The fact that 1339 of us died of drug addiction last year, is clear indication of something seriously wrong in Scotland. Obviously, these recorded mortalities are only a fraction of a much larger ‘submerged population’, living desperate lives – stumbling towards deaths from drugs, alcohol and suicide – deaths of despair. The cruelty of this reflects on all of us.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which I trust, says one in five Scots – a million people – now live in relative poverty. It is reasonable to assume that a tenth of these live close to the destitution of hunger and homelessness – without basic necessities; 100,000 people living at the cliff edge. Even after adjustments for socio-economic deprivation, Scotland has 5,000 annual deaths which puzzle experts; which Public Health Scotland calls ‘excessive’ and ‘unexplained’ – often attributed to a mysterious ‘Scotland effect’.
Of all the experts puzzling the ‘Scotland effect’ over many years, I find Dr Harry Burns the most helpful, because he looks beyond what other people count – at the psychological health, the morale, of a population. Burns would say that having a sense of being in control of one’s life is critical to our health and wellbeing. He references the legendary Jimmy Reid, who in 1971 spoke of ‘alienation’: “ The feeling of despair and hopelessness that pervades people who feel, with justification, that they have no say in shaping their own destinies”. Which returns us to the central question: Why so many in Scotland lose control of our lives?
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Fundraising was a resounding success; more readers (circa 165) donated more money (circa £5000) and I feel much appreciated. I’ll soon get thank you notes out to supporters.
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It can be helpful to think of society as having three pillars, the state, the markets, and the community; the common good is served best when the three pillars are in appropriate balance. I sense that, in Scotland today, the pillars are seriously imbalanced; the state and the economy, in close relationship, are leaving the community behind – regarding community action as a ‘deserving cause’ rather than the independent third pillar of a healthy society. I know of no politician or senior official who is aware of the gravity of this. Record drug addiction is just one symptom of the hopelessness that accompanies the breakdown of once healthy communities; Scotland has Europe’s worst local democracy and worst deaths from despair.
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I know it’s a decision by Westminster, whether the Cambo Oil Field gets a licence – but the SNP can’t credibly remain silent. COP26 in Glasgow just adds to the mounting global pressure to end fossil fuel extraction. Damage to the Scottish economy would be temporary – to the planet, it could be fatal. We need to take a position!
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When, in 2010, Mark Zuckerberg, said that the age of privacy is over, I was determined he was wrong – but he wasn’t. In earlier village life, we knew everything about each other – the world has returned to that situation. This 2015 Guardian article agrees, that the 40 years of ‘anonymity’ I enjoyed (1960-2000) was an anomaly – to look back on.
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Another thing I regret about the modern world, is that nothing is repaired any more. Never have we wanted, owned and wasted so much stuff – as we scavenge the earth to the point of ecological collapse. This article by Jonathan Chapman makes suggestions as to where this throwaway culture is leading us.
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The garden I enjoy is constantly being colonised by the wild woodland just over the wall; I often remark how quickly it would return to the wild. 60 years ago, a four-hectare arable farm was abandoned – to see what would happen! This Conversation piece is about the Monks Woodland Wilderness experiment – which for some reason really lifts me.
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Love and Courage’, by Charles Bukowski:
“The one I liked was where Cagney fought in the ring – got punchy – so he could earn money to give his brother music lessons. The brother wanted to be a classical pianist – was said to have great talent – but they both came from the Lower East Side, and so Cagney got into the ring again and again for money to help the talented brother become a classical pianist. Cagney even loses the girl to his brother and it ends with his brother making it (at Carnegie Hall, if I remember) and Cagney punched-out and blind at his newsstand listening to the radio to his brother in the concert hall. And, of course, the girl is at the hall adoring, wild-eyed as Cagney warms his hands over a small fire. Alone in the cold he listens to the radio as his brother plays the piano, Cagney not knowing shit about music and hearing the final applause believes that all the beatings he has taken were worthwhile.”
