“How will we keep them down on the farm now that they’ve seen Paree” was a popular song as the First World War ended; the lyric expresses concern that soldiers wouldn’t return to farm work after the excitement of travel and cities. Both my ‘nonno’s’, Lorenzo Demarco and Gerardo Di Ciacca fought in that war (Italians and Brits were on the same side). Within months of demob, they were both arranging to emigrate; that pop song was prophetic; they never returned to the land. My sense is that, alongside life-changing horrors, the war reset their lives – by lifting their aspiration and confidence.
History teaches that World Wars and global pandemics – when they shift the public mood – have the power to reset whole societies; how much has Covid shifted our mood? When thousands of people are dying, fear reminds us of our own mortality – our priorities revert to basics. In the UK, even before Covid, the brutal paradigm of neoliberalism was thoroughly discredited; and now that the possible levels of state intervention, in a more compassionate economy have been revealed – it’s clear we could create any society we wish. There is even a sense that some kind of universal basic income moves within reach.
Of course, all of this is speculation – because we never know what’s coming down the road; the most important personal learning I’m taking from this ‘crisis’, is becoming more comfortable with the ‘not knowing’. But this is the response of an old guy; I assume our young warriors are out there mixing it.
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Given Nicola Sturgeon’s communication skills during lockdown, and Boris Johnson’s lack of them – it was not surprising to learn this week, from pollster John Curtice that there is now a ‘modest but probably clear majority’ in favour of Scottish Independence. This is a good piece by Robert Shrimsley in the FT suggesting Scotland may be the price of Johnson’s place in history. He suggests the PM’s tactic will be to smother Scotland with cash in the hope of preventing a SNP majority next year. But it’s doubtful if even a SNP landslide will secure a second referendum; he’ll prefer to provoke demands for an illegal poll: “Mr Johnson is drawn to such brinkmanship and sets great store by his political charm”.
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Saturday mornings I buy the Guardian and Weekend FT (£7.20) – for an entire week I trawl the various features and columns. We learn that the Saturday Guardian is to be hit by new job cuts – and this piece in the Conversation visits again the steady decline of feature journalism.
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In my opinion, George Monbiot’s writing can get ‘carried away’ – but I’m glad he’s there – a kind of watchman. This piece is about billions of pounds of Govt procurement contracts being awarded without proper tendering. This damages public trust in politics – but the Tory majority makes them immune.
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I’m find the three-part docudrama about the Murdoch Dynasty enthralling (Tuesdays BBC2) – how the fear of corrupt media power manipulates our politics and public life. This is Tim Dowling’s Guardian Review. The Russia Report this week implicates the House of Lords – bribery and corruption going right to the top.
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The global race for a Covid vaccine is hotting up – the stakes couldn’t be higher. This Govt press release confirms that the UK has contracted three potential suppliers for 90 million doses. While the current optimism is certainly encouraging – we are warned that a vaccine may never be found.
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These are the words of my favourite Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh.
“Each of us need to ‘belong to’ a place, such as a retreat centre or a monastery, where each feature of the landscape, the sounds of the bell, and even the buildings are designed to remind us to return to awareness. It is helpful to go there from time to time for several days or several weeks to renew ourselves. Even when we cannot actually go there, we only need to think of it, and we can feel ourselves smile and become peaceful and happy. The people who live there should emanate peace and freshness, the fruits of living in awareness. They must always be there to care for us, console and support us, help us heal our wounds. Each of us must find a spiritual homeland where we can retreat from time to time, much as we ran to our mothers for refuge when we were young.”
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