' at it as loudly as possible. Which I'm sure would be Farage's et al preferred method." (Sam Pike 2016-06-18) Vote "remain" on June 23...

Today, in town, I was approached by a "leave" campaigner, peddling her message of hate and xenophobia. When I proved anything but receptive, she took a different tack and started quoting the Bible. Apparently Brexit is God's will and the European Union is the new Tower of Babel that The Lord is going to bring down. I went ballistic, and apparently one day I'm going to have to account to this Creationist's invisible friend. The ultimate fear tactic. The lunatics have taken over the asylum. Vote "remain" to stay in the EU on June 23.

John Oliver was excellent last night, summing up the situation really well. 
 
Boris Johnson, the opportunist who was a staunch "remain" supporter only a few months ago, has descended to such a pathetic level of politicking that not even his father support his point of view. If Johnson doen't have the backing of a parent (who probably understands his intentions better than most), he's clearly lost the argument.

A vote to leave the EU is a vote for "separate development". In South Africa that same philosophy became the foundation of Apartheid. Sure, this is a different time and place, but only yesterday this poster appeared on the streets of Britain, demonising hundreds of desperate refugees including hungry, terrified children fleeing from the terror of Isis and Russian bombs. It's a slippery slope. Distrust the Brexit isolationists on June 23...

A Brexit could feasibly take us back to a situation similar to 1967 when, following a 14% devaluation in Sterling, Harold Wilson famously declared that “the pound in your pocket has not been devalued.” But the British people disagreed with him, quickly noticing that the cost of imports and foreign holidays were rising sharply and that their true living standards were going down. Meanwhile financial speculators, back then called the "Gnomes of Zurich", were making large profits at Britain’s expense. I watched this video with a depressing sense of premonition. Today the speculative forces in the markets much bigger and more powerful, so don't let this happen again - vote to "remain" in the European Union on June 23

Why would anyone in the UK ignore global leaders, most expert opinion and now 1,285 business leaders? Simply to feel that you're a "true libertarian" and enjoy giving two fingers to “The Man?" Sure, it's nice to vote with your heart, and it's easy to soak up the thumb-sucked ra-ra of the "remain" camp's vapourware. Making the case for the status quo (with actual data) is less glamorous and alluring, but decisions of this enormity need to be taken with the head and not the heart. The hard facts are that Brexit would damage Britain’s economy and therefore each and every one of us. Smaller businesses and employers would be particularly vulnerable to any economic shock as a result of an "out" vote as Britain leaving would mean uncertainty, less trade and fewer jobs. The terms of trade between Britain and its European market would have to be reset “from scratch” in the event of a Brexit, and that's just insane. But, sadly, logic gets swept under the carpet in minds where nationalism, xenophobia and isolationism run deep. The referendum has forced people to reveal their true colours, and it's been disturbing to get a glimpse of a dark, heartless and intolerant side of Britain that would have been at home in Germany of the '30's and South Africa of the '70's. The "leave" campaign's Project Hate has been destructive, and I personally can't wait to put this turbulent time behind us. Tomorrow, please use your head and vote to "remain" in the European Union.

For Britain to stand alone against the forces of evil in 1940 was heroic. For Britain to choose to stand alone among friends in 2016 is incomprehensible. Is almost 50% of this generation saying they'd rather throw in the towel than tackle the bureaucracy and frustrations of Europe head on? Times sure have changed and their brave ancestors, who were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for Europe, must be spinning in their graves. Who would ever have though that we'd see the day where instead of "fighting them on the beaches and never surrendering", Britain would be standing on the verge of giving up an important fight for change and reform (and essentially renouncing our British values of cooperation, mutual respect and tolerance) because we don't like EU regulations that govern the power of our kettles, the suction power of our vacuum cleaners and the number of fellow Europeans coming to our island? If this is the case then Little Britain will get the bleak future it deserves. Vote to "remain" in the European Union on June 23, and keep Britain Great.

Boris Johnson. For years I backed him as Mayor of London, and enjoyed his apparent eccentricity. Before the start of the referendum campaign I would have supported him as a future successor to Cameron as leader of the Conservatives. But after the past month of campaigning, I see him for what he really is - an opportunistic, xenophobic, nationalist, isolationist who's clearly putting personal ambition before the national interest. Nope. "It'll all be okay and we'll make it up as we go back to the future" is not going to work for me I'm afraid. Pass.

Readers in the UK. On Thursday when you vote, think who and what you are aligning yourself with. If you choose to align yourself with "leave" - which includes a significant proportion of Conservative xenophobes and racists, and all of UKIP and their doctrine of hate - that's fine. But then could I please ask those that feel they're voting "out" purely in pursuit of some form of unbridled liberty and freedom (good grief - that sounds very Haight-Ashbury, doesn't it?) regardless of who’s in that camp to please burn that old libertarian banner and acknowledge your slip to the dark side, and descent into creeping nationalism. Also be aware that some insensitive souls may henceforth brand you a xenophobic, isolationist, navel-gazer by your association with the likes of Farage and his cohorts. Looks like a xenotard, sounds like a xenotard, smells like a xenotard, votes like a xenotard must be a xenotard! Ha-ha! Have a good day everyone and remember, patriots looks outward and forward while nationalists look inward and backwards. We are stronger, safer add better off together. Vote to "remain" in the European Union! Peace :-)

In light of this morning's referendum results, I posted the following short message and video clip:

The country defers to lowest common denominator and elects to become Little England. The tabloids win. Perfidious Albion returns. Farewell pension. Brexit supporters - please let me know when to expect Kristallnacht...



But my old frien K.F. summed it up better than I ever could...

Little Britain has just condemned Great Britain to a path of steady decline to insignificance. I'll bet there are more than a few exit strategies being planned as the intelligentsia and wealthy plan to abandon this sinking ship. I'll bet there will be several million red faces when they soon realize they have been hoodwinked into betraying their children.

A sad day for the world, the European Union, Great Britain, my wife and I, and (most of all) my son. I'm sorry my boy - I did all I could.

Sincerely, MAlfaRK ©

The Referendum & the Descent to Little Britain

At Euro 2016 we've seen flag carrying English jingoism at war with Russian thugs while stunned tourists watched in horror as England fans bellowed out: “F**k off Europe we’re all voting out.” This is probaby a microcosm of the referendum next week that boils down to nationalist isolationism versus cosmopolitan internationalism.

I have spent much of my life working internationally and all of the European friends and former-colleagues with whom I have spoken in recent months would prefer Britain staying in the EU to shape a better Europe together. Thomas Mair, the man who murdered Labour MP (and "remain" campainer) Jo Cox, repeatedly shouted “Britain First!” as he gunned her down in the street yesterday and then stabbed her again and again. These were his only words during the attack - “Britain First!” For those unfamiliar with the organisation, Britain First is a neo-Nazi party thinly disguised. Their aims and opinions are racist, xenophobic, homophobic and nationalist.

Mair is believed to have had long-term links with a hard-right group based in London which had been campaigning for many years for Britain to leave the European Union and was named as a supporter in an online publication of the Springbok Club, an organisation which has defended the white supremacist apartheid regime in South Africa. So, good old South African nationalism (a.k.a. Apartheid) has come home to roost in the campaign to "leave" Europe. Charming.

If "(heaven or) hell is other people", I personally choose to work (and drink a beer or two) together with my European friends in peace rather than sit in a little, flag-draped, north-Atlantic island, waiting alone and friendless for the violent assault of further extremists. And please don't tell me that you still think voting for UKIP and the racist Nigel Farage on June 23 is a good idea.




* With full credit to Toby Woolrych whose original LinkedIn posting I've clearly plagiarised. It was Toby's observations, yesterday's tragic events and this morning's revelations in the media that got me fired up to quickly knock this out.

Thoughts on Britain’s EU Referendum

"Brexit" - the potential British exit from the European Union. I'm not an economist or a political analyst, just a normal bloke trying to make sense of it all in the run-up to probably one of the most important decisions of my life. I’m quickly knocking out this (admittedly, not very eloquent piece) in an attempt to contribute to the debate and to make a difference. But if the country does elect to leave the EU, I’m also committing my thoughts to paper so that I will be able to look my son in the eyes in 20 years’ time when, surveying the state of the world, he asks “What did you do to try and stop Brexit?” At least I’ll have something to show him.

It's clear that Britain is still massively misinformed on the EU and we are now sitting on the event horizon of a permanent Brexit through tabloid-led ignorance. All great civilizations have played a part in their own destruction and, sadly, I think we are seeing it starting to play out in our lifetime in the UK and USA. And this is not "Project Fear" fear scaremongering, just pragmatism. If Donald Trump gets the US top job and the UK proletariat elects to self-flagellate by imploding the EU, we're basically doomed. Fact. It'll be the end of the (generally) safe, secure and prosperous world as we know it.

Here are some further thoughts on the subject, and why I will choose to remain in the European Union on June 23, 2016.




A New Dark Age

For the past decade or so I've been considering the possibility that the planet is entering a new Dark Age. The Age of Reason is in danger of gradually shifting into reverse, while the culture of “whatever” – listen to Trump repeatedly declaring "I don't care" – is on the rise. Society is clearly obsessed with fame, celebrity and trivia while serious achievements take second place. Where in my generation youngsters aspired to be scientists or astronauts, these days the answer to the question “what would you like to be when you grow up?” is now simply: “famous”. Allied to this, social mobility is on the decline, the rich are getting richer and urbanisation has produced a class of social losers. A recent survey revealed that soon the one percent richest people’s wealth would be higher than what the rest of mankind possessed!

Freedom of thought (essential in the pursuit of reason) has been castrated and generations of children are now poisoned by excessive political correctness. How frequently do you hear people saying “I’m not supposed to think that, am I?”, or “Of course, you're not allowed to say that are you?” Growing theist dogmatism has exacerbated this situation and resulted in religious polarisation and the rise of extremism, militantism, fanaticism and terrorism. Thanks to the likes of Osama Bin Laden and George W. Bush, Islam is rising and the Christians are mobilising. However, it's not Iron Age dogma but reason that will lead us to truth, and the pursuit of truth has been the driving force behind progress since the Enlightenment. We cannot afford to abandon these principles now and need to expose theist (and other) dogma for what it is at every opportunity. A modern, tolerant and secular society does not have to be a valueless society. Values are codified by religions, not invented by them (The Telegraph).

Much of the West appears to have become addicted to a vacuous, virtual world - separated from other humans, but "linked" to a communications device. People enrolled in this far-from-natural world become insensitive, even callous, when confronted with fellow human beings’ suffering. Those who have grown up in the digital age have desensitised to the point that they do not seem to be phased by violence, cruelty, and terrorism and appear to be unable to judge these acts from a human perspective. A generation has detached from reality. As disturbing is the growing denial of science that I've observed over the past decade or so and the increasing prevalence of counter-culture, superstition, conspiracy beliefs, alternative medicine and magical thinking, as opposed to reasoning, rationality, logic, and scientifically demonstrated reality. It is the latter that distinguishes Dark Age thinking from modern thinking (Huffington Post). One can only begin to imagine the rapid slide into a new Dark Age should the vacuous billionaire celebrity, Donald Trump, become President of a country that glorifies guns and blames almost everything from climate change to train wrecks on gay marriage. And that country happens to have a military machine larger than the rest of the world combined, and is custodian of the planet's mightiest stockpile of nuclear weapons. The future does not seem bright.

Bottom line. I feel that we're falling into the abyss of a new Dark Age where nationalism, populism, and xenophobia rules the world order in a sinister combination of fanaticism, ignorance, and anti-science. We're at the tipping point for "Western Civilisation". The Barbarians filled the void after the fall of Rome. I have no doubt that history will repeat itself should we see a Trump-Brexit perfect storm tossed into this volatile mix.
These thoughts on the bigger picture should provide some context to my opinions on Brexit.





Nationalism & Isolationism

I grew up in a totalitarian, theist pseudo-democracy blighted by nationalism and that had isolationism at its core. The nationalist government of my youth was right wing, conservative and racist. Like the Brexit camp, their mantra was one of separate development. That country was South Africa and their policies became known as “apartheid”. I escaped that country and regime as soon as I was able and remade my life in Europe. We're having this EU referendum in Britain today purely in response to the rise of nationalism in the UK, and the threat of Nigel Farage’s UK Independence Party. A vote to “leave” will empower UKIP and the thought of that scenario leaves me with an uncomfortable sense of déjà vu. I've lived through that before, and it was not good.

The contention that Britain needs to "embrace full sovereignty or be subjugated by a bunch of European bureaucrats" is thinking rooted in the 19th century. In the 21st century, the world is connected, everything is interdependent, strength lies in unity, alliances and power blocks, and decisions are made together, with and through alliance partners. It is ironic that the once largest colonial power in the world is even considering the puffed-chest nationalist isolationism that our distant ancestors last witnessed. More recently North Korea and Russia have tried to make that work, so why would Britain want to move that direction, empowering the likes of Nigel Farage? The old 19th century idea of sovereignty is long gone, and we no longer live in splendid isolation, lording it over our conquered colonies, sending dispatches by sailing ship and forked sticks. Everything we do as individuals and nations today is tied in to a more complex bigger picture, and thrives on a network of instant data and global communications. Adapt to it or lose out. If Britain decides to try and go it alone, the latter is the likely outcome.

Why Britain would want to run away from the largest trading block in the world is beyond me. In its past it successfully took on (inter alia) the Spanish armada, Napoleon, India, the Zulus, the Boers and the Nazis, but it can't stand on its own two feet in a European alliance? Come on! Brexit would be wimping out - Perfidious Albion making its escape. Great Britain is no longer the mighty colonial power that it was in the Victoria era. Two ruinous World Wars, sparked by nationalism, sunk the empire and brought the nation to its knees, crippling her financially and wiping out generations of talent. But with determination, tenacity, ship loads of immigrants and partnership alliances, the little island has maintained its status in the world and worked to bring European countries together, to bind them together so indissolubly that they could never go to war again. And now we're considering leaving the union that created the peaceful and privileged life we currently live? I'm flabbergasted. We cannot forget the past and need to learn the lessons of the 20th century.





Unity & Consistency

By nature, I subscribe to behavioural “Theory Y” - I believe that people are inherently good and that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. As far as I'm concerned, in the 21st century European countries are stronger together and our prosperity in Britain is linked directly to that. I believe that what we're witnessing (primarily in England) is simply the rise of xenophobic nationalism, reminiscent of central Europe in the 1920's and 30's. Interesting to note that the majority of former South Africans I've spoken with in the UK support the “leave” campaign. Not surprising that many of these individuals left SA after Nelson Mandela’s release, to escape the country's first, democratically elected (and predominantly black) government.

Most of the men in this group are proud of their service in the apartheid-era South African Defence Force, fighting for their country and flag and wearing the old SA coat of arms with pride. Ironic that the motto on that old coat of arms was “Unity is Strength / Eendrag maak Mag.” So am I right in saying that they’ve now changed their minds then and that unity is actually a weakness? Maybe the expat South African pale-male has conveniently changed its spots, dancing instead to Farage’s nationalistic tune. Old xenophobic habits die hard, I guess, and the defunct idea of "separate development" still runs deep.

I left South Africa in the apartheid years to get away from self-serving, narrow-minded xenophobes, and it's disturbing to see people like those kindling their old prejudices in an open and accommodating country like Britain. Furthermore, with their South African backgrounds, these same individuals are themselves part of Farage's “bloody foreigner” problem in the UK. They’ve come here and taken British jobs, put their kids into British schools and exploited the National Health Service...and now they’re supporting a Brexit vote that would deny other, mostly needier, refugees the same opportunity they had. That's just self-centred and wrong. But unfortunately nationalist's tend to gravitate to a behavioural paradigm opposite to my own, namely "Theory Y" - people are inherently bad - at the expense of all else. Especially if they are “different” people.

One final thought here. Imagine a world with President Trump and the subsequent crumbling of the unifying "special relationship" between the USA and the UK. Then imagine Britain consciously deciding to leave the EU, undermining the Union and watching it all come undone as the economic shock wave ripples around the world. What are people thinking? The fall of the Western World will make the fall of Rome look like a picnic!





Skin in the Game

Members of my South African family took up arms and fought for Queen Victoria, King George V, King George VI and the people of the United Kingdom. My extended family has spilt a lot of blood for Europe, and our genes fill war graves across the continent. Given the ultimate sacrifices they made, how could I not be part of a unified Europe? The fallen include, inter alia:

• Private William Albert Pautz (1897-1918) – St. Omer, France
• Elisabeth Pautz (1913-1944) – Berlin, Germany
• Gefreiter Ernst Pautz (1910-1942) – Pulawy, Poland
• Obergefreiter Ernst Pautz (1911-1943) – Petrowskogo/Woroschilowgrad - Ukraine
• Soldat Ernst Pautz (1915-1945) – unknown location, Eastern Europe
• Flieger Ernst August Karl Pautz (1920-1941) – Siauliai, Lithuania
• Obergefreiter Erwin Pautz (1920-1943) - Snamenka b. Nikopol, Ukraine
• Franz Pautz (1882-1920) – Berlin, Germany
• Gefreiter Friedrich Pautz (1908-1942) – Poselok, Russia
• Unteroffizier Helmut Pautz (1914-1940) – Berlin, Germany
• Schütze Herbert Pautz (1922-1943) – Kiev, Ukraine
• Jäger Herbert Pautz (1923-1942) – St. Petersburg, Russia
• Gefreiter Hermann Pautz (1926-1946) – Kowel, Ukraine
• Feldwebel Hugo Pautz (1914-1942) – Zemena, Russia
• Reservist Johann Pautz (xxxx-1915) – Bouillonville, France
• Gefreiter Karl Pautz (xxxx-1918) – Bouligny, France
• Gefreiter Karl Pautz (1909-1942) – Wenzy, Russia
• Stabsgefreiter Karl Pautz (1914-1944) – Scwarpen, Russia
• Schütze Kurt Fritz Franz Pautz (1923-1942) - Poltawa, Ukraine
• Gefreiter Kurt Hermann Georg Pautz (1919-1943) – Saporoskje, Ukraine
• Otto Pautz (1902-1943) – Stalingrad, Russia
• Gefreiter Otto Robert Ernst Pautz (1907-1943) – Ljubotin, Ukraine
• Schütze Reinhold Pautz (1904-1946) – Korosten, Ukraine
• Unteroffizier Richard Pautz (xxxx-1917) - St.Laurent-Blangy, France
• Sofia Pautz (xxxx-xxxx) – Cologne, Germany
• Gefreiter Wilhelm Pautz (xxxx-1917) – Lafrimbolle, France
• Wilhelm Pautz (1874-1945) – Struer, Denmark
• Obergefreiter Wilhelm Pautz (1914-1940) – Bourdon, France
• Stabsgefreiter Willi Pautz (1915-1945) – Gdynia, Poland
• Obergefreiter Willi Pautz (1923-1943) – Orlowka, Russia

With the exception of the first person on this list (my great-uncle, William Albert Pautz, who was mortally wounded at Messines Ridge while fighting for the South African Scottish regiment in 1918) I have no idea how any of these individuals are linked to me. But we share an uncommon surname, and our family trees are therefore likely to merge in Pomerania at some distant time. There are many more names that I need to add to this incomplete list of war dead. But even this short list of 30 individuals I take very personally. Europe must never tear itself (and the world) apart again. Britain needs to stay in the European Union to help ensure that.





Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Who to Trust

I quite liked Boris Johnson before the start of the referendum campaign. Sadly he's revealed himself as a hypocrite on a quest for power, who's clearly just working his own political agenda. This is what he said in his book just two years ago: "It was his (Churchill’s) idea to bring those countries together, to bind them together so indissolubly that they could never go to war again - and who can deny, today, that this idea has been a spectacular success? Together with Nato the European Community, now Union, has helped to deliver a period of peace and prosperity for its people as long as any since the days of the Antonine emperors.” And now he's u-turned a full 180 degrees. He's a self-centred opportunist who's torn the Conservative Party apart.

As he has repeatedly expressed support for remaining part of the union and rejecting Brexit, Boris Johnson is clearly putting personal ambition before the national interest. By all accounts, initially he did not want to be the Brexit frontman and was quoted as saying: “The trouble is, I am not an ‘outer’.” Only four year ago he said: “If we get to this campaign, I would be well up for trying to make the positive case for some of the good things that have come from the single market” and in February this year in his column in the Daily Telegraph he was making the case for the EU. Tory MP Nicholas Soames (the grandson of Winston Churchill) has said: "Whatever my great friend Boris decides to do I know that he is NOT an outer." But he is the stereotypical Perfidious Albion personified.

Nigel Farage is an old school xenophobe who has built a party based on fear or dislike of other cultures and beliefs. It's because of him and the rise of nationalism and the UK Independence Party that David Cameron felt compelled to call a referendum on Britain's EU membership in the first place. He's not the sharpest arrow in the quiver. Farage recently said that if we leave the EU we'll have a smaller pharmaceutical industry and that'll be good for alternative medicine! Oh good grief - so the homeopathic industry, and associated new Dark Age quackery, are going to pull us out of the economic pit that Brexit will put us in. Phew - thank goodness for that!! He should just crawl back into his hole...or slink off to the apartheid laager in Orania where he’d feel quite at home.





In the real world, “actuality” carries more weight than “potentiality”. So even though one may dislike all politicians and distrust everything that comes out of their mouths, I think it would be prudent to give more credibility to the Prime Minister’s (and all living former Prime Ministers’) views as they are the people who’ve actually sat at the top table, thrashing out issues with other heads of state. To a man, they are backing the “remain” campaign…as is the leader of the opposition. It’s easy for those in the “leave” camp to make claims about the EU and its intentions but, quite honestly, it’s just as easy to dismiss their contentions and promises as they’ve not been at the front line, fighting for Britain. They are just hot air, dreams and political opportunism. I prefer to put my trust in the first-hand experience of David Cameron, Gordon Brown, Tony Blair and John Major all of whom actually know what they’re talking about. But “out” conspiracy theorists will no doubt "not care" and disagree. Such is life at the dawn of the new Dark Age.
Sadly, a vote to leave the EU on June 23 will be a vote to empower Farage and UKIP. If this happens, one scenario pans out something like this:

• Britain votes to leave Europe.
• David Cameron's position will be untenable and he will be ousted as Prime Minister.
• Boris Johnson will step in to fill the vacuum till the next election.
• Nigel Farage and his protest party have been banging the Brexit drum for over a decade and that's been their only agenda. If the UK votes to leave the EU, many of these voters will come back to the Tory right, personified by Boris Johnson.
• As a consequence, the Conservative Party will be further split as many members will not wish to be associated with xenophobes and racists.
• This, allied with the fact the Johnson's government will not be able to deliver on most of the promises they made during the referendum campaign, will see the Tories ousted in the 2020 elections. The economy is also likely to be in free-fall at that time, and the Conservative Party is likely to face a crushing defeat.
• Labour will be voted in, and Prime Minister Corbyn will be leading the country by the end of May 2020.

That's terrifying. Imagine Corbin trying to deal with Putin, President Trump and negotiating trade deals around the world. No. Please. No! Vote "remain!"





The Economy

The Brexit camp are beginning to sound like a broken record, constantly banging on about sovereignty, in the context of putting up walls and keeping Johnny Foreigner out. But there's so much more at stake in this referendum, including Britain's status in the world and the prosperity and security it gains through being many multinational companies' gateway to the EU. If Britain pulls out of Europe, many of these countries will surely pull out of Britain and relocate to the Continent. And if we withdraw from the single market, it's going to take many years to negotiate and put new trading agreements in place. Britain is a trading country so, from a business perspective, the prospect of a Brexit is too dreadful to contemplate. If only its supporters weren't so short-sighted and xenophobic to see that! Essentially Brexit would be the economic equivalent of quitting your job because you think you can get it back minus all the parts you don't like. In other words, it's a fantasy.

There was recently an interesting comment in The Guardian regarding how long it would take the UK to negotiate trade deals afresh in the aftermath of a leave vote: “It is very difficult to predict. Russia’s accession to the WTO took 20 years. Other negotiations happened faster. It will be a very high risk bet to hope that negotiations would be quickly completed and that negotiations would be uneventful.”
Likewise, there was a worrying headline in The Telegraph - just the prospect of Brexit saw £65 bn flight from the U.K. in just two months. According to Sky News on the same evening, £1.3m was leaving the country per minute! This is on a par with the money departing the economic system at the height of the financial crisis in 2009.

Sadly, Brexiteers seem to subscribe to the aforementioned culture of “whatever” and simply put their heads in the sand while poo-pooing impact assessments by the most eminent individuals, organisation, heads of state, the current and former Prime Ministers. They paint all of this as part of a "Project Fear" conspiracy while peddling their own "Project Lies." Just a couple of months ago, Brexit front man, Boris Johnson, supported remaining in the EU, and with his slide to Farage's right, he's clearly putting his Prime Ministerial ambitions before the national interest.





Brexit - the (Sarcastic) Upside

In conclusion, and with tongue firmly in cheek, let’s try to distil some of the positives outcomes if Britain leaves the EU:

• Firstly, we'll be able to control our own borders. The French, for example, are currently doing us a favour by allowing UK Customs & Immigration to operate on their side of the Channel as opposed to ours. Once we leave the EU, France will no longer have to be Mr. Nice Guy. It will be great when they close down the Sangatte refugee camp and move border controls from Calais to Dover. It's going to be fantastic to manage the refugees ourselves - it'll create jobs, will be good for Dover's economy and nightlife, and at least we won't have too many dinghies and dead bodies washing up on Kent’s pristine, white beaches.
• As we'll no longer be part of the club, Spain will no longer have to treat Gibraltar with kid gloves. Once we're out, they can lay siege to The Rock before reclaiming it. That will save Britain Billions of Pounds per annum that we can then pump into the NHS...and hopefully get rid of all the bloody foreigners working there.
• While we're at it, fuck it, give the Malvinas to Argentina. The billions that'll save the country per annum, can be used to fill the holes in our decimated post-Brexit economy, and to buy all that razor wire we'll need to keep Dover fenced off.
• Oh - and leaving the EU will trigger another referendum in Scotland, and this time they will vote to leave the United Kingdom. At last Little Britain becomes a reality! And with all the money saved, we can rebuild Hadrian's Wall and cover some of the additional import duties we'll be paying on all goods coming to our little island from the Continent.
• As our only land border with the EU, we can build a big mother-fucking Trump wall between the North and the Republic of Ireland. Sovereignty, baby! Keep the back door locked. One of Rome’s great last acts of folly before it imploded was to erect Hadrian’s Wall between the province of Britannia and the barbarians of Scotland. It was Hadrian's wish to keep "intact the empire", which had been imposed on him via "divine instruction". Sounds eerily like Trump and the bible-bashing GOP, doesn’t it?
• At last the UK will be able to revert to the metric system! Being out of the EU means we no longer have to stick two fingers up to the bloody Europeans by hanging on to ancient Roman imperial units. Won't it be great to be able to talk about a car's 0-100 performance and Kilowatts as opposed to horsepower? Whoever understood that 0-60 nonsense anyway! And I have no idea how tall I am in yards, feet and inches or how many stones I weigh. It's going to be great to move Britain up into the 19th Century.

Viva-Brexit-Viva!
Not...



Vote “remain” on June 23
Let’s stay firmly “In” the European Union.

Cheers, MAlfaRK ©

The Beaten Generation

Viva Umkhonto!

During the course of 2015 I recommissioned my 21st birthday present from my father – a Micro Seiki MB-14ST that I brought over to the UK from my mom’s place in South Africa. I’ve also been slowly bringing over my collection of vinyl albums, meticulously selected and acquired, and lovingly cared for between the early-70’s and the late-80’s. They’ve also been stashed away at my mom’s place, protected from the elements in plastic sleeves and stored in bespoke cases holding about 50 albums apiece. Over the course of the past few months I’ve been playing some of the gems in my collection, and it’s been very rewarding to reconnect with my past. Both the good and the “interesting”.

On one of our trips to Europe in the late-80’s my future wife and I made our regular pilgrimage to the music stores, including WOM (World of Music) in Germany. It was here (in which city, I don’t recall) that I bought the LP "Viva Umkhonto!" a compilation of punk and hardcore music that featured previously unreleased material by European and US bands. The record was released in April 1987 as a collaborative effort by two independent labels, namely Mordam Records (USA) and De Konkurrent (Holland), both of whom were strong backers of the struggle against Apartheid. According to a statement on the back of the sleeve, “All money raised by this record goes to Umkhonto We Sizwe”. So this was a benefit album for the military wing of the ANC (African National Congress).

For context, allow me to turn to Wikipedia:

“Umkhonto We Sizwe (abbreviated as MK, Zulu for "Spear of the Nation") was the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), co-founded by Nelson Mandela in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre. Its founding represented the conviction in the face of the massacre that the ANC could no longer limit itself to nonviolent protest; its mission was to fight against the South African government. After warning the South African government in June 1961 of its intent to resist further acts of terror if the government did not take steps toward constitutional reform and increase political rights, MK launched its first attacks against government installations on 16 December 1961. It was subsequently classified as a terrorist organisation by the South African government and the United States, and banned”.

The album itself was definitely banned in South Africa and so possessing it was illegal. I took it into the country through Jan Smuts Airport (subsequently known as “Johannesburg International” and now, “O.R. Tambo International”) on my return from my trip to Europe and kept it safely tucked away in the belly of the beast in South Africa's capital city, Pretoria.

In June 1986, on the tenth anniversary of the Soweto uprising, the Nationalist regime declared State of Emergency. It forbade any action that could undermine the Apartheid state, nationwide. Also forbidden were any kind of “subversive statements”, defined as statements that promoted unlawful strikes, boycotts or civil disobedience, attacked military conscription, promoted disinvestment or sanctions, or that “aggravated feelings of racial hostility”. The penalty for engaging in these actions was a maximum of ten years imprisonment. Ouch - I definitely did not want to be caught with this album!

Of the people detained under these draconian regulations (circa-8,000 in the first couple of months) no names were published with the exception of those released at the discretion of the South African Police. Throughout the State of Emergency, newspapers had to engage in self-censorship, at the risk of being closed down by the government, and many used to print disclaimers alongside their articles that read” “This report has been restricted to comply with the Emergency Regulations”.

Some newspapers and magazines were not able to appear, and no news came out of the black townships, except through the state’s Bureau of Information. At the time I stuck stickers on the front of my television screen and computer monitor that read “SABC News is Biased” just to remind myself to be vigilant about government disinformation.

The music on the compilation album is okay, but it’s the packaging and presentation that I really enjoyed as a snapshot of the times, and as an interesting piece of social history. Along with the record were included a poster and a booklet filled with newspaper clippings and ANC propaganda about the armed struggle against Apartheid.

It also highlights companies that were breaking economic sanctions by continuing to do business with South Africa. The “Throw Well – Throw Shell” slogan is parody of oil the giant’s official marketing tag-line at the time, namely “Go Well – Go Shell”. I have uploaded a scan of this booklet to my DropBox.

I’m not going to comment on the accuracy or veracity of the information in the booklet, but in those turbulent times – under a state of emergency, with broad media censorship and where owning certain music could earn you a jail sentence – it was thrilling to see what people abroad were thinking and to read material that was not towing the official National Party line.

With the benefit of hindsight, it’s fascinating to see how right Matt Johnson was back in 1989 (The The – “Mind Bomb”). Although he wasn’t talking about South Africa, per se, when he sang that we were the “beaten generation, reared on a diet of prejudice and misinformation”, he pretty much hit the nail on the head. Prejudice and misinformation were weapons in the arsenal on both sides of the struggle in South Africa. I was one of the few pale South Africans to have the privilege of being exposed to both sides of that deformed coin.

When you cast your eyes upon the skylines
Of this once proud nation
Can you sense the fear and the hatred
Growing in the hearts of its population
And our youth, oh youth, are being seduced
By the greedy hands of politics and half truths

The beaten generation, the beaten generation
Reared on a diet of prejudice and mis-information
The beaten generation, the beaten generation
Open your eyes, open your imagination

We're being sedated by the gasoline fumes
And hypnotized by the satellites
Into believing what is good and what is right
You may be worshiping the temples of mammon
Or lost in the prisons of religion
But can you still walk back to happiness
When you've nowhere left to run?

The beaten generation, the beaten generation
Reared on a diet of prejudice and mis-information
The beaten generation, the beaten generation
Open your eyes, open your imagination

And if they send in the special police
To deliver us from liberty and keep us from peace
Then won't the words sit ill upon their tongues
When they tell us justice is being done
And that freedom lives in the barrels of a warm gun

The beaten generation, the beaten generation
Reared on a diet of prejudice and mis-information
The beaten generation, the beaten generation
Open your eyes, open your imagination

If you'd like to take a listen to "Viva Umkhonto!" I've found a ripped copy of the LP available for download here.

Cheers, MAlfaRK ©

My Death

1974. I'd spent summer in Europe with my parents. My first trip out of Africa. I already owned David Bowie's "Pin Ups" and a SA-only double album release called "Superstar" when I saw the posters for "Diamond Dogs" all over London. It had just been released a month earlier. When we got back to Pretoria I bought the record. My first concept album and one that had me glued to my father's new B&O hi-fi for more hours than I went to school, with Beyer Dynamic headphones keeping me coddled, safe in my own little, private world. Another world, light-years from Apartheid South Africa. "Makes you feel important and free."

I poured over the gatefold sleeve, soaked up every word, every note, every Orwellian innuendo, wallowing in the Moog, Mellotron, guitars and saxophones. Rebel Rebel in my own bedtime. Like many of his other works, "Diamond Dogs" became indelibly burned into my subconscious, and was also the album that marked the deepening of my voice and the transition to clumsy, shy, introverted adolescence. The journey to manhood would not be a smooth one. But I was in good hands. Bowie struck a chord with the freaks, the outsiders and the alienated. In 1974 he symbolized impossible glamour and an aspiration for the future. He made socially uncomfortable people like me feel cool. Bowie became mine. "Halloween Jack is a real cool cat."

Listening to "Diamond Dogs" this evening with adult ears I'm reminded what a dark piece of work it really is. It certainly isn’t an entry point for Bowie, but an album you love only after you’ve already begun an affair with his music. My music.

So (and at the risk of sounding trite) I lost a piece of myself today. But, hell, I travelled with David Bowie for over four decades and had the privilege of seeing him in concert on four occasions. Over the years his lyrics have become my vocabulary and his songs, milestones in my life. So although the great man may have shuffled off his mortal coil, he will live on in me, forever. He's a part of me. He is me. And I'm grateful.

In mourning, MAlfaRK ©

News Guy Wept & Told Us...

06h30 this morning. I was awake. Strange, as I'd only got to bed four hours earlier.

But it was then that the musical soundtrack of the first 55 years of my life came to an end. David Bowie died in New York after an 18 month fight with cancer. A redwood falls. I bought my first Bowie album in 1973 and my last one three days ago. A lifetime, but I never thought of Bowie as being old. He remained current up to the moment of his death.

Although his lasting legacy is to embrace innovation and be yourself, I must admit to copying his hairstyle back in 1972, just to piss off my parents. I still wear a version of that cut today. For four decades I've had a strange little ritual, that involves Bowie. Whenever I buy any new music technology - cassette player, turntable, Walkman, CD player, MP3 player - the fist track that I play is by Bowie. I will continue this personal homage for the rest of my life.

Thank you David Bowie for helping me though all the toughest times of my life, for celebrating all the good times and for always being there for the times in between. You'll never know it, but one dark night you actually saved my life. The world is going to be a more mundane place without you and has lost its creative rudder.

Everything is disjointed. Equilibrium is gone.

Goodbye David, and our youth.

In mourning, MAlfaRK ©