John Lewis - Civil Rights & a Small World

John Lewis died on the 17th July. I have to admit I had never heard of him, although he was a member of the House of Representatives for Georgia for 43 years. He was a leading Civil Rights campaigner in the 60's alongside Martin Luther King. 

The thing that makes him resonate with me is his powerful "house" analogy, which is as apposite  today as it was back in the 60's.

"We all live in the same house, we all must be part of the effort to hold down our little house. When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, do something about it".

"We are one people with one family. We all live in the same house, and through books, through information, we must find a way to say to people that we must lay down the burden of hate. For hate is too heavy a burden to bear".

"We’re one people. We’re one family. We all live in the same house. Not just an American house but the world house". 

It is a thought that world leaders would do well to consider. Today our world is a small place. We have far better communications than we did in the 60's. The internet didn't exist. Social Media didn't exist. We weren't constantly in touch, carrying powerful computers around in our pockets. 

I believe in the Butterfly Effect - A butterfly beats its wings in a corner of the globe and that single action changes the weather halfway across the world. A small positive vibration can change the entire cosmos. But it can be a change for good or ill. We all need to make our wings of change for good felt.

We do all live in one house. We all have a responsibility to maintain that house & make newcomers welcome. We need to share what we have & treat all equally. We have to fight for what is right for everyone. We have to denounce the things that are wrong. 

The house is capable of providing all that we need - warmth, food, shelter companionship. But only if we really care for it. If we don't it will ultimately be overtaken by weeds & fall apart.

Is that is what is happening now?  

Corona - Taking Responsibilty - Personal Risk

After completely shielding for months I am relaxing my choices. I started to see one or two close friends & family outside in gardens, then indoors with doors open. I have shopped in a big supermarket & a smaller one wearing a mask. I have been to hospital for a non urgent appointment. This week I stayed with some friends overnight.

The amazing thing is that I am even Blogging about that. That it is worthy of comment. That it is out of the ordinary. But that is what Covid 19 has done. It as made the normal abnormal & the abnormal normal.

I am 75. I have several health conditions. But what I choose to do or not to do is my decision. I know myself better than anyone else. There is enough reputable & reliable information available, if you bother to look for it, so that people can make informed choices for themselves.

We all need to do our own individual risk assessment & take responsibility for our own actions. So I'm not going to big family get togethers. I'm not going on holiday for the forseeable future. We need to be pro-active whilst taking care to consider the impact of our behaviour on others.

There will be a time when there should be an evaluation of how well or badly Covid 19 was handled by governments & health professionals. I know what I think, but now is not the time for negativity. The world has to adjust to this & plan for a permanent health related threat. Covid isn't going away & isn't the only virus.

But governments, like police forces, cannot work in isolation. They work by consent. Each individual has a responsibility to make democracy work. For everyone.

Many good things have come out of this pandemic. One is the way people have risen to the challenge of supporting people like me. Medics & carers & many other front line workers have knowingly put themselves at risk to help & care.

Each individual now has to behave responsibly making sure that they don't risk their own, or anyone else's, life for short term gain. The trick is to do that without damaging economies beyone repair.

Government - of the people, by the people, for the people?

I've left blogging about this for a couple of days to mull my anger over.

I listened to Alok Sharma, secretary of state for business, energy & industrial strategy, on Radio 4's Today programme on Thursday. I was really angry. He was just like Paul denying Jesus three times before the cock crowed. Except that he denied more times & wouldn't answer a relevant direct question. This happens all the time. There must be a really good politicians course on evasion & not taking responsibility.

It's all about the appointment of Chris Grayling to head the Joint Intelligence & Security Committee.Yes Chris (Failing) Grayling, the man with the Midas touch for Mishandling.  In charge of a sensitive & vital committee for which he has no experience or qualifications. I didn't think anything this government could do would shock me any more - but this really does.

So Julian Lewis, a man with really good experience in this area, put himself forward as chairman as Grayling was the governments "shoe in". How outrageous. A conservative, perfectly legitimately, standing against the governments choice! How dare he?

So Boris & Cummings had the Whip withdrawn from Lewis, which means he is out in the cold. Unbelievable, childish spite & totally unjustified. The whole point of the J I & S Committee is that it is completely independent of government. But that isn't what this poor excuse of a government wants. They want to control the message - always.

Sharma's response to questioning was that " it's a matter for the Whips". Over & over again. He effectively denied Cabinet collective responsibility for the decision. Ridiculous! Don't they realise that we can see right through them?

Fortunately another conservative, Malcolm Rifkind, has more backbone & experience. He had no problem denouncing this whole charade & making clear that the J I & S Committee is supposed to be totally non partisan. The government should not interfere in any way.

Where are all the good, honest, public service politicians? They are there. But they are overwhelmed by the boot licking, self serving, utterly morally deficient, ones who have no difficulty cheating, prevaricating & lying.

There has to be a reckoning. This is not democracy.

Corona - Whingeing

Corona has disrupted everyone's life. I listened to a man on radio 4 today who had literally lost his successful business overnight & didn't get any support from the Government. There are apparently thousands, even millions, in this situation. Unsurprisingly the man was devastated. I have friends who work in the Arts who are in this position. A few may have savings, but if so, they were for the future, not day to day living for months. Some may have skills with which they can generate some income. Some have neither.

Conversely, the Government have given billions to airlines, which are private companies run by very wealthy individuals, with no strings attached. Private companies should be just that. They can't have their cake & eat it. In many cases the cake was more a gateau with plenty of cream for the top echelon.

The airline bosses whinged to government & the government opened it's coffers willingly. Just like it did for the bankers. The money it gave was our money - yours & mine. From taxes. How dare they? Whilst ordinary people struggle to keep going, to feed families, to get through from day to day. Facing goodness knows what tomorrow, because surviving this will take a lot for a great many people. The 2010 Child Poverty Act pledged to end child poverty by 2020. They aren't going to make it. The Conservatives abolished it in 2016.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/uksectoraccounts/compendium/economicreview/february2020/childpovertyandeducationoutcomesbyethnicity

Most people I know don't whinge. Most of them just make the best of it. They follow the guidelines & advice. They look out for others. They try to do what is right. There are a few who do moan & say poor me, why is this happening to me? 'Twas ever thus - They were always inclined to do that & probably always will be. They don't have the capacity for real empathy or seeing how fortunate they really are compared to many others.

Whingeing is never pretty - but the wealthy whingeing is downright sickening. The wealthy should be using the money their businesses have made for them over the years for the good of others. Seeing the profligacy & ostentation of some of the really rich "in the time of Corona" is even worse than normally.

No one actually needs millions or billions for personal use. That money could get us out of the hole we are in, & will be in for years to come, in a flash. But it won't happen, because there simply isn't enough philanthropy & sharing of wealth. There are 54 billionaires in the UK today. In 2018 there were  357,200 millionaires in London alone. Of those 4,750 were worth $30 million or more.

Frankly I think that is obscene. But I would, wouldn't I? I'm a liberal socialist. 

Memory

It's interesting what remains in our memory & what doesn't. There doesn't seem to be much logic in what's discarded. I can't remember very much about my childhood or even teenage years. I also can't remember what I did yesterday or what I'm going to do tomorrow. So I have to have strategies. The main one is my mobile phone, which has my current life on it. I have to have reminders about really trivial things like changing the sheets.

I remember the events of today in 2009 really clearly though. What I don't remember, unless it's in my calendar, is the date itself. It's my 54th wedding anniversary & the date my husband died 11 years ago. You would think that the juxtaposition of the two would be forever fixed in my brain.

We had 43 years of marriage. So in many respects I was very lucky. There were highs & lows. There was a lot of shared experience, a lot of joy, but also disagreements & differences in personality. There were difficult times when we had very little money - egg & chips several times a week because it was cheap. There were also times when we realised that our professional lives gave us a very good standard of living. Money & posessions do not make for a good marriage. Love & tolerance do.

So I do try to make a special effort to remember today. Not in a sad way, not grieving any more. But because for 47 years of my life David was the most important thing in my life, the one constant that I could always rely on what ever happened.

Corona - Acceptance

I'm reading a book a friend gave me - "The Salt Path" by Raynor Winn.
https://www.bigissuenorth.com/reading-room/2019/04/author-qa-raynor-winn/#close

It's a very life affirming book & I am completely in awe of what she & her husband Moth achieved. I simply do not know how they had the physical & mental strength to do what they did. I'm looking forward to her next book due out this September - "The Wild Silence".

Reading the book made me think about "Acceptance". In a way it's a good book to read in the midst of the Covid 19 pandemic. There is so much that has changed in all our lives & none of it has been under our control.

I used to think that acceptance was not a good thing at all. I spent most of my life trying to change things that I thought were either wrong or could be better. I once went on a management course when I was a headteacher. One of the tests revealed that I was a "Reformer". I hadn't really thought about that before, but realised that it was true. I could always see a better way to do things. I could always see what changes needed to be made. I couldn't leave well alone if it could function better.

Age has tempered the reforming zeal. I accept that my single voice will not change the world for the better. I also accept that things are rarely simple & binary. The big questions are always complex. You do have to accept some things in this life.

I can't accept unfairness, discrimination, unequal opportunity, infringement of human rights, the wanton destruction of our complex eco system, corrupt politicians & a corporate hierarchy hell bent on profit at all costs. There has to be a moral compass if society & wildlife is to survive.

I can accept that I am ageing, that my body isn't as good as it was, that my memory lets me down, that I live alone, that I can't travel to far flung & interesting places any more, meeting people with a different culture. There are all sorts of things that I have become habituated to - being unable to run, kneel down & get up again, do the housework, stay awake when reading... There is a long list.

Fighting adversity & unfairness is hard work. It's draining, physically & mentally. It always has been & will be mainly for the young & fit. I can still make my voice heard, but I can't go on marches any more. I certainly couldn't do a sit in - or even a stand in come to that. I'd never get up or be able to walk again!

I hope that there will always be people who challenge wrong, who stand up for right. But I am glad that I've learned a measure of acceptance. More than 3 months of shielding would have been intolerable if I hadn't.