Practical Thoughts

Dear Reader, A national economic crisis looms large, with leadership problems to go with it. In the main, we are transfixed by it all. There are no easy answers but wisdom tells us to look through the problem; to look through and identify the true causes and effects so that we may understand how to properly deal with the issues that surround us. At the end of the day the only real solution is one that is sustainable; one that will last. And unless we want utter anarchy, deeper reasoning must prevail and connect to our hearts. In my last post, I finished off by saying: There are many individuals who are conscience-stricken and seek solutions for the needy and the betterment of society and the environment at the local level. These individuals often form local enterprises to efficiently coordinate the work required. By themselves, they do not provide a panacea. There is hope, however, but there are great challenges ahead. It is a change in our individual and collective consciousness about

Dear Reader, Today's world is virtually indescribable. The UK's new government thought they would be welcomed as heroes with their planned American-style race for growth, but have been pulled down by both members of their own party and the business market, both of which are supposed to support this flavour of government. Yet it is we voters - in a roundabout way -  that   put them there. A number would say it was the Tory membership that put them there, but that is not so. A chain of events got them there since the 2019 election. Does that say something about the electorate's muddled thinking? Just what sense of life values do we possess to make this possible? These politicians are only a reflection of our own attitudes as a society that became more and more relentlessly attached to individuality and our possessions and worship of material success and glitz rather than the nation's good, socially and environmentally. And we cannot seem to see a practical alternative. Li

Dear Reader, How can you tell me your're lonely, and for you the Sun don't shine...? These lyrics in Ralph McTell's  Streets of London  still haunt me today as I recall how this song caught me in a wave of self-renaissance back in the 1975-76 period. At a time when the UK economy was much as it is now, a personal disaster caused me to be  conscience-driven back then, and this hitherto well-paid 32-year-old individual went to London to look at the social issues for himself after some experience in Birmingham. A very memorable experience regarding a homeless teenage girl occurred very soon after my arrival and that event greatly helped to push me into action. I was soon involved with the YMCA and employment in the work against homelessness among youngsters in Brixton. In my time with the YMCA and other organisations I saw enough homelessness and also saw enough psychiatric patients in central and south London to know that our society was going in the wrong direction. I also l

Dear Reader, So, the UK Chancellor and his friend Liz Truss appear to have  decided   between them that the notion of One Nation politics is void. It almost looks as though London is to be regarded as a separate state and that the rest of the UK is there just to be enslaved and to pay taxes. Though the government is paying out large sums of money to help people through the Energy Crisis, the money to be borrowed to pay for that will be recouped from the taxes of the same public. Meanwhile, the major energy companies have made huge surplus profits and management and shareholders are left to enjoy it all. The Chancellor and the PM also seem to be deciding that the Environment and Climate Change are secondary issues having removed major restrictions on fracking and town and country planning. So, we face a future of inland wind farms and endless brown sites, already made worse by the proliferation of buildings alongside motorways over the last 25 years. And what of the future? What does ou

Dear Reader, The new King has arrived, but how will he influence the country over the next years of his reign? The nature of the King will remain intact, I am sure,  but what will carry over is the influence of both his parents, who both greatly encouraged his interest in the countryside and the arts in general. Prince Philip was deeply involved with various activities to do with conservation and wildlife, viz. his presentation on BBC in 1960 on that very subject, and taking up the presidency of the World Wildlife Fund. As I was more than 4 years old when Prince Charles was born, I rather feel as though I grew up with him, and followed his development in the press. One of the things that were revealed about him was his offbeat sense of humour, possessing a great liking for the Goon Show that used to be on the radio 70 years ago. The radio was marvellous in many respects, particularly when it came to the  kind of  humour found in the Goon Show, and music. I very much shared his love of

Dear Reader, In his book, The Republic , Plato argues that kings should become philosophers or that, alternatively, philosophers should become kings, or philosopher kings. This should be so as they would possess a special and necessary level of knowledge with which to rule successfully. Well, dear reader, the new King is a " philosopher king"! And he has declared himself to be a defender of the faiths - meaning all religions in the UK.  Those who have studied or lived amongst the world's religions know that there is a common purpose of peace that is central to them all. It is only highly non-peaceful extremists that make them seem to be otherwise. However, though this praiseworthy commitment is surely welcome, the sadness is that this King does not have any role except a constitutional function. His main influence on government is in his weekly meetings with the Prime Minister, or in the Privy Council. He can only suggest and make known his thoughts in those non-publicise

Dear Reader, "While we have faced challenges before, this one is different. This time we join with all nations across the globe in a common endeavour. Using the great advances of science and our instinctive compassion to heal, we will succeed, and that success will belong to every one of us." (The above statement was made by  Queen Elzabeth II in 2020,  in the first year of COVID-19. However, it is a statement that can equally apply to the issues of Climate Change and of how to obtain unity throughout the world.) We are still experiencing in the UK and the Commonwealth the aftermath of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, and also the beginning of the reign of her successor, Charles III. What has been astonishing, however, is the degree of warmth towards the late Queen and even an unexpected degree of welcome for the new King. The idea of the UK becoming a republic looks remote just at this moment. What is quite astonishing for us in the UK is that the new King's entry is e

Dear Reader, I feel that I can truly say that Queen Elizabeth II was full of majesty. Being called "Your Majesty" does not necessarily mean that the recipient of the accolade is majestic, but in the case of the late Queen she continuously provided a standard of bearing that can  surely  be regarded as truly majestic. One of the most vivid facts about her life is that she was fully aware of her mortality, so when - just at the age of 21 - she swore that she would devote her life "whether short or long" to the service of the nation, she fully realised that someday her service would come to an end. It would seem an obvious fact, but in these last few decades when we seem increasingly drawn to the world's attractions and gadgets as though they are the purpose of life, her attitude might now seem to be quaint. She was, of course, firstly  witness to  hardship in the country in the lives of the working people during the Depression of the '30s, and then saw throug

She became the Queen in '52, and ever since, reigned over me and you. And whatever this nation had to face she was there, smiling, in good grace. Always happy, always giving, to be a lifetime servant was her calling. Just as on that day in '52, and on her Coronation Day, too; she passed away while the blessed rain fell from the heavens with a marked refrain. And over her home at Windsor, too, the manifest rainbow gave us a clue... This Sceptred Isle has lost a great spirit; a gift of God, let's give that credit. She led a Commonwealth from nations seven, to dozens more seeking an earthly heaven. Peace be to all, was her Christian ideal, and strove towards that with quiet zeal. And on that note I confess: "Thank you, farewell, and bless you, good Queen Bess".

Dear Reader, The greatest truths have been forgotten because of their very simplicity. Great truths are simple because they are of universal application. Truth itself is always simple. Complexity is due to man's ignorance. Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902). We are living in a time of fear and, inevitably in such times, the fingers start pointing toward others - it's  they that must surely have caused the problem (we think)! Yet virtually all of us - unconsciously perhaps - have responsibility for how society is regulated. Going to one extreme, when a man is brought to trial on some criminal charge, rarely do the causes of his crime get examined unless there is something that stands out to warrant examination. The law assumes that a person of adult age is responsible for their own actions unless they have a recognised health condition that could be contributory and needs treatment.  However, beliefs and attitudes are fundamentally shaped by familial ties and personal events. U nder