The fact that the British economy is partially bolstered by the arms industry is more than worrying - it is close to horrific. There is no reason why a government should encourage the manufacture and sales of munitions to other countries - many of them at war or in conflict or likely to be. It is clear that the capitalist system profits from the making and selling of weapons; and, as the climate grows ever-warmer in the next fifty years, the conflicts over scarcer resources will only make the profits grow. The counter-argument is that if "we" don't sell the weapons then the Russians or the Americans will. This argument could extend to the sale of opium, or slaves - both evil trades that eventually the British ceased trading in. One day, the sale of weapons will be seen as an unambiguous evil. Why has that time not yet come?
THAT HANDSOME MAN A PERSONAL BRIEF REVIEW BY TODD SWIFT I could lie and claim Larkin, Yeats , or Dylan Thomas most excited me as a young poet, or even Pound or FT Prince - but the truth be told, it was Thom Gunn I first and most loved when I was young. Precisely, I fell in love with his first two collections, written under a formalist, Elizabethan ( Fulke Greville mainly), Yvor Winters triad of influences - uniquely fused with an interest in homerotica, pop culture ( Brando, Elvis , motorcycles). His best poem 'On The Move' is oddly presented here without the quote that began it usually - Man, you gotta go - which I loved. Gunn was - and remains - so thrilling, to me at least, because so odd. His elegance, poise, and intelligence is all about display, about surface - but the surface of a panther, who ripples with strength beneath the skin. With Gunn, you dressed to have sex. Or so I thought. Because I was queer (I maintain the right to lay claim to that
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