The Edge of Town

THE DARKER SIDE OF THE NORDIC PSYCHE

2011-07-23T16:19:00.008+01:00

News that the perpetrator of yesterday's atrocities in Norway, Anders Behring Breivik, is a native Scandinavian unfortunately comes as no great surprise to anyone who has followed the career of the late Stieg Larsson, regarded as a world authority on far-right and neo-Nazi groups.

Breivik, who has identified himself as a "Christian fundamentalist" seems to have fascist sympathies, although it is unclear whether he acted alone or with the support of others. What is clear is Breivik's extreme hate of those in government and politics embodying the Norwegian centre-left, whom people outside this region of Northern Europe associate with Scandinavian progressive liberalism.

Here is yet another "clash of civilisations", but not this time between foreign religious fanaticism and western secularism. Sadly, political assassinations, of which yesterday's mass killing is an extreme example, have been a feature of recent Scandinavian history and reflect the darker side of the Nordic psyche.

However, this particular crime also undoubtedly has a Messianic dimension, Breivik has described himself as a Freemason as well Christian fundamentalist. His actions are those of the archetypal avenger, singling out a particular group for extermination in a manner which for many will recall the actions of Hitler's Nazi regime. Let's all hope that Anders Behring Breivik has no followers.

HORSES OF THE POST-APOCALYSE

2011-05-20T16:04:00.007+01:00

The Apocalyptic symbolism of the Bible is closely allied to the arrival of four horsemen. It was therefore fascinating to learn on BBC Radio 4's "Saving Species" programme yesterday that Przewalski horses - brought back from the brink of extinction in the last century - have been introduced into the Chernobyl exclusion zone, a place resonant with apocalyptic symbolism, to graze areas that present fire threats.

On The Edge Of A Nuclear Catastrophe

2011-04-12T10:11:00.006+01:00

Today's announcement that Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster is to be upgraded to category 7, the same as Chernobyl, comes almost exactly 25 years after the catastrophic explosion at the Ukrainian power station which led to abandonment of the nearby city of Pripyat (shown here).

This abandoned urban area has always reminded me of Andrei Tarkovsky's evocative film "Stalker", in which a journey in to "The Zone", a place cordoned off by the authorities which appears to have undergone some kind of industrial disaster, and more particularly in to "The Room", can grant the seeker's innermost wishes: perhaps a metaphor for the endless power promised by nuclear energy.

Guided tours of the zone around Chernobyl are, of course, now available, although I suspect that a visit to the room which housed its nuclear reactor remains off bounds to the twenty first century seeker after apocalyptic experience.

MORE SOUTH MIDLANDS NOIR

2010-08-23T15:18:00.013+01:00

RURBAN* NOIR DOUBLE MURDER

Between December 2009 and February 2010, two similar murders took place within a couple of miles of each other in rural South Worcestershire. The second incident occurred at Besford Court** (shown here), a luxury housing estate near Pershore. Here, an older American businessman stabbed his much younger wife, who came from Wales. The couple had met via the Internet.

An update on the earlier crime, which started a court hearing last week, is provided in the following extract from the "Worcester News" of 20 August 2010:

CHEATING HUSBAND BEAT WIFE TO DEATH

A CHEATING husband bludgeoned his wife to death at their home near Pershore - then went Christmas shopping with his mistress, a jury was told.

Jonathan Palmer used a heavy object to cause multiple fractures of the victim's skull, it was alleged.

He staged a burglary to make police believe that 57-year-old Melinda Palmer was killed by an intruder, Worcester Crown Court heard.

Palmer then drove to his lover's home in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, where he went shopping with Jackie Marshall, a single mother....***

Later he drove back to Pershore and dialled 999 at 8.27pm, telling police he had found hi wife dead in the front hall.

Prosecutor Stephen Linehan QC said: " He was cheating on her, conducting an affair with another woman. He is a skilled, determined and prolific liar and he put those skills to work after the killing"....

The trial continues.

*Rurban: Rural-Urban

** Prior to re-development as a housing estate, Besford Court was a residential school, whose pupils included John Thomas Straffen, later a convicted serial killer, and, until his death in 2007, this country's longest serving prisoner.

*** Palmer had reportedly told Miss Marshall that he was a single man.

Resumption of Search for Suzy Lamplugh

2010-08-17T15:09:00.005+01:00

The resumption last week of the search for missing estate agent Suzy Lamplugh, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances whilst working in London in 1986, is a reminder of another police case which has caught the national imagination. The continuing media attention owes much to the work of Lamplugh's parents and the creation of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust which campaigns on personal safety issues.

A suspect who apparently confessed to the murder claimed to have buried Suzy Lamplugh's body at the site of the former Norton Barracks, now a housing estate on the edge of Worcester, and this area was thoroughly searched some 10 years ago.

The latest search by the Metropolitan Police focussed on a field between Drakes Broughton and Pershore, several miles from Norton Barracks, as someone had re-called seeing a mound of earth there around the time of Lamplugh's disappearance.

Her suspected murderer seems to have connections with the construction industry and had suggested that a building site was the best place to bury a body. The choice of Worcester's environs would, therefore, seem to have been a logical one for there has indeed been much construction around these parts in the period since Suzy Lamplugh's disappearance, giving rise to that certain "edge of town" quality so often linked to the "noir" and the darker side of life.

RAOUL MOAT'S JERUSALEM

2010-07-13T16:39:00.004+01:00

I'm struck by some of the similarities between Jez Butterworth's play "Jerusalem", whose "edge of town" character is played by Mark Rylance, and "the legend of Raoul Moat" as played out in the national media recently.

Admittedly, Moat's character - as played by himself - is rather more morally culpable than the hero of Jerusalem. Yet the central ambiguity remains. For Moat, although murderer, woman and child beater, and increasing threat to police and public, is also regarded as good neighbour, much loved family member, brotherly comrade and cult hero.

What is most striking about the story of Raoul Moat, however, is the manner in which the national media - usually so reluctant to move beyond London and the Home Counties - headed North in their droves.

Recent memories of homicidal Cumbrian taxi driver Derek Bird no doubt contributed to the media exodus from its home turf, but the hunting of Raoul Moat to the Nortumbrian town of Rothbury created its own unique social and police drama.

My feeling is that Moat is another character to whose story Rylance's acting skills could ultimately bring justice, as he did to the very different tragedy of David Kelly, who, nevertheless, was also hounded by the media to his own death.

As to the real lessons to be learnt from this extraordinary episode, many may feel that the socio-economic millieu of modern Britain's Jerusalem has increasingly excluded post-industrial man to "The Edge of Town". Against this background, Moat does not deserve to be simply pathologised.

Ultimately, however, "the legend of Raoul Moat" is testimony to the powerful dramatic adage that "character is fate".

ARRIVAL OF THE RED BOOK !

2010-02-06T15:46:00.004Z

After 3 months of waiting my Inter-Library Loan copy of The Red Book finally arrived at the end of January. I was not disappointed ! No wonder this tome is in demand.

The illustrations - Jung's visual account of his "soul journey" - are fabulous.

Given current controversy about climate change, it is also very interesting that "Liber Novus" opens with Jung's own visions of catastrophe, in which Europe is riven by flood and ice.

However, these presaged World War 1 rather than natural disasters.

On a more positive note, some years later Jung has his important "Liverpool Dream", which acts as sort of salvation and enables him to move forward with his life and work.

Must pay a visit to "The City of Culture" myself !

Radovan Karadzic and Dragan Dabic

2009-10-28T16:16:00.005Z

I wonder what Dr Jung would have made of Radavan Karadzic and Dragan Dabic ?

Karadzic is the former Bosnian-Serb leader - also psychiatrist and poet - who is currently on trial in the Hague for war crimes committed in his own country during the 1990s, notably the massacre of 8 000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys outside Srebrenica.

Dragan Dabic was Karadzic's alter ego : an apparent mystic and practitioner of alternative medicine who lived - as a neighbour of international security personnel - in Belgrade until he was recognised and captured whilst travelling on a bus.

Publication Success of Carl Jung's Red Book

2009-10-28T11:09:00.003Z

News that the Red Book has become an Amazon best-seller is testimony to the enduring power of Carl Jung's thought and writing. Edited by Sonu Shamdasani, who is the Philemon Professor of Jung History at University College London, the Red Book is an account of Carl Jung's midlife crisis or soul journey which provided much of the material for both re-appraisal and future work. Incidentally, Philemon was, for much of the time, Jung's imaginary or spiritual companion (depending on one's interpretation) in this journey.

A TRUTH NOT UNIVERSALLY ACKNOWLEDGED

2009-07-04T14:34:00.004+01:00

Hollywood writer Seth Grahame-Smith has recently created a spoof zombie novel from Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice", which is to be turned in to a film.

It is with this cultural development in mind, that I now want to reflect on the current wrangle between Government ministers and the Conservative Party on the subject of homophobia, and, on the day of London's "Gay Pride", who is the least prejudiced.

However, it is not on gay issues that I want to focus here, but on political and wider societal prejudice towards single people (of whom novelist Ms Austen remained one) and the fact that not everyone is in want of either wife/husband or civil partner, for that matter.

The fact is that New Labour, being a deeply socially conservative party - and possibly more so than "David Cameron's Conservatives" - is deeply intolerant of single people (whether straight, gay, bisexual or undecided) - and this has set the tone for wider society.

Thus a few years ago, I was set upon by a married suburban couple who had "singled" me out as someone weaker than their combined might. Unfortunately for them, I'd spent most of my adult life in a tough inner urban neighbourhood and soon put pate to the pair.

Prior to this, the man had called me a "Lesbian" in a homophobic manner, although I could have assured him that I found his wife equally unattractive. Had I actually been gay, this attack might well have been deemed a criminal offense.

What I want, however, is a society in which the "pride and prejudice" of a couple of zombies like this - many of whom, albeit in more refined guise, occupy positions of power and authority - is made ridiculous, just like the gnashings of their B-Movie kin.

NOT A VERY BRITISH COUP* !

2009-06-09T15:30:00.004+01:00

Chavez** Jails Top Generals

It's a tough job being a high-ranking military official in Venezuela -- one minute you're running the show, the next minute you're being dragged into a prison cell with a gun to your temple. That was the case for Raul Isaias Baduel, the former army chief of the country who was ordered detained by President Hugo Chavez last month. Baduel is only the latest officer to be arrested on suspicion of planning a coup as the increasingly paranoid Chavez has thrown admirals and generals into prison as well. For Baduel, the move was a major reversal of fortune. In 2002, he led a paratrooper operation that successfully repelled a coup attempt against Chavez. But after retiring, Baduel became a critic of the Venezuelan president in 2007, taking Chavez to task over his efforts to expand his power and authority of the state. "Chavez does not have the support he thinks he has in the armed forces," Baduel, 53, told The New York Times.

Source The Daily Beast/New York Times

* A very good Brit drama of the later 1980s which, in looking forward to a radical Labour Government also looked back to the 1970s

** A politician of whom former London Mayor Ken "Trotsky" Livingstone is something of admirer. Perhaps Mr Livingstone needs a more domestic focus again.

NEVER HAD IT SO BAD OR GOOD

2009-01-21T16:07:00.009Z

The death of Sid Vicious in early February 1979 was remembered in both The Observer and on Radio 4 this week. In the newspaper's "Music Monthly", the Sex Pistol member is described by John Savage as "punk's ultimate nihilistic icon", and by a friend from contemporary girl band, called "The Slits", as someone who wet the bed at night with almost "pure Newcastle Brown" urine. Before his own untimely death from a heroine overdose, Sid Vicious (real name John Beverley) had accidentally stabbed and killed his girl friend, Nancy Spungeon.

In a previous edition of The Observer (Main Section), the columnist Peter Oborne described the second half of the 1970s as an "interregnum" between a 30 year period of post-war consensus politics from 1945 to the mid-1970s, and the arrival of Thatcherism and then New Labour. This "interregnum" was, I recall, an extremely difficult time for many people whose economic situation and prospects were at best uncertain, and, at worst, in terminal decline. The rise of Punk Rock co-incided with this period, and struck a cord with many young people, including me.

I was largely rescued from a bad bout of depression and an equally strong sense of personal fatality, by a better than expected set of "O Levels" (the exams which preceded GCSEs) in 1978. Thus my own "Winter of Discontent" had become something of a glorious Autumn by 1979 when I "won" a place to read English Language and Literature at Oxford. Nevertheless, it took me some time - perhaps another generation even - to overcome the sense of guilt which came with this achievement.

Yet the personal legacy of Punk Rock and my Oxford eduction has been, in reality, closely allied. I remain to this day skeptical of both the "power structures" that operate withing society and the intellectual constructs which go with these. Thus I have never been able to buy into the New Labour Project, for instance, as something itself born of a too comfortable alliance between "Children of the 6os" like Tony Blair, 1980s student politics and the dreaded brood of Think Tanks to which these have given rise. Roll on the next Interregnum.

Zimbardo & Why Good People Do Evil

2008-08-29T15:25:00.007+01:00

I chanced upon a copy of "The Lucifer Effect - Understanding How Good People Turn Evil" (Random House 2007) by Professor Zimbardo the other day. This followed another chance encounter with the Professor on a BBC Radio 4 programme hosted by Celia Hammond last week.

Substantially based on his Stanford (University) Prison Experiment in the 1970s, but extensively "contextualised", "The Lucifer Effect" explores how bad/evil situations give rise to bad/evil human behaviour. Having just skimmed the book, I can't say more than that, but its contents and the radio interview have set me thinking on this subject.

My own intepretation of "Evil" and, for that matter, "Good", is threefold :

There are some people who are inherently bad/good almost to the exclusion of the other quality, and the rest of us exist on a spectrum between the 2 qualities.
Situations give rise to bad/evil and good behaviour : this seems to be the main theme of Professor Zimbardo's work.
There is also archetypal or metaphysical evil/good which can be "released" by both people and situations.

The overall message of Professor Zimbardo's work is that we must all seek to avoid the creation of bad/evil situations, wherever and when possible, not least because these, in my view, provide channels for the levels 1 and 3 kind of evil.

Georgia and Solzhenitsyn on My Mind

2008-08-11T15:12:00.004+01:00

This blog began with a reflection on Alexandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn's "The Gulag Archipelago". With Solzhenitsyn's death last week, it is again time to remember his legacy.

In his latter years, Solzhenitsyn was felt by some to have become a pawn of the Putin regime. He returned to his Russian "homeland" in the 1990s, having been, by all accounts deeply uncomfortable with Western "materialism" and "moral ambivalence", albeit that Solzhenitsyn's exile to the United States had been brought about by his far deeper antipathy for totalitarian communism. Although it had not started out this way, Alexandr Isaevich had been a supporter of the Revolution, and it was only after World War II that he fell out with the Soviet State, as his understanding of its powerful means of oppression - in Solzhenitsyn's case, The Gulag and internal exile - deepened like an infernal chasm.

It was also last week, that conflict broke out between the former Soviet State of Georgia and the Russian Federation. This is primarily a dispute about territory and "homeland", although the discordant political personalities, and aspirations, of the Russian and Georgian Governments are important. Western material interests too come into play, as Europe is deeply dependent on Russian reserves of oil and gas, and there is some moral ambivalence about the conflict as a consequence. Although some optimism should be attached to the intervention of the European Union, of which, along with NATO, Georgia's present government would one day like it to be part, we should all be ever wary of the potential for Russian oppression.

Gordon : Get Rid of Those Two !

2008-08-05T15:54:00.004+01:00

I'm referring to the Teflon-coated Balls-Cooper duo, the "Children's Secretary", Ed Balls, and his wife, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Yvette Cooper. It's high time both of them spent more time with their family. They've done enough damage to this country.

Am I the only woman who'd like to spank Ed Ball's no doubt well-fed buttocks ? Perhaps spin doctor turned psychotherapist Derek Draper, now returned to the Labour Party bosom, could counsel me, as an NHS referral, of course.

The Suicide Files@Dark Lyrics

2008-01-24T15:17:00.000Z

I've discovered the following verses on the web under "The Suicide Files" and "Dark Lyrics". Not sure of their origin (directions welcome), but they they perhaps express sentiments meaningful to an increasing number of young people out there. Maybe some food for thought for politicians returning to earth following exclusion from high office....

The Edge Of Town
The Cul-de-sac jungle is a cruel place.
It's a living rotting failure from a different age.
And if you're looking for the place that dreams go to die,
it's not in the city it's around the outside.
You can mortgage your future for subleached purity
and accept the sterility in exchange for security,
but no matter how many times you run from your fears
the same problems always re-appear.
Day after day it's all just decay,
and the promised land just gets further away.
On these dead lawns lie your father's dreams.
White flight. White blight. White screams.
On these dead lawns lie your mother's dreams

Rum, Romanism and Tammany
Idealism is fucking dead.
Laughed off the stage at countless conventions.
Laissez faire is en vogue again.
It's silver tongue has been heaven sent.
One man, one vote, throw it away.
One land, one hope, throw it away.
When every candidate looks the same, born of noble blood.
So don't fucking talk to me about our tradition of democracy.
Who the fuck am I supposed to believe in?

On the Edge of Town

2007-12-28T12:05:00.000Z

Leader Thursday April 22, 2004 The Guardian

Appropriately, this week's announcement of the UK's first research centre of suburban studies coincides with a new government report on creating more sustainable cities. The new centre is welcome, as is its director's robust rejection of the suggestion that his discipline risks being branded with the "education-lite" label applied to media studies. Residential districts that now accommodate over half the country's population are ripe for study by town planners, sociologists and architects - as they have long been in America. The Kingston centre's remit is wider still. It also intends to look at the suburb in film, fiction and history. The roots of British prejudice against suburbia - a love that dare not speak its name, says the centre - will repay exploration.

But as John Prescott, the deputy prime minister, declared in the report examining the success of eight core English cities, a quiet urban revolution has also been taking place. The drift away from cities has been reversed. Proportionately, the drift began in the 1930s, followed by an actual drop in numbers in the 1960s. But new populations are being attracted back. Old industrial urban economies have gone, but new ones have sprung up. In Mr Prescott's words: "Our cities are back and the reasons are simple. They remain the centres for wealth creation, trade and exchange." It is not quite that simple because as the Kingston centre will note, the suburbs are no longer just dormitories, but generators of jobs too.

The government is right to celebrate the revival of Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Liverpool. But big challenges remain, that ministers should not be allowed to duck. Beyond the big eight - the other four cities are Bristol, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield - there are a score of smaller industrial towns in the North where the prospects are far from bright. The government has still not got the north v south balance right, partly because it still does not have a coherent regional policy. The divide is getting wider. Then there is the growth of "doughnut cities" - flourishing city centres with a collar of decay them. Urban renaissance is far from won.

The "Original Planet of the Apes" & Police Treatment of Climate Change Protestors

2007-08-20T16:30:00.000+01:00

The original film version of "Planet of the Apes" (not the prequels/sequels or re-makes !) had a profound impact on me as a child. In this film the hero, Charlton Heston, is one of a crew of astronauts who land on what we believe to be a far distant planet at some equally distant time in the future. Only the Heston character, Taylor, survives. At the end of the film we discover that the planet is, in fact, earth : an earth now run by ape men. I will call them "ape men" rather than "apes" because this is what they are. There are 3 species of "ape men", supposedly corresponding to chimpanzees (scientists), orang-utang (politicians) and gorillas (militia). The gorillas are frequently seen chasing humans (now a subordinate species) on horseback.

The image on the front page of the Financial Times today also had a profound impact on me, as a reminder not only of the original "Planet of the Apes", but of media images of the 1980s Miners Strike in Britain, when policemen on horseback pursued protestors. The FT image shows a mounted police officer in riot gear, followed by another, chasing, whilst shouting at, a climate change protestor who is running through the scrub land around Heathrow Airport. In short, this is an ugly scene, particularly so for someone who is an environmentalist, in fact a supporter of the climate change protestors, and a horsewoman. I seriously question whether mounted police should conduct themselves thus, or have we already fast-forwarded into the future ?

Animus, Anima, Animal ?

2007-08-09T17:08:00.000+01:00

It is widely accepted amongst psychologists that people have a masculine and feminine dimension to their character, whatever their gender, albeit that sex (as in gender) will generally determine the predominance of the masculine in men, and the feminine in women. Carl Jung called the "masculine personality" of a woman her "animus", and the "feminine personality" of a man his "anima".

However, I often wonder whether people also have an "animal component" to their personality, or, indeed, an "animal personality". If so, then I can identify with those who, like myself, feel connected to their feline or equine selves.

THE FUTURE IS NOT what is used to be

2007-07-25T16:23:00.000+01:00

DENIAL is a river in Middle England.

2007-07-25T16:15:00.000+01:00

The Edge of Town is Back !

This blog is resuming as of 25 July 2007, technology permitting.

2007-03-21T10:44:00.000Z

This Blog is Relocating

Due to Gremlins (of a technical or censorship nature, possibly both !) this and my other blogs (see below) are relocating for a time to www.witchofworcester.wordpress.com.

2007-02-07T11:33:00.000Z

Carl Jung on Climate Change

Jung had what he regarded to be a number of prophetic and semi-prophetic dreams during the course of his life. In one of these, Europe experiences a flood of biblical proportions, and, in another, returns to the Ice Age. Perhaps these dream scenarios are not mutually exclusive in the implications for the real world. The consequences of climate change may be more multi-dimensional than we can imagine.

2007-02-07T11:15:00.000Z

CHAVS : The Country House & Vacuous Set

The subject of "chavs" has come up elsewhere in my blogs, and I now want to look at this from a different perspective. I understand that the expression "chav" is widely regarded to be derived from "Council House and Violent". This may be so, but "chav" has come to describe more than this particular group (or class) of people. Indeed the Chav has definitely gone up market (whilst Burberry may have gone down) in my opinion, and, I would suggest, the real Chavs are now as much the "Country House and Vacuous Set" as the "Council House and Violent" type. Indeed, Kate Moss is, I believe, generally regarded to be the Queen of the Chavs. A woman, until recently at least, of few words, she is the incarnation of a certain aesthetic quality closely linked to the zeitgeist of recent years, beautiful, but ultimately rather empty, materialism.

2007-01-29T15:17:00.000Z

The Edge of Town : "Dawn of the Dead"

I watch very little TV these days, but occasionally feel the need for a fix, and so it was last weekend. On Saturday, I caught the trailer for what appeared, at first sight, to be a programme about edge of town suburban (sub-urban !) housing development. As this is a subject which can really get me going, I felt an instant surge of adrenalin. Many places are threatened with such development just now, not least in the West Midlands, and Worcester in particular. However, the programme trailer turned out to be for a US horror film made in 2004, called "Dawn of the Dead".

Sure enough the action is set on "the edge of town", supposedly the US City of Milwaukee (?), and opens when the heroine, a nurse, is involved in the admission of patient with a "bite" that turns nasty : very nasty, indeed, as it happens. In fact, a bite like this and you're one of the "undead", or a human blood devouring zombie. Very soon there are very few survivors of this outbreak, and those there are take refuge in an edge of town shopping mall, which happens to be next to the local gun shop (more of a major ammunitions arsenal). This is just as well, for the only way for healthy sane folk to kill their zombie compatriots is to shoot them through the brains. Needless to say there is alot of this amongst the more general carnage.

The film, which I have to confess was actually rather gripping, is accompanied with a curious sound track which starts off with easy listening rock ballads, and descends into nihilistic grunge. By the end, the cinematography has also disappeared, to be replaced with home movie type footage which reminds you of "The Blair Witch Project", but even more fragmented. This is also rather effective. However, like many intoxicating things, the film leaves something of an aftertaste. Bit like a bad trip, I imagine, never having had a real one. In short, you want to make sure your doors are bolted, just in case the neighbours turn nasty during the night.

2007-01-23T14:50:00.001Z

Darkness on the Edge of Town
by Bruce Springsteen

They're still racing out at the Trestles
But that blood it never burned in her veins
Now I hear she's got a house up on Fairview
And a style she's trying to maintain
Well if she wants to see me
You can tell her that I'm easily found
Tell her there's a spot out 'neath Abram's Bridge
And tell her, there's a darkness on the edge of town

Everybody's got a secret, Sonny
Something that they just can't face
Some folks spend their whole lives trying to keep it
They carry it with them every step that they take
Till some day they just cut it loose
Cut it loose or let it drag 'em down
Where no one asks any questions, or looks too long in your face
In the darkness on the edge of town

Some folks are born into a good life
Other folks get it anyway, anyhow
I lost my money and I lost my wife
Them things don't seem to matter much to me now
Tonight I'll be on that hill 'cause I can't stop
I'll be on that hill with everything I got
Lives on the line where dreams are found and lost
I'll be there on time and I'll pay the cost
For wanting things that can only be found
In the darkness on the edge of town

2007-01-22T11:31:00.000Z

The Marriage of Gordon and Jade

"Mr and Mrs Gordon and Jade Goody-Brown" has such a nice ring to it that I'm tempted to explore the possibility of this union, especially as the Union of Scotland and England is open to question just now.

First of all, however, my apologies to Sarah, but second marriages (and indeed subsequent ones), particularly to younger women, are all the thing just now. I'm sure you'll get a good settlement. Jade, after all, has alot of money herself.

Indeed, this is one reason I think she would make Gordon a good wife. After a crash course in political correctness (something Gordon and his Gang are so good at), Jade could make a start on Labour Party fund raising : plenty of good work for her to do there.

In my crystal ball, I see a splendid party at Beckingham Palace. The entry of the new Prime Minister and his Wife - Mr and Mrs Gordon and Jade Goody-Brown - is announced with a fanfare of music (1997 and all that again !)

....A new soap for Channel 4 perhaps ?

2007-01-20T11:48:00.000Z

"In Yer Face" Vs "Two-Faced"

I find myself in the unlikely position today of wanting to say something in defence of Jade Goody. Clearly alot of people have found her behaviour offensive and, by all accounts - as I do not watch Big Brother - rightly so. However, various sensible people from the Asian and white communities have pointed out that the reaction has been far out of proportion to the offence, particularly with regard to the involvement of British politicians. Jade may be "in yer face", but the likes of New Labour Ministers are "two-faced", wanting, on the one hand, the "street cred" associated with popular culture (however unpopular with some people), and, on the other, the "moral authority" associated with condemning it when things go wrong.

2007-01-18T11:22:00.000Z

Gordon Brown, Big Brother & The Wicker Man

I felt that Gordon Brown's reference to Jade Goody and Big Brother at the Fabian Society conference last weekend was inauspicious, and so it has turned out. In my E-Pantomime , "Carry On Communities" (for full version see my blogs), the former Chancellor is expelled to to a remote Scottish Island. I now want to take this story a little further....

When Mr Brown arrived at the island, he found that the film director Ken Russell was remaking "The Wicker Man", and looking for someone to play the policeman who visits the island to investigate a mysterious disappearance. The rest of the cast seemed to consist of former members of Celebrity Big Brother, including Jade Goody.

Mr Brown was delighted to have the opportunity of starring in a major film production. "A new and unexpected career opportunity", he thought, "from which I might one day relaunch a career in politics". However, not being much of film buff he was unaware of the ultimate fate of the policeman.

Also unknown to him was that the Wicked Blair Wizard was once again on the scene, this time in the guise of "The Wicker Man" island Laird (played by the Prince of Darkess himself, Christopher Lee, in the first version of the film). Finally, and perhaps sadly for Mr Brown - or perhaps not - Jade Goody was to play the role of his seductress.

2007-01-05T11:00:00.000Z

What We Forget to Remember

Former Tory MP and Cabinet Minister Michael Portillo has been involved in a number of rather good radio and television programmes since losing both parliamentary seat and the prospect of becoming leader of the Conservative Party. One of these programme series, "What we forgot to remember", was on broadcast on Radio 4 towards the end of last year. The principle message of the series was that the collective memory of historical periods is somewhat selective, and it is often the case that what goes unremembered can be as important, if not more so, than certain well-reported and remembered happenings.

It seems to me that the United States, notwithstanding the apparent sophistication of its media, has been as vulnerable as the rest of the world to the problem of selective collective memory, even where the events in question are happening in the present.

Yesterday, one of the tele-evangelists which seem to thrive in the US, informed media audiences across the globe - I heard him on Radio 4's PM Programme - that an urban area of the United States (I think a major city was mentioned, but no particular one) would be the victim of some hostile action, possibly leading to the deaths of millions of people. God, according to this right-wing man of religion, had informed him of a forthcoming disaster. Apparently, this kind of prophesy has come up regularly during the the Presidency of George Bush, and, it is said, tend not to be taken seriously now.

However, many major urban areas in the United States are suffering from problems - environmental, social and economic - which are certainly not fully reported in this country, and probably not over there either. "Unsustainable" might well sum up these problems, but it is only when disaster actually strikes, as in the case of New Orleans last year, that the problems are fully reported in the US and international media. Yet the likelihood of catastrophic flooding in New Oreleans has been on the cards for many years : I, for one, remember covering the subject in an "A Level" geography lesson in the late 1970s.

The US just collectively forgot to remember it, and even now, we forget about New Orleans as the urbanisation of areas vulnerable to flooding continues in the United States, in this country, and, most of all, in the rapidly developing countries of Asia.

The question is, do films like former US Democratic Vice-President Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth", about the effects of global warming, and actor-film-maker Spike Lee's "Requiem" for New Orleans make any real difference, not only to the political and collective consciousness but to public planning programmes ? I hope so, for as Spike Lee recently said : "Volcanoes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods. It’s not just New Orleans, we should be scared because if FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency".... — you saw what they did. Pray to God you don’t have to depend on FEMA. This stuff affects all Americans". Amen !

2006-12-20T10:29:00.000Z

Carry On Communities
Act 2 : The Court of the Red Tar
Draft 1.

Simon Hobbit and Boris Cat have obtained access to the underworld via an entrance at Junction 6 of the M5, the key to which Boris obtained from a local dryad, or tree spirit. Boris updates his friend on some important matters as the two descend toward The Court of the Red Tar. He explains that the Red Tar was formerly known as John Prescott, a long standing and well-regarded Labour MP until he was enchanted by the wicked Blair Wizard. The wicked wizard then made Mr Prescott Deputy Prime Minister, second-in-command only to himself (after he had also cast a spell on most other Labour MPs) and the Big Clunking Fist. However, the Big Clunking Fist later overthrew the wicked Blair Wizard, although the latter soon found other troublesome roles to play on the world stage, and nearer home.

"Unfortunately", said Boris, "Mr Prescott is still under the wicked Blair Wizard's spell, and, if anything, his condition and that of his ministerial colleagues and advisers, has become worse in recent years, as you will soon see. Mr Prescott, at onetime a ship's steward, likes to be known as the Red Tar (you may recall a literary account of Stalin called "The Court of the Red Tsar") and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister - or ODPM as I shall it - has been recast as "The Court of the Red Tar". More recently, he has asked to be called "Sultan", and "Sinbad" by close associates, and has taken to thinking of his colleagues, most of whom are female, as an extended harem. Members of this "harem", like the heroine in the story of the "Arabian Nights", are forced to come up with continual daft policy ideas if they wish to retain their positions, which "Sinbad" then assigns to a sort of under-ministry, called the Department of Daft Ideas (or DoDI). Even the Big Clunking Fist is outraged by the behaviour of Mr Prescott and has therefore banished him to offices in the underworld, which we are about to visit."

"However," Boris continued, "We bring with us the antidote to this parlous state of affairs. The Witch of Worcester has prepared a potion which we must place in the food and drink of "Sultan Sinbad" and his colleagues. This effect of this potion will be to remove the dire enchantment of the Blair wizard over Mr Prescott and return his senses and those of the others to something resembling a normal state".

With these words, Boris Cat and Simon Hobbit arrived at the underworld offices of the ODPM. Outside, were various statues of the Mighty Deputy Leader (or Mighty Deputy as he preferred to called). From within, came the sound of louf music and raised voices. The two friends hoped very much to catch this dragon's den off its guard. Boris had a few more words for his friend :
"This is an extremely powerful potion that we bring. Not only will it transform the consciousness of those who consume it. In doing this, it will also start to bring about a profound transformation for the better in everyday reality. However, this will not be without its own challenges. Therefore, once we have administered the potion, we must make haste back to the city streets, and seek further audience with the Witch of Worcester, who will reveal to us the next stage of our perilous project."

Simon Hobbit was borne forward by his friends words. The two entered the dark and noisy chamber which accommodated the Court of the Red Tar. A massive banquet awaited Sultan Sinbad and his colleagues, and to this the powerful potion was administered.

As Simon and Boris retraced their steps back towards the exit from the underworld, they both sensed that their mission had been successful. "The Court of the Red Tar" was almost certainly now asleep, and would ultimately awake free from the enchantment of the Blair Wizard.

Meanwhile, at Junction 6 of the M5 a miraculous transformation seemed to have taken place. The traffic chaos which so epitomised the rule of the Big Clunking Fist appeared to have subsided. Drivers seemed to be observing traffic regulations as never before. No one was driving above the speed limit. Moreover, there were fewer vehicles on the road as people used the opportunity of a safer and pleasant environment to travel by foot, bicycle and much improved bus services. The jaws of Simon and Boris dropped in awe and gratitude at the prospect of far fewer road traffic accidents to people and other animals. Nearby, the trees and their spirits were all celebrating and singing : "Things can only get better !". This was indeed a time of great joy, celebation and good will to all !.

To be continued @ www.jan8stone.blogspot.com on 21.12.2006

2006-12-05T10:47:00.000Z

What Goes Around Comes Around

"As an animal welfare issue, fox hunting comes in at about number 155. It probably ranks below the last of the great working class bloodsports, coarse fishing. It’s insignificant beside intensive pig farming, chicken keeping or even the rearing of pheasants for driven shoots. But as a class issue, it ranks behind private schooling at number two. This isn’t about animal welfare. It’s about human welfare. By taking on the hunt, our MPs are taking on those who ran the country for 800 years, and still run the countryside today. This class war began with the Norman conquest. It still needs to be fought."

From "Class War on The Hoof" by George Monbiot (monbiot.com blog 14.9.2004)

Friendly green anarchist (I hope he doesn't mind me calling him this) George Monbiot is one of the most original and cogent environmental and social commentators around. I certainly agree with his view on the animal welfare dimension of fox-hunting. However, I think it is a mistake to invoke the "class war" in this and most other contexts, including the system of "public education" in Britain today. The "class war" certainly exists, but only as a lower substrata of most peoples psyches (or as part the collective unconscious if you prefer). The fact is that there are all sorts of tribal, religious, family, inter-personal and other power struggles going on at the same time at various levels of people's (un)consciousness. In some respects, the British (or English and perhaps Scottish) "class wars" as manifested in the public school system, and certain country and sporting pursuits, are amongst the more benign aspects of the ever-evolving (some might say eternal) power struggle between different social groups. However, for me the key dynamic is the economy and economic power, rather than the symbolism of fox hunting.

Nevertheless, the rather bourgeois proponents of New Labour have aligned themselves with the
class war community on this and certain other issues for the simple reason that their core political motivation is divide and rule, and we certainly have a most divisive government and divided society just now.

2006-12-04T10:41:00.000Z

Some Advice to Woman with Children and Their Male Partners

Yesterday (a Sunday), I decided to take a walk about 3pm before dusk. My "path" took me along a stretch of road which can be hazarous at busy times (mainly due to people driving too fast), but I thought that it would be relatively quiet at this time and that I would have a relaxing walk. How wrong I was !

As I walked past the entrance of a horse livery yard, I heard a woman shouting from behind me "Thank You !". I had no idea what she was talking about, not least because I was attending to possible traffic on a potentially hazardness stretch of road, but replied "What for ?". "For letting you pass", or words to that effect, she responded. Given that I had the right of way, I thought this was ridiculous and cursorily told her to "F... Off".

The woman's male partner then called me an "F...ing B..ch", something I took objection to. So I turned around and approached their vehicle (a 4x4). I was tempted to kick this but given I had soft rubber boots on decided against it. Instead, I opened the passenger door, saw there was a child behind the woman (given the man's language, this surprised me !) and said quite calmly "If you have horses, you should know that pedestrians and horses always have priority over motorists". I then closed the door of the vehicle. This promptly launched forward skidding across the hazardous road in a manner, I presumed, was intended to be threatening. However, my reaction was : what a wally of a driver ! I then carried on wih my walk and, on my return, spoke about the "driver problem" to the owners of the livery yard.

However, from my perspective, there is another moral to this story, and I'll address this to women with children and their male partners (and more specifically to white middle class people). Being called a "F...ing B..ch" by your partner may be quite acceptable to you, and it might be quite acceptable to you for him to do this in front of your children to another woman.
But, the woman in question might take objection to this and not all women regard themselves as one of the weaker sex : male partners please take note !

2006-11-28T11:55:00.000Z

Worthiness Fatigue or Aversion to Excess Worthiness

I woke this morning with a feeling of "worthiness fatigue" (really more of an aversion to the worthiness excesses other people). There's alot of worthiness about just now, let's face it !

My feelings of worthiness fatigue are partly prompted by an item on yesterday's MSM News about "green fatigue". As a lifelong environmentalist, with occasional lapses, this type of fatigue isn't something from which I suffer. Quite the opposite in fact. Journeying by foot or bike generally energises me, as does not overheating my home or workplace (I often combine the two, which also saves on space/travel). Similarly, not buying loads of unnecessary stuff saves on rubbish...and, yes, I also re-use/cycle wherever possible. Doing a recent MSM survey of my household carbon emissions, I calculated these at 25% of the UK average (mainly due to my not using a car, or travelling by air in the past 6 years). However, none of this makes me feel particularly worthy, nor do I proselytise about my "greeness" to other people.

So it really annoys me, as happens all the time, when "worthies" from government sponsored agencies - which by and large I consider to be a waste of public money ! - suggest I take a greater interest in the domestic problems of other people. My own view is that the exponential growth in publicly funded "helping professions" since the middle part of the last century, and particulary under New Labour, has greatly contributed to the kind of social problems which are now recounted everyday in the media, by as the saying goes "feeding the fire". The kind of worthiness which comes with these "professional helpers" is something I particularly detest. This is not to say that I don't think real social problems exist. They do, but their causes - often economic - usually receive inadequate attention, particularly from the present government.

Therefore, excess worthiness, of the kind embodied by people like Tony Blair and Gordon, and of which politicians from other parties also have more than their fair share, should be taxed at the higher rate as far as I'm concerned, and the sooner the better !

2006-11-27T14:55:00.000Z

The Bank of Beirut - My Curious Dream

I am quite interested in dream interpretation, although, frankly, the meaning of most of my dreams remain impenetrable to me. Nevertheless, I can remember at least one occasion when the content of the dream was prophetic, if that's the right expression.

At the time of this prophetic dream, I was helping a charitable enterprise acquire some open land which the owner wanted to sell for housing. In the middle of this landholding, was a separate property owned by the local authority who were in the process of selling it to a private individual. Control of this council land was likely to be important to the wider aquisition. However, it seemed that the sale was "a done deal". However, one day I had a troubling dream which, upon interpretation, indicated that the deal was not yet done. The council later returned the potential buyer's cheque to him, and their site was integrated into the charitable enterprise : sort of, but that's another story...

Last night, I dreamt of the Bank of Beirut. I cannot consciously remember seeing a bank with this name before, but that's not to say I haven't done so. A bank of this name does exist, but why would I dream about it ?

In my dream, the Bank of Beirut occupies newly refurbished ground floor premises in an urban area which I associtate with a city quarter. The location is nondescript in being neither particularly modern, nor particularly historic. My reaction to seeing the bank is positive - I am possibly experiencing a lucid dream in which my conscious mind also comes into play - as it suggests some enterprise, albeit of a possibly risky nature. Nevertheless, I sense the possibility of some new and maybe exciting venture.

What could this be about ? At the time of writing, I'm not at all sure. The name of "Beirut" conjures up all sorts of conflicts and undertainties to my waking state. Yet I know that before the outbreak of the most recent "war", the city was regaining its status as the playground of the Middle East. However, notwithstanding the problems of the region, I still associate it with financial opportunity, all be this perhaps not risk free. It also has an exotic quality which, given my current base in Worcester, has some attraction just now.

Yet I'm no nearer to understanding my dream, or am I ? I bank with Halifax Bank of Scotland (or HBS) and on my other blog today (janetmackinnon.blogspot.com) I wrote about the prospect of Scottish independence. Worcester is strongly associated with the last battle of the English Civil War and for being a Royalist stronghold. Do I have underlying issues about the breakup of the UK perhaps, and both the opportunities and dangers this might hold ?

2006-11-07T11:59:00.001Z

"Living In Truth" by Vaclav Havel

The English writer Tom Stoppard recently described former President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel, as one of the greatest political philosophers of our time. Stoppard's comments reminded me of the strong impression that Havel's collection of essays, "Living in Truth", had made on my thinking when I read this work during a visit to Berlin in December 1989. For me, Central or Middle Europe has a particularly rich intellectual tradition of which Vaclav Havel is a contemporary manifestation. Unfortunately, I can think of no one in present day British politics who brings his depth of reflection to political thinking - although if there is someone out there, do let me know ! - and for this reason, I have chosen to use below an extensive quotation from one of the essays in Havel's "Living in Truth" :

"I am convinced that what is called 'dissent' in the Soviet bloc is a specific modern experience, the experience of life at the very ramparts of dehumanized power. As such, that 'dissent' has the opportunity and even the duty to reflect on this experience, to testify to it and to pass it on to those fortunate enough not to have to undergo it. Thus we too have a certain opportunity to help in some ways those who help us, to help them in our deeply shared interest, in the interest of mankind.

One such fundamental experience, that which I called 'anti-political politics', is possible and can be effective, even though by its very nature it cannot calculate its effect beforehand. That effect, to be sure, is of a wholly different nature from what the West considers political success. It is hidden, indirect, long term and hard to measure; often it exists only in the invisible realm of social consciousness, conscience and subconsciousness and it can be almost impossible to determine what value it assumed therein and to what extent, if any, it contributes to shaping social development. It is, however, becoming evident—and I think that is an experience of an essential and universal importance—that a single, seemingly powerless person who dares to cry out the word of truth and to stand behind it with all his person and all his life, ready to pay a high price, has, surprisingly, greater power, though formally disfranchised, than do thousands of anonymous voters. It is becoming evident that even in today's world, and especially on this exposed rampart where the wind blows most sharply, it is possible to oppose personal experience and the natural world to the 'innocent' power and to unmask its guilt, as the author of The Gulag Archipelago has done. It is becoming evident that truth and morality can provide a new starting point for politics and can, even today, have an undeniable political power. The warning voice of a single brave scientist, besieged somewhere in the provinces and terrorized by a goaded community, can be heard over continents and addresses the conscience of the mighty of this world more clearly than entire brigades of hired propagandists can, though speaking to themselves. It is becoming evident that wholly personal categories like good and evil still have their unambiguous content and, under certain circumstances, are capable of shaking the seemingly unshakeable power with all its army of soldiers, policemen and bureaucrats. It is becoming evident that politics by no means need remain the affair of professionals and that one simple electrician with his heart in the right place, honouring something that transcends him and free of fear, can influence the history of his nation.

Yes, 'anti-political politics' is possible. Politics 'from below'. Politics of man, not of the apparatus. Politics growing from the heart, not from a thesis. It is not an accident that this hopeful experience has to be lived just here, on this grim battlement. Under the 'rule of everydayness' we have to descend to the very bottom of a well before we can see the stars.

When Jan Patocka wrote about Charter 77, he used the term 'solidarity of the shaken'. He was thinking of those who dared resist impersonal power and to confront it with the only thing at their disposal, their own humanity. Does not the perspective of a better future depend on something like an international community of the shaken which, ignoring state boundaries, political systems, and power blocs, standing outside the high game of traditional politics, aspiring to no titles and appointments, will seek to make a real political force out of a phenomenon so ridiculed by the technicians of power—the phenomenon of human conscience? "

From the essay "Politics and Conscience" (1984)

2006-10-18T14:43:00.000+01:00

Confrontations with the Unconscious (your own and other people's)

The themes of depression (in its various forms) and nervous breakdown have been much in the media recently. Its seems that there is an ever increasing incidence of these conditions amongst celebrities, including politicians and their advisors. People may remember the case of Derek Draper, a "Spin Doctor" in the early years of the Blair government who later fell out with his colleagues and had a "breakdown" (or breakthrough as some might regard it). I think Mr Draper then became a psychotherapist.

In response, some people who have experienced severe mental illness have complained to the media that accounts of their emotional woes, and lows, by high profile individuals trivialise the whole subject. Indeed, it is important to distinguish between the kind of maladie (however apparently intense) which may leave someone temporarily unable to function properly, with a devastating illness which makes it impossible for the sufferer to function for prolonged periods, if at all.

Most people will encounter some kind of depression during the course of their lives, probably brought about by a combination of environmental (personal and work relationships, for example) and physical factors (poor health or a degenerative illness, for instance). For people without the necessary material resources to "buffer" their situation, the treatments available may be inadequate, although this is not exclusively the case : the NHS does seem to provide very good support in some cases.

However, I want to deal here with a "non-medical" approach to mental health, which I would argue, could serve very well the kind of psychic imbalances encounted by many people. In order to do this, I'm going to provide a highly condensed overview of Carl Jung's view of "self-development", of which some form of depression is one stage. Jung also called this "a confrontation with the unconscious", to which I would add the caveat "one's own or other people's".

I arrived in Worcester after what might be described as a somewhat "extroverted" period in my life (I am by nature more of an introvert), which was at once enjoyable and unsettling. However, I would still jump at the chance to return to it ! I knew this time would come to an end, and when it did feelings of depression soon engulfed me. In other words I felt down ! A few months into this "depression" I had a dream in which I was walking along a stony path, in a barren place, towards what I was vaguely aware to be a cave (although I could see nothing ahead of me).

The next day I was in a book shop when I noticed a volume called "The Mind in the Cave", by a South African archaeologist. I'm not going to cover the subject this book just now (I will elsewhere), but safe to say I bought it immediately. So began what I can only describe as a personal excavation of my psyche, and a subsidiary interest in archaeology. Funnily enough, I had contemplated doing a combined degree in archaeology and anthropology when I went to University, but chose English instead as the easier option.

There are various options for tackling depression, some easier than others. Jung believed it was an important learning process : however hard some of the lessons. Initially, the dream that I have described above brought a further sense of privation. The immediate future was going to be tough, I felt. Nevertheless, as the saying goes : "When the going gets tough, the tough get going". Depression is a challenge, which like other challenges requires connection (or re-connection) with the stronger parts of the self, and managment of one's weaknesses.

I would suggest that this approach is relevant to many depressive conditions, removing the need for drug therapies, which may have negative side effects, as wel as extensive counselling or psychotherapy. The latter, like excessive media attention, can encourage what seems to have become a national "disease" in recent years : our culture of "I have a problem, therefore I am" (in the case of the individual); or "We have a problem, therefore We are" in the case of certain social groups.

So my messages are :

Physician Heal Thyself (or Physicians Heal Thyselves); and
As with my English Degree, the easier option is can be right at the time

2006-10-18T11:52:00.000+01:00

The Castle by Franz Kafka

I chanced upon this book in my local library, and it came to mind when a friend said that he found reading Kafka "almost unbearable" (ie too painful), or words to that effect.

The synopis on the back of the Vintage Classics edition of The Castle says that : "This is the story of K and his arrival in a village where he is never accepted, and his relentless, unavailing struggle with authority in order to gain entrance to the castle that seems to rule it...."

Now this reminds me a little of my arrival in Worcester several years ago, and subsequent dealings with local bureacracies (private and public), and in particular the Health Service.

The Worcestershire Royal infirmary occupies a sort of castle, built, under the Private Finance Initiative, on the edge of town. It is fair to say that quite alot of controversy surrounds this institution, as something which consumes large amounts of money.

My guess is that most people enter the employment of the National Health Service with worthy intentions, but end up struggling with "the system" like characters in a Kafka novel . The exception to this may be certain hospital managers, "trustees", and contractors (particulary IT).

In my own case, having been to the hospital for a test and an x-ray in the last year (nothing serious I hasten to add), there was some question mark over whether I would ever receive the results of these (owing to bureaucratic complications).

When I did manage to obtain the results, these required interpretation from 2 GPs in order for me to obtain a "balanced opinion" (with which I'm reasonably happy) Not the fault of the hospital this, but a cautionary tale nevertheless.

I once said to a fellow "patient" at the GP surgery in question that obtaining an appointment was more difficult than gaining access to a former Soviet Block country (in fact this was easier in my experience !), and the border guards may have had better customer service training.

So when I first came across The Castle, I decided not to read it as it seemed rather too similar to my everyday experiences.

2006-10-17T15:53:00.000+01:00

World War III by Michael Tobias

This book, published in 1998, is not about a literal third world war. It's subject is "Population and the biosphere at the end of the Millennium". With a forward by the conservationist Jane Goodall, and reviews by, amongst others, William Shatner (of Star Trek fame), this is not a work of "science fiction". However, it covers a subject which has become strangely taboo in recent years : human population growth, and its impact upon people and other life on earth.

In a recent - and rather short - interview on BBC Radio 4, a representative from the London School of Tropical Medicine pointed out that "family planning" is the most effective means of reducing child poverty in less-developed/developing countries, and argued that this message still applies to African countries, notwithstanding the AIDS crisis in some of these. He also said that this evidence-based policy instrument has become increasingly difficult to advocate.

Population and demography are certainly complex issues, and whilst it is true that certain countries, such as Russia, are experiencing a decline in numbers of people, overall world population is very much on the increase. Similarly, in the UK, whist Scotland has the highest rate of population decline in Western Europe, England has one of the highest rates of forecast population growth.

Increasing numbers of people raise important issues in the global and international context, as well as for national, regional and local planning, and particularly where there is rapid population growth alongside poor environmental management and infrastructure development. This is indeed an issue where we need to think globally and act locally. However, it is also an issue where policy making is increasingly marginalised, and left to so-called "market forces".

"The Edge of Town" is precisely the place where population pressures are most being felt : whether in "plans" to expand English towns and cities into the surrounding countryside, or to build entirely new ones; or in the slums and shanty towns through which the burgeoning cities of some Asian countries are spreading into rurals areas, often displacing small farmers who have to seek their livelihoods elsewhere.

The consequences of this expansion of human habitat are profound and often devastating. Such issues provide the material of Michael Tobias's book which I strongly advise people to read. The perspective is primarily ecological, and it calls for a fundamental reappraisal of the kind of economic thinking which very much links "growth" with population increase whether at the national or international level.

However, I would also argue that population growth in the form now taking place in some regions of the world brings with it the potential to create the conditions for an actual World War III. For in many of those countries experiencing rapid population increase, there is not a commensurate increase in economic and employment opportunities, particularly for young men. This is precisely the kind of scenario from which major conflicts tends to arise.

2006-09-20T11:32:00.000+01:00

Reflections on "The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956" by Aleksandr i Solzhenitsyn (1)

This is the first of a series of reflections on The Gulag Archipelago. For anyone interested in the shadow side of humanity, Solzhenitsyn's book should be essential reading.

Time Magazine described the Harper Collins Perrenial Classic edition of this book - edited by Edward Erikson Jr and last republished in 2002 - as the " Best Non Fiction Book of the 21st Century". However, it seems that this edition is now out of print.

Perhaps this is unsurprising as Solzhenitsyn is described as an author more read about than read. Aside from the matter of translation, I've found his writing "difficult" in the past, but Edward Erikson's work is masterly, and readable.

Nevertheless, the content is very dark : too dark perhaps for modern literary "taste" which seems to like its brainfood on the "lite side", and shies away from hard labour and times wherever possible. Not only is Solzhenitsyn's writing difficult, so is his message....

2006-06-08T12:11:00.000+01:00

A Darker Side to Urban Life

Carl Jung identified the "shadow" side of the human psyche. This blog is about the transferrence of this shadow into our environments, whether in the form of pollution, destruction of the countryside and rural life...