None So Blind.....

To be absolutely clear, I am appalled at the routine violence meted out to people of colour by the various US law enforcement officers, including by black officers. I also agree that those white people who made their fortunes out of the slave trade, or from colonisation should be condemned. That they later shared their illicit wealth with their own communities and thereby bought themselves status and recognition, counts for nothing in my book.

Something less obvious troubles me though. The US is not my country, and the slave trade and the colonialist era happened before I was born. So I can cast blame without having to share it. Except that I can’t. Both are smokescreens and being insubstantial they cannot shield me. So let me throw a few thoughts in your direction.

In this country right now racism is expressed openly by many people, young or old, whatever class, whether on the left or the right, or even in the centre of the political spectrum, and we do nothing apart from throwing up our hands in horror.

Slavery is a thing of the past? What about women and children shipped around Europe to work in the sex trade, or the car washers stationed on so many shopping centre car parks? What about all those people working on zero hours contracts for our convenience and comfort, without sick pay or paid holiday entitlements? Is this not modern slavery?

Whether you are one of the ‘haves’ or among the ‘have nots’ nothing changes. Still we pursue wealth at the expense of people.

Why are we all competing?

“World beating” seemed to be the phrase of 2020, at least from the lips of government spokespeople. It’s apparently no longer sufficient to be good enough; we must be better than that. We have to be or have the best of everything. If a country has more of something desirable than we do, then we’ve got to overtake them.

But when I thought a bit more about that, I realised competing is all-pervading. At grammar school we were assigned to one of four houses and then competed against the other three in just about everything we did. But sport, professional or amateur, exists only in the world of competition. Take golf, which I once dabbled in. There is something enormously satisfying in connecting cleanly with the ball and seeing it soaring into the sky exactly as you want it to, and it’s frustrating in the same measure when so many times it’s not like that at all. Why can’t we enjoy that on our own? Why does there need to be someone to play against? What if we just had one ball and alternate shots?

Competition is alienating; it sets one against another, whether it be people, companies, countries or whatever. It invites conflict. Whereas cooperation involves coming together, contributing to a common goal for the benefit of all. This may seem a bit pie in the sky but it’s at the core of everything. People are judged by what they achieve not who they are. We have the Sunday Times Rich list each year and celebrate however many new billionaires we have; which rugby players scored the most tries; which driver won most F1 races.

One of the very worst insults you can hurl at anyone is “You’re a loser.”

How refreshing then to learn that Jacinda Ardern and her government have it as a stated policy that henceforth in New Zealand, GDP will take its place behind the wellbeing of the people.

I think that’s probably a non-sequitur but it fits for me, which is what matters.

One thing I didn’t mention in my profile was that I am also a Christian. It wasn’t always the case. To be sure I was born into what was then referred to as The Church of England and is now generally referred to as the Anglican Church. Then around the age of 17 I decided that I was agnostic, and shortly after that an atheist. It seemed a good way to escape the clutches of a vengeful and punitive God eager to log your sins and condemn you. God was not good to have around a lustful teenager.

Atheism served me well enough for many years until, apparently unprompted, I was knee-capped by what is often described as a conversion experience. As a psychologist that provided a fruitful source of reflection which brought me to a fresh understanding of faith. Before anyone panics and assumes I want to convert you all, the most important thing I learned from my own experience was that everyone has to discover faith in their own way and in their own time - which may be never.

So all this is just context for the views I express here. If they sometimes seem a bit off the wall, you now know where it’s coming from.

I’m finding twitter increasingly depressing. Brexit, Brexit, Brexit + Covid, Covid, Covid. I’m unhappy with both but please can we talk about something else. It’s even infiltrating FB more and more. 

The sun is shining here today, and the wind has dropped completely away. It’s just the day to climb aboard my trusty mobility scooter and terrorise the neighbourhood. Yes, that should raise my spirits. Wish me luck!