The Guardian columnist, John Harris, writes that the present level of domestic inflation amounts to a ‘social emergency’; I agree with him that Westminster has not grasped the scale of this crisis, and that how the UK responds to this will define who we are. Will we return to the hard-faced Thatcherism or are we a society moving in a more compassionate direction; the market-driven individualism of the US, or a European-style social democracy. This is beyond ideology, many will soon be destitute.
When I was a young man, I had friends who were in the Communist Party; I remember respecting their service of a ‘cause’. “Anyone who would understand the Scottish psyche – our distinctiveness – needs to be aware of Red Clydeside between the wars – a powerhouse of socialism – led by real working class heroes. We should not underestimate how much this legacy is still carried inside us, as part of our pride”. I wrote that comment in this column in 2007; since then, socialism has become almost a degraded word.
I’ve always regarded the NHS as a model for how our whole society should function, spreading the earth’s resources and talent fairly. How did it happen that the dominant politics of our time became irrational populism – bringing us Trump and Brexit – and our buffoon PM. In 1952, Nye Bevan wrote about what the welfare state stands for and what it seeks to achieve. He called his book ‘In Place of Fear’. Now in this time of reckless populism, democracy stumbles and the fear returns.
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Until last week, I’d never heard of the personal finance journalist, Martin Lewis, or www.moneysavingexpert.com website. Until the global energy market caused this ‘social emergency’, I never imagined this blog would feature an article about how to stay warm around the house. This feature, ‘Heat the Human, not the Home’ is a selection of practical tips for people in financial desperation, who need to cut down on energy usage. Yes, it’s shameful that in a ‘developed’ country, so many can’t turn the heating on, but that’s no reason to ignore the situation, as though it was some kind of character failure. Politicians failed to regulate the energy market; our necessities should not be marketised.
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Fritz Schumacher’s admonition to keep things small is deep in my value system; I find Jeff Bezos wealth and Amazon’s empire offensive on so many levels. Delighted to learn this week that a team of workers has forced Amazon to recognise a trade union, for the first time in the US. Across the US only 6% of private sector workers are unionised.
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Almost without exception, the media moguls favour right wing policies, so the Tory Party looks after them – including the trashing of public sector media. Confirmation this week that the Tories will proceed with their intention to sell Channel 4, an authentic social enterprise, to the profit sector. But C4 won’t go quietly; this has the makings of a pre-election battle royale.
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The Social Europe platform has recruited Nina Khrushcheva (great granddaughter of Nikita Khrushchev) to write this article about the invasion of Ukraine: Putin’s war will destroy Russia. Khrushcheva, who now lives in the US, explores Putin’s motives – then sets out four possible endings to the present conflict – which I found helpful to my understanding of events.
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Economist Thomas Piketty’s most recent book, ‘A Brief History of Equality’, has just been published in English. In this IPS (International Politics and Society) article, academic, Kate Pickett references his book and says that the British Govt. has long been promising educational equality, but its policies contribute to widening the gap.
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In 2015, one of England’s greatest playwrights, Alan Bennett, was asked what Britain was best at. “What, I think, we are best at is hypocrisy”, he said. And he went on: “A substantial minority of our children receive a better education than the rest because of the social situation of their parents. Then we wonder why things at the top don’t change or society improve”.
At the close of his latest book, ’A Brief History of Equality’. Thomas Piketty makes this observation: ‘Equality has made its way by overturning the rules established by regimes of power’.
