Larry's Lunchette

Dear members and friends,

Some years ago, waiting my turn to speak at some public meeting, I had a panic attack: pulse racing, I froze – thought I might faint. For the occasional stressful event, my GP explained, the drug Diazepam (Valium) is useful – lowers heartrate and general anxiety: I now get one prescription a year – 28 x 2mg tablets – very helpful. One year, when I tried for a second batch, I got a surprisingly stiff reprimand about the dangers of addiction etc. Never tried again.
I mention my NHS incident in the context of America’s opioid catastrophe, where, it seems, giant pharma companies flooded communities with addictive painkillers – thousands have died. Health care in the USA is less of a service than a profit-driven industry – controlled by corporations selling drugs, insurance, hospital beds etc. But recent events suggest that even ‘over there’, peak neo-liberalism has passed. I’m starting to believe that we are entering a period – when in order to prosper – businesses will need to provide tangible benefit for people and planet. (startling letter from editor of FT).

In a week where I was unable to watch either the Solheim Cup or the Test Match (paywalls) I return to one of my hobbyhorses – the widening gap between television watched by rich and poor people. This short Guardian piece is about the new wave of subscription TV streaming companies – listed and costed at a total of £120 a month. I believe that so few households and children cross the golf TV paywall that the game is disappearing from Scotland’s unique linksland, where it began.

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We Brits do period drama well: The Forsyth Saga, 1967; Upstairs Downstairs, 1971; Brideshead Revisited, 1981; The Downton Abbey brand rumbles on.  These ‘entertainments’ are all about the mystique of the English ruling class – who go to public school and Oxbridge and control everything.  Fortunately, my life also encountered people like Jimmy Reid, Mick McGahey, Margo McDonald (roughly a dozen models) from whom I learned different stories – about working people and their struggles for justice and democracy.  Brexit has convinced me, that reactionary ‘deep England’ is as entrenched as ever ( out of 55 PMs, Johnston is the 20^th from Eton).  This ‘rigged system’ makes Scottish independence inevitable – and they know it.

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The Autumn Newsletter of Community Land Scotland evokes a successful, expanding sector – which turns out to be more ‘placid’ than I expected. I imagined our ‘Land Reform’ journey as a series of turbulent confrontations – like the Save Loch Lomond campaign at Balloch (Flamingo Land has withdrawn its application – tactical?). The main general limiter of community ownership is lack of funds – and the Scottish Land Commission has published useful research. The report’s Executive Summary identifies 13 funding model options; the aim must be to put in place the level of support – to enable the likes of the residents of Balloch to develop their land themselves.

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Early Facebook backer, Roger McNamee (dubbed Zuckerberg’s mentor) was interviewed on Channel 4 News last week; this six-minute interview is the best summary I’ve heard of the huge problems at the heart of the global platform: he says, “I’m incredibly sad at the state of the media company”.

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For the last seven years, Scotland’s Poverty Alliance has co-ordinated a Challenge Poverty Week – this year, it’s the 7^th-13^th October. If you’d like to join the 130 organisations who participated last year – here’s the info. On Friday 11^th October, the Senscot Bulletin (number 999) will be themed around poverty.

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Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) was, in my opinion, one of America’s most important contemporary writers – fearless. He was 47 when his darkly satiric anti-war novel Slaughterhouse-Five thrust him into fame.

“1492. As children we were taught to memorize this year with pride and joy as the year people began living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America. Actually, people had been living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America for hundreds of years before that. 1492 was simply the year sea pirates began to rob, cheat, and kill them.”

Yesterday, in Edinburgh, saw a joint meeting of the Health and Cultural Roundtables, see Agenda and delegate list. The meeting follows on from a recent Joint Thematic SEN meeting, a Community Learning Exchange to Project Ability – with another scheduled for next week, to Reachout. On the back of these, a Parliamentary Cross Party Group will be taking place on 8^th October – with the focus on Collaborative Culture and Person Centred Healthcare . This theme will also be the subject of our next Briefing – highlighting how cultural and art activity contributes to improving health and wellbeing outcomes within local communities. We are keen to hear from any SEN members who contribute towards this agenda and can demonstrate the impact they are making. If you’d like to get involved, please contact Mary or Sarah.

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