Balance

Holistic medicine and Nature are examples of systems that try to achieve a balance, with each element supporting the welfare of the whole.
That catastrophes can occur within these systems is as inevitable as gradual change.  Both are part of the same process, defying prediction, but following a geometric curve as they move as they move along the x axis to disaster.
Whether it was a giant meteorite or a huge volcanic eruption, the Age of the Dinosaurs came to an end.  All Empires come to an end.  This essay is not a disaster movie; it merely looks at some of the particular problems that the world is facing and then tries to draw some conclusions.
Earth is suffering from Global warming.  Weather and climate patterns are changing, with an ever-increasing chance of extreme weather.  The world's population is growing and the resources of food and water are becoming progressively more scarce.  Inequalities in wealth and living standards are becoming more pronounced.  Biological species are dying out at an alarming rate.  Local, tribal, religious, National and International tensions show no sign of diminishing, with the G7 countries supplying warring areas with armaments in an effort maybe to "protect themselves from the spread of Terrorism" or perhaps to look after their own vital interests with a particular bias towards oil.
This is the picture.  Overlaying this is a universal desire for growth, with the seductive message that growth will improve everyone's living standards.  Clearly, growth and living standards cannot continue for ever.  The Earth is finite and further growth can only hasten the onset of the next catastrophe.
No-one can say which system will collapse first, but at the moment they are all creaking.  We don't know how much time we have before the Age of Capitalism goes the way of its predecessors, but unless the world can start to move back towards balance by making positive adjustments, the current model will become untenable.
We can't opt out and so we have to take action to avoid leaving our children a mess of potage.

Willie Giles 13.05.13

Who is Benefitting?

We have entered a New Year and by general consensus, things are going to get a lot tougher.  It is fairly clear that we are at the beginning of a long phase of pruning the Benefits System:  even at the start of this phase, many people are not able to buy food for their families.

Today, Parliament votes on a 1% Cap on the Benefits System;  more people will be put into an impossible position.

These people will be presented with 3 options: steal, take food hand-outs from charities or insist on the Government alleviating the hunger of the people.

A lot of people fought for Universal Suffrage for many years.  We currently have a Health Service that is the envy of the world.  Both events were all-inclusive.  This inclusivity, is now being tested with Income Caps on Child-benefit to counteract the Cap on the Benefit System.  Where should the Capping stop?  What can be done to help those who are the target of the on-going cuts in the Benefits System?

In the same way that we can view our Aristocracy in 2 ways; they have huge inherited wealth-bad:  their estates preserve the countryside-good, we can view our Food Distribution system in 2 ways.  That it has ruined our town centres and village life and is a hugely wasteful system, are undeniable, but the inherent wastage in the system could be changed to the benefit of our citizens.

With the approval of David Cameron and others, local supermarkets are already delivering stock, just about to reach its sell-by date, to Food banks like the Trussell Trust, for distribution to the poor and needy.  We have seen with the 2012 Olympics what is possible.  The Government should act now to ensure that the Supermarkets and Fast Food chains are required to release food that would otherwise go to fill landfill sites, to the poor who could starve without it.

I propose.
1.  Supermarkets and Fast Food sites should be given tax-breaks for eliminating waste and not skipping food and filling landfill sites.
2.  Supermarkets should set aside areas in their shops for people  to collect food on a voucher system and to make deliveries direct to those who can't travel.
3.  There should be a fast track system for helping those who have insufficient benefits or who have had their benefits suspended for any of a number of reasons.

Whilst many people are wary of accepting charity, they would be happier to accept food that was their right. In this way we could take a huge step to move back towards inclusivity.  Willie Giles 08/01/13