Filed under: asperger's syndrome, Gardening, Justice, Politics, Religion, success | Tags: Bible, Chronicles, democracy, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party, Matthew, Micah, MP's expenses, MPs, peace, principles, Socialism, Teresa May, Tony Benn
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Mt. 6|:33)
A couple of days ago I was reading in the Book of Chronicles the story of King Solomon’s response when God asked him what he could give him and Solomon chose wisdom so that he could rule well.
“ And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king:” (2 Chr. 1:11)
It occurred to me then that Jeremy Corbyn follows very much in the footsteps of Solomon. Unlike his enemies in Parliament Corbyn has never sought position or to further his career. Whereas other MPs claim expenses in the tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of pounds, Corbyn’s annual expenses are a fraction of theirs, although having a London constituency reduces what he needs to claim for. He is, unusually for a politician, modest and self-effacing. He didn’t put himself forward as leader and hadn’t expected to be elected. However as a democrat he respects the wishes of his party’s membership. Why would he not step aside for a right wing member of the PLP? Because it is not his decision, the party wanted him, they called upon him to do a job and he will not betray their trust.
While the Labour Luvvies like to spent their time mixing with celebrities or sunning themselves on the yachts of millionaires, Corbyn is content to dig his allotment or join with ordinary people as they campaign against injustice. Teresa May may want the country to ‘live within its means’ Corbyn does not agree that that should mean depriving the poorest in society of the means to live. Whereas his Labour challengers were content not to oppose Tory austerity measures because they had bought into a neo-liberal model of fiscal responsibility, Corbyn voted against. Why is he prepared to incur the wrath of the financiers and the PLP? Because Corbyn puts doing the right thing before personal popularity and because, unusually for a politician, he cannot be bought nor seduced by the galamour of power he is guided by his principles. And his guiding principle is that everyone matters not just the small elite who own the countries major businesses. I think that’s why the media hate him so much, he has no need to be popular, his satisfaction comes from doing the right thing.
Corbyn does not seek to rule the Labour Party nor the country, he seeks only to serve. He has only ever sought to serve. The principles for which he has always stood, justice, peace, equality, and the dignity of human beings continue to guide him. He doesn’t need focus groups, nor opinion polls because he seeks only the good of all. His needs are few and he seeks nothing for himself, not fame, not wealth, nor status. In his implacable purity of purpose he embarrasses his less principled colleagues and the contrast between him and their self serving is alienating many Members of parliament from their own electors. Corbyn sets a standard of behaviour to which few, even among his supporters, can measure up. The greedy and self serving hate and fear him, but ordinary people love him because he is one of them. Like Tony Benn, Corbyn is very aware that it is a privilege to be selected to serve his party, whereas his opponents consider it their right, so much so that they are prepared to suspend the democratic processes of the party to prevent the people expressing their will.
Corbyn never sought to be anything more than a backbencher, but when the call came to lead he responded and the people responded to him. He has only ever sought to do what was right and because people recognised that they entrusted him with the leadership of the Labour Party. I have said before that of all politicians few as well as Corbyn measure up to the divine standard of behaviour expressed by the Prophet Micah,
“What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God?”
It appears to me that Corbyn’s God is humanity and that have the people recognised him as a good and worthy servant.
Filed under: disability, Health, Justice, Politics, Scotland, success, Travel, Yes Scotland | Tags: Angela Eagle, Blairites, Brexit, Chilcot Enquiry, Daesh, David Cameron, Iraq War, ISIS, Jeremy Corbyn, Michael Gove, Tony Blair, Tories
I have not yet read the Chilcot Report , but we live in interesting times as the old Chinese would have cursed and we are cursed to live in interesting times. We are governed by political elites that have nothing but contempt for the ordinary citizens who elected them. One of the exceptions, of course, is Jeremy Corbyn a man of principle who preferred to oppose an unjust war than seek personal gain. Today he tried to pay his respects to the dead of the Iraq War and those MPs who colluded with Tony Blair to send an ill equipped to die in Iraq barked like jackals as he spoke. Let us be clear those Labour plotters like Angela Eagle who are seeking to displace Jeremy Corbyn as party leader are the same people who not only voted to go to war in Iraq even though the evidence did not support it, but they are also the same MPs who knowing their guilt voted against the holding of an inquiry into the Iraq War.
Even though Chilcot was expressly forbidden to investigate the legality of the decision to go to war he does say that “The circumstances in which it was decided that there was a legal basis for UK military action were far from satisfactory” which is as close as he could get to saying ‘probably illegal’. More importantly is his pointing out that Blair’s dodgy dossier was not challenged by his ministers who have, let’s be honest, consistently supported the use of military force regardless of the threat to civilian lives. It is little wonder they hate a man who stands without compromise for Peace and justice like Jeremy Corbyn.
People today have been talking about learning lessons from Chilcot. It is very apparent that the case for war presented both to parliament and the country was founded upon utter duplicity. What lessons have Tony Blair’s disciples learned? None, the voting figures in every election in England since last September show Corbyn to be successful at winning votes in elections, yet they still present an utterly dishonest picture of his performance. Rather than doing the job for which they were elected they are more interest in promoting their own careers than opposing the government. They show utter disregard for their members some attacking Corbyn despite their Constituencies calling for the leader to be supported. Angela Eagle’s CLP has indicated it has no confidence in her, however her contempt for ordinary members is such she just ignores their wishes.
It is interesting in these interesting times that Corbyn managed to secure the votes of two thirds of his party to oppose Brexit whereas many of his detractors who claim he did not enough saw the votes of Labour supporters in their areas going the other way. The only logical conclusion is that it was they who were not pulling their weight, worse some may suggest they were deliberately undermining the Remain campaign so they could attack Corbyn. Would the Blairites sacrifice the good of their country for narrow personal and political gain? You may think that, I could not possibly comment.
And it is interesting to see the fallout from Brexit. With Leave campaigners admitting they didn’t produce a plan for post Brexit because when the Scottish Government presented their plans for Scotland post independence Better Together used it as a means to attack the Yes Campaign. Fair enough, but one might have thought they would have at least considered the consequences of their actions. Are they repentant? No they are blaming those who fought to remain in the EU for not having an Exit Plan, while saying that no one who supported Remain should negotiate an exit anyway. I see that English newspapers like the Express are complaining that the Scottish Government is trying to protect Scotland from the economic consequences of Brexit, the basic position seems to be ‘ We have destroyed ourselves, but we want to drag the rest of the UK down with us.”
Experts did warn us about the economic consequences of Brexit, but Michael Gove said that people should ignore the experts. Yesterday the Governor of the Bank of England somehow managed to avoid sticking out his tongue while saying ‘I told you so!’ and Michael Gove carried on his campaign to become Prime Minister. Were he to become Prime Minister would he discount the advice of experts? Well Chilcot has shown us that Tony Blair set a precedent for ignoring the advice of experts, Gove shows no sign of having learned a thing. One wonders into what further disasters he might lead us after Brexit. Blair ignored advisers who warned him that an invasion of Iraq would play into the hands of Al Qaeda and the direct consequence was the rise of ISIS or Daesh. Now we could get another PM equally contemptuous of anyone who actually knows what they are talking about. Would the Blairites be prepared not to oppose a Tory like Gove just as they failed to oppose the austerity measures of David Cameron? You may think that, again I couldn’t possibly comment.
Filed under: NLP, personal development, success | Tags: Dreams, goal setting, goals, imagination, lottery, visioning, visions
I may buy a lottery ticket this week. It’s not something I do very often. Realistically my ticket has as much chance of winning as any. However there are so many possible permutations of numbers and so many tickets that the lottery is an unrealistic approach to boosting one’s income.
I have heard people say that the lottery benefits those with money because they can afford to buy more tickets. I suppose you could say the same of syndicates. The truth is that the odds are so astronomical that in meaningful terms someone who buys fifty tickets has little real advantage over the person who buys one.
So why would anyone waste money on a lottery ticket if the odds against winning are so great? Because winning is not the real point of playing the lottery. The whole point is the possibility, however unlikely of winning. The pleasure of the lottery lies in the time between buying the ticket and checking the results. This might be called (not inappropriately) the Dreamtime.
There is a popular question used in visioning courses and by coaches, “What would you do if money was no object?” Buying a lottery ticket initiates a similar process enhanced by the possibility of it being true. After buying the ticket a person’s mind inevitably considers on what they will spend their winnings. For most it probably begins with clearing their debts, the mortgage, but then the fun begins as the mind looks at all the things that will be possible. After spending on oneself and family there come all the other things, saving the local theatre, investing in cancer research, relieving inner city poverty. Gradually the realisation may dawn that even a hundred million is a limited amount, inconceivable as it may seem. However the process reveals what is important, what you must do and what you would love to do and if you act on those insights a £2 lottery ticket may be worth a fortune even if your numbers don’t come up.
Filed under: Justice, Parenting, personal development, Poetry, Politics, Religion, success | Tags: Muhammed Ali
Tonight I am in no mood to post a blog, here’s why…
One of the speakers at Muhammad Ali’s memorial service today remarked that when Ali died that time stopped and the whole world paused and sighed.
Tonight I watched the service, frequently in tears as as people from all walks of life paid tribute to Ali. There were particularly moving tributes from several Jewish speakers praising Ali and his stand for human rights.
I was deeply moved by the story of Ali watching boxing at the Olympics and while people were celebrating the American boxer’s victory, insisting on visiting the loser to give him encouragement and consolation.
Story after story recalled Ali’s humanity, his commitment to human rights and to peace. The service brought together people of all communities, colours, religions and ages with a shared belief in the goodness of humanity.
And so today I am not posting a blog as I am instead taking the time to reflect upon the legacy of Mohammed Ali.
Filed under: Parenting, personal development, Politics, Religion, Scotland, success, Technology | Tags: apprenticeships, Ayrshire, capitalism, Clydeside, coalmines, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, money, shipyards, society, Springburn, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson
In my personal record collection I think I’ve got more CDs by Johnny Cash than any other artist. Okay my wife’s got more Elvis CDs, but I could listen to Johnny Cash all day and night without playing the same CD twice. Now instead of blogging I’m watching ‘The Highwayman: Friends To The End’.
Kris Kristofferson was expressing his awe at being on stage with his heroes and I thought, as I often do, of how one generation provides the foundation for the next, and the program kept reminding me of that. Johnny Cash gave Kristofferson his start, Willie Nelson’s guitar playing was inspired by Django Reinhardt. There’s a lovely scene of The Highwaymen meeting Gene Autry the singing cowboy who’s films inspired then as kids.
We can’t all be music stars, but in any walk of life the story is the same older more experienced people passing on what they’ve learned and encouraging the next generation. Actors do it. It happened in the studios of renaissance artists. In the shipyards of the Clyde, the coal mines of Ayrshire, the engineering works of Springburn, on farms and in gardens across the land older workers have taught and mentored apprentices who grew into experienced workers and in turn passed on their skills to the next generation. The yards, the pits, the yards closed in the name of economics, it made financial sense. The older men ceased to bring on the next generation. Not only skills were lost, the working structure of society was lost. If there are problems in today’s we shouldn’t lay the blame on migrants or trades unionists, but on the men who put profit before people, cash before communities, who sold lives and principles for a quick buck.
At least while our society crumbles around us we still have our legends and as long as we have them we have hope. My personal legends include The Highwayman, but I’m in the latter half of my life, I hope I can leave some of my hope to fuel the dreams of my grandchildren.
Filed under: disability, Gardening, Health, Justice, NLP, Parenting, personal development, Poetry, Politics, Religion, success, Writing | Tags: Hamlet, heroes, humanity, Shakespeare, superpowers, X Men
“What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form, in moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals!” (Hamlet Act 2, scene 2)
Today I saw ‘X Men: Apocalypse’. It is one of many super hero films and television programs being released this year and as good a piece of entertainment as any. However I am aware that for many people I super heroes are not so much entertainment as an aspiration. There are actually people who want to be vampires, would you believe? Along the cosplayers whose pleasure is creativity there are those who really do want to be a Jedi or a super hero.
I am not going to condemn anyone who is not happy with who they are, I spent many, many years thinking I was on the wrong planet and very uncomfortable around humans. I do think it a little sad when people are unhappy with their humanity. I can appreciate the anguish of those who know they were born in the wrong body, but while they may need to change their gender they still want to be human. What I find sad is that people don’t relish being human and celebrate it. Sad that people reject the value of their own lives because of some distorted value placed upon celebrity, political power or wealth.
I suppose there is much that is done by some humans that sparks, rightly, horror and rejection in anyone with an ounce of compassion or sensitivity. However there is so much in humanity to be celebrated. Look at our arts and architecture, our literature, our music. For every serial killer, suicide bomber or Tory politician, there is someone risking their lives to save others, there is someone working to cure disease, to end poverty, end injustice. Yes there are evil and selfish people in the world. I believe it is because they are an aberration they impinge so much on our awareness. The majority of humans live our lives of quiet heroism carrying for their families, friends, and communities. And there are many who stand out as real heroes, men and women of courage who risk ridicule, rejection, even death to make the world a better place. People prepared to ask questions and challenge established ideas. People prepared to give of themselves, whatever the personal cost, for the good of us all.
You don’t need superpowers, fame or money to be a hero just the will to be the best you you can be. You don’t need political position or wealth to change the world, you don’t even need a God, you just need people, people who care about others.
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