Politics
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The Enduring Human Quest for Just Governance From the moment humanity first gathered in communities, a fundamental paradox emerged. As we began to live socially, we collectively developed “shared artefacts” – not just tools and technologies, but also the very structures of organisation and decision-making necessary for our collective development. Yet, almost as soon as
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For centuries, philosophers have looked to nature for insight into how we ought to live. Taoist sages, observing rivers that bend around obstacles and trees that yield to the wind, found lessons in quiet adaptability. Charles Darwin too uncovered profound truths in nature, showing through his theory of evolution that life advances by selecting traits
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Date: 7 July 2025 By: Us, the People of Birmingham Imagine stepping outside and seeing rats—bold, bloated, fearless—tearing into torn bin bags on the pavement. The stench of rot so thick it catches in our throats. Now picture a month from now: those rats are larger, nesting under our floorboards, creeping into our gardens, spreading
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I’ve been reading Angela Merkel’s biography, Freedom, and found myself pausing over her memories not because I agreed, but because I disagreed so deeply. It’s an honest book, personal and vivid — but it also reveals how thoroughly our upbringing and beliefs shape what we praise and what we condemn. Merkel tells a small story
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(A cry from beneath the wreckage—unignorable, eternal.) I am the questionburied under the weight of your answers—the one you silenced with fire,the voice smothered in dust. My body is a ruin,my breath a ragged hymn,yet still, I whisper: Why do your hands build only graves?Why does your peace taste like poison? I am the child
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A man must wonder, if he still possesses a soul, why history repeats its sorrows with such mechanical regularity. We call it war—the ultimate breakdown of words, of reason, of grace—yet every generation inherits it like a birthright. It arrives not with fanfare but with justifications, clothed in language so ornate that the blood beneath
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At the heart of international law lies a simple but unshakeable premise: human life is inviolable. To kill a person unlawfully—whether in times of peace or war—is a crime. Yet, as modern conflict has evolved into something increasingly asymmetrical, politically polarised, and digitally amplified, the legality of killing, and even the incitement to kill, requires
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How do powerful men speak when their power begins to slip? How does the tone shift when they realise influence is no longer control — and performance no longer persuasion? I’ve been observing the public rhetoric of Elon Musk and Donald Trump across recent months, and what I’ve seen is not confidence. It is confusion.
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The non-domiciled (non-dom) tax status has long allowed UK residents claiming a permanent home abroad to avoid UK tax on foreign income—provided it stays offshore. This complex and often controversial system, not tied to citizenship, has enabled many non-doms to live in the UK, own expensive properties, and use public services while shielding overseas earnings.
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I used to walk past graffiti-covered walls with a mix of indifference and suspicion—dismissing them as vandalism, a symptom of urban neglect, or worse, a calling card for crime. That changed the moment I stepped into The Epic Story of Graffiti exhibition at Birmingham’s Rotunda Square, where walls didn’t just speak—they roared. Curated by Mohammed
Maq Masi Blog 