Welcome to our web domain which is as the last part off the name alludes to, an Opinion. This is not a news site or a site of fact or even part of what is termed the fourth state. It is a range of opinions which we hope are based on as much knowledge as we can gleam from the contacts and sources available to us. This site should be considered a fifth state group or indeed if such is going to commence in the future the Sixth State of the Realm.
The first part of the domain name comes from the Island of Jura. That birth cradle of George Orwell’s 1984, that cautionary tale of the totalitarian state. The writing that some or perhaps many consider having predicted our present situation with the diminishment of freedom of speech, the populous being under constant surveillance, the imprisonment of whistle-blowers and the weakening of democracy.
Some 70 years on since Orwell’s time on the Island of Jura, has it changed? It certainly did a bit in the mid 1990’s when the KLF band burnt their supposed million pounds. A statement against the monetary establishment if ever there was one. The great bonfire, which was witnessed by locals, took place in what is the new exuberant Ardfin Golf Course which along with the Jura Whisky Distillery is what the island is now internationally renowned for. Neither of which were there in Orwell’s time. Regardless of the attempts by the nouveau marketeers there are still some similarities. Orwell landed there because of his links to the newspaper world and the powerful aristocratic Astor family, who still hold a vast estate. Today Jura attracts a new type of establishment in the mega rich from city trading, the celebrities and most secretly the international political and financial powerbase who come and go unnoticed from what could have been one of Orwell’s ‘floating fortresses. If from this unget-at-able island in 1948 Orwell predicted our present world, how will todays unknown visiting influencers dictate the political realities of the new world order?
The name Jura also encompasses the renowned feature the Paps of Jura which dominate a large section of the west coast of Scotland. In Europe we have that vast mountainous area which expands through France and Switzerland. It was in the Jura Mountains in the Swiss town of La Chaux-de-Fonds that the ‘Jura Federation’ was born in the 1870’s, said to be the origin of the anarchist movement. They were a group of people with varied beliefs in socialism, Marxism, communism with a small ‘c’ but all-encompassing the belief in freedom of speech and freedom from authoritarianism. The Jura Collective was short lived as they could not agree on their true aims, was it egalitarianism, libertarianism, or participatory democracy. Today communism is considered the true totalitarian state, which for those who believe in true freedom is a moot point when one looks at the control of the populace by many of our great democracies. Anarchy is associated with violence, intimidation, and lack of respect for others rather than the freedom of speech and independent spirit that was perhaps first intended. It is interesting that the ‘Federation’ instigators were not just downtrodden workers, which is what we would expect but a mix of individuals from what was called ‘cottage industries’. What would now be classed as small businesses or even that gem of the free world the entrepreneurs. A group of people who were trying to improve their and their families lives by hard work and dedication. Only to be kept in the lower echelons of society by the rich European financial aristocratic clans. Who still control much of our everyday lives despite our pretence at democracy in the west. Is Swiss Jura, still rebellious? Well in 2012 over 3000 international delegates attended an anarchist gathering in St-Imier, with another international anti-authoritarian gathering to be held in July 2023.
The area is still known as a place of watch makers, small scale farming and now a growing tourist industry but the” Jura Question” is an ongoing thorn within the Swiss establishment since 1947 or before. Militant activism over the separatism of the Jurassic area has fallen and risen over the years. Following several polls and votes the Republic and Canton of Jura was formed in 1979, with the succession from the Canton of Berne. The Jura autonomous movement continues with several votes being held over the last decades the latest being in 2021 when the city of Moutier transferred to the Republic of Jura.
The name Jura is quietly becoming associated with change and the removal of the shackles of the static establishment and perhaps even an escape from the unknown “deep state”.
The true belief of the Jura Federation may still be out there.
Jura- 