Of Gentlemen and Fools

Tricky Dicky - or gentleman?

In last week’s New Statesmen there was an article about Richard Nixon – the disgraced president of the USA who resigned his presidency 40 years ago this year following the Watergate exposures. The article retold the tale of Nixon’s brush with British  prime minister Harold Wilson at the start of the Nixon Presidency. In the run up to election the hot favourite to win the presidency was Hubert Humphrey  and Harold Wilson, anticipating a Humphrey victory, appointed a new ambassador to Washington  - the former Labour MP and then editor of the New Statesman, John Freeman. Freeman had, over the previous months and years written many scathing articles on Nixon which had increasingly irritated the Nixon camp – but to Wilson’s horror having just appointed Freeman and sent him off to Washington to represent British interests, Nixon, against all the odds, won the Presidency. Wilson (and Freeman) were left in an embarrassing situation with egg very much on their faces – the man they had so actively disparaged was now the most powerful man in the world. It was a diplomatic faux pas of some magnitude!

John Freeman 

In early 1969 the newly inaugurated President Nixon visited the UK and on his arrival was wined and dined at 10 Downing Street. John Freeman, was present as was Wilson – and they were clearly worried about any repercussions following the criticism and scorn they had heaped on Nixon in the run up to the election. It was a tense occasion – but Nixon rose to it. As they all sat down to dinner – senior politicians from both sides of the Atlantic, civil servants and the rest Nixon rose to his feet and lightened the mood. He tapped his glass and, smiling, said......"Some people say there’s a new Nixon, and they wonder if there’s a new Freeman. I’d like to think that’s all behind us. After all, he’s the new diplomat and I’m the new statesman”. The assembled guests roared with laughter – Nixon’s quip had taken the heat out of the situation.  His, clever use of the name of the magazine that Freeman had used to criticise him and his reference that they were all in changed circumstances so should forgive, forget and move on was both magnanimous and appreciated. Wilson  recognising that this had got him and his new ambassador off the diplomatic hook – quickly scribbled a note on the back of his menu card and had it passed to Nixon. It said “That was one of the kindest and most generous acts that  I have witnessed in a long political career. You can’t be born a lord but it is possible – and you have shown it – to be born a gentleman.”  Freeman went on to enjoy a long and distinguished career in Washington and developed a close relationship with Nixon which in the turbulent times of the cold war was of huge benefit to both nations and the world at large.

Harold Wilson

Reading the article and the comments made by Nixon and Wilson got me thinking about the idea of “a gentleman” – it all sounds a bit old fashioned and twee in this day and age and I wondered, as I read Wilson’s comment, if he had in his mind the famous aphorism of King James I who commented “As your King I can make a you a lord, but only God can make  you a gentleman”. Or, maybe, Wilson was thinking of the equally famous comment by Cardinal Newman in the nineteenth century: “It is almost the definition of a gentleman to say that he is one who never inflicts pain”. One might argue that Nixon, too, was thinking of Newman’s comment – clearly, the American president was out to build bridges and not seeking painful revenge for the earlier criticism of John Freeman. My own favourite as to the essential  of a gentleman is one proposed by Confucius: “A gentleman would be ashamed should his deeds not match his words” – and although Nixon’s later career was shrouded in dispute and dishonour just maybe a bit of Confucius was in the back of his mind when he rose to speak that night at the Downing Street dinner.

On a more flippant note, while writing this it occurs to me what I often used to say when in school before I retired. Like many schools we increasingly found ourselves providing tissues for children – instead of tissues simply being available in case of an emergency they increasingly  became free use – a box on every teacher’s desk and the children simply used them when required. This increasingly irritated me since it was costly to the school and, more importantly, I also felt we were not encouraging the children/parents to ensure that they had with them a basic piece of hygiene -  a handkerchief or packet of tissues. I had many “discussions” with the staff on this and always lost! – my grumpy riposte was always the same: “A gentleman always carries three handkerchiefs – one for himself, one for a lady and one for an emergency........!”  I never won the argument with the rest of the staff, but always felt better as, grumpily stumping out of the staff meeting, I said it!!!!!

But, to move on. Over the past few days I have read with some considerable despair of a number of other news items that cast a different slant on the world than considerations of the essential nature of a gentleman. I read the other day that the state of Texas executed Lisa Coleman – a convicted child murderer. There seems no doubt that this lady was guilty and Texas was merely following its state law in the matter. Apparently some 1400 people have been executed in the USA since 1976 but only seven states – Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Alabama, North Carolina, Arkansas and Virginia – have imposed the death penalty on women in the past three decades. Whatever the moral, religious or legal arguments for or against the death penalty what I can’t get my head round is that it would simply appear not to work.  To use Texas as an example: Texas is by far the USA’ s “executions leader”, with 517 inmates put to death in the past 32 years. That represents 37% of the national total and yet  Texas comprises only about 8% of the US population. The state has carried out nine executions this year and has another eight scheduled between 15th  October and 18th  March. Am I missing something? Clearly, the good folk of Texas and their state government  need to start examining themselves and their society – because if they have so many people who qualify for the death sentence executing them clearly isn’t solving the problem. Either the killers or the Texan residents are just not learning the lessons of history – state imposed violence and imposing the death sentence simply doesn’t work in reducing murder. Even the briefest study of criminal history in any country in the world manifestly proves that – that the good folk of Texas and other US states seem unable to grasp that is a matter of concern. One can only assume that states like Texas who are burying their heads in the sand so far as what works and doesn't work in reducing the need for the death penalty merely wish to keep the punishment not as a deterrent - since it clearly doesn't work - but as a form of retribution and vengeance. That, it seems to me, is never a sound or morally justifiable reason for a law of any kind. It merely makes Ghandi's comment even more true: "An eye for and eye leaves the world blind" - and boy, are there a lot of blind people in that part of the world

But it doesn't work!

Similarly, on the same day I read about the latest execution I also read that school  departments across the US have taken advantage of free military surplus gear, stocking up on mine-resistant armoured vehicles, grenade launchers and scores of M16 rifles. At least 26 school districts have participated in the Pentagon’s surplus program, which is new but has become especially pertinent after police responded to protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, with teargas, armour-clad military trucks and riot gear. Federal records show schools in Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Nevada, Texas and Utah obtained surplus military gear. At least six California districts have also  received the equipment.

Now it may well be that in the violence and killing that seems endemic in the USA these items are judged to be necessary – just as executing people is judged to be good idea in Texas – but again, it seems to me that people are just not learning from either the experience and the facts. Violence begets violence and the facts are clear, it doesn’t work. In a bizarre twist San Diego school district said it was painting its armoured vehicles white and hoping to use the Red Cross symbol on it to assuage community worries.  A spokeswoman confirmed that the vehicles had been stripped of weapon mounts and turrets and would be outfitted with medical supplies and teddy bears for use in emergencies to evacuate students and staff! As I read this something else crossed my mind......in the past week or so we have heard increasing sabre rattling by the US and the British government about what they plan in relation to the worsening middle east situation and in particular  the struggle against the ISIS terrorist organisation. The plan, such as it is, is to ramp up the military hardware and action and, where only  a few weeks ago, we were being told that there would be no military intervention this now seems to have been conveniently forgotten. We now have “a couple of thousand advisers on the ground” we are told; sadly, a trawl through the recesses and dark corners of my mind reveals that I seem to remember about fifty years ago hearing that same phrase in relation to Vietnam – “advisers” were to be available but would play no part in any military operations...........!  Well, we all know where that lead and how it all ended in tears and ignominy (at least for the Americans). And, so, I wondered hopefully, if the San Diego spokeswoman had got it right – that just, maybe, stripping out the weapons and filling these killing machines with teddy bears and good will might be the better option. It would seem to me that teddy bears and a bit of common sense in Texas, or in rioting American school districts or in Syria, Afghanistan or Iraq – and the rest – might just be more productive than violence, war and death sentences as solutions to the problems.

Every school should have one apparently!

“Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent” suggested Isaac Azimov and fellow author Tolstoy said:  “All violence consists in some people forcing others, under threat of suffering or death, to do what they do not want to do”. Absolutely, I hear myself saying and I can’t but say “spot on” when I read Socrates telling us from two and half millennia ago that "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it!".  Clearly, those in power in the White House, in Downing Street or in states like Texas haven’t thought about these things – they are displaying their incompetence by failing to learn from history so are repeating the errors of the past. They have a total lack of understanding of the human condition and what might prompt and sponsor violence in the first place and so cannot begin to understand how to deal with it in a positive way that will change individuals and societies. With fools in charge of the asylum the outlook for the world looks bleak indeed.

And so to the matter of fools. You might be thinking that certain parts of the world and many of those in power have a monopoly upon incompetence and stupidity. It may often seem like that but it is not so. Over the past couple of days I have come across several items that illustrate well what a foolish, Alice in Wonderland, place the whole world is becoming.  The more I look and the older I become I am minded to think that Alice’s make believe world is more and more our own: "If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?”  says Alice and the Cheshire cat’s comment seems apposite: "We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."

"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.” 

Quite – we live in foolish times!

I read this morning that in Texas (again!!!!!) the constitutional right of “Texans to photograph strangers has been upheld as an essential component of freedom of speech - even if those images should happen to be surreptitious “upskirt”pictures of women taken for the purposes of sexual gratification!........ The judges said that photographs were “inherently expressive”, like other artistic mediums such as films or books, and so the process of creating them, as well as the images themselves, was part of an American’s right to free speech because “thought is intertwined with expression”. Well that might be a legal nicety and may well sit well with the right to free speech as enshrined in the US constitution and in other human rights legislation but in the end it is the legality and reasoning of the madhouse and the fool. We live in bizarre times.

But don’t be fooled, the Texas court system doesn’t have a monopoly on stupidity (although they are working very hard on all fronts to win the world stupidity award). Also in this morning’s paper I read that Oxford and Cambridge universities – two of the most prestigious places of learning on the planet and attended only by those with very greatest minds on the planet are to introduce one or two new initiatives for the coming year.

They may be the nation's brightest and best - but they
haven't quite got their heads round basic right and wrong

Because of increased incidences of  sexual violence on university campuses students will have to attend what are called “sexual consent workshops” where they will have explained to them (presumably in  very short, easy to understand words) what they might and might not do when out on their first date or what they are or are not allowed to do with or without the permission of another. A spokeswoman for Cambridge said "We are sending out a very clear message with these workshops that sexual violence is not welcome within the university community."  Presumably her saying this implies that there are some who think it is welcome!  It is further suggested that there is a need now because "A lot of people come to university with a very, very basic sex education which stems from sheer biology." Mmmmm......so our young, indeed, the brightest and best of our young, people who have more access and opportunity to information and understanding than any previous generation in the history of the world now “come to university with very basic sex education”.....absolute rubbish! To be clear, this is not about sex education it is about basic right and wrong – which clearly our brightest and best have failed to understand or get to grips with despite the years spent in our education system, despite the privileged background from which many of them come and despite the fact that by the time they get to university they are legally classed as adults. Am I missing something?

Additionally, however, we are told, there is the problem of what is termed “the lad culture", which began in the 1990s. A survey this week suggested lad culture, sexual harassment and assault affect women right across the higher education sector. A spokesperson said the university had recently reviewed its harassment policy to make "more explicit its inclusion of all aspects of harassment, including sexual violence, assault and stalking". Another problem facing many female students at Oxford and Cambridge are, we are informed,  the drinking societies, where, they say, lad culture persists. “The Wyverns”, a notorious drinking society composed mostly of public school boys at Magdalene College, Cambridge, did, for example, cancel its annual "jelly wrestling" contest for female students following a petition of complaint; but it then  subsequently hired a bucking bronco in the shape of a penis. Then there's the "finger a fresher" challenge, and the annual mass drinking bash known as "Caesarean Sunday". "The environment in some of these drinking societies is at best sexually aggressive, at worst openly misogynistic," said a spokeswoman. Quite so – and again it is deeply worrying that many of these people will go on to positions of power and influence within our society! The lunatics will be in charge of the mad house!

Mmmmm! - is this one of the essential skills  and
qualifications to gain a place at Cambridge? It would seem so.

For the life of me I cannot understand a number of points: Firstly, we are talking here about the brightest and best in society – why do they need it all explaining to them that to stalk a woman or harass a women in any way is wrong? What is so difficult to understand? – they have often been to the greatest schools in the land (Eton and places), almost certainly in the case of the members of the Wyvern society come from the great families of the land and have had  a very privileged upbringing, and yet despite having all these brains and this background still need to be given extra instruction on basic rights and wrongs. Secondly, I ask myself, what the hell are the university authorities doing – it seems to me to be not a matter of negotiation. Clearly anyone who, having been deemed academically worthy of a place at Oxbridge should not find the harassment of women, the lad culture, bucking broncos in the shape of a penis, fingering freshers or drinking bashes reasonable pastimes – nor should they require extra classes to give them simply pointers on right and wrong. If they do then manifestly they should not be in the university. It seems to me to be non-negotiable. For the university to tolerate an “environment in some of these drinking societies is at best sexually aggressive, at worst openly misogynistic,"  is as stupid and unacceptable as court ruling in Texas about “upskirt” photographs. It is, as I say, the reasoning of the mad house.

And finally something a little lighter but also a sad reflection of our mad, mad world. Yesterday morning Pat and went to Leicester to do a bit of shopping. As we walked through the Highcross shopping centre which, since it was early in the day, was quite quiet we noticed a huge queue which, as we approached, we realised went way down the shopping mall. As we gazed at the queue we realised that it was eventually disappearing into the Apple Store. Pat quickly realised that all these people were queuing to buy the new Apple i-phone which had just been released for sale. Many of those in the queue had sleeping bags and fold up chairs – clearly they had been there a long time. I stood open mouthed partly because I could not conceive of why anyone would make such a gesture just to get a phone but mostly because as I looked and took in the fact that the queue was virtually wholly comprised of young people – teenagers and those in their early twenties – and I could not comprehend how these people could afford the £500/£600 that the new phone costs. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t begrudge them their “toy” but I guess that most of these people already have a mobile phone so this is merely to keep up with the fashion. Further, I wondered since this was a mid week morning that none of them were at work  - so were they students, unemployed, not yet old enough to work.......and if so where does the money come from? And finally, I read weekly in the paper and hear on the TV news from our pundits and politicians how hard it is for young people today – they cannot afford a mortgage or the rents of properties in some of our major cities, they cannot afford the increases in university fees and even that the young have been hit hardest by the recession and many can find no work. Well all that’s as maybe  but when I go into Nottingham to the theatre or cinema I do not see the bars and restaurants filled with middle aged or older people – I see it filled with the young, when I see youngsters going off on a gap year to the far corners of the earth I wonder where the money comes from and on Friday morning I wondered where the £600s were coming from to pay for this latest fashion must have? Apple must be laughing all the way to the bank.

When I returned home I glanced at the internet and found this article in the local Leicester newspaper, the Mercury:

"Hundreds of iPhone 6 fans queued outside Leicester's Highcross shopping centre on last night to ensure they were the first to get their hands on the new model. A line of tech-heads snaked through the shopping centre this morning, which opened at the earlier time of 6am.

Sham, who was front of the queue, was greeted by a round of applause from staff, as he entered the shop at 8am. The 19-year-old, who had been waiting since 9am yesterday morning, said: “It feels really good to finally have my hands on it. I was pleased to finally see the phone but I must admit, I was sad to see the money go.” Sham said he felt like a celebrity as he walked through the doors to buy his iPhone 6 Plus.“I plan on gloating to all of my friends and family for a little bit - I’m looking forward to showing it off. “But them I’m off to bed. “It will be the Apple Watch next - but I might pre-order that one.” Ronak had also been queuing for nearly 12 hours, with his girlfriend, Shanice  . Ronak, 20, who also brought an iPhone 6 Plus, said: “It is very exciting. The time actually passed really quickly overnight, I’d definitely do it again - the wait was worth it.” Shanice, added: “I need a bath before I even think about playing on my phone - I feel so gross. But I agree, it was worth the wait.”Jamie 19, who also joined the queue at 9am yesterday, said that “adrenalin” kept him awake throughout the night.“People might criticise us for queuing all night but to them, I’d say ‘haha, I’ve got the new iPhone and you don’t’.” Nikeal19, said: “It’s great, I can’t stop smiling. “Although, I’m ready for bed now.” Mohammed 21, was among the first 20 in the queue. He said: "It was a slightly chilly night but I do it because I love Apple. "I'm so excited to be one of the first in Leicester to get the phone."

The iPhone 6 cost new owners from £539 and the iPhone 6 Plus, from £619.99"

Yep - that was the queue we saw

Mmmmm.....all youngsters, all had the time and the money to spend and all were going back to bed – clearly there was no thought of going to work to earn the £600 required. I asked myself again where did the money come from? And I read that 20 year old Shanice wants to play on her phone and that 19 year old Jamie is so pleased he can’t stop smiling. Do I detect any sort of maturity here – sadly not – these are just overgrown babies – and rather foolish babies at that. Should I weep crocodile tears for the poverty stricken youth and their problems of today? I think not!

The old adage “A fool and his money are soon parted” was never more true that in Leicester’s shopping centre on Friday morning! Alice’s mad world is with us....and yes........Albert Einstein was indeed right: "Two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." 

Check Your Privilege!

We all need someone to blame for
society's ills but are the "PC Brigade" simply
hard working people trying to do their
best in unimaginable circumstances?

For the past two years or so the UK has been on a soul searching mission as more  and more  examples of abuse of some kind have come to national prominence: the Jimmy Savile scandal and its aftermath which has seen several high profile celebrities in court accused of being sexual predators of some kind or other; we have heard allegations of corruption and abuse involving public figures such as the late MP Cyril Smith; and more recently the spotlight has fallen on abuse within the family and the local community – most recently the abuse of young girls by Asian men in the Rotherham area of South Yorkshire. Without wishing to minimise the dreadful nature of the allegations or findings, these events have been ready made fodder for the salacious monster that is the media and especially the tabloid newspaper industry. They have also been ready made platforms for solemn faced politicians, legal experts and moralisers to make pronouncements as to the state of the nation and what must be done. Government committees have sat and reported, the full weight of the courts is threatened and those who, it is deemed, should have prevented these dreadful happenings – the police, social workers, doctors, the BBC, teachers and the rest – have been pilloried. In the fall out from the Jimmy Savile scandal last year the newly appointed BBC Director General George Entwistle was forced out of post because someone had to be blamed for the BBC's failings in relation to Jimmy Savile - and this despite the fact that Entwistle was a long term and faithful servant of the BBC, recognised by all as a good and decent man and had had no hand in events that took place long before his tenure. His removal was filled with invective and hate such is the need for a sacrifice and that the mob be sated.   All the current angst, of course, may well be justified. Clearly, given the nature of the allegations and findings no person in authority can turn a blind eye; in short, something must be done – and rightly so we all cry. But just maybe our society needs cooler heads and more thought given to what is so wrong with our society rather than howling at those doing the job on our behalf. I am reminded of Friedrich Nietzche's comment: "If you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you" - truly, as we wring our hands and scream abuse, what we see in society's ills is only a reflection of ourselves. 

And.......... in amongst all this I have another slight anxiety. This is not about whether those accused or found wanting should not be punished or castigated, nor is it in any way to deny the truth of the reported occurrences. Clearly, there is something very wrong in our society and it is right and proper that the issues are addressed - but it is our society and ourselves that we need to look at first rather than blame and pillory those who have worked (and, yes, maybe made mistakes) to try to solve the ills of our nation. In the photo above, just maybe we should be more concerned about the picture and the comment about the young woman and the messages that it sends to people about the sexualisation of young women and its effect upon wider society's attitudes towards girls and women rather than castigating "the PC Brigade" - and before we start throwing brickbats at the social workers, police, administrators and others who are involved on a daily basis with the problems that result in our towns and cities.

The present Home Secretary, Theresa May -  into whose “in tray” all this eventually falls has to be seen to do something. Now although Mrs May is not my favourite person I do have to say that she has managed the “can of worms” that is the lot of any Home Secretary very well. It is not a job that I would like. In short she is damned if she does and damned if she doesn’t. In this morning’s Guardian, for example, she is taken to task by an MP who complains that she has made the wrong choice to chair the enquiry into child abuse arising out of the Rotherham and other exposures. “Just when it looked as though the inquiry into child sex abuse could finally get under way” says the MP,  “it once again has to face whitewash accusations. After the absurd appointment of Lady Butler-Sloss, which ensured the inquiry got off to a farcical start, Theresa May has made the equally dubious appointment of a replacement chair in Fiona Woolf. This time it emerges the chair has close links with Lord Brittan. Yes, Leon Brittan, the former home secretary who has been accused of covering up a massive child abuse scandal. May’s inquiry was supposed to reflect the change in attitudes to these crimes, showing a willingness to bring perpetrators to justice and face failings that have destroyed lives. Above all, it was about telling the story of people who have been ignored for far too long”.

Theresa May - a good Home Secretary - but can she really
understand the issues and problems facing many for whom
she has direct responsibility? 

I’m sure that the points being made by this MP are entirely justified – but there is, I believe, another dimension. Let me explain.

Last Christmas while visiting my son and family in their village (Twyford in Berkshire) we went as a family to the village Christmas Fair – street stalls selling Christmas ware, Santa, fairground rides and the like – a very pleasant evening out. Twyford is a very wealthy place where top end cars are parked on every drive and no one would dream of shopping at (say) Tesco or ASDA when there is a local Waitrose! Everything at the Christmas Fair was done in the best possible taste – morris dancers, polite stall holders, no bad behaviour or drunkenness and  as I stood at one of the stalls I suddenly realised that Theresa May was standing at the side of me – she is the local MP and lives at the adjoining village of Ruscombe. It was good to see a minister of state supporting the local charities and community. In the background hovered her two “minders”. She bought something at the stall and then disappeared into the throng. This area of the country – the Thames Valley is, as I say,  the UK's “wealth belt” – all the celebrities live in the area, it is the home of the rich and powerful in every sense of the word. Mrs May is married to a London banker and I am sure lives a pretty privileged life – which I do not begrudge her at all.

Twyford Christmas Fair - enjoyed by all, and all in the best
possible taste of the Thames Valley.A far cry from many
parts of our unequal nation.

But, when I look down the list of government ministers I find that every single one, like Mrs May, represents a wealthy, leafy area of the country. The vast majority are in the pleasant green areas surrounding London but those that are not are based in equally affluent and pleasant places – for example, George Osborne who is MP for Tatton in Cheshire, one of the richest areas of the nation.  And when I look at those figures I can’t help asking myself how can these people have any concept of what it is to live and work in a “deprived area” or at least an area where there are significant social, educational, ethnic or financial problems. When I read of the dreadful problems in Rotherham like everyone else I was horrified, but was I surprised - no. South Yorkshire like many parts of our country, faces huge problems.  That does not excuse child abuse or lack of action on the part of those responsible for administering the area but I have absolutely no doubt that the police, social workers, teachers, health workers, local government workers and the rest each day are fire fighting in a way that does not have to happen in the Royal County of Berkshire, in the Cheshire’s millionaire belt or in Oxfordshire’s dreamy Cotswold landscape where the Prime Minister David Cameron is the MP.

One of the trendy phrases that became fashionable on social networking sites a year or so was “Check your privilege”. Its meaning is not always obvious, because all too often the well-intentioned phrase is abused. But roughly speaking, it is a way of telling a person who is making a point that they should remember they are speaking from a privileged position, because they are, for example, white, male, heterosexual, able-bodied or wealthy. It is, in other words a reminder that not everyone sees life like you – and often for perfectly good reasons based upon their upbringing, their environment, their cultural identity and so on.  And I wonder, if these well meaning Ministers can, from their wealthy constituencies and ivory towers, ever understand, say, why a policemen or nurse or social worker struggling to keep his or her professional head above water in a tough area for day after day after day and week after week after week sometimes doesn’t react exactly how they should. But when they don’t and problems occur they are routinely pilloried by those in power who not only have the privilege of hindsight but also can easily come out with the quick fix, easy solution to the problems – without ever having to address them themselves.

 A thuggish, unpleasant man with no comprehension of
people or places.But bizarrely he is our "Communities
Minister"- whatever that is! Just the sort that one would
not want in your community - loud, abrasive and totally
lacking insight or empathy. A Yorkshire man by birth but
now a"professional  northerner" living in the sunny south
where life is easier, pleasanter and more "rewarding" -
far from the poorer, less favoured parts of our nation.

I can relate to this from two of my experiences in the classroom. Many, many years ago, as a fairly newly qualified teacher, I had a child in my class called Steven. He had caused major problems in the school from the earliest times. In today’s terms he probably wasn’t so bad but in those days he was classed as a very difficult child – not unable but attention seeking, plain naughty, aggressive towards  the other children, dishonest and constantly demanding. This was not a tough school – it was a pleasant rural place where the vast majority of the children were able, high attaining and well behaved and their parents were supportive and anxious for their children to do well. When Steven came into my class at the beginning of the academic year I was determined to do what no other teacher had so far done - succeed with him. I would pour resources in, I would support him, praise him and I would ensure that every bit of work was specifically addressed to him so that he could feel valued and succeed. After half a term I knew I had failed. I knew that every morning I was planning lessons and arranging my own teaching style and class management purely to keep Steven in check.I was spending most of my time either sitting with him or at least hovering in his area so that I was constantly available and so that he did not disturb the rest of the class. And, of course, what I also realised was that in doing this was being to a degree “unfair” to the other thirty or so children in the class – I knew that I was giving able, hard working children work that they could simply get on with so that I could be available just to keep Steven on the straight and narrow and ensure that he didn't  disturb others too much. Finally, I also realised something else – any one of the parents of the remainder of the class could quite legitimately say to me ”Why don’t you spend as much time with my son or daughter as you do with Steven – it’s not fair – think what progress they would make if you did”.  I knew that I had to try a different strategy. I also knew that other teachers had started off just as keen and idealistic as me and failed. I had to become “hardened” to the fact that there would be other Stevens in my class and learn that although I must try my best there was only so much that I could do but I could not professionally or morally deny the others  for whom I was responsible just to favour one child. That was the reality of the situation. And in a way I believe that is a situation that many professionals working in difficult circumstances day in day out have to make. I also knew that in the hurly burly of the day, while trying to keep the lid on Steven so that other children could work and progress I had to cut corners, take decisions that I would not have taken in a different set of circumstances - and I knew that sometimes I made mistakes. Of course, as I gained in experience I learned other strategies, but for the rest of my career I knew that although I would try my very best in some situations one had to make hard choices which were not always the right ones but were necessary, in order that those deserving of your care and attention could be helped – not just those who shouted loudest.

So when I see social workers, teachers, health professionals and the rest pilloried by society and by those in power I often reflect......”If only you knew the reality of the situation”.  In the end these people have to make tough choices that under normal circumstances they would not wish to make, they will often regret this,  and, they are under such pressure in certain areas that they are continually “fire fighting” and managing one crisis after another that they will make mistakes. It’s the reality of the situation. When those who work and reside in the leafy suburbs come with their criticisms and quick fix solutions and have the great benefit of hindsight and the moral high ground I am immediately suspicious. I ask how can someone who lives and works in the delights of the Thames Valley have any conceivable  understanding of what it is to be facing the professional and moral problems faced by many employed in our inner cities and deprived areas year in year out. They cannot.

Yep......the blame game is in play

The second experience from my past is more recent. In the latter years of my teaching career and after I retired I spent almost 12 years working with, supporting and assessing young teachers and those training to teach. It was a very rewarding time and one which I look back upon with fond memories, partly because I enjoyed it but mostly because it was a huge privilege to work with these talented and hard working young professionals; I so often reflected how much better they were than I was at the same stage of my career. But I soon realised one thing. I could visit a classroom where the young teacher had planned a good lesson but for reasons often out of their direct control were finding that the lesson wasn’t going as it should - and, from my ivory tower, I could give a quick fix solution. As I watched I often thought to myself......”I’ve been here myself, this has happened to me” - a difficult child, an unplanned interruption, snow suddenly seen to be falling through the classroom window and the class erupts with excitement, a child sits in front of you and is suddenly sick, something that they children just didn’t ”get” despite the best efforts of the teacher. All everyday classroom things that are not always planned for but are outside your control – and the professional has to manage this on an every day basis. Often when I saw things not working out it was easy, as an outsider, to spot what was going wrong and why – a simple organisational or management error that the young teacher was making or a better way of explain something so that the children could understand. But all that, of course, was based upon my years of experience and of the privileged position I held sitting at the back of the classroom watching without any obligations or distractions or pressures. For the young, inexperienced man or woman standing at the front of the class trying to teach some mathematical concept to a lively group of 10 year olds whilst I sat judgementally at the back it was not so easy – what was so obvious to me was not so to the young teacher embroiled at the “chalk face” trying to teach fractions while little Jimmy throws a tantrum because he was up late last night playing on his computer and is now critically tired. I am sure that some of these social workers and policemen and health workers and teachers might, at the moment, be looking askance and ruefully shaking their heads as the great and good make their quick fix solutions and pronouncements from their positions of privilege far removed from the blood and guts of the daily grind. And I ask myself, rather than castigating failure why are those in power not supporting and building bridges. I can well remember that if a trainee teacher gave a less than successful lesson they knew it – they didn’t need me to weigh in with more criticism or pointing out all their failures. What they wanted and needed was positive advice, support and confidence – so that they could do their work better.

Just maybe, if there is a problem in many areas of our national life – and there certainly appears to be in the wake of all these scandals and dreadful happenings - then it seems that what the politicians and those in power should be doing is examining what is wrong with our society – for we are all members of that society, we are all guilty – rather than pillorying those who have been fighting the fight to the best of their ability under impossible circumstances. Just maybe, those wealthy government ministers living in their wealthy constituencies should be asking themselves what they can immediately - no ifs, buts or maybes - do to make some of the wealth of their areas available to those struggling to hold together society in the poor deprived areas where many of the problems occur. Maybe Mrs May should be ensuring that her banker husband directs some of his bank’s millions into ensuring that jobs are created in the poorer areas rather than in booming London! I won’t hold my breath – it’s easier to castigate failures – and anyway it’s good media fodder: "Home Secretary gets tough with lazy social workers" makes much better reading in the corridors of power and in these austere times than "Home Secretary increases funds for social support in under privileged  areas". 

A Ruscombe christening - all very pleasant and afterwards a
reception Buratta's in Twyford. Life doesn't get
much better - few social problems and few to blame here!

So, having recounted those tales I am left with two questions: how dare those in positions of power, who largely reside and work in ivory towers of privilege, wealth and remote from the reality of everyday life  criticise and threaten those who are trying very hard to succeed doing jobs that many would not take on. And, secondly, how can people like Theresa May, David Cameron, George Osborne  and the rest given their positions of privilege and the environment that they operate in possibly comprehend the world of the inner city or of places, like Rotherham,  where perhaps  things are going dreadfully wrong. I live in a village on the outskirts of Nottingham, I like to think that I am an aware sort of person, not particularly privileged or posh or wealthy but I am also very aware that I could not even begin to comprehend the lives and values and problems of many who live only two or three miles away from me. I could not begin to face their daily problems or know where to begin if I taught in some of the schools only a mile or two away. My world in my little village, not a particularly wealthy place, is only 3 or 4 miles away from inner Nottingham but it is light years away in terms of attitude, opportunity, culture and outlook; I could not begin to survive there. So how can Theresa May or David Cameron?

But, sadly, times have not changed. It has always been thus. It all reminds me of Kipling’s wonderful poem “Pagett MP” written over a century ago. Rudyard Kipling was born and lived for many years in India - a member of the British Raj when India was indeed "the jewel" in Victoria's crown. He loved the country, but knew that those like him working and living in there were viewed by those in England, and especially those in power, as having a soft life - a life of servants, pleasant climate, riches, indolence and luxury. Kipling knew that wasn't the real picture at all - hence is wonderful poem: 

Pagett, M.P.

The toad beneath the harrow knows

Exactly where each tooth-point goes.

The butterfly upon the road

Preaches contentment to that toad.

Pagett, M.P., was a liar, and a fluent liar therewith --

He spoke of the heat of India as the "Asian Solar Myth";

Came on a four months' visit, to "study the East," in November,

But I got him to sign an agreement vowing to stay till September.

March came in with the koil. Pagett was cool and gay,

Called me a "bloated Brahmin," talked of my "princely pay."

March went out with the roses. "Where is your heat?" said he.

"Coming," said I to Pagett, "Skittles!" said Pagett, M.P.

April began with the punkah, coolies, and prickly-heat, --

Pagett was dear to mosquitoes, sandflies found him a treat.

He grew speckled and mumpy-hammered, I grieve to say,

Aryan brothers who fanned him, in an illiberal way.

May set in with a dust-storm, -- Pagett went down with the sun.

All the delights of the season tickled him one by one.

Imprimis -- ten day's "liver" -- due to his drinking beer;

Later, a dose of fever --slight, but he called it severe.

Dysent'ry touched him in June, after the Chota Bursat --

Lowered his portly person -- made him yearn to depart.

He didn't now call me a "Brahmin," or "bloated," or "overpaid,"

But seemed to think it a wonder that any one ever stayed.

July was a trifle unhealthy, -- Pagett was ill with fear.

'Called it the "Cholera Morbus," hinted his life was dear.

He babbled of "Eastern Exile," and mentioned his home with tears;

But I told him, I haven't seen my children for close upon seven years.

We reached a hundred and twenty once in the Court at noon,

(I've mentioned Pagett was portly) Pagett, went off in a swoon.

That was an end to the business; Pagett, the perjured, fled

With a practical, working knowledge of his "Solar Myths" in his head.

And I laughed as I drove from the station, but the mirth died out on my lips

As I thought of the fools like Pagett who write of their "Eastern trips,"

And the sneers of the travelled idiots who duly misgovern the land,

And I prayed to the Lord to deliver another one into my hand.

Rudyard Kipling

The lovely church in Ruscombe, home of Theresa May -
a lifetime and light year away from the people and places for
whom she is responsible..

Just maybe the MPs, moralisers, London tabloid editors and legal experts should get themselves out and about a bit to work at the cutting edge. Maybe Mrs May and her ilk should leave leafy Ruscombe with its beautiful, quintessentially English church where my grandchildren were christened a year or two ago and get herself up to some of the poorer parts of our nation – not on a flying media/photo opportunity trip to wave the government flag but to work as a social worker, nurse, teacher or to man the police vans on a wet  Friday night. And then, just maybe, like Pagett in the poem, they might understand that there is another reality and quite a different  universe to the one that they inhabit. They might then learn a little about the reality of life and why people behave as they do, not as they should. They might understand why sometimes people fall short of what we all desire, why and how mistakes are made,  why the daily grind and the insurmountable problems might force people to regretfully make the best decisions they can in the circumstances they are forced to operate in. In short, they might be more humble.  I don’t, however,  see it happening any time soon.

Awe and Wonder

This week has seen the  return of singer Kate Bush to the public eye as, after a break of more than a quarter of a century, she took to the stage in London. Reviews have been ecstatic – both from the media and the general public.  “Awesome”, ““Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Unbelievable” “The cultural event of the year” were just a few of the comments in the press. Don’t get me wrong, I love Kate Bush – I always have - but when I read that at the opening night of her series of shows “[the] audience spent the the show clapping everything; no gesture is too insignificant to warrant applause” I began to feel a bit uncomfortable. This all seemed a bit over the top. We are, I felt, losing all sense of perspective. Was Kate really “awesome” or simply just a damn good entertainer?

Kate Bush in concert -  entertaining, memorable, enjoyable
 maybe .......but not awesome or unbelievable

 As a person who grew to adulthood through the turmoil and change of the swinging sixties, through Beatlemania, the Rolling Stones and the rest I’ve always liked to think that in my own small way I have been fairly open minded, happy to accept change, be understanding of differing viewpoints on life and in the words of Timothy Leary “Turned on, tuned in and dropped out”!!!!!!!!.  But as I get older I find myself increasingly looking at the world with a different perspective and feeling that as a society we are losing something.  That just maybe, as we find more  and more things “awesome” and “the events of the year” – be they a cup of coffee in Starbucks or the return of a singer who had a few hits over 30 years ago, we are in danger of losing our sense of proportion and, more importantly, something indefinable that goes to the very core of our humanity. I have oft argued that the words that we use are critical; it is through words that we express ideas, emotions, ideals, our innermost world. It is by words that we inspire or terrify. it is by words that we understand and are understood - words are what separate us from the animal kingdom. When we become sloppy in our use of words then our ideas and values become sloppy too - and to use words like "awesome", "fantastic" or "unbelievable" to describe the ordinary and prosaic puts us in danger of marginalising and trivialising humanity.

York Minster does indeed make one feel very small - awesome

These misgivings of mine might have many facets but in particular I have increasingly felt that society is both trivialising and at the same time losing its sense of awe and wonder. In the hard-nosed, in your face world that we now inhabit we know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Our  computer games, TV and cinema screens are often filled with gratuitous violence making us largely insensitive and insentient to what one might call "finer feelings". And at the same time everything, it increasingly seems, is viewed on a superficial level. We wear our hearts on our sleeves and the stiff upper lip of yesteryear seems long gone (and maybe a good thing too) but this has merely translated into the banal and the  superficial:  we live in a world where soft fluffy toys fill the hearts and minds, we weep and leave flowers when someone quite unknown to us dies (Princess Diana?), we use words like “amazing”, “incredible”, “fantastic” and the rest about very ordinary things. And then we move on and forget as quickly as we have been moved – our emotions waiting for the next “awesome” lift or the next celebrity death to mawkishly weep over. As someone once said to me, "Today’s news is tomorrow’s fish and chip paper" – very true. Will the wonderful Kate Bush judged so “awesomely” this week be similarly judged a few years down the line? I read today that on the strength of her concert reviews she now has eight records in the top twenty - something never achieved by a woman before and bettered only by Elvis Presley and the Beatles. I'm delighted for her, it justifies my purchasing Wuthering Heights all those years ago - but where were all these fans before? By its very nature the top twenty is transient with new "records" being broken all the time. For me this merely proves my point we cannot distinguish between the truly awesome and great and the simply good and enjoyable.Will those who snapped up the tickets and “applauded her every movement and gesture” or as a result of the hype and the media frenzy went out and bought a record still be playing that record six months down the line or be quite so impressed and overcome in the cold light of another day? Maybe, maybe not. But in my view truly awesome and wonderful things are not transient but stand the test of time – they are part of human existence and can be recognised as such. They are not simply things to be enjoyed or impressed – indeed, in some cases they might not be to one’s liking or approval - but they have  qualities that will separate them from the merely good or excellent or even inspiring. 

These matters  were, in a small way, brought home to me last week when Pat and I visited a much loved place, York. We wandered into the mighty York Minster – and immediately my eyes went up to the ceiling high above us. I am not an overly religious person but immediately sensed a very tangible feeling of awe – that this mighty place has stood for so many hundreds of years and so many have invested their life and work and religious beliefs in it. As we walked around we visited a wonderful exhibition in the crypt of the Minster’s history and some of its many treasures. At one point along the walls there were inscribed various quotations made by different people over the ages and relating to the Minster, one said exactly how I felt. It was, I think, written by someone who worked at the Minster in some capacity and said that this person loved to stand in the silent Minster, perhaps in the evening, and look at its mighty vastness and soak in its atmosphere and history – it reminded him or her of how very small he/she was in the great scheme of things. That is awe and wonder – and I could relate exactly to what was written. As I stood in the half darkness of the crypt and read this I was reminded of my great friend and mentor David Towne who died almost exactly two years ago  (http://arbeale.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/a-good-teacher-is-like-candle-it.html ). I know that when David and his wife visited the Grand Canyon some years ago he shed a silent tear that he should be there and be overwhelmed by its magnificence and his smallness in the great scheme of things. To feel that is, I believe, to be human and sadly, in this harsh, driven, superficial world is something that I believe we are losing as we look for the next transient “thrill” or “challenge” or “awesome experience”.

Joachim & Anna

Of course, what moves people and inspires a sense of awe and wonder will vary from person to person. But in my view there will be certain common characteristics. For example, it will not be superficial or transient – I have visited York Minster and similar such places many times – and each time can be equally uplifted or reminded of my smallness in time space. It is not about high or low culture – I can be equally moved by certain pieces of popular music as I can with some of the great classics. It is, I believe, a personal, intimate response and not driven by the crowd.  It cannot be switched on and off, nor can it be prevented – in other words, you have no control over it. And finally, it will go to the very core of your humanity and remind you what it is to be human.

This last point was illustrated well when last year Pat and I visited the wonderful city of Amsterdam for a few days. A major reason for going was to visit the newly re-opened Rijksmuseum. Like thousands of others we were intent on seeing works of the great Dutch masters such as Rembrandt and Vermeer. We saw all those and marvelled at this wonderful building – truly one of the great institutions of the modern world. But in fact it was one small unexpected thing that  made our visit truly memorable. At the start of our visit, before we reached the galleries of the great Dutch masters we entered a small room filled with items from the late middle ages and the first thing we saw as we entered the room was a small, carved wooden statue made in about 1470. The carver was unknown but as Pat looked at it she quietly cried. It was a statue of Joachim and Anna. Pat did not know who they were – I did, I had told their story many times in school assemblies over the ears.

Pat with Henry Moor at Compton Verney

Joachim and Anna were, it is written, the Grandparents of Jesus – the mother and father of Mary. Joachim and Anna had been married for fifty years, and were barren. They lived devoutly and quietly, using only a third of their income for themselves and giving a third to the poor and a third to the Temple. Joachim had done this since he was 15-years-old, and God multiplied his flocks, so the couple were well provided for. They longed for a child but remained childless into their old age. When they were in Jerusalem to offer sacrifice to God, the High Priest upbraided Joachim, "You are not worthy to offer sacrifice with those childless hands." Others who had children jostled Joachim, thrusting him back as unworthy. In despair, he consulted the records of the tribes of Israel and discovered every righteous man in the nation had been blessed with children, except him. This caused Joachim great grief, and he and his wife left with heavy hearts.  Joachim took his flocks and went to a high mountain, refusing to return home in shame. Meanwhile, Anna prayed in her garden. God sent the Archangel Gabriel to each of them, who gave them tidings of the birth of "a daughter most blessed, by whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed, and through whom will come the salvation of the world." Each promised to have their child raised in the Temple as a holy vessel of God. The archangel told Joachim to return home, where he would find his wife waiting for him in the city gate. Anna he told to wait at the gate. When they saw one another, they embraced.

The little statue is a depiction of their embrace. As we looked at it, not as a great work of art, but a simple depiction of a very intimate moment that spoke volumes of the story behind the couple it seemed to go the very essence of what it is to be human. It was pure and simple awe and wonder. When we left the museum we clutched in our hands a souvenir – an exact replica of the little statue which now sits on our lounge table and which each time I look at it still quietly overwhelms me.

The Burghers of Calais by Rodin

It was a similar story a few days ago when we visited  a wonderful place near Stratford on Avon -  Compton Verney. This is a mansion now an art gallery with wonderful exhibitions and lovely walks around the grounds. In particular there was an exhibition of the works of the two of the world's great sculptors Henry Moore and Auguste Rodin. These two artists are very different but both were able to express that same simple quality that touches humanity.The work of Moore,  seemingly simple but evocative and tactile. So much so that Pat could not resist putting put her hand to feel the smooth lines and surfaces. The work of Rodin was both inspiring and reflective. To get up close to the faces of the Burghers of Calais and see the anguish, pain  and fear on their faces as they face execution, the nooses already round their necks, in order to save the population of their city from English king Edward III's threat to lay the city to waste  is humanity at its most extreme. Truly awesome.

The written word can also not only move us but get to the very core of our humanity. For me, I only have to read the words of Lincoln’s great Gettysburg Address to feel that tingle. I know most of the words, I know that the speech was carefully but hurriedly concocted by Lincoln and is not long. It was delivered whilst he himself was very unwell, but to the people of the time and through the intervening years it speaks to millions irrespective of their nationality or age. Its language is simple, its ideas uncomplicated but it gets to the very heart of what it meant to a nation to be embroiled in a terrible struggle and how and why the fallen should be honoured and remembered. It spoke to every individual American and to the young nation as a whole. It is not alone: Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream speech”  still has the capacity to move and inspire, the simple words appealing for democracy of Colonel Thomas Rainsborough in the Putney debates of 1647: ...I think that the poorest he that is in England hath a life to live, as the greatest he; and therefore truly, Sir, I think it's clear, that every man that is to live under a government ought first by his own consent to put himself under that government; and I do think that the poorest man in England is not bound in a strict sense to that government that he hath not had a voice to put himself under....”. And so the list goes on – all inspiring, ageless and timeless, appealing to man’s basic humanity, truly full of full of “awe and wonder”

And finally, music. Some years ago, on one of our visits to the wonderful city of Leipzig to attend a Bach concert we went to the Thomaskirche in the afternoon. We were due to attend the concert– Bach’s glorious B Minor Mass - there in the evening. We thought we would walk around the church and, once again, as thousands do every day and we had done before, pay homage at Bach’s tomb. I opened the church door and was hit by the most glorious sound – the choir practising for the concert – the wonderful “Dona Nobis Pacem" from the Mass, one of the world’s very great works (see video, recorded in the Thomaskirche, above). It stopped me in my tracks, I have played the piece thousands of times but each time it still overpowers me and makes me feel very small.  As I sit writing this blog it plays in the background and is just as inspiring and full of awe and wonder as the first time I heard it. It is the same with other works that speak to us: Beethoven’s great finale to the Ninth Symphony or at a completely different level one of the world’s most beautiful pieces of music with words that I defy anyone not to respond to Henry Purcell’s “Fairest Isle, All Isles Excelling” for his opera “King Arthur”. This piece is my alarm on my mobile phone – it  reminds me when I have to take my medication each day - and no matter how many times I hear it, the hairs on my neck tingle, I am filled with “awe and wonder” at the sheer beauty of the music and words - see video below.

My list here is personal, others may be moved in different ways and with different things. But it is part of the human condition that we can respond to those basic aspects of humanity and existence to remind ourselves of what and who we are - as the unknown writer in York Minster commented, to remind us of how very small we are in the great scheme of things. This is awe and wonder and it is something that in our transient, hardnosed and superficial world we are in great danger of losing. Our age is filled with violent computer images, gratuitous films and TV, sloppy use of language and a society that considers an unmade bed thrown together by an alleged artist, Tracey Emin, to be worthwhile and good. Given that back drop we are becoming desensitised, increasingly unable to discriminate what is worthy and what truly is awesome and wonderful. By very definition “awe and wonder” is personal, but it will be felt to the core of one’s being. As a society I believe that we are increasingly losing the ability to feel deep rooted, core feelings of compassion, beauty, empathy, place and value – and substituting instead transient, banal hype so that we “applaud every movement and gesture”  and describe cups of coffee or pop concerts as “awesome”. And that is worrying for us all.

The Rich Man in His Castle...........

Blogging has been on the back burner for the past week or three. I have been suffering from a very painful bout of lower back/sciatic pain which has somewhat laid me out – both physically and mentally - and we have had a week away in Devon with our granddaughters. Hopefully, things are very slowly improving so it’s back to the computer.

This morning Pat and I spent an hour “harvesting” the many thousands of plums on our two plum trees in the garden. Our little group of houses is built on the site of what was once, a century ago, the orchard of the village squire’s house so most of the houses in our road have the residue of that orchard – in our case two plum trees. As we pruned, sorted, cursed and sweated under the hot August sun the words of a much sung children’s hymn – “All things Bright and Beautiful” kept running through my mind – and especially the words of one of the verses:

The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden,−
He made them every one:

The police come visiting Sunningdale -
and  they didn't use the poor door!

Our garden was indeed full of very ripe fruit – far too many for us to use, hopefully our neighbours will help us to use up the plum harvest. It has been a bumper year!

And then more of the words of that hymn, which I have sung so many times in my years as a primary school teacher, ran through my mind:

The rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
God made them high and lowly,
And ordered their estate.

The home of Oscar Pistorius  - behind secure walls
to keep out the lower orders. Trouble is  the residents
may be more dangerous than those outside! 

The hymn, written in the mid nineteenth century by Mrs C.F Alexander, reminds children to give thanks for all the great benefits bestowed by God upon them and that verse about the rich man in his castle and the poor man at his gate seems to remind everyone of their place in the world and how things must be ordered in the great scheme of things. All very Victorian.

“The rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate” - these words had wondered across my thoughts as I reflected upon a couple of things that I had read during the week. Firstly, a week or so ago there was considerable media comment in the UK about an increasing trend in London – and indeed in other major cities across the world, most notably New York – for high end, expensive apartment blocks to have what are called “poor doors” for the use of the not so well off. In the UK there is legislation in place that stipulates that in any new building development there often has to be a proportion of the properties built which are “more affordable” – to allow those not so well off to find a property. Plans for new developments will only be passed if they show that the correct proportion of “cheaper” units is built in. Obviously property developers try to meet this requirement, but, it appears they also increasingly ensure that those “poorer” people are kept separate from the wealthy residents by having separate entrances and exits – ”poor doors” as they have become known as. It brings a whole new slant to Mrs Alexander’s hymn – and reminds us that just as in her time the rich man will indeed not wish to mix with the lower orders – whoever they are - "the rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate"!

Shoulder to shoulder, all equal - part of the Golden Temple dining hall

This is not new. Increasingly in this country and especially in the USA there has been a huge growth in recent years of what are called “gated communities” – high end property,  where only those of a certain type and standing can and will mix. Where security is often paramount and where those resident in those communities have to (and are happy to) subscribe to the rules of living in that community in order that their way of life is protected and that they do not mix with those of lesser stature, wealth or different outlook. It is a frightening reminder of how divisive western societies – and especially those in the UK and the USA - are becoming. It is, it seems, the ultimate extension of “the rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate” – and never the twain shall meet.

I thought about this during last week when a second item caught my attention. The TV news was filled with pictures of police cars sweeping into the gated community in Sunningdale, Berkshire where the pop star Cliff Richard lives. Sunningdale is one of the most opulent areas of the UK where only the very rich and famous reside – everything from Royal Princes and Prinesses to Russian oligarchs to Premiership footballer and pop stars. This is very much a case of the “rich man in his castle” – complete with security drawbridge! Sadly, however, it seems buying oneself exclusive security and opulence doesn’t necessary protect you from the seamier side of life – the police still come and call! The TV screens were filled with a convoy of unmarked police cars sweeping through the gates to search Sir Cliff Richard’s home because of, as yet, unsubstantiated allegations of paedophilia. And it was a similar story a few months ago in Pretoria, South Africa where the gated community home of athlete Oscar Pistorius  became the centre of police activity and world media attention after Pistorius shot his girl friend. I’m sure that the other residents of these high end “communities” never envisaged that they would be so closely involved with these rather sordid aspects of life - they have, after all, paid a lot of money to protect themselves from such unseemly people and things. These are the sorts of things after all that are only supposed to happen with the “lower orders” who should be kept at arms length and use the “poor door”!

Mrs Bhopal does her "service"

Having said that, the very term “community” has certain implications. The usually accepted definition of “community” is along the lines of  “the condition of sharing or having certain attitudes and interests in common” or  "a group of people that I share values, activities, hopes and dreams with". Presumably anyone who buys into a gated community or a high end apartment with a poor door only wants to mix with those similar to him or her – not with lesser individuals.  Of course that all begs the question that if the word “community” implies people of similar interests and aspirations then where do these similar interests and aspirations begin and end? Can we assume that these "shared values" promoted and protected in the gated community and the exclusive apartment block meant only for the wealthy perhaps include a  bit of shooting one's girl friend or indulging oneself in whatever turns you on?  In short, are those who crave high end security, seclusion and separation from the hoi polloi  just as  likely to be as sordid and unpleasant than the masses forced to use the poor doors or to stand outside the gates? It certainly seems likely if recent media reports are anything to go by! Mmmmmm......”the rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate”.

All this was given a new twist a couple of days ago when I was sorting out some of the many thousands of photographs that I have on my computer. I came across the albums of our visit to India a few years ago. Now, no-one would argue that India is any kind of nirvana – the poverty and vast social, cultural , economic and religious differences that are apparent everywhere one goes in that wonderful country are indisputable. But the photographs I glanced through reminded me of two events that seem a million miles away from gated communities, poor doors and the rest. They also, I believe, make a damning indictment of the divisive culture that we are creating in the west – and especially in the UK and USA.

Washing up time in Amritsar

When in Amritsar we visited the Sikh Golden Temple with its wonderful “dining hall”. We were with two fellow travellers, themselves Sikhs – Mr & Mrs Bhopal. They were from England and visiting, pilgrim like, the Golden Temple – the spiritual home of their religion. We entered the awe inspiring great dining hall where thousands of people sat, cross legged eating from metal plates – a simple but nourishing meal. Row upon row of these people stretched into the distance. On the edge of the hall great vats of rice were being cooked and men stirring it with huge wooden oars – almost like a Disney cartoon. I asked  Mr Bhopal if all these people were Sikhs to which he replied “No – anyone can eat here and be given hospitality – the only requirement is that you sit shoulder to shoulder with the next person – you may be a prince or a beggar but we are all the same” . Looking back it seems now a long way from “poor doors” and gated communities. Mrs Bhopal meanwhile excused herself – explaining that she wished to go and do “her service.”  We watched as she joined a group of women sitting in a circle in one of the dining hall’s alcoves making chapattis to be fed to the thousands. It was her way of doing a bit for others – be they princes or beggars. Above us, hanging from the ceiling were great banners reminding those in the hall of their responsibilities to care for and feed others. A far cry this from the divisiveness that is increasingly permeating western society. I don’t suppose many of the wealthy inhabitants of prestigious apartments and gated communities care too much about those who are required to use the “poor doors” so that they are hidden from the view of those movers and shakers of our society.

Getting ready for the next serving - and no one
 - be he prince or beggar - is left to stand outside 
the gate or forced to use the poor door. All are welcome
to be fed.

And at the end of our trip to Amritsar we caught the train back to Delhi. A long journey of several hours and when our train at last pulled into the station we were met by a taxi from our hotel. As we drove through the darkened Delhi streets the driver asked if we had enjoyed our trip? Did we like India? What memories would we have when we returned to England? Pat replied we would always remember with affection the warm welcome that we had received wherever we went and whoever we met. It was true. “Ah! said the taxi driver – that’s good but you must remember that in India we believe that we must always welcome and be kind to everyone.  We don’t know if that person who comes to our door is a beggar or a prince or a God – so we must be kind and welcoming to all”!

As I say, a long way from “poor doors” and gated communities – I am sometimes ashamed of what we in the UK (and maybe other places) are becoming. Maybe we should all be ashamed.