Saturday Mope

It's a long time since I have been down at Poole Harbour, which is just visible as a dim hump in the far distance.   I dreamt of buying a wee house with a view such as this over the harbour, but decided the several millions required could be better used elsewhere.  I used to walk near here with a friend and we often contemplated a flat with a higher view, just up the way from here.  We both decided that a million pound for a flat was too much.  There again, having 47pence between us, this was an easy decision.  Dreams are cheap, but the more I look at rich folks throwing their money away on expensive items, mostly for show, I wonder if they are as happy as you and I are in our struggles?  How many are divorced, unstable, depressed, and looking for meaning by gaining more useless items?  I have done similar but at a cheaper level, it does not work.  Obtaining a property such as this may be good fun but you would end up mixing with the type of high flying greedy guts that you prefer to avoid.  Those who can cheerfully afford a £10 million house are not the people I want to live next to.  Obviously some would be decent, but those desperate to be among the higher orders would proliferate, and what a bore they would be.  

It is five years since I took this picture of Corfe Castle.  That seems like a generation ago.  Those living in Corfe, in houses made from castle stones, must be among the rich of Dorset.  A house near to the castle costs around £800,000, but it does come with a couple of thousand tourists outside your door, cameras clicking as much as their tongues, kids screaming, and traffic a couple of feet from your window.  I'm not sure I could enjoy that.  

The thing of course is to be where 'your people,' are found.

Not far from me, the main road north from historic times, dives down the hill.  Traffic flows day and night, yet people pay vast sums, similar to Corfe, to live amongst 'their people.'  In one way this is understandable, in another, I wonder if 'their people,' could be found in a better area?  We like to be with 'our kind,' and object when incomers to the country behave in the same manner.  An example I read of the other day was 'Green Lanes,' in London.  Many are Cypriots who came here in times past.  At one end Turkish Cypriots gather in coffee clubs as they did back home.  Up the road, sharing many of the same shops, Greek Cypriots live similar lives as lived back in the sunshine.  The distinction is clear, but they need to be near one another to live lives as they always have.  Together, but separate.

Humans are funny...

Recession

Economic recessions, whether national or personal, have never been good. In times past such a thing as a recession meant real suffering in the UK. Today I am glad to say this is not the case, well it is not the case in that should actually starve.  Benefits provide for those who fail to find work and stop them either sleeping on the streets or starving.  Benefits certain 'Daily Mail' readers and cabinet ministers wish to bring to an end!  Some do slip through the net, sometimes this is their fault, sometimes the system fails.  Others see their companies, both large and small going to the wall as the recession bites, often through no fault of their own.  There are of course those who can take advantage of this, temporary workers agencies for instance, these come into their own in times like these.  These two cars were bought a year or two ago to provide transport for the owner of one such agency.  Six in all were obtained to provide transport for the top men in the company.  (incidentally my bike's puncture has now been fixed) It is a strange situation in many ways.  Companies do go to the wall, directors and staff often losing their homes because of this and yet others can run expensive cars, and they are not even members of David Cameron's Cabinet!  I note the man in the thousand pound suit is not yet troubled, we are indeed 'all in this together,' eh Dave?  There is an increasing divide between the have's and have not's, many suffer badly because of rising costs, especially concerning energy supplies, and yet as a nation we still run expensive cars, buy expensive clothes and look to profit by selling the house for an increase on what we paid for it.  We still expect to get what we wish, and whine loudly when cuts force us to buy what we need as opposed to what we want. (Tell me about that!) In the 1930's the depression led to soup kitchens and real hardship.  Rents could not be paid, clothes and food could not be bought, yet today we can retain expensive mobile phones, cars of some sort, and worry about our weight.  It's a funny old recession right enough.  The nation, indeed the west,  just got slack when wealth became common and when living of the fat of the land we still remained unsatisfied.  maybe we forgot what life was all about?  Wealth is good, I will buy a lottery ticket, however a wealthy nation becomes lazy, dull and self satisfied.  The media satisfies our demands for things to fill our emptiness with dumbed down pap and we lap it up.  Maybe the west in general required a good shaking, maybe we need to remember what matters?  I would be happy being shaken if we were 'all in this together,' but I suspect the usual suspects will come out of this alive.  Now, where is that mince.....?




.

Redistribution of Wealth

The following came through my spam collector today.

Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read "Vote Obama, I need the money." I laughed. Once in the restaurant my server had on a "Obama 08" tie, again I laughed as he had given away his political preference -- just imagine the coincidence. When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight. I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful. At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient deserved money more. I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application.

Now for me this sums up American politics. It misses out so much just to get a point across, and you can decide what the point is for yourself! It does not say why the homeless guy was homeless. Was it his fault? Is he just a lazy bum or someone who life treated badly? Is he injured or sick, or made redundant when it was not his fault? We are not told.

Neither are we told that in many American diners the staff are badly paid, if paid is the word, and live on the tips, hence the smiling service. This is not good service from someone who cares, just desperation for the cash whether they deserve it or not!

So many Yanks are full of the myth of America and talk of 'liberty' or the 'American dream,' and sometimes I wonder if their feet ever touch the ground. Now we have all met good Americans, and some post comments here - and if not are thinking comments at this moment which may be better off posted elsewhere! America has much to give to the world, yet their love of money destroys them, for in the end that is what the 'dream' comes down to. Freedom to do your own thing and get rich, this equals happiness! Wrong! This leads to the rich getting richer, the poor being downtrodden and those climbing high climbing over anyone who gets in the way. That does not bring any happiness because when they get to the top there is nothing there!

The redistribution of wealth has been suggested before. Under Reagan Catholic bishops wanted more given to Americas poor and were branded as 'Communistic and un-American! The desire for democracy as opposed to monarchical rule ends with monarchical rule by those with the money and connections to get to the top. The voting system being manipulated by some to keep things this way. Maybe this time it will be different, but will anything really change?

Redistribution of wealth is not 'socialist' not 'communist,' it does not give to those who do not try, nor does it take from those who work for it, instead it cares! Those who love mammon do not care, for others or themselves, they are enslaved by greed and that is idolatry. The desire to have and keep it all destroys all who go after it, while those who seek their needs and share find life! Jesus never commented on wealth sharing, although the poor are with us always, but he did tell us to care. Paul spoke of the 'Love of money' being the 'root of all evil,' and still we pursue this! If America wants to be successful it needs to share its wealth with itself and the world. Then the likes of 9/11 would never happen, Yanks would never be told to 'Go home' ever again, and the world, and America, would be a happier place.