I haven’t blogged for almost a month – no reason, we have just been busy and other things got in the way. The break, however, has provided me with breathing space to think about my next bit of rambling. It has also reinforced my view that I must tackle a blog that I have been intent on for a long time. I warn you in advance, this is going to be long - in fact, I have already decided to split it into two or three parts. So here goes!
In the last 3 weeks or so a number of incidents/events have occurred that have set my mind on a path. We’ve had, of course, the continuing world economic crisis and problems in the Eurozone. Here, in the UK, we have been repeatedly told that austerity is the only way forward. Throughout the world the “Occupy” movement has grabbed the headlines and in some kind of response to the “Occupation” of the area outside St Paul’s in the City of London a prominent investment banker, Ken Costa, has been employed by the Church of England to “reconnect the financial with ethical”. He has demanded that the City “rediscover its moral compass”. Mmmmm – glad I’m not trying to fulfil his job description! I don’t want to sound a naysayer or pessimist but since Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan (more than ably followed by Tony Blair and George Bush) I don’t think that there can be any doubt that the two terms “financial” and “ethical” are mutually exclusive – and as for “City” and “moral compass” is that some kind of oxymoron?
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| Occupying St Paul's and the City |
But against this world back drop, my little life has been staggering on – and I have a number of observations and events that for me, at least, make sense and which I believe say much about our society – especially in these turbulent times.
The first, is not an event – simply an observation. A week or two ago, all my family – wife, children and their families had a few days together in a hotel by the sea. We do this a couple of times a year. My five grandchildren range from two years old to eight. My two children – Kate and John – have “good” jobs and everything should be rosy. But looking at my grandchildren I wonder what the world will be like when they grow up – and what opportunities will they have. When Kate and John were born Pat and I could reasonably look forward to them having a better life than us – good jobs, educational opportunities, access to material things that we could only dream of. Well, in many respects that has happened – but will it be the same for my grandchildren – will the promise of an ever improving society be fulfilled? In my last blog I commented upon the opportunities that I – and my generation - had enjoyed. When we left school we expected a job to be available – in fact, it wasn’t a case of taking any job – we could often choose the career we wished to enter, safe in the knowledge that if we worked hard, paid our dues then our future was reasonably secure. I’m not so sure this is still the case – in fact I don’t believe that it is. I will return to this specific point later. I would however add a couple of things.
Almost forty years ago I became a deputy head teacher and the school in which I taught served a local estate which had been built in the early 50s and its residents overwhelmingly worked in the adjacent gypsum mine. These were “salt of the earth” people and whenever we had a parents’ evening it was not at all unusual for dads to say “Make him work Mr Beale – I don’t want him down the mine like me”. As a parent I could always relate to this – education was the way forward. For these hard working gypsum miners education was the way to a "good" job, a stable career, to wealth - and indeed to a respected place in society.Unfortunately, it seems to me this notion has increasingly “gone wrong”.
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| Ken Costa - a man with one hell of a job description! |
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| More Occupiers! |
As anyone who has read my "stuff" before will know I am a Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler fan. As I have mentioned before my favourite Knopfler song is "Telegraph Road" with its prophetic "I gotta right to go to work, but they shut it all down, I got a right to go to work but there's no work in this town......." Written at the time of Thatcher it has perhaps a similar resonance today - especially for the next generation.
For years, we have “happily” thrown the less well educated on the scrap heap – “Oh, you need to get better qualifications" the politicians have told them. “Get on your bike and look for work like my dad did” said the offensive, intellectually and morally challenged Norman Tebbit thirty years ago as his government decimated the economy in the name of capitalism and a fast buck . Tony Blair chanted the mindless mantra “Education, education, education......”. Well, that’s alright – as long as the contract is fulfilled – I get educated and society rewards me – I’ve played the game, done what is required, jumped through the educational hoop – now give me my job and access to life’s good things. Sadly, it increasingly isn’t working like that today.
Don't think that I am anti education and academic qualifications - I've got a fist full of them and I want them for my grandchildren. I believe in learning for its own sake. I do not subscribe to and could wax long and lyrical on the value and rightness of studying obscure areas of knowledge rather than the utilitarian approach favoured by governments keen to cut the cost of education. But, it is my view that education of any kind is an access to being part of society. The boy who is taught to make arrows in his tribe can become its hunter and thus be important and valued. The girl who learns the mystery of childbirth will become the tribe's mother figure and help her friends in child birth. The child who learns the mysteries of the tribe will become their priest or their sage. They will all have a valued place in their society. No, education is a good thing - lets have loads of it. Unfortunately, though, it only works if it actually gives this access to future participation and recognition - to being valued and approved of. If the boy who has learned the skills of making arrows is then told "Sorry mate, hunting is old hat we're off down to ASDA for our grub" then he is devalued, marginalised, he has no dignity. His "education" did not help him - and yet, in good faith. he had played the game - someone, somewhere, had broken the agreement between the generations. I might study the most abstract forms of ancient history, of no intrinsic worth, but if it provides me with recognition within the small circle that I communicate with in my ivory tower then it has worked. But, sadly, today it seems to me the link has been broken - no longer is education the automatic key to success and an enriched (in the widest sense of the word) life. An increasing number of youngsters are being left high and dry - because they can't manage those A* or because their skills are not regarded as quite so worthwhile as others or because they are in some way disadvantaged or because the job opportunities are no longer there. The race is half lost before they start off. Education is potentially the great key to open doors - it was for me, I got the certificates and had lots of doors from which I could choose - the key opened all of them. I do not believe that today education opens so many doors - and an increasing number of youngsters are still standing outside holding the key but the door to work and therefore recognition and pride and dignity won't open. But, that's for Part 2 of this blog!
Don't think that I am anti education and academic qualifications - I've got a fist full of them and I want them for my grandchildren. I believe in learning for its own sake. I do not subscribe to and could wax long and lyrical on the value and rightness of studying obscure areas of knowledge rather than the utilitarian approach favoured by governments keen to cut the cost of education. But, it is my view that education of any kind is an access to being part of society. The boy who is taught to make arrows in his tribe can become its hunter and thus be important and valued. The girl who learns the mystery of childbirth will become the tribe's mother figure and help her friends in child birth. The child who learns the mysteries of the tribe will become their priest or their sage. They will all have a valued place in their society. No, education is a good thing - lets have loads of it. Unfortunately, though, it only works if it actually gives this access to future participation and recognition - to being valued and approved of. If the boy who has learned the skills of making arrows is then told "Sorry mate, hunting is old hat we're off down to ASDA for our grub" then he is devalued, marginalised, he has no dignity. His "education" did not help him - and yet, in good faith. he had played the game - someone, somewhere, had broken the agreement between the generations. I might study the most abstract forms of ancient history, of no intrinsic worth, but if it provides me with recognition within the small circle that I communicate with in my ivory tower then it has worked. But, sadly, today it seems to me the link has been broken - no longer is education the automatic key to success and an enriched (in the widest sense of the word) life. An increasing number of youngsters are being left high and dry - because they can't manage those A* or because their skills are not regarded as quite so worthwhile as others or because they are in some way disadvantaged or because the job opportunities are no longer there. The race is half lost before they start off. Education is potentially the great key to open doors - it was for me, I got the certificates and had lots of doors from which I could choose - the key opened all of them. I do not believe that today education opens so many doors - and an increasing number of youngsters are still standing outside holding the key but the door to work and therefore recognition and pride and dignity won't open. But, that's for Part 2 of this blog!
We have heard much in recent months of the “Arab Spring”. I am not an expert but understand that one of the reasons for the unrest in middle eastern countries which spilled over into violence and calls for a change to the system was the large numbers of educated youngsters with few prospects in these countries – and they were demanding change. Is this our future – I believe it might well be, and without condoning violence I might say, “and rightly so”.
And the nub of all this for me? It is the fulfilling of what, I believe, is a basic human contract between the generations and between people – and it is something which, since Reagan and Thatcher, we have increasingly turned away from. I pay my taxes – not just for me, but for all of society. There is an element of trust at work here – we pay our taxes assuming that others too will pay theirs. We “trust” those with authority over us to spend the money wisely. We pay our taxes to keep up and maintain what we have already invested in (say, keeping the railway line running) and also to improve things for the future - in trust for the benefit of future people perhaps yet to be born and still to enjoy what we have done. Others before me did it for me and so I must do it for those who follow. Part of my taxes will pay teachers, doctors, road builders, policemen and the like – I don’t say at the end of each year “Hold on, I don’t have any children and I don’t own a car, and I haven’t been in hospital and I’ve not called out the police – please can I have my money back.” We build roads and railways so that others can enjoy their benefits – today and in the future – that’s the deal. It's called society. Of course it is not only about taxation – it’s about our whole set of beliefs and values – we act as we do as part of a community – and for the continuing good of that community. Or at least that is – or was – the theory. Between the generations this “contract” is extended – not only do we as adults hope that the world will be better for our children and grandchildren we have an obligation to put into place measures and to ensure that it will be better – it is their inheritance and is what, I believe, being an adult member of society is all about. It is common to all societies - no matter how primitive or advanced.
Now, politicians like George Osborne will tell me that that is why he has put these austerity measures in place - to ensure that our debts are not willed onto the next generation. There is clearly some mileage in his argument, but the whole issue is much, much bigger and deeper than that. His is a very naive and partisan view of the world. Considerations about the values and beliefs and ideals of a society are only in a small way bound by economic considerations – there are higher order considerations at work.
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| Ainsworth & Martin - rather grander than the lorry dad used to drive but still the same livery! |
Today, having looked at their web site I see the company is now a “logistics company” – they’ve gone up in the world, no longer just “haulage” and their address is no longer Maitland Street, and they have a fleet of lorries - but it’s good to know that a bit of my history lives on and that the company is still part of the local Preston community. When I saw the lorries that night, on their way, I assume, home to Preston I felt like chasing them and flagging them down and saying “Hey, I used to sit in one of these sixty years ago – my dad helped to build the company – probably before you (the driver) were born”. Don’t worry I resisted the temptation to do this – I’d probably have been reported to the police!
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| ERN 109 - all dressed up for the 1952 Preston Guild procession with my dad driving! (Preston Digital Archive) |
And, following from this, I found this wonderful web site – the Preston Digital Archive - quite by accident. It's a digital archive of Preston’s past. Thousands of old photographs of the town and its people. I saw grainy photographs that brought so many memories back and amongst them photographs of a couple of my dad’s old lorries – vehicles that I can remember proudly sitting in. These were not “Ainsworth and Martin” lorries but “English Electric” – the company that he moved to when he left Ainsworth’s and where he spent the rest of his working life. FCK 389 and ERN 109 – the registration numbers are still etched on my mind (I can repeat car/vehicle registration numbers from years ago - how sad is that!) – these lorries were part of my childhood and to see them brought back the picture of my dad going off to work in his green overalls. Throughout his working life, he always wore a tie and had brightly shining boots - things, I think, instilled in him by old Reuben Ainsworth. And Sunday night was always the time when he stood and ironed his overalls for the following week. I can still smell the diesel on him when he returned at the end of the day – the old photographs brought all this back. Even to this day Sunday is always the day I clean the family shoes, so that we are smart and like my dad I feel "undressed" and scruffy if I am not wearing a tie - I wonder if old Mr Ainsworth knew that in a small way he would still be having an affect sop many years after his death?
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| FCK 389 - I sat in this many times (Preston Digital Archive) |
I mention these two items about lorries and my childhood not for sentimental reasons (although I have enjoyed reminiscing) but rather because I think they are important in the debate.
You see, as I drove along that evening having seen the two lorries from Ainsworth and Martin I reflected on what it meant to me. My dad did not have one single qualification - academic or otherwise. He left school early and like his own dad and older brothers worked taking fruit and vegetables from the nurseries of Hertfordshire, where he grew up, into Covent Garden Market in London in the early hours of every morning. He learned to drive a lorry from sitting beside his own dad and brothers – but never took a test – it was the days before formal driving tests. He had no GCSE or A levels or degrees. He drove around Europe and India in the Second World War as a soldier and after the war continued his profession (and I choose the word carefully) - long distance lorry driving - with pride. It was what defined him as a human being and a member of society. Only very late in life did someone ask him to gain a qualification. He was in his mid fifties when the government said “You have to have an HGV licence if you are to drive a lorry” – so he took the test and passed it.
He didn’t define himself by the qualifications he had because he didn't have any. Had he had to fill in a CV then the “Qualifications “ column would have been blank. He would probably have been out of work today. But he was never out of work – I don’t ever remember him missing a day’s work (although I’m sure that he did). He defined himself by what he could do – drive a lorry; take the engine out of a car or lorry and repair it and then put it back; turn up each day with his tie on and looking smart and his lorry all bright and shining; sit each Sunday afternoon and neatly fill in his “log sheets” the records of where he had been that week ready to be handed into the work’s office on Monday morning so that he would be paid on Thursday; iron his overalls, shine his boots and be ready to travel the country’s roads on Monday morning. I’m sure that he wasn’t a saint – he was just an ordinary bloke, he liked his cigarettes, he occasionally had a glass of beer, occasionally swore – but above all lived an honourable and dignified life based upon what he did - and did well. His pride and dignity came from the fact that he worked, brought home the weekly money, paid his taxes, did a good – albeit humble – job and I’m sure felt that in his way he made a “contribution” . But for him (and remember, I am saying this as a retired teacher!) Blair’s mantra “Education. Educations, Education......” was irrelevant. He had an honoured place in his society based upon the skills that he had and what he contributed. Sadly, I don’t think there would be any such place for him – and millions of other like him – today. Society demands more – “We’ll give you respect and rewards and a place at the table if you have the “good” degree. Get your five A* GCSE and we will consider you worthwhile”. The name of the game is “drive up standards, pass more exams, get qualified.”
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| Dad in India - Boxing Day 1945 - with my mother's name on the front of his truck! |
But, I ask, what of those with no qualifications; what of those who are so disadvantaged in our modern world that their opportunity to get these passports to success and the consequent “dignity” and pride in themselves is severely limited; what of those increasing numbers who do jump through the hoop, get the qualifications but there is still no work; and what of those who through no fault of their own suddenly find that their pride and dignity has been stripped when their job has gone because economic targets must be met, the market has fallen, austerity must bite? And I wonder where my grandchildren fit into this equation? And I wonder what has happened to the basic trust and contract between the generations.
It seems to me that economics now drives everything. “We must all suffer” says George Osborne as he stands at the altar of economic austerity. Well, economics is important, no one will deny that – certainly not me – but I also wonder if there are too higher, more important things than even economics.
Indeed, this "contract" is not an idealistic pipe dream of unreconstructed liberals. It is a fundamental of all societies no matter how advanced or primitive. The old take care of the young so that in turn the young will care for the old. We teach our young to play a useful part in society, give them a role, they take over and hunt, produce, reproduce, care and in their turn pass on these attributes to the next generation. Everybody wins, society goes on. And in that sense a higher moral and social imperative is at work than simply the demands of the economy, of the City, of big business. It is about the fundamental nature of society - unfortunately George Osborne and his ilk do not see this. All they see is the balance sheet - we must throw people out of work because the balance sheet demands it; we must cut costs of education and charge high student fees because the balance sheet demands it; we can do only what we can afford because the balance sheet demands it. And so the delicate balance is broken - the expectations of the young are quashed their opportunities for involvement, role, dignity, standing, contribution are curtailed. For the short term balancing of the books the hopes, dreams, aspirations and indeed contribution of the next generation is increasingly sacrificed. And, in a piece of legislation so mind bogglingly repulsive and showing a total lack of comprehension and joined up thinking our Prime Minister, whilst wringing his hands at the high level of youth unemployment and a generation that may never know work, boasts that in future there will be no compulsory retirement age. In other words older people, like me, who have enjoyed the privileges, fruits and benefits of a life time of full employment can carry on and work as long as we wish - and at the same time, presumably prevent a youngster potentially taking over our job. I think that I might have some difficulty explaining that to my grand-daughter - "Oh sorry, you can't be a teacher at the school because although I'm almost seventy and have enjoyed the job and the pay for half a century its mine and I'm not sharing it with you. I don't give a toss that you're unemployed and have the qualifications. The job's mine so clear off." The age of the accountant and bean counter is here - forget care, compassion, dignity, pride, moral imperatives, society. The world of the accountant, the investment banker, the hedge fund manager, the venture capitalist and financier is firmly rooted in greed - to acquire more - it's their raison d'etre. It's not about other human attributes and considerations. To use a quote that I have used elsewhere "The idea is essentially repulsive of a society held together only by the relations and feelings arising out of pecuniary interest" (J.M. Keynes). This is where we are at in today's world - economics and the balance sheet drive all - instead of being our servant it is our god. And individuals will suffer - and in the longer term so will our society. We have messed with the very fundamentals on which social living is based - whether it be in the bee hive, the lion's pride, the jungle tribe or the village in which I live - we have broken the link, the "contract" between the generations - because the balance sheet says so.
Indeed, this "contract" is not an idealistic pipe dream of unreconstructed liberals. It is a fundamental of all societies no matter how advanced or primitive. The old take care of the young so that in turn the young will care for the old. We teach our young to play a useful part in society, give them a role, they take over and hunt, produce, reproduce, care and in their turn pass on these attributes to the next generation. Everybody wins, society goes on. And in that sense a higher moral and social imperative is at work than simply the demands of the economy, of the City, of big business. It is about the fundamental nature of society - unfortunately George Osborne and his ilk do not see this. All they see is the balance sheet - we must throw people out of work because the balance sheet demands it; we must cut costs of education and charge high student fees because the balance sheet demands it; we can do only what we can afford because the balance sheet demands it. And so the delicate balance is broken - the expectations of the young are quashed their opportunities for involvement, role, dignity, standing, contribution are curtailed. For the short term balancing of the books the hopes, dreams, aspirations and indeed contribution of the next generation is increasingly sacrificed. And, in a piece of legislation so mind bogglingly repulsive and showing a total lack of comprehension and joined up thinking our Prime Minister, whilst wringing his hands at the high level of youth unemployment and a generation that may never know work, boasts that in future there will be no compulsory retirement age. In other words older people, like me, who have enjoyed the privileges, fruits and benefits of a life time of full employment can carry on and work as long as we wish - and at the same time, presumably prevent a youngster potentially taking over our job. I think that I might have some difficulty explaining that to my grand-daughter - "Oh sorry, you can't be a teacher at the school because although I'm almost seventy and have enjoyed the job and the pay for half a century its mine and I'm not sharing it with you. I don't give a toss that you're unemployed and have the qualifications. The job's mine so clear off." The age of the accountant and bean counter is here - forget care, compassion, dignity, pride, moral imperatives, society. The world of the accountant, the investment banker, the hedge fund manager, the venture capitalist and financier is firmly rooted in greed - to acquire more - it's their raison d'etre. It's not about other human attributes and considerations. To use a quote that I have used elsewhere "The idea is essentially repulsive of a society held together only by the relations and feelings arising out of pecuniary interest" (J.M. Keynes). This is where we are at in today's world - economics and the balance sheet drive all - instead of being our servant it is our god. And individuals will suffer - and in the longer term so will our society. We have messed with the very fundamentals on which social living is based - whether it be in the bee hive, the lion's pride, the jungle tribe or the village in which I live - we have broken the link, the "contract" between the generations - because the balance sheet says so.
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| Arnold players form a guard of honour for the Denaby team as they went out of existence |
And this brings me to my final observation of the past three or four weeks. Each week I go to watch my local non-league football team – Arnold Town. Each week I spend a pound or two buying club raffle tickets for a small prize. Each week I lose. I don’t mind – it puts a bit of money into the club. I say I have never won – not strictly true. Once, many years ago, I won when we went to watch our team play in Yorkshire – at a club called Denaby United. The prize was not a bottle of wine or a few pounds but a huge parcel of meat wrapped up in newspaper from the local Denaby butcher – chops and steak. It was delicious and kept us going for the rest of the week. Denaby is historically a coal mining village. It had a turbulent history and in its time miners had had to work in terrible conditions. The village itself had rows of miner’s cottages and the football ground was a little dilapidated; the Club worked hard to keep up appearances and provided wonderful hospitality. We always enjoyed our trips to Denaby – wonderful, dour, sincere, salt of the earth folk. In the Miners’ Welfare building a large board commemorated miners who had died in various pit accidents over the years . But in 2002 the club at last ceased playing – economics, disputes, a changing world meant that there was no longer a place for it. It was a very sad day – the club had a proud history that stretched back to the previous century. As it happened, my team, Arnold, were the opposition for that final match and the Arnold team formed a guard of honour for the Denaby players as they entered the pitch. A great crowd had gathered - many coming from all over the country to mark the passing of a once great and proud club - and there were many tearful eyes when the final whistle blew and the club ceased to exist. For a moment it was almost as if the heart beat had gone out of the town.
I mention all this because, over the years, thousands upon thousands of miners and their families had lived and worked in and under the village – in dreadful working conditions. I may be wrong, but I would guess that academic qualifications were not too high on the average miner’s agenda – grit, hard work, support of your fellow miners were probably a bit more important than GCSEs. Like my dad these men got their dignity and respect from the job that they did, from honest labour, not from how many letters they had after their name. Their pride and dignity came from winning the weekly struggle – not only to get coal out of the ground but to also survive the harsh realities of life at that time. The poem on the right says it all; the men were valued by their wives and families and friends not because of academic qualifications but because of what they did - a hard, unforgiving job which put food on the table - it gave them dignity, value and merit not only within their family of village but to them as individuals. And then, as the 20th century wore on, coal became unpopular, uneconomic. The “dash for gas” was on – and thousands of men up and down the country, like the men of Denaby, found themselves on the proverbial scrap heap. Not because they had no qualifications. Not because they deserved it. But because of “economics”. And their "value", their "merit" went with their jobs. No, the "contract" is about more than just figures on a balance sheet. Just because "austerity" can make the books balance and send the accountant and government minister home happy and "the economic doctrine has worked" doesn't make it right - in balancing the books perhaps it has also destroyed peoples' lives and self worth.
I wonder if, Ken Costa and the other doyens of the City and the financial world will factor this into the “moral compass” that they are considering. I do hope that this whole “reconnection” of finance and ethics is not simply a means of convincing us that bankers are really alright and good guys – just like you and me except they have been a bit “misunderstood”. I hope that they will be addressing what economics and finance and the capitalism of the last three decades has done to the fabric of our nation, to the livelihoods of millions and perhaps more importantly to the dignity, pride, hopes and fears of generations - not least the current one. I fear my hopes will be in vain. I fear that my grandchildren might not be able to enjoy the same opportunities that I did, no matter how clever they are and how many letters they have after their name. I fear that because of economics and the appetites of the financial sector, always looking for a quick fix - a company to buy or close down, a company to be made leaner and more sellable, a deal to be done, a bonus to be paid – that the honest work opportunities of millions will be diminished. And if some of these are my grandchildren what dignity will they have after years of unemployment? Unlike my dad, who had no qualifications, they will not be able to hold their head high and say “I contributed”, “I have a respected place in society”. They might have a sack full of certificates but in themselves these are worthless unless they provide access to a place in society.
No, this is more than simply economics and to argue otherwise is offensive – it’s about the nature and needs of humanity and the values of our society - and we are now reaping the rewards of Margaret Thatcher and Reagan and the greedy beast – the free market - that they set free. Almost a century ago Keynes recognised the signs, implications and the pitfalls of rampant capitalism and its impact on society. He famously said "To suggest social action for the public good to the City of London is like discussing The Origin of the Species with a Bishop sixty years ago." I fear Ken Costa will find things haven't changed one bit from Keynes' day - except that the City has grown even greedier and the balance sheet is even more the dictator and director of our social and moral life - the very essence of our basic humanity has been gobbled up by these financial monsters.
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| A poem written by a Denaby wife - of her husband and his miner colleagues. No GCSEs here - but loads of pride and dignity |
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| The shift is over at Denaby - honest labour and pride - which Margaret Thatcher and capitalism took away for profit |
No, this is more than simply economics and to argue otherwise is offensive – it’s about the nature and needs of humanity and the values of our society - and we are now reaping the rewards of Margaret Thatcher and Reagan and the greedy beast – the free market - that they set free. Almost a century ago Keynes recognised the signs, implications and the pitfalls of rampant capitalism and its impact on society. He famously said "To suggest social action for the public good to the City of London is like discussing The Origin of the Species with a Bishop sixty years ago." I fear Ken Costa will find things haven't changed one bit from Keynes' day - except that the City has grown even greedier and the balance sheet is even more the dictator and director of our social and moral life - the very essence of our basic humanity has been gobbled up by these financial monsters.
