The philosopher and political economist <keyword id="283034" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="John-Stuart-Mill" source="Orion">John Stuart Mill</keyword> once wrote about why he didn't take holidays. "No holidays allowed," he explained, "lest the habit of work should be broken, and a taste for idleness acquired." <br /><br />It is certainly true that when people take holidays and then return to work, they tend to feel "instant stress". All the rest and recreation they got from the laid-back lifestyle of lounging by the pool, can disappear within hours of returning to the office. <br /><br />Whether we're mainly office-based or work from home, our working environment can be frenetic, full-on, fast-moving, unrelenting and exhausting for many - especially after some time off. Two top US cardiologists in the 1970s, Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman, defined the consequences of most work environments as "hurry sickness". <br /><br />The UK's most recent <keyword id="22816883" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Health-Safety-Executive" source="Orion">Health &amp; Safety Executive</keyword> report on sickness absence showed that "stress, depression or anxiety" accounted for 51% of all work-related ill-health cases, and 55% of all working days lost due to work-related ill health. <br /><br />In a nutshell, most work is stressful, requiring bouts of respite and serious rest, relaxation and recuperation. <br /><br />So, how can we learn to manage the stress of returning to our desk, to ensure we retain some of the benefits that breaks from work provide, and avoid the post-holiday stress trap? Here are seven suggestions. <br /><br /><h2>Reconnect with your colleagues</h2>On your first morning back at work, use your first hour(s) to reconnect socially with your colleagues, sharing your <keyword id="19903992" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="holiday" source="keywords">holiday</keyword> and other experiences. Work can provide positive and meaningful relationships, and to sustain our health and wellbeing, social connection is essential. <br /><br /><h2>Control your workload <br /></h2>Avoid doing your email responses straight away. The large inbox will induce an immediate stress response, and your desire to read all your emails on day one will not only overload and exhaust you, it may also lead to problematic responses that create relationship issues down the line. <br /><br />You might, for example, be more curt than you usually would be, and the recipient might take offence. Look over all your emails casually, highlight and respond only to the urgent ones, and leave the rest for another day. <br /><br /><h2>Take <keyword id="21931" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="short-breaks" source="Orion">short breaks</keyword></h2>Ensure you take a coffee or tea break and lunch each day during your first week back. If you're office-based, take these breaks with different colleagues and, over lunch, try to leave the office to have your lunch in a park or other outside venue. <br /><br /><h2>Go home on time and avoid long hours</h2>When you get home, be active. Don't flop in front of the TV, but go to a gym or out for a run, or treat yourself to a meal out with your family or friends. Let the holiday mode spill over to your home environment. <br /><br /><h2>Don't arrange lots of meetings</h2>The pace of most workplaces is fast for many people. Cardiologists Friedman and Rosenman suggested in their 1974 book, Type A Behavior and Your Heart, that people become "obsessionally time-directed" by the office environment. Don't arrange numerous meetings to show others that you're back and up and running. Basically, don't try to do everything in your in-tray in 48 hours! <br /><br /><h2>Be tolerant of colleagues</h2>Colleagues who constantly complain and suggest there is no solution to a problem can create stress, particularly when you have just returned from a wonderful and stress-free holiday. Try to be patient, tolerant, and listen to their diatribe without taking it seriously. <br /><br /><h2>Set <keyword id="22816881" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="realistic-work-objectives" source="keywords">realistic work objectives</keyword></h2>Finally, avoid setting unachievable deadlines for your work, or making unnecessary appointments, and politely say no to things you won't be able to achieve in your first week back. <br /><br />Studs Terkel, the social reformer, wrote in his acclaimed book Working: "Work is about a search for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor - in short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday-to-Friday sort of dying." <br /><br />Holidays provide an opportunity for recuperation from the stresses of modern work environments, so let's allow some of this to spill over into the workplace on your return to the office.

Holiday over? Seven expert tips for how to avoid back-to-work stress

The Truth About Marissa Mayer: An Unauthorized Biography

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11894337" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="russia" source="Orion">Russia</keyword> says it has banned 287 UK MPs from entering the country in retaliation to sanctions.</li><li>Russia's foreign ministry said the bans are because British MPs are creating "Russophobic hysteria."</li></ul><p>Russia has sanctioned nearly 300 British MPs in retaliation for restrictions imposed on members of its parliament, the Duma, last month, but has included a number of politicians who are no longer serving. </p><p>In its list of 287 individuals, the Kremlin has targeted current ministers including Cabinet Office minister Steve Barclay, minister for Brexit opportunities Jacob Rees-Mogg, trade minister Penny Mordaunt, and solicitor general Alex Chalk, as well as senior MPs such as Jeremy Hunt, Steve Baker, David Davis and Julian Lewis. </p><p>However Russia has also gone after Rory Stewart, Dominic Grieve and Sarah Wollaston, who haven't been MPs since the 2019 election, and Charlie Elphicke, who stepped down after being found guilty on three counts of sexual assault. </p><p>In another error, Tory MP Heather Wheeler's name appears twice, as the 18th and 206th entries, meaning there are actually just 286 names on the list. Meanwhile Alun Cairns' name has been misspelled. </p><p><a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1810980/#sel=11:1:J1Q,11:6:HJo">According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,</a> the politicians listed "cannot visit the Russian Federation from now on."</p><p>A translation of a statement reported by state-owned Russian news agency RIA Novosti said the sanctions were being applied "on the basis of reciprocity," following the decision to <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-sanctions-386-duma-members-over-support-for-luhansk-and-donetsk/">sanction 386 members of the Duma after they backed Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine</a>.</p><p>"These persons, who are now banned from entering the Russian Federation, took the most active part in the establishment of anti-Russian sanctions instruments in London (and) contribute to the groundless whipping up of Russophobic hysteria in the UK," it read.</p><p>"The hostile rhetoric and far-fetched accusations coming from the lips of British parliamentarians not only condone the hostile course of London, aimed at demonizing our country and its international isolation, but are also used by opponents of a mutually respectful dialogue with Russia to undermine the foundation of bilateral co-operation."</p><p>Prime Minister <keyword id="11911533" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="boris-johnson" source="Orion">Boris Johnson</keyword>, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and 10 other senior politicians — mostly members of the Cabinet — have already been barred. Theresa May, the former prime minister, was also on the initial list. </p><p>"Taking into account London's bet on the consistent strengthening of anti-Russian sanctions, work on countermeasures, including the expansion of the Russian 'stop list,' will continue," it added. </p><p>Speaking during Prime Minister's Questions shortly after the list was published, Boris Johnson said those on the list "should regard it as a badge of honour".</p><p>He vowed that the UK "keep up our robust and principled support for the Ukrainian people and their right to protect their lives, their families, and to defend themselves".</p><p>Chris Bryant, the senior Labour MP and prominent critic of the Putin regime, told the Commons he was "absolutely distressed that I am not on the list…  and if I am honest slightly surprised". </p><p>He added: "I can only assume the Russian Federation accepts every single thing I have said about President Putin over the last few years is true. He is a barbarous villain and we should make sure he fails."</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Chris Bryant (@RhonddaBryant) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1519284528593973250">April 27, 2022</a></blockquote><p>Peter Bone, one of the Tory MPs to feature on the list, said: "I am proud to have supported <keyword id="11985141" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ukraine" source="Orion">Ukraine</keyword> and its people. I condemn Russia for its barbaric invasion. Sanctioning me will not stop me speaking out."</p><p>Tim Loughton, another of the sanctioned Conservatives, said he had "done the double", after he was also banned from China for speaking out against human rights abuses.</p><p>The list of MPs, as published by Russia's foreign ministry, <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1810980/#sel=11:1:J1Q,11:6:HJo">can be seen here</a>, or keep scrolling for the full list:</p><h3><u><strong>Conservative MPs</strong></u></h3><ol><ol><li>Stephen Paul BARCLAY,</li><li>David Michael DAVIS,</li><li>Charles George EUSTICE,</li><li>Dominic Charles GRIEVE,</li><li>Christopher HEATON-HARRIS,</li><li>Jeremy Richard Streynsham HUNT,</li><li>Alistair William JACK,</li><li>Daniel Robert KAWCZYNSKI,</li><li>Andrea Jacqueline LEADSOM,</li><li>Julian Murray LEWIS,</li><li>Esther Louise MCVEY,</li><li>Penelope Mary MORDAUNT,</li><li>Caroline Fiona Ellen NOKES,</li><li>Christopher John PINCHER,</li><li>Jacob William REES-MOGG,</li><li>Mark Steven SPENCER,</li><li>Theresa Ann VILLIERS,</li><li>Heather Kay WHEELER,</li><li>Nigel ADAMS,</li><li>Bim AFOLAMI,</li><li>Adam AFRIYIE,</li><li>Peter James Guy ALDOUS,</li><li>Lucy Elizabeth ALLAN,</li><li>Stuart James ANDREW,</li><li>Edward John Comport ARGAR,</li><li>Victoria Mary ATKINS,</li><li>Richard Michael BACON,</li><li>Kemi BADENOCH,</li><li>Steve John BAKER,</li><li>Harriet Mary Morison BALDWIN,</li><li>John Charles BARON,</li><li>Alexander Paul BERESFORD,</li><li>James Jacob Gilchrist BERRY,</li><li>Peter William BONE,</li><li>Peter James BOTTOMLEY,</li><li>Andrew Campbell BOWIE,</li><li>Ben David BRADLEY,</li><li>Karen Anne BRADLEY,</li><li>Jack Edgar BRERETON,</li><li>Andrew James BRIDGEN,</li><li>Steve BRINE,</li><li>Fiona Claire BRUCE,</li><li>Michael Alex BURGHART,</li><li>Conor BURNS,</li><li>Alan Hugh CAIRNS,</li><li>James Roger CARTLIDGE,</li><li>William Nigel Paul CASH,</li><li>Maria Colette CAULFIELD,</li><li>Alexander John Gervase CHALK,</li><li>Atta-Ur-Rehman CHISHTI,</li><li>Joanna Peta CHURCHILL,</li><li>Simon Richard CLARKE,</li><li>Geoffrey CLIFTON-BROWN,</li><li>Therese Anne COFFEY,</li><li>Alberto Castrenze COSTA,</li><li>Robert Alexander COURTS,</li><li>Tracy Elizabeth Anne CROUCH,</li><li>David Thomas Charles DAVIES,</li><li>Edward Glyn DAVIES,</li><li>Mims Jane Alice DAVIES,</li><li>Philip DAVIES,</li><li>Michelle Emma May DONELAN,</li><li>Steve Daniel DOUBLE,</li><li>Richard Grosvenor PLUNKETT-ERNLE-DRAX,</li><li>James Philip DUDDRIDGE,</li><li>David James DUGUID,</li><li>Philip Martin DUNNE,</li><li>Michael ELLIS,</li><li>Charlie Brett Anthony ELPHICKE,</li><li>Michael Louis David FABRICANT,</li><li>Victoria Grace FORD,</li><li>Kevin John FOSTER,</li><li>Mark Gino FRANCOIS,</li><li>George William FREEMAN,</li><li>Mike Whitney FREER,</li><li>Marcus John Hudson FYSH,</li><li>Roger James GALE,</li><li>Mark Robert Timothy GARNIER,</li><li>Nusrat Munir UI-GHANI,</li><li>Nicholas John GIBB,</li><li>Paul William GIRVAN,</li><li>John Philip GLEN,</li><li>Robert GOODWILL,</li><li>Richard Michael GRAHAM,</li><li>James Whiteside GRAY,</li><li>Christopher Patric James GREEN,</li><li>Damian Howard GREEN,</li><li>Justin GREENING,</li><li>Dominic Charles Roberts GRIEVE,</li><li>Samuel Phillip GYIMAH,</li><li>Robert Henry HALFON,</li><li>Luke Anthony HALL,</li><li>Greg William HANDS,</li><li>Mark James HARPER,</li><li>Elizabeth Rebecca Scott HARRIS,</li><li>Trudy Lynne HARRISON,</li><li>Simon Anthony HART,</li><li>John Henry HAYES,</li><li>Oliver HEALD,</li><li>Gordon HENDERSON,</li><li>Damian Patrick HINDS,</li><li>Kevin Paul HOLLINRAKE,</li><li>Philip Thomas HOLLOBONE,</li><li>Adam James Harold HOLLOWAY,</li><li>John Michael HOWELL,</li><li>Nigel Paul HUDDLESTON,</li><li>Eddie Francis HUGHES,</li><li>Bernard Christison JENKIN,</li><li>Andrea Marie JENKYNS,</li><li>Robert Edward JENRICK,</li><li>Caroline Elizabeth JOHNSON,</li><li>Gareth Alan JOHNSON,</li><li>Joseph JOHNSON,</li><li>Andrew Hanson JONES,</li><li>David Ian JONES,</li><li>Marcus Charles JONES,</li><li>Gillian KEEGAN,</li><li>Sema Louise Ghiassi KENNEDY,</li><li>Stephen Charles KERR,</li><li>Greg KNIGHT,</li><li>John Robert LAMONT,</li><li>Pauline Elizabeth LATHAM,</li><li>Philip James LEE,</li><li>Jeremy John Elton LEFROY,</li><li>Edward Julian LEIGH,</li><li>Oliver LETWIN,</li><li>Andrew Iain LEWER,</li><li>Ian Richard Peregrine LIDDELL-GRAINGER,</li><li>Julia Louis LOPEZ,</li><li>Jack Giacomo LOPRESTI,</li><li>Jonathan George CALADINE,</li><li>Tim Paul LOUGHTON,</li><li>Craig MACKINLAY,</li><li>Rachel Helen MACLEAN,</li><li>Alan MAC,</li><li>Scott Leslie MANN,</li><li>Paul Christopher MAYNARD,</li><li>Patrick Allen MCLOUGHLIN,</li><li>Stephen Anthony MCPARTLAND,</li><li>Mark Andrew MENZIES,</li><li>Johnny Luther MERCER,</li><li>Hugh William MERRIMAN,</li><li>Stephen James METCALFE,</li><li>Amanda Anne MILLING,</li><li>Nigel John MILLS,</li><li>Andrew John Bower MITCHELL,</li><li>Damien MOORE,</li><li>Nikola Ann MORGAN,</li><li>James George MORRIS,</li><li>David Gordon MUNDELL,</li><li>Cheryl MURRAY,</li><li>Andrew William MURRISON,</li><li>Robert James MacGillivray NEILL,</li><li>Sarah Louise NEWTON,</li><li>Alexander Jesse NORMAN,</li><li>Neil O'BRIEN,</li><li>Neil Quentin PARISH,</li><li>Mark Julian Francis PAWSEY,</li><li>John David PENROSE,</li><li>Christopher Ian Brian Mynott PHILP,</li><li>Rebecca Faye Clark POW,</li><li>Victoria Mary Boswell PRENTIS,</li><li>Mark Andrew PRITCHARD,</li><li>Thomas Christopher John PURSGLOVE,</li><li>Jeremy Mark QUIN,</li><li>William James QUINCE,</li><li>John Alan REDWOOD,</li><li>Lawrence Anthony ROBERTSON,</li><li>Mary Josephine ROBINSON,</li><li>Douglas Gordon ROSS,</li><li>Lee Benjamin ROWLEY,</li><li>David Henry RUTLEY,</li><li>Paul Stuart SCULLY,</li><li>Andrew Edmund Armstrong SELOUS,</li><li>Richard James SHANNON,</li><li>Alec Edward SHELBROOKE,</li><li>Christopher James SKIDMORE,</li><li>Chloe Rebecca SMITH,</li><li>Henry Edward SMITH,</li><li>Julian Richard SMITH,</li><li>Royston Matthew SMITH,</li><li>Arthur Nicholas Winston SOAMES,</li><li>Andrew George STEPHENSON,</li><li>Andrew John STEVENSON,</li><li>Robert Alexander STEWART,</li><li>Roderick James STEWART,</li><li>Gary Nicholas STREETER,</li><li>Melvin John STRIDE,</li><li>Graham Charles STUART,</li><li>Desmond Angus SWAYNE,</li><li>Robert Andrew Raymond SYMS,</li><li>Derek Gordon THOMAS,</li><li>Margaret Ann THROUP,</li><li>Kelly Jane TOLHURST,</li><li>Justin Paul TOMLINSON,</li><li>Michael James TOMLINSON,</li><li>Craig Paul TRACEY,</li><li>David Arthur Stephen TREDENNICK,</li><li>Shailesh Lackman VARA,</li><li>Martin John VICKERS,</li><li>Theresa Ann VILLERS,</li><li>Robin Caspar WALKER,</li><li>David John WARBURTON,</li><li>Matthew Robert WARMAN,</li><li>Helen Olivia Bicknell WHATELY,</li><li>Heather Kay WHEELER,</li><li>Craig WHITTAKER,</li><li>John Flasby Lawrance WHITTINGDALE,</li><li>William David WIGGIN,</li><li>Sarah WOLLASTON,</li><li>Mike John WOOD,</li><li>William Peter WRAGG,</li><li>Jeremy Paul WRIGHT.</li></ol></ol><h3><u><strong>Labour MPs</strong></u></h3><ol><li>Lindsay Harvey HOYLE, Speaker of the House of Commons,</li><li>Diane Julie ABBOTT,</li><li>Deborah Angela Elspeth Marie ABRAHAMS,</li><li>Michael Lee AMESBURY,</li><li>Antonia Louise ANTONIAZZI,</li><li>Jonathan Michael Graham ASHWORTH,</li><li>Margaret Mary BECKETT,</li><li>Clive James Charles BETTS,</li><li>Paul Christopher BLOMFIELD,</li><li>Kevin Denis BRENNAN,</li><li>Karen Patricia BUCK,</li><li>Richard BURGON,</li><li>Don Petula BUTLER,</li><li>Alan CAMPBELL,</li><li>Dan Joseph CARDEN,</li><li>Charalambos CHARALAMBOUS,</li><li>Vernon Rodney COAKER,</li><li>Neil Alan John COYLE,</li><li>Stella Judith CREASY,</li><li>Judith Mary Cummins,</li><li>Janet Jessica DABY,</li><li>Tarnmanjeet Singh DHESI,</li><li>Peter Christopher DOWD,</li><li>Rosie Clare DUFFIELD,</li><li>Chris Philip James ELMORE,</li><li>Victoria Jane FOXCROFT,</li><li>Barry Strachan GARDINER,</li><li>Ruth Stephanie Nicole GEORGE,</li><li>Preet Kaur GILL,</li><li>John Timothy GROGAN,</li><li>Louise HAIGH,</li><li>Fabian UZIELL-HAMILTON,</li><li>David George HANSON,</li><li>Carolin HARRIS,</li><li>Susan Mary HAYMAN,</li><li>John HEALEY,</li><li>Margaret Olivia HILLIER,</li><li>Sharon HODGSON,</li><li>George Edward HOWARTH,</li><li>Daniel Owen Woolgar JARVIS,</li><li>Darren Paul JONES,</li><li>Gerald JONES,</li><li>Mohammed Afzal KHAN,</li><li>Peter KYLE,</li><li>Ian LAVERY,</li><li>Emma Louise LEWELL-BUCK,</li><li>Anthony Joseph LLOYD,</li><li>Justin Piers Richard MADDERS,</li><li>Khalid MAHMOOD,</li><li>Rachel Helen MASKELL,</li><li>Christian MATHESON,</li><li>Kerry Gillian MCCARTHY,</li><li>Conor Patrick MCGINN,</li><li>James Ignatius O'Rourke MCMAHON,</li><li>James Ian MEARNS,</li><li>Stephen James MORGAN,</li><li>Ian MURRAY,</li><li>Alexander James Jordan NORRIS,</li><li>Stephanie Louise PEACOCK,</li><li>Luke POLLARD,</li><li>Eleanor Claire REEVES,</li><li>Matthew Richard Allen RODDA,</li><li>Lloyd Cameron RUSSELL-MOYLE,</li><li>Jeff SMITH,</li><li>Nicholas Desmond John SMITH,</li><li>Karin Marguerite SMYTH,</li><li>Alexander David SOBEL,</li><li>John Francis SPELLAR,</li><li>Mark Richard TAMI,</li><li>Gareth Richard THOMAS,</li><li>Stephen Creswell TIMMS,</li><li>Mary Elizabeth TWIST,</li><li>Alan Patrick Vincent WHITEHEAD,</li><li>Daniel Stephen ZEICHNER.</li></ol>

Russia sanctions almost 300 British MPs in retaliatory move, but its list includes several errors

<p><em>Insider Picks writes about products and services to help you navigate when shopping online. Insider, Inc. receives a commission from our affiliate partners when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.</em></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5cfeb488ba3a7316ad344735-1201/2018 most banned books 4x3 copy.png" border="0" alt="2018 most banned books 4x3" data-mce-source="Alyssa Powell/Business Insider" /><p class="source"><span>Alyssa Powell/Business Insider</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Banning books can be a means of censorship. </li><li>The American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom compiles a <a href="http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">list of the top books</a> that are most frequently challenged or banned each year.</li><li>Below, you'll find 10 of the most challenged books of 2018, along with the reasons they've been criticized.</li></ul><p>Whether banning books calls to mind historical, homegrown controversies surrounding classics like "<a href="https://amzn.to/2EZs1my" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Catcher in the Rye</a>" (Salinger) and "<a href="https://amzn.to/2MyYSFj" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Naked Lunch</a>" (Boroughs) or the infamous Nazi book burnings of the '30s, it's easy to believe that such censorship has been retired by democratic countries. </p><p>But, believing it doesn't really make it true.</p><p>Every year, the American Library Association tracks the challenges to library, school, and university materials and the books banned or burned as a result. Without collective hindsight, contemporary censorship simply slips into obscurity.</p><p>In 2018, the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom <a href="http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">documented 483 books</a> challenged or banned in 2018. However, since the ALA's database is built by media coverage and <a href="http://www.ala.org/tools/challengesupport/report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">individual reports</a>, it's not exhaustive; there could be many more challenges that go unreported.</p><p>The reasons for banning books don't really change. Typically with the best intentions (ie of protecting others), censorship can feel sticky and circumstantial. But the ALA seems to agree with what John Stuart Mill wrote in "On Liberty" that censorship is a means for "...robbing the human race. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.<span>"</span> Regardless, every citizen has their own opinion on intellectual freedom - and these book lists help foster the vital conversation.</p><p>From September 22-28, 2019, the ALA also host its annual Banned Books Week in libraries and bookstores across the nation. Founded in the 1980s alongside increased organized protests and momentous Supreme Court cases (Island Trees School District v. Pico), it seeks to bring together the entire book community, from teachers to publishers, to raise awareness of censorship. </p><h3>Below are 10 of  2018's most challenged and banned books, <a href="http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the ALA</a>:</h3><p><em>Book descriptions provided by Amazon and edited lightly for length. </em></p><figure id="img-387614" contenteditable="false" data-type="img" data-e2e-name="image-figure-image" data-media-container="image"><a href="https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=EHFxW6yx8Uo&amp;mid=39876&amp;murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.frankandoak.com%2F&amp;u1=1559912992139aasqwm9u3" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a></figure><p class="tagline"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/5-biggest-questions-around-amazons-new-grocery-chain?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;itm_content=ecommerce&amp;itm_campaign=5-biggest-questions-around-amazons-new-grocery-chain"><img src="https://static.businessinsider.com/image/5cb6282197953a0882285b95" alt="Exclusive FREE Report: The 5 Biggest Questions Around Amazon's Grocery Chain by Business Insider Intelligence" border="0" style="width: 100% !important" /></a></p>

10 books that were banned or challenged heavily around the US in 2018, according to the American Library Association

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a39133bb0bcd521008b5dac-1433/screen shot 2017-12-19 at 132313.png" alt="Anti racism protestors Richard Spencer" data-mce-source="Brian Blanco/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="US demonstrators gather to protest Richard Spencer, the neo-Nazi who remains on Twitter's site despite a purge of hateful accounts." /><p class="source"><span>Brian Blanco/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">US demonstrators gather to protest Richard Spencer, the neo-Nazi who remains on Twitter's site despite a purge of hateful accounts.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Twitter's VP of public policy and communications for European, Sinead McSweeney, has said it is 'no longer possible' to stand up for all speech.</strong></li><li><strong>McSweeney appeared before politicians on Monday as part of a wider inquiry into hate speech online.</strong></li><li><strong>Twitter once described itself as the free-speech wing of the free-speech party - but McSweeney's remarks show how the firm has had to change to tackle abuse and extremism on its platform.</strong></li><li><strong>Twitter began throwing extremist accounts off its platform on Monday after a policy change around hateful conduct.</strong></li></ul><hr /><p><br />Twitter's first executive in the UK, Tony Wang,<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/mar/22/twitter-tony-wang-free-speech"> famously described the company in 2012</a> as the free-speech wing of the free-speech party.</p><p>Now Twitter's European vice president for public policy and communications ,Sinead McSweeney, has said it's "no longer possible to stand up for all speech."</p><p>McSweeney appeared before British politicians on Tuesday alongside policy executives from Facebook and Google to explain why it was so easy to find hate speech, extremist content, and inappropriate content across all three platforms.</p><p>During the three-hour grilling, McSweeney acknowledged Twitter's historically pro-free speech stance and explained the firm's updated philosophy to MPs.</p><p>Here's what she said, emphasis ours:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"I look back over last five-and-a-half years, and the answers I would have given to some of these questions five years ago were very different. <strong>Twitter was in a place where it believed the most effective antidote to bad speech was good speech</strong>. It was very much a John Stuart Mill-style philosophy. We've realised the world we live in has changed. <strong>We've had to go on a journey with it and we've realised it's no longer possible to stand up for all speech in the hopes society will become a better place because racism will be challenged, or homophobia challenged, or extremism will be challenged.</strong> And we do have to take steps to limit the visibility of hateful symbols, to ban people from the platform who affiliate with violent groups - that's the journey we're on."</p><p>McSweeney joined Twitter in 2012, only a few months after Wang made his remarks about free speech on the platform. John Stuart Mill, referenced in her comments above, was a 19th century British philosopher who argued for discussing all and any ideas openly - however immoral.</p><p>This appears to be the first time a Twitter executive has clarified the firm's shifting stance towards free speech, though there have been many outward signs that the company is rowing back from its initial radical stance.</p><p>After years of criticism for allowing right-wing figures, racism, extremism, and abuse to bloom freely on its platform, Twitter began purging accounts affiliated with hate groups from its platform.</p><p><a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/twitter-suspended-britain-first-jayda-fransen-paul-golding-hate-purge-2017-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The leaders of Britain First, a far-right organisation deemed by the government as a hate group, were among the first to go</a>. Leader Paul Golding and deputy Jayda Fransen had their accounts deleted on Monday morning. White supremacist site American Resistance and its editor Jared Taylor were also barred.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a37dc864aa6b519158b56dc-1027/screen shot 2017-12-18 at 151634.png" alt="Paul Golding Britain First" data-mce-source="Reuters/Peter Nicholls" /><p class="source"><span>Reuters/Peter Nicholls</span></p><p class="caption">Britain First leader Paul Golding, now barred from Twitter.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Twitter also <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/twitter-clamps-down-on-verified-accounts-2017-11">started stripping its "Verified" blue tick</a> from accounts that didn't obey its new rules around hate speech, meaning neo-Nazi Richard Spencer and f<a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/ex-edl-leader-tommy-robinson-lost-twitter-verified-blue-tick-2017-11">ormer EDL leader Tommy Robinson both lost verified status</a>.</p><p>Asked by MPs why people like Fransen and Golding had been verified to begin with, McSweeney said the two "should never have been verified" and that Twitter's "verification was broken from top to bottom." She explained that people outside the organisation didn't understand verification, and those tasked with verifying accounts didn't apply the rules consistently.</p><p>She added that a new version of the verification system would arrive in the new year.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-delete-recorded-audio-history-google-home-and-amazon-echo-alexa-2017-7">These popular devices keep a recording of everything you ask them - here's how to find it and delete it</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/7je1s0ox-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

Twitter was once a bastion of free speech but now says it's 'no longer possible to stand up for all speech'

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/588792939037f79260d552a0-1200-924/joe-and-alienjoying-the-beach-at-port-douglas-australia.jpg" border="0" alt="Joe and Ali_Enjoying the beach at Port Douglas, Australia"><p class="source"><span>Joe and Ali Olson</span></p><p class="caption">Cultivating a sense of gratitude for everything they had helped the Olsons live frugally without feeling deprived.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>Joe and Ali Olson spend their days traveling around the world with their one-year-old daughter, Annabelle.</p><p><a href="http://www.adventuringalong.com/our-story/">Each in their early 30s</a>, the couple were able to quit their jobs as public school teachers in August 2015 and retire after just eight years in the workforce.</p><p>By <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/teachers-early-retirement-traveling-the-world-2017-1" target="_blank">living frugally and finding a good side hustle</a> - in their case, real estate - the couple was able to achieve financial independance relatively quickly. After purchasing their Las Vegas home at a steep discount in 2007, they started scooping up rental properties for cheap, a result of the battered housing prices during the financial crisis. They lost money at first, but eventually the market flipped and they began to turn a profit.</p><p>But even as their net worth rose, they didn't succumb to lifestyle inflation. The pair continued to save 75% of their income and resided in their 400-square-foot home. </p><p>Fifteen properties later, they were able to retire as millionaires and tackle new dreams: traveling the world and starting a family. (You can follow along with their travels on their blog, <a href="http://www.adventuringalong.com/" target="_blank">Adventuring Along</a>.) </p><p>Impressive, yes. But they believe that financial independence and early retirement can be a reality for anyone.</p><p>And on a recent episode of the <a href="http://www.madfientist.com/" target="_blank">Mad Fientist</a>'s <a href="http://www.madfientist.com/adventuring-along-interview/" target="_blank">Financial Independence Podcast</a>, they shared their best advice for anyone looking to do just that. <strong>Their secret? Shift your mindset and learn to be happy with what you have. </strong></p><p>Joe shared a quote from philosopher John Stuart Mill that stated: "I have learned to seek my happiness by limiting my desires, rather than in attempting to satisfy them."</p><p>"For me, financial independence was really easy to get because we were happy just living in our fairly small place, and eating at home, and just being efficient with how we spent money," Joe <a href="http://www.madfientist.com/adventuring-along-interview/" target="_blank">explained to the Mad Fientist</a>. "And so our high savings rate was just because we enjoyed simplicity. And we didn't have to cut our budget. We didn't have to deprive ourselves." </p><p>By choosing to live simply and enjoy life instead of always looking toward the next fill-in-the-blank thing that might satisfy them, Joe and Ali were able to live on around $20,000 a year without feeling like they were sacrificing full lives. </p><p>They <em>did</em> make sacrifices: living in a small apartment, sharing one car when they could afford two, forgoing restaurant meals. But it never felt like they were forfeiting something they truly wanted.</p><p>"<span>We cultivated a concept of gratitude about everything," Ali says. "And once you're grateful for everything you have, to try to get more seems silly."</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/drivers-octane-premium-using-gas-gasoline-prices-mileage-fuel-2017-1">A study finds that drivers are wasting $2.1 billion on premium gas a year</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="xmMW1zNjE6_sfWt9HzJLIUdYhU67cISw" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'xmMW1zNjE6_sfWt9HzJLIUdYhU67cISw',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

Two school teachers who retired before 30 with $1 million share their best advice for anyone who wants to do the same

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56178141dd089508288b46bf-2492-1869/gettyimages-129920218.jpg" alt="Hazel Prowse burns an EU flag outside the Methodist Central Hall on October 22, 2011 in London, England, following a campaign meeting calling for a UK referendum on membership of the EU. (Photo by )" data-mce-source="Oli Scarff/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Hazel Prowse burns an EU flag outside the Methodist Central Hall on October 22, 2011 in London, England, following a campaign meeting calling for a UK referendum on membership of the EU."><p class="source"><span>Oli Scarff/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Hazel Prowse burns an EU flag outside the Methodist Central Hall on October 22, 2011 in London, England, following a campaign meeting calling for a UK referendum on membership of the EU.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>A heavyweight new campaign group calling for Britain to leave the European Union&#xa0;launched on Friday with support from Tory, Labour, Green, and UKIP politicians and top political donors.<p><a href="http://www.voteleavetakecontrol.org/">Vote Leave</a> has support from millionaire Labour donor John Mills, who founded JML, as well as Stuart Wheeler, a major Conservative donor before he joined UKIP as treasurer.</p><p>Former Conservative Party Treasurer Dr Peter Cruddas is also a major supporter.</p><p>Other prominent business backers include Phones4U founder John Caudwell, Reebok founder Joe Foster, Numis Securities CEO Oliver Hemsley, Patisserie Valerie chairman Luke Johnson, and Crispin Odey, boss of leading hedge fund Odey Asset Management.</p><p>Politicians and campaigners from all ends of the political spectrum are also linked to the campaign, including: Tory defector turned UKIP MP Douglas Carswell; Conservative MP Steve Baker; the Labour Leave group; and Green Party London Assembly member Jenny Jones.</p><p>The campaign's two big arguments are that the <keyword id="6354868" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="UK">UK</keyword> should end the supremacy of EU law over domestic law and that by leaving the EU Britain could save money that could be invested in things like the NHS.</p><p><div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/0tItgGcWVHw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div></p><p class="embed-spacer">David Cameron promised an "in or out" referendum on Europe by 2017 as part of his reelection campaign earlier this year. The official line of both the Tory and Labour parties is that they want Britain to remain in Europe and the Prime Minister is trying to <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/eu-referendum-uk-poised-for-a-brexit-unless-cameron-secures-major-reforms-2015-6">renegotiate the UK's relationship to Europe</a>&#xa0;to strengthen his case.</p><p>But Vote Leave is likely to worry Westminster given the cross-party support the group has drummed up and the deep pockets of its backers.</p><p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34478008">The BBC reports</a> that Vote Leave is planning to spend at least £20 million on the campaign, around half the total the Conservative Party spent in the year leading up to May's election.</p><p><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/emb-0000-eu-referendum-three-of-uks-biggest-donors-to-bankroll-out-campaign-a6687066.html">The Independent reports</a> that there is growing nervousness in the pro-EU camp. The paper quotes an anonymous former Conservative minister as saying: "We could well lose the referendum - I am under no illusion about that."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/barack-obama-donald-trump-insults-white-house-correspondents-dinner-fox-news-2015-8">Obama has been getting the best of Trump for years</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="F5dXY4dzpedDTqGtZWvjQdvLnFUPnk3E" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'F5dXY4dzpedDTqGtZWvjQdvLnFUPnk3E',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

The Brexit campaign is starting to look like it could win

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56fcce16dd08953c218b467a-1665-1249/6322992684_d252f695ed_o.jpg" alt="Secret stamp" data-mce-source="Flickr/RestrictedData" data-mce-caption="Donations made before February 1 may not be disclosed." data-link="https://www.flickr.com/photos/restricteddata/6322992684/in/photolist-aCJZrf-q1d6GF-pHMstF-4saSBE-q1kTBQ-p4qxdq-bcZ3xa-Ht8dT-8vvXRV-p4qyr7-8vw7nz-p81asa-oxp2v6-5Km7rg-oPBH9B-bfXD7Z-iU4rN-Je31q-pHQWKH-5Qpza1-bY2k4E-q13iri-pY7w2h-q13uf2-5QDnfL-5QDfE5-4LR4cQ-6T9NUA-pHR2xZ-aeKutf-aCJZmd-9j3m68-ojhDUA-pHMnvV-9Z6SjV-pHMuSZ-6Ctgpt-8Cv5NF-3dcUVe-6suskE-6wia7k-35Go3J-5ukzDt-nv4Akh-pY7uo7-94WB5G-5YhfL9-3bJSQe-omeXmx-eNhWqY" /><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/restricteddata/6322992684/in/photolist-aCJZrf-q1d6GF-pHMstF-4saSBE-q1kTBQ-p4qxdq-bcZ3xa-Ht8dT-8vvXRV-p4qyr7-8vw7nz-p81asa-oxp2v6-5Km7rg-oPBH9B-bfXD7Z-iU4rN-Je31q-pHQWKH-5Qpza1-bY2k4E-q13iri-pY7w2h-q13uf2-5QDnfL-5QDfE5-4LR4cQ-6T9NUA-pHR2xZ-aeKutf-aCJZmd-9j3m68-ojhDUA-pHMnvV-9Z6SjV-pHMuSZ-6Ctgpt-8Cv5NF-3dcUVe-6suskE-6wia7k-35Go3J-5ukzDt-nv4Akh-pY7uo7-94WB5G-5YhfL9-3bJSQe-omeXmx-eNhWqY">Flickr/RestrictedData</a></span></p><p class="caption">Donations made before February 1 may not be disclosed.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Millions of pounds are pouring into either side of the debate over whether Britain should stay in Europe or leave - but just how much each side is getting and from who could remain largely a secret.</p><p><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-30/hidden-millions-fund-the-debate-over-britain-s-european-future">Bloomberg points out in an article on Thursday</a> that both the "Remain" and the "Brexit" (a British exit from Europe) camps have received huge amounts of funding over the last six months in preparation for the <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/britains-eu-referendum-will-be-held-june-23-2016-2">June 23 referendum</a>.</p><p>But the bulk of cash appears to have come before the February 1 deadline when the Electoral Commission requires all donations above £7,500 to be made public. It means many major corporations and individuals trying to sway public opinion could remain anonymous.</p><p><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-30/hidden-millions-fund-the-debate-over-britain-s-european-future">Bloomberg quotes</a> Darren Hughes, deputy head of the Electoral Reform Society, as saying: "We need to know who's giving the money and who's trying to influence the debate. We're concerned about unreported income because the regulated period is too short."</p><p>Despite the lack of disclosure requirements prior to February 1, many donations have leaked out. Here's a rundown of the main backers we know about on each side:</p><h2>Remain</h2><ul><li><strong>David Sainsbury:</strong> Great grandfather set up supermarket J Sainsbury's. Provided seed funding for Britain Stronger in Europe, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-30/hidden-millions-fund-the-debate-over-britain-s-european-future">according to Bloomberg.</a></li><li><strong>Goldman Sachs:</strong> <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-goldman-sachs-fund-britains-pro-europe-referendum-group-2016-1">Backed </a><a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-goldman-sachs-fund-britains-pro-europe-referendum-group-2016-1">Britain Stronger in Europe at the end of January.</a> A spokesman told Bloomberg the bank put in £500,000.</li><li><strong>JPMorgan:</strong> Also backed Britain Stronger in Europe <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-goldman-sachs-fund-britains-pro-europe-referendum-group-2016-1">around the same time as Goldman</a>. <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-30/hidden-millions-fund-the-debate-over-britain-s-european-future">Bloomberg says</a> $500,000 donated. Unconfirmed.</li><li><strong>Morgan Stanley:</strong> <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-30/hidden-millions-fund-the-debate-over-britain-s-european-future">Bloomberg says</a> $500,000 donated. Unconfirmed.</li><li><strong>David Harding:</strong> Founder of hedge fund Winton Capital Management is <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/winton-capital-management-founder-david-harding-backs-stronger-in-europe-2015-11">believed to have backed Britain Stronger in Europe in November</a>. Donation was said to be several millions at the time.</li><li><strong>John Armitage:</strong> Founder of hedge fund Egerton Capital also <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/winton-capital-management-founder-david-harding-backs-stronger-in-europe-2015-11">reportedly donated to Stronger in Europe around November.</a></li></ul><h2>Leave</h2><ul><li><strong>Crispin Odey:</strong> The founder of hedge fund Odey Asset Management was <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/vote-leave-pro-brexit-group-launches-2015-10">one of the founding members of the "Vote Leave" campaign</a> and is believed to be a significant backer.</li><li><strong>Peter Cruddas:</strong> The former Conservative Party Treasurer and founder of CMC Markets was another founding member of "Vote Leave" and, <a href="https://next.ft.com/content/db7ce4fe-8e17-11e5-a549-b89a1dfede9b">according to the Financial Times</a>, put £1 million into the group in November as seed funding.</li><li><strong>Sir Michael Hintz: </strong>The founder of hedge fund CQS was "considering" a big donation to the <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/vote-leave-pro-brexit-group-launches-2015-10">Vote Leave campaign</a> in November, according to the Financial Times.</li></ul><p>These are just the names that have either leaked publically or been announced so far in the referendum debate - there are likely a lot more big donations going on behind the scenes.</p><p>Both groups have strong links to business: the remain campaign is chaired by former Marks &amp; Spencer CEO Sir Stuart Rose, while founding members of the "Vote Leave" group include JML founder John Mills, Phones4U founder John Caudwell, Reebok founder Joe Foster, Numis Securities CEO Oliver Hemsley, and Patisserie Valerie chairman Luke Johnson.</p><p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34478008">The BBC reported</a> that Vote Leave is planning to spend at least £20 million on the campaign, around half the total the Conservative Party spent in the year leading up to last May's general election. That implies very deep pocketed backers.</p><p>The Electoral Commission will chose the official campaign for each side (there are various factions at the moment) in April, after which the designated groups will be required to publish their first spending reports by the end of the month. Electoral Commission spokesman James McGrory <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-30/hidden-millions-fund-the-debate-over-britain-s-european-future">declined to tell Bloomberg</a> if groups would disclose donations it received before February 1.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-billionaires-real-estate-trick-sell-their-penthouses-faster-for-more-money-2016-3">The real estate trick billionaires use to sell their penthouses faster and for more money</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="VycG0yMjE69omwf5-yxWoSA5EDyVrymY" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'VycG0yMjE69omwf5-yxWoSA5EDyVrymY',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

Banks and hedge funds are spending millions on the fight over Britain's future in Europe - but it could remain secret

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58cab8bb112f7047028b46b6-911/undefined" alt="donald trump" data-mce-source="Aude Guerrucci-Pool/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="President Donald Trump at a meeting at the White House."><p class="source"><span>Aude Guerrucci-Pool/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">President Donald Trump at a meeting at the White House.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>Boost defense spending, leave entitlements as they are, cut marginal programs, and give the rich a tax cut - that's the basic gist of Trump's budget.</p><p>We've seen this before, and it didn't work the last time.</p><p>In 1980 the US was in an economic mire - a heady mix of slow growth and inflation we know today as "stagflation." <br><br>The newly elected Reagan administration believed that the way to fix this was through supply-side economics: lowering taxes to spur growth while cutting the size and scope of government to balance the federal budget. <br><br>Cutting everything, that is, except defense spending which increased from <span><span>$157 billion in 1981 to <span> $282 billion in 1988.<br><br>Meanwhile, here's what Mick Mulvaney, Trump's budget director had to say about the blueprint released by the White House on Wednesday.<br /></br></br></span></span></span></br></br></br></br></p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"The President's commitment to fiscal responsibility is historic. Not since early in President Reagan's first term have more tax dollars been saved and more Government inefficiency and waste been targeted. Every corner of the Federal budget is scrutinized, every program tested, every penny of taxpayer money watched over. Our $20 trillion national debt is a crisis, not just for the Nation, but for every citizen. Each American's share of this debt is more than $60,000 and growing. It is a challenge of great stakes, but one the American people can solve. American families make tough decisions every day about their own budgets; it is time Washington does the same."</p><p>You see the parallels? We should learn from them, because Reagan's economic policies didn't work out the way he and his team hoped. <br><br>By the end of the 1980s the US was back in a recession, and the federal government was <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/16/us/paradox-of-reagan-budgets-austere-talk-vs-record-debt.html?pagewanted=all">larger than it was when Reagan started</a>. The budget deficit exploded from <span>$73.8 billion </span> to <span>$220.7 billion</span>.</br></br></p><p>So what happened?</p><p>It's not that Reagan didn't cut programs - he did. <br><br>He just didn't make a meaningful dent in the parts of the budget that matter, defense, Social Security and Medicaid/Medicare. Everything else we spend money on is peanuts in comparison with what we spend on those three programs.</br></br></p><p>And then of course, there were the complex interests that make up Washington. Reagan's budget director, David Stockman, would later recount the story of doing battle with political interests to <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1981/12/the-education-of-david-stockman/305760/">The Atlantic.</a> The piece is called 'The Education of David Stockman' and what he learned was that there are "no real conservatives" when it comes to fiscal policy, and that not even the President of the United States is powerful enough to face an angry, ailing nation and cut programs that please its people.</p><p><span>Stuart E. Eizenstat, President Jimmy Carter's chief domestic adviser, told the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/16/us/paradox-of-reagan-budgets-austere-talk-vs-record-debt.html?pagewanted=all">New York Times</a> in 1988 that Reagan and his team ultimately "lost their nerve" when it came to draconian budget cuts. They had to,</span><span> Stockman learned, because the cuts were a thing of supply-side fantasy, not Washington reality.</span></p><p>From the Atlantic:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"I don't believe too much in the momentum theory any more," he [Stockman] said. "I believe in institutional inertia. Two months of response can't beat fifteen years of political infrastructure. I'm talking about K Street and all of the interest groups in this town, the community of interest groups. We sort of stunned it, but it just went underground for the winter. It will be back ... Can we win? A lot of it depends on events and luck. If we got some bad luck, a flareup in the Middle East, a scandal, it could all fall apart."</p><p>So the budget of a few billion cuts here, a few billion cuts there became smaller and smaller as it made its way through the Washington sausage maker. Deals for votes, that's how it worked. "Greed came to the forefront," the way Stockman told it, but he was also very complicit in this budget mess. When the Office of Management and Budget's computers projected that Reagan's budget would explode the deficit, Stockman simply had the programs remade with models that made everything work out.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58544cd0a1a45e38468b6087-860" alt="trump reagan" data-mce-source="John Locher/AP Images; Doug Mills/AP Images"><p class="source"><span>John Locher/AP Images; Doug Mills/AP Images</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Another way the budget was made to look more palatable was through a controversial process called dynamic scoring. <span>It basically allows the government to estimate the future benefit of tax cuts to the economy after making a load of assumptions - including about </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/01/upshot/a-slippery-new-rule-for-gauging-fiscal-policy.html?_r=0">what a future government might do</a><span> in response to falling tax revenue.</span></p><p><span>And apparently, in the future, we are perfect and make all the best decisions about our money. Trump's Treasury Secretary has said that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-treasury-pick-mnuchin-on-dynamic-scoring-2017-1">dynamic scoring will feature in this administration's budget.</a></span></p><p><span>Trump is also promising to cut taxes, a move Reagan made early in his administration that economist <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/on-tax-reform-take-a-page-from-ronald-reagan/2016/12/04/8de3237c-b8a3-11e6-b994-f45a208f7a73_story.html?utm_term=.f3ff81cbdc35">Larry Summers has said contributed</a> heavily to our budget deficit. In fact, he said that had they not been passed, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/16/us/paradox-of-reagan-budgets-austere-talk-vs-record-debt.html?pagewanted=all">we could've had a budget surplus by 1982.</a></span></p><p><span>It's also worth remembering that after his tax cut in 1981, Reagan was forced to reverse himself in 1982 and 1983 because of the federal debt.</span></p><p>History shows us that what we're about to see here is a mess of contradictions. A President thirsty for popularity who won't cut what matters, a Congress divided on what "matters" means, and a bureaucracy charged with making it all look like it works. </p><p>It doesn't. We know because we already tried it. </p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/happens-eat-too-much-protein-2017-2">What happens when you eat too much protein</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="5zZDR5OTE6WEq0nV0yZhtBwag7pkeZnA" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', '5zZDR5OTE6WEq0nV0yZhtBwag7pkeZnA',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

We've already tried budgeting Trump's way and it was a huge failure

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5538f31a6bb3f718045577b2-1300-974/woman-reading-outside-1.jpg" alt="woman reading outside" data-mce-source="Flickr / Pedro Ribeiro Simões" data-link="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrosimoes7/12747607194" /><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrosimoes7/12747607194">Flickr / Pedro Ribeiro Simões</a></span></p><p class="caption">Learn how to make your dreams a reality.</p></div><p></p></div></div>This week, Amazon's editors released a list of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=blogs_omni_link_20160224bl100Bal?ie=UTF8&amp;node=14027821011">100 leadership and success books to read in a lifetime</a>.</p><p>"We chose books to help people plan for their futures and/or deal better with their present," said <a href="http://www.omnivoracious.com/chris_schluep.html">Chris Schluep</a>, senior books editor at Amazon.com. "The same book won't work for every situation, or every person, so you'll see titles sitting beside one another that might not normally share shelf space."</p><p>In other words, while this list does include books by traditional business people, you'll also find works by outspoken entrepreneurs, spiritual leaders, and Hollywood producers.</p><p>What each of these authors shares is a desire to help people find out what they really want - and to make their dreams a reality.</p><p>Check out the full, ranked list below, and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazons-top-25-leadership-and-success-books-2016-2">learn more about the top 25 here</a>.</p><ol><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/21mJ5tx">#Girlboss</a>" by Sophia Amoruso</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/21mJb4u">A New Earth</a>" by Eckhart Tolle</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1TIt6S2">Andrew Carnegie</a>" by David Nasaw</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1XPKEuy">Awaken the Giant Within</a>" by Tony Robbins</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1yHVp">Big Magic</a>" by Elizabeth Gilbert</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1yIIG">Business Adventures</a>" by John Brooks</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1yLEl">Change Your Brain, Change Your Life</a>" by Daniel G. Amen</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/21mJtID">Chicken Soup for the Soul</a>" by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Amy Newmark</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/21mJxIg">Choose Yourself!</a>" by James Altucher</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1TItkbI">Crush It!</a>" by Gary Vaynerhcuk <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56d075f42e526519008b9b95-331-499/do over.jpg" alt="do over" data-mce-source="Amazon" /><p class="source"><span>Amazon</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1yUI6">Do Over</a>" by Jon Acuff</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1XPKO5a">Drive</a>" by Daniel H. Pink</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1QkKeaz">Eat That Frog!</a>" by Brian Tracy</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1yWzG">Elon Musk</a>" by Ashlee Vance</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1QkKkPm">Emotional Intelligence</a>" by Daniel Goleman</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/21mJRXE">Essentialism</a>" by Greg McKeown</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/21mJQD4">Execution</a>" by Larry Bossidy, Ram Charan, and Charles Burck</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1XPKTG8">Find a Way</a>" by Diana Nyad</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1z6Hb">First, Break all the Rules</a>" by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1XPKUKc">Flow</a>" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/21mK4Ke">Flying Without a Net</a>" by Thomas J. DeLong</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1QkKKFw">Freakonomics</a>" by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/21mK9xI">Getting More</a>" by Stuart Diamond</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1zeql">Getting Things Done</a>" by David Allen</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1XPL1oZ">Getting to Yes</a>" by Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1XPL1VU">Give and Take</a>" by Adam M. Grant</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1zjKy">Good to Great</a>" by Jim Collins</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1zky7">How to Win Friends and Influence People</a>" by Dale Carnegie</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1zmWM">How Will You Measure Your Life?</a>" by Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth, and Karen Dillon</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1zqG2">Influence</a>" by Robert B. Cialdini</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/21mKyA8">Leadership on the Line</a>" by Martin Linsky and Ronald A. Heifetz</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1zsxr">Lean In</a>" by Sheryl Sandberg</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1XPL9F5">Made to Stick</a>" by Chip Heath and Dan Heath</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1zyoQ">Man's Search for Meaning</a>" by Viktor E. Frankl</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1TItRKL">Meditations</a>" by Marcus Aurelius</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1TItVKv">Mindset</a>" by Carol Dweck</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1zDsR">Misbehaving</a>" by Richard Thaler</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1XPLh7w">Oh, The Places You'll Go!</a>" by Dr. Seuss</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1zINa">Outliers</a>" by Malcolm Gladwell</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1zIwG">Personal History</a>" by Katharine Graham <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56d076352e5265bc008b9cdf-332-499/predictably irrational.jpg" alt="predictably irrational" data-mce-source="Amazon" /><p class="source"><span>Amazon</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1QkLSZW">Predictably Irrational</a>" by Dan Ariely</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1zOEu">Quiet</a>" by Susan Cain</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1zRjD">It Worked for Me</a>" by Colin Powell and Tony Kolt</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1zWDW">Siddhartha</a>" by Herman Hesse</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1zVQg">Start With Why</a>" by Simon Sinek</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/21mLkx8">Steve Jobs</a>" by Walter Isaacson</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1TIueot">Strengths Finder 2.0</a>" by Tom Rath</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1A2LQ">Stumbling on Happiness</a>" by Daniel Gilbert</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/21mLq7Y">Superforecasting</a>" by Philip E. Tetlock</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/21mLuEC">Talent is Overrated</a>" by Geoff Colvin</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1XPLveI">The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing</a>" by Al Ries and Jack Trout</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1XPLw2d">The 48 Laws of Power</a>" by Robert Greene</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1QkMEpI">The 4-Hour Workweek</a>" by Timothy Ferriss</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1AeL8">The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People</a>" by Stephen R. Covey</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1AdH5">The Alchemist</a>" by Paulo Coelho</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/21mLN2n">The Art of Happiness</a>" by Dalai Lama</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1AppI">The Art of Stillness</a>" by Pico Iyer</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1QkN5Ap">The Art of Strategy</a>" by Avinash K. Dixit and Barry J. Nalebuff</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1As4U">The Art of the Start 2.0</a>" by Guy Kawasaki</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1QkNbba">The Art of War</a>" by Sun Tzu</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1XPLIP8">The Big Short</a>" by Michael Lewis</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/21mM1GM">The Black Swan</a>" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1QkNnY0">The Charisma Myth</a>" by Olivia Fox Cabane</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1ACt5">The Checklist Manifesto</a>" by Atul Gawande</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1TIuJPA">The Confidence Code</a>" by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1TIuLqu">The Effective Executive</a>" by Peter F. Drucker</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1XPLQOF">The Essays of Warren Buffett</a>" by Warren E. Buffett and Lawrence A. Cunningham</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1TIuO5M">The First 90 Days</a>" by Michael D. Watkins</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1AQ38">The First Tycoon</a>" by T.J. Stiles</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1APfz">The Five Dysfunctions of a Team</a>" by Patrick Lencioni</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1AXvC">The Four Agreements</a>" by Don Miguel Ruiz and Janet Mills</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/21mMOHw">The Gifts of Imperfection</a>" by Brene Brown</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1AZDW">The Happiness Advantage</a>" by Shawn Achor <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56d076702e52651d008b9d62-332-499/the happiness project.jpg" alt="the happiness project" data-mce-source="Amazon" /><p class="source"><span>Amazon</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1QkOh6P">The Happiness Project</a>" by Gretchen Rubin</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1XPM4Fk">The Hard Thing About Hard Things</a>" by Ben Horowitz</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1B7Dl">The Innovator's Dilemma</a>" by Clayton M. Christensen</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/21mNa13">The Intelligent Investor</a>" by Benjamin Graham</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1QkOC9u">The Last Lecture</a>" by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1QkOI0Q">The Lean Startup</a>" by Eric Ries</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1Bi1u">The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up</a>" by Marie Kondo</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/21mNnRU">The Miracle Morning</a>" by Hal Elrod</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1XPMewr">The Now Habit</a>" by Neil Fiore</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1TIvqs3">The Power of Habit</a>" by Charles Duhigg</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1BrSBhttp://amzn.to/1TIvsQL">The Prince</a>" by Nicolo Machiavelli and N.H. Thompson</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1Bv4O">The Profit</a>" by Kahlil Gibran</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1TIvuIe">The Road Less Traveled</a>" by M. Scott Peck</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1QkPdrY">The Road to Character</a>" by David Brooks</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/21mNLQg">The Secret</a>" by Rhonda Byrne</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/21mNNaS">The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success</a>" by Deepak Chopra</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1BEFk">Thinking, Fast and Slow</a>" by Daniel Kahneman</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1BFJj">Titan</a>" by Ron Chernow</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1XPMtrw">Triggers</a>" by Marshall Goldsmith and Mark Reiter</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/21mNXyT">Tuesdays with Morrie</a>" by Mitch Albom</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1QkPI56">Turn the Ship Around!</a>" by L. David Marquet</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1BPjQ">Uncertainty</a>" by Jonathan Fields</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1TIvMPx">Way of the Peaceful Warrior</a>" by Dan Millman</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/21mObpN">What Got You Here Won't Get You There</a>" by Marshall Goldsmith and Mark Reiter</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1TIvRmd">Willpower</a>" by Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney</li><li>"<a href="http://amzn.to/1n1BVbf">Year of Yes</a>" by Shonda Rhimes</li><li><a href="http://amzn.to/1QkQ1ge">"Zero to One</a>" by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters</li></ol><p class="tagline">Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through hispersonal investment company Bezos Expeditions.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tony-robbins-morning-routine-2016-2">Tony Robbins has an unusual morning ritual that keeps him at the top of his game</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="ZhNGEydDp_rTmnyxNqmf9d9JWFZhNwNm" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'ZhNGEydDp_rTmnyxNqmf9d9JWFZhNwNm',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

The 100 best leadership and success books to read in your lifetime, according to Amazon

<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5ad0ca0b146e711d008b4833-1413/screen%20shot%202018-04-13%20at%20161555.png" border="0" alt="Diane Abbott racism sign" data-mce-source="Neil Hall/Reuters" data-mce-caption="Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott (c) receives a disproportionate amount of online abuse."><p class="source"><span>Neil Hall/Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott (c) receives a disproportionate amount of online abuse.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><ul><li><strong>Exclusive research commissioned by Business Insider has found that ethnic minority politicians receive disproportionate amounts of abuse on Twitter compared to their white colleagues.</strong></li><li><strong>Data scientists at Evolution AI studied more than 3 million tweets sent to British members of parliament from the beginning of 2017 to March 2018 and flagged tweets containing obscenities, aggression, and rude language.</strong></li><li><strong>All politicians receive abuse but the data showed ethnic minority MPs receive 15% more than their white counterparts.</strong></li><li><strong>Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, one of the most-abused MPs on Twitter, said online toxicity was fuelled by anti-immigrant feeling.</strong></li><li><strong>Twitter said it works with the government and political parties to provide support for anyone receiving abuse.</strong></li></ul><hr><p><br>LONDON - On April 7, British shadow home secretary Diane Abbott posted a link to a newspaper story on Twitter about increased police stop-and-search activity in the UK.</br></p><p>"There'll be 300 extra police officers and more searches in London this weekend," she wrote. "Trouble is Tories cut nearly 2,500 police in London. 21,000 nationally. Not just for a weekend but permanently."</p><p>This is pretty run-of-the-mill politicking, taking aim at&#xa0;police spending cuts made while Prime Minister Theresa May was in charge of law enforcement as home secretary. And it has nothing to do with race.</p><p>But one Twitter user responded by advocating ethnic cleansing: "Great work Diane for creating a no go zone under your watch and your black community. Between black gangs and Muslims screwing up our island something needs to be done fast! This news is a great advert for whites to pull together and get rid!!!"</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5ad5ff9d146e7122008b47f1-795/screen%20shot%202018-04-17%20at%20150656.png" border="0" alt="Twitter racist abuse" data-mce-source="Twitter/Business Insider"><p class="source"><span>Twitter/Business Insider</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div><p>Abbott is the member of parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington. The London constituency's population is <a href="http://www.dianeabbott.org.uk/hackney/local-demographics.aspx">23% black, according to the 2011 census,</a> <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/2011censusanalysisethnicityandreligionofthenonukbornpopulationinenglandandwales/2015-06-18">much higher than the UK national average</a>.</p><p>Another response to Abbott's tweet reads: "What are you gonna do when these fantastic 'West Indian mums' start getting the hump that their precious angelic teenage sons got searched 'for no reason' by 'racist police'? People like you have caused this anti police culture in London!"</p><p>Abbott has been putting up with overt and covert racism on Twitter for years. In 2012, Twitter user Kenny Bee wrote a tweet directed at Abbott: "Typical Black person ... 100% grab."</p><p>All the abusive tweets remain visible on Twitter at the time of writing.</p><p>It's true that politicians of all stripes receive insults on Twitter, and that's par for the course when you're a public figure.</p><p>But exclusive research published for the first time by Business Insider shows how ethnic minority politicians such as Abbott receive disproportionate amounts of that abuse.</p><p>The research, <a href="https://evolution.ai/blog/page/1/analysis-do-ethnic-minority-mps-receive-more-twitter-abuse-than-their-white-counterparts/">conducted by data scientists at natural language processing startup Evolution AI</a>, categorised 3.16 million tweets directed at 523 MPs on Twitter between January 2017 and March 2018. MPs with zero or small Twitter presence were excluded from the study.&#xa0;</p><p>Of the 3.16 million tweets, Evolution AI found around 5% were "toxic," containing obscenities, aggression, or rude language. Mildly offensive insults such as "idiot" were not counted. Neither were insults that didn't explicitly tag MPs on Twitter. Evolution AI used a model based on artificial intelligence to determine whether tweets were toxic or not.</p><p>Of those toxic tweets, 25% were directed at ethnic minority MPs.&#xa0; The rest were targeted at white MPs.</p><p>At first glance, this looks like ethnic minority politicians get off lightly when it comes to abuse. But just 7% of the 523 MPs on Twitter are from an ethnic minority, meaning they receive disproportionate amounts of abuse.</p><p>Evolution AI found that ethnic minority politicians received, on average, 15% more toxic tweets than their counterparts.</p><p>The researchers didn't distinguish between racist tweets and general abuse, partly because it's difficult for a computer to decide what is racist and what isn't. But the fact that non-white politicians receive significantly more abuse than white ones clearly shows a racist undercurrent in political life on Twitter.</p><p>Labour MPs Naz Shah, David Lammy, Chuka Umunna, and Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott were among the party's most-abused politicians on Twitter. On the Conservative side, Nuz Ghani and James Cleverly received considerable amounts of toxic tweets.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5ad600c3146e7125008b4b8e-1092/screen%20shot%202018-04-17%20at%20151107.png" border="0" alt="James Cleverly" data-mce-source="Leon Neal/Getty" data-mce-caption="Conservative politician James Cleverly"><p class="source"><span>Leon Neal/Getty</span></p><p class="caption">Conservative politician James Cleverly</p></img></div><p></p></div></div><p>According to Evolution AI, a high proportion of Naz Shah's mentions comprise toxic tweets, at 15.5%. Shah has been criticised recently over several controversies, such as <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-36802075">making anti-Semitic comments and</a>&#xa0;apparently endorsing the brutal Apartheid practice of "necklacing." But her critics sometimes cross the line into racism.</p><p>One user, responding to Shah's&#xa0;<a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/labour-mp-naz-shah-s-necklacing-winnie-mandela-tweet-denounced-mxld502s2">controversial tweet paying tribute to Winnie Mandela</a>, wrote: "@NazShahBfd So you support neclacing? Another corrupt muslim MP I suppose. Does the mosque tell you what you can and can't do to? Of course it does. I think you should resign!"</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5ad6010a146e711f008b47bd-912/screen%20shot%202018-04-17%20at%20151259.png" border="0" alt="Twitter racist abuse" data-mce-source="Twitter/Business Insider"><p class="source"><span>Twitter/Business Insider</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div><p>Evolution AI also said James Cleverly and Diane Abbott receive a high percentage of toxic tweets, at 7% of their mentions.</p><p>Abbott said in a statement to Business Insider:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"It is no surprise that MPs from ethnic minorities receive a disproportionately high level of abuse on Twitter. This abuse reflects the trend in society&#xa0;which has seen an increase in hate speech and hate-crime.&#xa0;Politicians have a role to play, and it is irresponsible to send around 'go home' immigration billboard vans and to create what the Government calls its hostile environment against migrants.&#xa0;The big social media companies also&#xa0;have a role to play in curbing hate speech, and not just against MPs. Everyone deserves the protection of the law, and police need the resources from Government&#xa0;to tackle this problem."</p><p>The research did not include Sadiq Khan who is London mayor, but not an MP. The researchers did note that Khan faces considerable amounts of online abuse, often referencing the fact he's Muslim.</p><p>In one example, still visible on Twitter, a user wrote: "The Terrorists are 99.9% Muslim. They're Heathens. Why in the Hell did the People of London elect you as Mayor. I bet they regret the Shit out of that."</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5ad0b9c1146e711b008b47ca-1280/screen%20shot%202018-04-13%20at%20150426.png" border="0" alt="Sadiq Khan racist tweets" data-mce-source="Business Insider/Twitter"><p class="source"><span>Business Insider/Twitter</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div><p>During the SXSW tech conference in March, <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/london-mayor-sadiq-khan-sxsw-2018-3">Khan read out racist tweets about himself</a> in a plea for social media firms to crack down on hate speech.</p><p>This isn't to say white MPs don't also get considerable amounts of toxic abuse. Evolution AI ranked some of the most abused politicians on Twitter and found that energy minister Claire Perry, foreign secretary Boris Johnson, and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn all ranked highly - though none received as much abuse as Naz Shah.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a1f93153dbef4e3058b908a-1367/jocoxsmal.jpg" border="0" alt="jo cox" data-mce-source="Reuters" data-mce-caption="Jo Cox."><p class="source"><span>Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">MPs have become more vocal about abuse after Labour politician Jo Cox was murdered in 2016.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div><p>The government is considering criminalising abuse of Parliamentary candidates during campaigning and elections, after Labour MP Jo Cox was murdered in the days leading up to the Brexit referendum in 2016. Free-speech activists and police <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/theresa-may-new-law-intimidating-politicians-mps-online-abuse-not-needed-free-speech-police-concerns-a8197856.html">have criticised the proposals</a>, arguing there are robust laws already in place.&#xa0;</p><p>A government spokeswoman said: "We have been clear that abuse of public figures in any form is completely unacceptable. There is a clear difference between legitimate scrutiny of MPs, and conduct which is fuelled by hate and personal abuse. No one should have to endure abuse or intimidation&#xa0;as part of any job, including parliamentarians."&#xa0;</p><p>"Later this year, the Government will consult on a new offence of intimidation in public life."</p><h2>Social media sites like Twitter have historically favoured free speech over protecting people from abuse</h2><p>Politicians <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/twitter-no-longer-possible-to-stand-up-for-all-speech-2017-12">grilled Twitter back in December</a> about why it was so easy to find racist abuse and hate speech on its platform.&#xa0;</p><p>Policy executive Sinead McSweeney explained at the time this was partly down to the firm's historical attitude to free speech. The firm once described itself as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/mar/22/twitter-tony-wang-free-speech">"the free-speech wing of the free speech party."</a></p><p>She told MPs: "Twitter was in a place where it believed the most effective antidote to bad speech was good speech. It was very much <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill#Freedom_of_speech">a John Stuart Mill-style philosophy</a>. We've realized the world we live in has changed.&#xa0;We've had to go on a journey with it, and we've realized it's no longer possible to stand up for all speech in the hopes society will become a better place because racism will be challenged, or homophobia challenged, or extremism will be challenged."</p><p>After a tacitly permissive attitude to abuse, the firm is finally clamping down, but those efforts are still nascent. It has just started booting far-right extremists <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/twitter-suspended-britain-first-jayda-fransen-paul-golding-hate-purge-2017-12">such as Britain First</a> and Tommy Robinson from its platform, but many - such as neo-Nazi Richard Spencer - are still pushing out covertly racist messaging.</p><p>In its defence, the issue of online abuse isn't just limited to Twitter - it's just easier to study. The platform makes it much easier for researchers to access and categorise its "firehose" of tweets, and also happens to be the platform of choice for MPs trying to talk directly to voters.</p><p>The company didn't say how many users it had banned for abusing UK politicians online.</p><p>A spokesman said in a statement: "At Twitter we've launched more than 30 policy and product changes over the past 18 months, all with the aim of making our platform safer. Our challenge is a difficult one. The content on Twitter often reflects the views that exist within society - both the good and the bad.</p><p>"However, we do not allow it to move into targeted abuse and harassment, or to reach a place where voices are stifled through fear and intimidation. We work with political parties and the Parliamentary authorities to ensure that those affected&#xa0;receive&#xa0;the support they need, and we are committed to ensuring that those standing for office are able to do so without fear from intimidation and abuse on our platform."</p><p><strong><a href="https://evolution.ai/blog/page/1/analysis-do-ethnic-minority-mps-receive-more-twitter-abuse-than-their-white-counterparts/">You can read Evolution AI's full analysis here</a>.</strong></p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>There'll be 300 extra police officers and more searches in London this weekend <a href="https://t.co/Cqe0hZkc9N">https://t.co/Cqe0hZkc9N</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/MetroUK?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MetroUK</a> Trouble is Tories cut nearly 2,500 police in London. 21,000 nationally. Not just for a weekend but permanently.</p>- Diane Abbott  (@HackneyAbbott) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/982531877289562112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">7 April 2018</a></blockquote><script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ar-augmented-reality-game-brings-play-street-fighter-into-real-world-abhishek-singh-2018-3">You can play Street Fighter in 'real life' with this augmented reality game</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/4FXN87Gr-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div></hr>

Brutal stats show just how much more abuse ethnic minority politicians receive on Twitter than their white colleagues

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a6a3bb6cf8410b1008b48a5-2400/gettyimages-71878780.jpg" alt="george soros" data-mce-source="Win McNamee/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Investor George Soros speaks during a program hosted by the New America Foundation September 13, 2006 in Washington, DC." /><p class="source"><span>Win McNamee/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">George Soros.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Facebook and Google are a "menace" to society because of their failure to protect against "the consequences of their actions," billionaire investor George Soros said.</strong></li><li><strong>Speaking at Davos, Soros launched an aggressive and multi-pronged attack on the tech giants, accusing them of "monopolistic" and anti-competitive behaviour.</strong></li><li><strong>He said the companies are encouraging "addiction" like gambling companies, and of being "obstacles to innovation."</strong></li></ul><hr /><p><br />Billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros has launched a blistering and multi-pronged attack on Facebook and Google, arguing the tech giants' size and "monopolistic behaviour" has made them a "menace" to society, damaging democracy, and encouraging "addiction" akin to gambling companies.</p><p>Speaking at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland on Thursday, the Hungarian businessman argued that "social <keyword id="6354777" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Media">media</keyword> companies influence how people think and behave without them even being aware of it," with "far-reaching adverse consequences on the functioning of democracy, particularly on the integrity of elections."</p><p>The size of Facebook and Google, he argued, means they have become "obstacles to innovation," and he called for significantly more regulatory oversight of the companies - holding up European Union competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager as a model that other regulators should emulate: "The fact that they are near- monopoly distributors makes them public utilities and should subject them to more stringent regulations, aimed at preserving competition, innovation, and fair and open universal access."</p><p>(You can read his full remarks below.)</p><h2>Facebook and Google threaten the concept of "freedom of mind," Soros says</h2><p>He was also critical of the two companies' impacts on people's minds, accusing them of deceiving users by "manipulating their attention and directing it towards their own commercial purposes. They deliberately engineer addiction to the services they provide," he went on.</p><p>"This can be very harmful, particularly for adolescents. There is a similarity between internet platforms and gambling companies. Casinos have developed techniques to hook gamblers to the point where they gamble away all their money, even money they don't have."</p><p>Even more than this, he argued, "social media companies are inducing people to give up their autonomy," with the scale of the firms meaning "the power to shape people's attention is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few companies," threatening the very concept of "the freedom of mind."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a3417c74aa6b51c008b54f2-2400/gettyimages-814600256.jpg" alt="mark zuckerberg facebook ceo sad" data-mce-source="Drew Angerer/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer and founder of Facebook Inc., attends the fourth day of the annual Allen &amp; Company Sun Valley Conference, July 14, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho." /><p class="source"><span>Drew Angerer/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>'A web of totalitarian control'</h2><p>Elsewhere in his speech, Soros railed against the dangers of nationalism and rising threats to democracy. He argued that the power and technical capabilities of tech firms means they risk contributing to this, undermining liberalism.</p><p>"There could be an alliance between authoritarian states and these large, data-rich IT monopolies that would bring together nascent systems of corporate surveillance with an already developed system of state-sponsored surveillance," he said. "This may well result in a web of totalitarian control the likes of which not even Aldous Huxley or George Orwell could have imagined."</p><p>He also drew a line between the growth of tech company fortunes and rising inequality - while arguing that the profits of Facebook and Google are largely because they refuse to take responsibility for ("and avoid paying for") the content on their platforms.</p><p>But greater regulation is just around the corner, Soros said: "The owners of the platform giants consider themselves the masters of the universe, but in fact they are slaves to preserving their dominant position. It is only a matter of time before the global dominance of the US IT monopolies is broken. Davos is a good place to announce that their days are numbered. Regulation and taxation will be their undoing and EU Competition Commissioner Vestager will be their nemesis."</p><p>A Facebook spokesperson declined to comment. A Google spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a6a41d9cf841028008b491a-2314/sundarpichai.jpg" alt="Sundar Pichai" data-mce-source="Justin Sullivan/Getty Images" /><p class="source"><span>Justin Sullivan/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Google CEO Sundar Pichai.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>The relevant section of George Soros' speech is republished below (emphasis added):</h2><p style="padding-left: 30px;">I want to spend the bulk of my remaining time on another global problem: the rise and monopolistic behavior of the giant IT platform companies. These companies have often played an innovative and liberating role. But as <strong>Facebook and Google have grown into ever more powerful monopolies, they have become obstacles to innovation, and they have caused a variety of problems of which we are only now beginning to become aware</strong>.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">Companies earn their profits by exploiting their environment. Mining and oil companies exploit the physical environment; social media companies exploit the social environment. This is particularly nefarious because social media companies influence how people think and behave without them even being aware of it. This has far-reaching adverse consequences on the functioning of democracy, particularly on the integrity of elections.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">The distinguishing feature of internet platform companies is that they are networks and they enjoy rising marginal returns; that accounts for their phenomenal growth. The network effect is truly unprecedented and transformative, but it is also unsustainable. It took Facebook eight and a half years to reach a billion users and half that time to reach the second billion. At this rate, Facebook will run out of people to convert in less than 3 years.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">Facebook and Google effectively control over half of all internet advertising revenue. To maintain their dominance, they need to expand their networks and increase their share of users' attention. Currently they do this by providing users with a convenient platform. The more time users spend on the platform, the more valuable they become to the companies.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">Content providers also contribute to the profitability of social media companies because they cannot avoid using the platforms and they have to accept whatever terms they are offered.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">The exceptional profitability of these companies is largely a function of their avoiding responsibility for-- and avoiding paying for-- the content on their platforms. </p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">They claim they are merely distributing information. But the fact that they are near- monopoly distributors makes them public utilities and should subject them to more stringent regulations, aimed at preserving competition, innovation, and fair and open universal access.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">The business model of social media companies is based on advertising. Their true customers are the advertisers. But gradually a new business model is emerging, based not only on advertising but on selling products and services directly to users. <strong>They exploit the data they control, bundle the services they offer and use discriminatory pricing to keep for themselves more of the benefits that otherwise they would have to share with consumers</strong>. This enhances their profitability even further - but the bundling of services and discriminatory pricing undermine the efficiency of the market economy.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>Social media companies deceive their users by manipulating their attention and directing it towards their own commercial purposes</strong>. They deliberately engineer addiction to the services they provide. This can be very harmful, particularly for adolescents. There is a similarity between internet platforms and gambling companies. Casinos have developed techniques to hook gamblers to the point where they gamble away all their money, even money they don't have.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">Something very harmful and maybe irreversible is happening to human attention in our digital age. Not just distraction or addiction; social media companies are inducing people to give up their autonomy. <strong>The power to shape people's attention is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few companies. It takes a real effort to assert and defend what John Stuart Mill called "the freedom of mind." There is a possibility that once lost, people who grow up in the digital age will have difficulty in regaining it. This may have far-reaching political consequences</strong>. People without the freedom of mind can be easily manipulated. This danger does not loom only in the future; it already played an important role in the 2016 US presidential elections.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">But there is an even more alarming prospect on the horizon. There could be an alliance between authoritarian states and these large, data-rich IT monopolies that would bring together nascent systems of corporate surveillance with an already developed system of state-sponsored surveillance. This may well result in a web of totalitarian control the likes of which not even Aldous Huxley or George Orwell could have imagined.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">The countries in which such unholy marriages are likely to occur first are Russia and China. The Chinese IT companies in particular are fully equal to the American ones. They also enjoy the full support and protection of the Xi Jingping regime. The government of China is strong enough to protect its national champions, at least within its borders. </p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>US-based IT monopolies are already tempted to compromise themselves in order to gain entrance to these vast and fast growing markets</strong>. The dictatorial leaders in these countries may be only too happy to collaborate with them since they want to improve their methods of control over their own populations and expand their power and influence in the United States and the rest of the world.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">The owners of the platform giants consider themselves the masters of the universe, but in fact they are slaves to preserving their dominant position. It is only a matter of time before the global dominance of the US IT monopolies is broken. Davos is a good place to announce that their days are numbered. Regulation and taxation will be their undoing and EU Competition Commissioner Vestager will be their nemesis.  </p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>There is also a growing recognition of a connection between the dominance of the platform monopolies and the rising level of inequality. The concentration of share ownership in the hands of a few private individuals plays some role but the peculiar position occupied by the IT giants is even more important</strong>. They have achieved monopoly power but at the same time they are also competing against each other. They are big enough to swallow start-ups that could develop into competitors, but only the giants have the resources to invade each other's territory. They are poised to dominate the new growth areas that artificial intelligence is opening up, like driverless cars.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">The impact of innovations on unemployment depends on government policies. The European Union and particularly the Nordic countries are much more farsighted in their social policies than the United States. They protect the workers, not the jobs. They are willing to pay for re-training or retiring displaced workers. This gives workers in Nordic countries a greater sense of security and makes them more supportive of technological innovations than workers in the US.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>The internet monopolies have neither the will nor the inclination to protect society against the consequences of their actions. That turns them into a menace and it falls to the regulatory authorities to protect society against them</strong>. In the US, the regulators are not strong enough to stand up against their political influence. The European Union is better situated because it doesn't have any platform giants of its own.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">The European Union uses a different definition of monopoly power from the United States. US law enforcement focuses primarily on monopolies created by acquisitions, whereas EU law prohibits the abuse of monopoly power irrespective of how it is achieved. Europe has much stronger privacy and data protection laws than America. Moreover, US law has adopted a strange doctrine: it measures harm as an increase in the price paid by customers for services received - and that is almost impossible to prove when most services are provided for free. This leaves out of consideration the valuable data platform companies collect from their users.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">Commissioner Vestager is the champion of the European approach. It took the EU seven years to build a case against Google, but as a result of her success the process has been greatly accelerated. Due to her proselytizing, the European approach has begun to affect attitudes in the United States as well. </p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-some-people-believe-the-world-is-flat-according-to-an-astronomer-2018-1">This is why some people believe the world is flat, according to an astronomer</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/QayGuj0E-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

George Soros calls Facebook and Google a 'menace' to society and 'obstacles to innovation' in blistering attack

<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5380a39eeab8eab61343afc1-866-653/flags-7.jpg?maxX=480" border="0" alt="flags EU Parliament" width="480" /><p class="source"><span>Amanda Macias/Business Insider</span></p><p class="caption">Flags of EU nations outside of the European Parliament.</p></div><p></p></div></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">What language does Europe speak? France has lost its battle for French. Europeans now overwhelmingly opt for English. The Eurovision song contest, won this month by an Austrian cross-dresser, is mostly English-speaking, even if the votes are translated into French.</span></p>
<p>The European Union conducts ever more business in English. Interpreters sometimes feel they are speaking to themselves. Last year Germany's president, Joachim Gauck, argued for an English-speaking Europe: national languages would be cherished for spirituality and poetry alongside "a workable English for all of life's situations and all age groups".</p>
<p>Some detect a European form of global English (globish): a patois with English physiognomy, cross-dressed with continental cadences and syntax, a train of EU institutional jargon and sequins of linguistic false friends (mostly French).</p>
<p>In Brussels "to assist" means to be present, not to help; "to control" means to check, rather than to exercise power; "adequate" means appropriate or suitable, rather than (barely) sufficient; and mass nouns are countable, such as advices, informations and aids. "Anglo-Saxon" is not a historical term referring to Germanic tribes in Britain, but a political insult followed by "capitalism" or even "press".</p>
<p>Ordinary Europeans got a first taste of Euro-globish in the televised debates among leading contenders for the European election on May 22nd-25th. The idea of the main European political groups picking "Spitzenkandidaten" to become the president of the European Commission is a novelty (and has created Brussels's first German neologism in years). It is meant to close the democratic deficit, stir excitement, arrest the fall in turnout and check the rise of anti-EU parties.</p>
<p>In contrast with popular music, though, Euro-globish has a long way to go before it dominates electoral politics. Of the five Spitzenkandidaten debating in Brussels on May 15th, Alexis Tsipras, champion of a far-left alliance, insisted on speaking Greek.</p>
<p>Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg's standard-bearer for the Christian Democrats, chose French. The three others gamely abided by the request to speak English: two Germans, Martin Schulz and Ska Keller from the Social Democrats and Greens, respectively, and a Belgian, Guy Verhofstadt, for the Liberals.</p>
<p><br />As they replied to the Italian moderator's questions about growth, austerity, the euro, economic integration, free trade with America and much else, the politicians showed remarkable fortitude in trying to reach out to voters in what was often their second language.</p>
<p>And spare a thought for the viewers who, for the most part, were not native English-speakers (many broadcasters provided simultaneous interpretation). Inevitably, it made for a stiff and stilted exchange.</p>
<p>The candidates were uninspiring and hard to tell apart in their desire for "more Europe".</p>
<p>But language barriers added to a sense of strange remoteness. Europhiles are pleased that the final debate stimulated more than 100,000 messages on Twitter.</p>
<p>But contrast that with the 5m tweets around the Eurovision contest, and it is plain that European-level democracy has not gripped the public.</p>
<p>Politics is surely best conducted in the vernacular.</p>
<p>John Stuart Mill, for one, thought multilingual democracy a nonsense because "the united public opinion, necessary to the working of a representative government, cannot exist."</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5380a2ccecad04bd3443afc0-1200-2000/languages.jpg" border="0" alt="EU languages parliament" /><p class="source"><span>Amanda Macias/Business Insider</span></p><p class="caption">A sign posted outside the doors to the European Parliament with all the approved EU languages.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Yet, as Switzerland shows, a country can have more than one vernacular.</p>
<p>In theory that might work for Europe. Mr Schulz and Mr Juncker got more prime-time attention when they debated separately on French and German TV in the local tongue.</p>
<p>However, even the finest polyglot would struggle to reach voters in 24 official languages.</p>
<p>Philippe Van Parijs, a professor at Louvain University, argues that European-level democracy does not require a homogenous culture, or ethnos; a common political community, or demos, needs only a lingua franca. Was Nelson Mandela less democratic for speaking English in multi-ethnic and multilingual South Africa?</p>
<p>English is spreading fast, with more than 40% of young Europeans claiming to be able to speak it in some form. The answer to Europe's democratic deficit, says Mr Van Parijs, is to accelerate the process so that English is not just the language of an elite but also the means for poorer Europeans to be heard.</p>
<p>An approximate version of English, with a limited vocabulary of just a few hundred words, would suffice.</p>
<p>Yet European politics remains firmly national.</p>
<p>There is often a gap between the Spitzenkandidaten and the national parties they supposedly represent. The Christian Democrat, Social Democratic and Liberal Spitzenkandidaten may believe in Eurobonds, but their German colleagues do not.</p>
<p>Mr Schulz was told by Britain's Labour Party not to show his face there. Mr Juncker has no real ally from his European People's Party in Britain (the Tories left in 2009) and the wrong sort in Italy (Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia is waging an embarrassing anti-German campaign).</p>
<h3>And The English Problem</h3>
<p>The experiment with Spitzenkandidaten will probably end badly. If one of them wins, it will be seen as a power-grab by MEPs to take from elected national leaders the right to choose who runs the commission; if they all fail, the EU-wide democratic contest will look a sham.</p>
<p>It also poses a dilemma for the British prime minister, David Cameron. He finds all the Spitzenkandidaten unacceptably federalist (Britain vetoed Mr Verhofstadt's bid for the commission in 2004). But he cannot block anybody alone.</p>
<p>S<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">everal leaders, including Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, have more or less endorsed Spitzenkandidaten, and few have criticised the idea openly. If Mr Cameron is isolated and an arch-federalist is chosen, that will increase the risk that Britain may leave. How strange if Europe were to become an English-speaking union without its largest English-speaking country.</span></p>
<p>Click <a href="https://subscriptions.economist.com/nwcd">here</a> to subscribe to The Economist.</p>

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