Feeding The Beast

I am enjoying the second half of life privilege of examining the baggage of my life with a critical, if not unsympathetic, eye, and deciding what to tip into the dumpster.

 

Once I took hold of the fact that you can believe anything and get away with it (and possibly make money from it too: which is the ONLY explanation there is for Scientology) everything became clear. So away with all the stuff in religion that invites me to despise, judge or exploit anyone else. Amazing how much of a drag THAT was! Away too, with any kind of pretence that I am either better or worse than anyone else. I take my seat between heaven and earth and touch the ground in acknowledgement of my divine right to be here, and courteously invite everyone else to do the same.

 

Religion sorted. Politics, not so easy. I fell into the Twitter trap of throwing out an insult in the heat of the moment with no thought to the consequences. I denounced a politician, on my own side, as a snivelling cheat, and he called me out on it. Oh dear. Caught trolling.

 

I apologised at once for being rude, though I thought the comment may have had some merit, and immediately put myself in social media purdah for a week and went off to write poetry.

 

The point of this ramble is better made in the First Nation fable of two wolves at war in the human heart. One embodies all that is good, the other everything evil. Who wins? The one you feed of course.

 

So, the battle to make sense of this one beautiful life continues. I have no idea which of my wolves will win out today, but I do have a preference ...

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You Can Only See ...

My teacher, Richard Rohr, often says, "You can only see, what you've been taught to see." This has been brought home to me as I follow the campaign for the Labour Leadership.

I have voted for Jeremy Corbyn, and I did so because Jeremy DID NOT attend Oxford or Cambridge University, to study economics, like all his rivals, he HAS had a life outside the Westminster hothouse, and he DID vote against further cuts in welfare.

So what is it the centre-right political class is not seeing? Forty economists, not all Corbyn supporters, have written to the British press to say he's right on austerity. It won't stimulate the economy, it won't bring about a recovery, it will further impoverish the lives of the poorest, which will, in all probability, weaken the social fabric of our nation. So why do the three other candidates support the austerity programme designed by the opposition to dismantle the welfare state? Because they all studied economics at Oxbridge of course. And you cannot see what you weren't taught to see.

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Are You A Psychopath?

Of course you're not! You are as empathetic as the next person, I'm certain of it. And yet ... And yet ...

Taking the focus off you for the moment, let's look at how I react to stories of people I can't, or won't understand. There's this woman at this group I belong to who drives me round the bend. She is loud, domineering, self-publicising and smug. I possess all of these amiable qualities to a degree, so I guess what really got under my skin was that she out-competed me at my favourite game - being nice to people and geeting praised for it. Oh dear me, yes, I know myself and I'm not always pretty. Anyway, the point is, I laughingly spoke of the horrible Emma to friends with the rider, "I could take an axe to her, I really could."

 

After about the third time of postulating murder, I stopped to take a good look at the feelings I was experiencing. I was upset and  angry. Underneath this pleasant exterior, something ancient and reptilian was asserting itself.

Fortunately, I've been here before with other Eights on the Enneagram, and I know when to stop. The cure is to befriend. To listen, to reassure and to empathise. It takes a few short weeks for this to take effect, and now I bear with Emma's passion, enthusiasm and wholeheartedness (note the rethink here ... ) with equinimity. It was a pratice well-worth making perfect.

So I was alert to a letter written to the New Scientist by Darach Conneely, "Voting For Empathy Or For Negativity" that quoted some research by Harris and Fitch (Princeton) "Dehumanising the lowest of the low".

You think you know how it works: Populist politiicians incite in perfectly ordinary and respectable people the fear of 'the other'. Turn a young man or woman who has fallen on hard times, and is in need of a helping hand, into a 'benefit cheat' and the helping hand is snatched back pronto. Your reptilian brain is switched on and empathy flies out of the window - the fact-finding rational being that you can be, has been short-circuited, and consequently, some rather unpleasant people now hold power. (Thinks: Do you really want this person grasping the money bag when it's YOU that's down on your luck? Self-interest can be a very long game.)

Quote from Conneely's letter:

"Brain scans appear to show very clear differences between psychopaths and people who feel empathy. But when normal people were led to believe that they were observing a person suffering and that this person was a cheat or not part of "our tribe" their scans looked the same as those of psychopaths, with no sign of any empathy. ..."

 

Managing your empathy is your affair, and I'm confident you do well at it. My plea would be, don't let someone after your vote manage it for you.

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ABC ...

Don't get me wrong, I love Britain. I even admire what our political system produces.  I enjoy our muddling along, our rather inflated sense of our own importance, our polite and rather old-fashioned tolerance of eccentricity ... It's just that I HATE politics. Can't bear conflict, abhor the manufactured ire and the insincere adherence to ridiculous viewpoints. I do not approve at all of drawing battlelines based on redundant and divisive notions of win/lose, us/them, all or nothing ... To be truthful, I sincerely hope NOBODY wins an overall majority at the upcoming general election and that idealogical pretense has to bow to the more rational, humane and life-enhancing virtues of compromise, collaboration and agreement.

I will vote of course. I toyed for a moment with throwing my hand in and offering a friend of the opposite persuasion a 'democricide pact': "I won't vote for my idiot if you don't vote for yours!" But I wasn't serious, I'll trundle down the hill to the polling booth in May, and make my mark, because it's one of the most important things I get to do. Whichever bunch of clowns makes it into power, will be kept from trying anything too ridiculous by the knowledge that in five years' time they'll be held to account for it. Besides, women ( men too!) went to prison, and some died, so that I could make that cross, and I feel I owe them.

My manifesto:

When I ran a school I taught my pupils something that I hope will stay with them for the rest of their lives. It was 'The Pauntley School ABC' It went like this:

AGREE together
BE kind
CARE for one another

Any political party taking THAT on would get my vote, no hesitation. As it is, I shall do my civic duty with grim determination. It's hard marking a ballot paper whilst holding one's nose ...

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God's Bias

It's very hard not to get cross at yet another scandal involving politicians cosying up to the wealthy and offering their 'services' in exchange for obscene amounts of money. Jack Straw and Malcolm Rifkind are both adamant that they have done nothing wrong, that they followed the rules. What??? Is it any wonder that the general populace is so turned off by politics? 

Somebody said something like, "MP's should have two jobs, because it keeps them in touch with the world outside Westminster"

Cynical laughter.

I might be a lot less cynical if the second job involved helping with a soup run, or serving in the Salvation Army Charity Shop, or working in a Job Centre on little more than the minimum wage. Our politics would be the better for it. But widening your experience of being a pig by rooting deeper into the trough? Oh! Please! 

I rant. 

Here's today's meditation from Franciscan, Father Richard Rohr. A perspective that we inhabitants of a nominally 'Christian' country with politicians still willing to nail their colours to the cross, need to be clear about:

Most of political and church history has been controlled and written by people on the Right, because they, more than those on the Left, have the access, the power, and the education to write books and get them published. One of the few subversive texts in history, believe it or not, is the Bible! The Bible is most extraordinary because it repeatedly and invariably legitimizes the people on the bottom, and not the people on the top. The rejected son, the barren woman, the sinner, the leper, or the outsider is always the one chosen of God! Please do not take my word on this, check it out. It is rather obvious, but for some reason the obvious needs to be pointed out to us. In every case, we are presented with some form of powerlessness--and from that situation God creates a new kind of power. This is the constant pattern, hidden in plain sight.

So many barren women are mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures that you begin to wonder if there was a problem with the water! Sarah, Abraham's wife, was barren--and old, too--before God blessed her with baby Isaac (Genesis 17:15-19). Rachel, Jacob's wife, was barren before God "opened her womb" and she bore Joseph (Genesis 30:22-24). Barren Hannah poured out her soul before the Lord, and God gave her Samuel (see 1 Samuel 1).

Even before Moses, God chose a nobody, Abraham, and made him a somebody. God chose Jacob over Esau, even though Esau is the elder and more earnest son and Jacob is a shifty, even deceitful, character. Election has nothing to do with worthiness but only usability, and in the Bible, usability ironically comes from facing one's own wrongness or littleness, as we see in Mary. God chose Saul to be King out of the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest and weakest tribe in Israel. The pattern does seem to be: "The last will be first, and the first will be last" (Matthew 20:16).

One of the more dramatic biblical stories in this regard is the story of David. God chose David, the youngest and least experienced son of Jesse, to be king over the nation. Jesse had not even mentioned him as a possibility, but left him out in the fields (1 Samuel 16). In fact, he was a totally forgotten son, who then finds his power on a new level. Yahweh evened up the odds and David, just a young boy with a slingshot (powerlessness), brought the giant Goliath (power) down (1 Samuel 17). This is the constant pattern of redemptive suffering and trial that finds its final revelation on the cross where Jesus is abject powerlessness, and in this very state he redeems the world!

God's bias toward the little ones, the powerless, and those on the bottom has been rediscovered by those who learn to see deeply and with compassion: Francis of Assisi, Thérèse of Lisieux, Mother Teresa, and 12-Step spirituality being well known examples, but even they are usually marginalized by the establishment mind and the Right. Notice the shock when a Pope took the name of a non-establishment saint, "Francis."
Adapted from
Dancing Standing Still: Healing the World from a Place of Prayer, p. 93;
and The Great Themes of Scripture: Old Testament, pp. 49-50
(published by Franciscan Media) 

Gateway to Silence:

God hears the cry of the poor.

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Let them eat ... ?

My brother Mervyn hit a spot of bother last year, when criminal activity emptied his bank account. Merv earns a low wage in light engineering: in addition to his wage, he receives some support for raising his step-son, and housing benefit. He still has to pay some rent though, and waking up to find he couldn't pay it came as a shock, especially when non- payment threatened to become an eviction issue.

So here's the choice. Become homeless, or eat. 

Merv could have asked me to sub. him, but he wouldn't. He asked his Social Worker for help. Steve, the Social Worker, is a caring and savvy guy, and he had a ready answer."Go to the Food Bank in Great Western Rd." Merv, being over, 55 could get vouchers from Help The Aged. ( No, you can't, I assure you, just walk in and scrounge, despite what you may have heard from the right wing nasties. You have to apply to a recognised agency and be assessed. You may receive a maximum of three vouchers.) 

I am telling this story to illustrate that anyone can find themselves with an empty cupboard, mouths to feed,  and no other means to do so than turn to charities for help. 

I have read accounts of yesterday's Parliamentry debate, and I am not impressed. Though I have long since stopped blaming politicians for behaving like politicians, I do become exasperated when the lobbing match degrades the debate and demeans the participants. Most of the time, then. ( Is it any wonder the electorate is turned off?) 

The problem will be worsened  in April when under-25's lose their housing benefit. (In order to 'nudge' them into moving back in with their parents, I expect, because that's what happens in La-La land.) I recently spoke with a case worker with the agency responsible for housing the homeless in Gloucester, and she is preparing for a crisis, as the agency is already under-funded and over-committed.

The good news is that the research undertaken by the University of Warwick, and sponsored by DEFRA  on 'Food Aid in the UK' has finally been published. 

The report is 81 pages long, and may be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/283071/household-food-security-uk-140219.pdf

You might want to skip to the conclusions, which finds - no surprise to the those who know more than some government supporters want to -  my brother is a typical user of the Food Bank. The idle scrounger doesn't even get a mention.... 

Quiet Rage

Usually, I am fairly upbeat. I have an amazingly contented life - I really do. Enough of everything, a fantastic family, and some wonderful friends -  so much to feel good about.

Today, I am allowing myself the luxury of  reflection, and I am rather disappointed with myself.

It started with a spat with a friend over our differing political perspectives. I climbed on my high horse and ... Well, it hardly matters. In a measured response, my friend suggested that we, both moderates, have failed as citizens by leaving the arena and allowing bigotry to dominate public debate.

Yes, but. I don't want to. I read the views of extremists with distaste. Furthermore, I can see that any attempt to put forward a moderate opinion is greeted with, at the very least, derision. Politicians don't help, the polarisation of  debate makes our Parliament painful to watch.


We know this, it hardly needs reiteration. The question is ... Is there anything I can do about it?

Three days later...

One of my favourite manoeuvres to write my way out of a block is to write a list:

(With bullet points)

# I joined a comment site in order to inject a little reason. (Guardian cif 'Belief') In three years I commented three times. I was trying to join in a game with the big boys. I got knocked over and I went home. Moderation just isn't as sexy as rage.

# I try to do good works. Sometimes I succeed. At least in making myself feel good.

# I go to church, and say some pretty hot prayers. And I meditate, at least once a month, whether I need to or....

# I try to be helpful, I aim to be kind, I place a premium on compassion and sometimes I get away with fooling people into thinking that this is WHO I REALLY AM.

WOW! That got me over the hump. But the bottom line is, 'who I really am ' is complacent, self-serving
and cowardly. I'm not worried by that, particularly. I get by. I'm probably too old to change... :)

'So,' I tell myself, 'Let's have a look at what you can do to be a bit more authentic.'

(Talking to myself reminds me that I exist. Sometimes, this is important, I find.)

Pause for thought,,,, 









---

Going By Bus

I have a Bus Pass, which I capitalise out of respect, for it has changed my life.

I am out of my little lavender-blue box and and meeting people, many of whom also have Bus Passes, and finding out what's really going on.

We're standing waiting for the 30 or 31 or, in my case, the 132.  (Much light-hearted banter from my focus group when I get on the wrong one by mistake.  And get off again.) We have ten minutes, at the most, to get to know one another: to learn all that is salient about health and families, before moving on to politics.

I have largely given up on politics, although, being a good citizen, I will go and waste my vote on Tweedledum or Tweedledee come the next election. If I were to be judged by which radio station I tune into, my ostrich feathers become very apparent.  I live in the south of England, and listen to KUOW Seattle. Give it a go. This is filler, back to the coven at the bus-stop.

Things are not looking good. My group travel by bus because they have no choice, they, all female, by the way, eke out a living on the State Pension, and their opinions must count.

And what opinions! These are kindly women made angry by Sunspeak (or Mailrant) and see themselves as being impoverished by a multitude of spongers, of different ancestry, with huge families, living high on the hog, in houses taken from their own grandchildren.

Don't yell at me! I know it happens. There are people in this world who will see an opportunity for a free ride, and take it. I'm one of them, hence the Bus Pass.  But the fact that my fellow-travellers should be made so hateful saddens me.

So I thought about it all the way home on the bus, and wondered at my cowardice at not challenging the vox pop... .

In the end, I sighed at my own ineptitude, and gave thanks for the fact that I only have Tweedledum and Tweedledee to vote for at the next election.


Think: 'All living is meeting.' Martin Belper

Letter To The Editor

Sir

I have read both sides of the debate on the spending review and am dismayed at this government’s failure to grasp the new reality, one  that opens up the opportunity to deal with the scourge of sentimentality in politics once and for all. Rightly, they’ve pushed the fairness issue – that’s played well with those with a conscience, giving them a gold-plated get-out.  The churches are marginalised, I mean, for heaven’s sake, who cares about God anymore? And the media will soon be entirely owned by Rupert Murdoch, so no-one need be troubled by the ravings of radical leftists or the groans of the losers who’ve had to stop their subscription to Sky to pay the rent.

I humbly offer these suggestions for the latter years of this administration, when the Tory benches find themselves short of things to cheer:

A fact-finding tour of Zimbabwe to find out how to deal effectively with the shanty towns that will grow up around our great cities to house the families who were sent away to live in cheaper accommodation in areas where there were no jobs.

Stop treating sick people!  Take it slowly, begin with the compassionate elimination of the mad, the old and the otherwise unproductive. There are plenty of the great and good already pre-disposed to this one, I foresee little credible opposition.  Priority for health-care should be given to the truly deserving, those who have been driven by higher taxes to leave BUPA and throw in their lot with the NHS.

Take a leaf out of the book of that enterprising farmer in Worcestershire.  Those Romanian kiddies are getting a REAL education; in order to survive, sometimes you have to be trafficked.  A lesson for us all.

Yours sincerely

Founder and Sole Member ‘Intelligent Decline UK’