G8 + G12 = Zero Change - and even more hot air.

I have been resisting for week but the time has come when I have got to say it! I feel that with the G20 looming I can no longer hold back! We have Gordon Brown, Barack Obama and the rest of them trying to put all the things that caused the cock-up in our economic system back into place instead of replacing it with something that would actually work. They keep saying that there is no alternative to re-establishing growth in our economics, that we have to "save" the banks and all the other bull-shit that goes with it. The other parties grimble and grumble about what Brown is doing but do not offer anything that is a true alternative, only alternating ways of spreading the cash to achieve the same result, economic growth.

There is one political Party that has for many years been saying that the Growth orientated economic policies of the Grey parties (That is the coalitions of Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Scots Nationalists, Welsh Nationalists, Unionists, Irish Republican, BNP and UKIP) and that is the Green Party. We Greens have been saying that Growth economics will fail for a very long time but no-one wanted to listen. So now the latest collapse has happened I feel that we can safely say, loudly and clearly;

We Greens Told You So!

The problem is that saying this gives me no pleasure what so ever, well, maybe a little bit, but not much. I would far prefer that at the G20 next week some government stands up and puts on record that what has gone before is dead and what they should be doing at that meeting was putting in place the new way forward, The Green Way Forward. Of course this wont happen because there are far to many people with fingers in the pie who would loose their power if things changed and it is power that is important to these people. Money is only a means to gain power. And we all have been infected by this accumulation of power Grey or Green it is just that we Greens have tried to be honest about it and offer up sensible alternative ways of living which are often derided in the press or have all the guts sucked out of and then adopted by the Greys as a cosmetic green policy that will have absolutely no effect what so every in the long run.

So please, everyone, can we stop messing about with economic systems that we know don't work and start putting into place the one that will, the one that is Green through and through and not just cosmetic.

Life! Astonishing isn't it?

So we are to be confronted with TV ads for things sexual. I realise that that is an odd ways of putting it but I couldn't think of a better way. What I am on about is the news that adds for condoms and sex advice establishments are to be aired on television and some of them are to be shown before the watershed so kids will get to see them. And quite right to I say, kids of today are TV literate people and can handle it. I have a feeling that it is the parents who can't. It is the classic situation of "that" time when you have to sit down with your little boy or girl (who have usually developed into a street wise teen by then) and talk about the birds and the bees. Numerous fine comedy sketches have been created around this situation over the years and I am sure that such will be the case way into the future; adults find it difficult to talk sex with young people and young people always think that they are the ones who invented it anyway so red faces all round. Get it out there, get it talked about, and not only the joys of sex but the responsibilities that go with it as well, and the tragedies.
Young people are going to start shagging as soon as they can get away with it. As soon as the hormones click in that are will be at it whenever that can. It was behind the bike sheds when I was a lad but as they don't cycle to school any more I am supposing that some other secluded place has taken on a similarly hallowed status. The stuff that we should be putting on the telly is stuff that gives girls permission to kick hard and run fast as soon as they hear the words "You'd let me if you loved me." Also to teach boy that they have responsibilities, if only to make sure they have a condom in their pocket at all times. Of course what could be on the telly for young people is far to extensive to be explored here but I am sure that you get the general idea.
And then there are the two great tragedies of sexual encounters, STDs and abortions. With the STDs we have got to get things out there and remind people that AIDS for instance could be wiped out in one generation (two at most) if we could keep our zips zipped. Not going to happen of course so we have to have the back-up situation in hand to deal with AIDS and other STDs. And then there is abortion which is often treated like a disease but isn't one, any more than pregnancy is a disease. I would like to live in a society where every pregnancy is wanted and the resulting child has a loving caring home. This is part of the Green society that I am hoping to create with the Green Party and others. Unfortunately we do not live in that kind of society. Our society can see pregnancy as an inconvenience that can be deal with. It can see it as an abhorrence that must be deal with, and these for to often. Fortunately there are enough people out there who see pregnancy as a thing of joy that should be celebrated. I find the would idea of aborting a embryo or a fetus abhorrent and as I said want to create a society where it is unnecessary. We don't live there yet so the clinics that undertake such actions have to be there. Because of that I believe that they should be out there in our society so that we can be reminded of what we do at all times. They should be on the TV, in cinemas and the Internet and not hidden away using a polite euphemism to describe them.
Until we crack the taboos that we have about matters sexual then we are not going to achieve a society that has no problems regarding Sex. After all, we are all of us the product of a sexual act, we should celebrate the fact by creating a new bank holiday of Sexual Awareness Day possibly on the 14th. February.

Cost of living!

So our elected representatives in Westminster want a pay rise of some forty thousand pound a year so they do not have to clam perks, sorry, I mean expenses of course. Who do these people think they are? Personally I believe that all elected representatives should get no more than the minimum wage, which is something like £5-70 and hour, plus any legitimate expenses. Why minimum wage you may ask. Well it was our representative in Westminster who decided that £5-70 p/h was enough for anyone to live on. Which is fine, so why do they not live on that amount? Of course, if they did have to live on the minimum wage you can bet your last dollar on the fact that it would be much higher that it is at the moment which wouldn't be a bad thing.

Bombs and Bombast!

I have just been listening to a discussion on Radio 4 about our nuclear submarines and whether we can afford them or not. As is usual in these kinds of discussions there was a pro and an anti. The pro guy kept going on about deterrents and invoked "The War" [as world war II is referred] and how Churchill was a loan voice for making our defences strong. When he was asked under what circumstances we would unilaterally use our nuclear weapons he had no answer. There is no argument that I can see that makes Nuclear weapons a sensible option. The only reason that they would be used is spite. You can not occupy land that has been nuked unless you have some way of protecting yourself. Okay, the examples of Japan which is the only county in our world that has been nuked in war can be cited but the bombs used there were as gnats bites compared to the bombs we have now.
Now I am not particularly a pacifist, and although I would prefer to do away with war I realise that we are going to need our armed forces for some time to come. I would also like to have our armed forces to be a defence and police force rather than an offence force. But where Nuclear Weapons and the ships to carry them is concerned I am implacably opposed. And it is not only me. I have had chats to a number of officers in the armed forces who say that they took an oath to protect Queen and Country which they cannot do with or against nuclear weapons. As such they would prefer to be rid of them all together.
But what about terrorists setting off a bomb I here someone ask. Well our having nuclear armed Trident submarines is not going to deter a terrorist but the resources that we have expended on these useless ships and missiles could help with a "hearts & minds" campaign.
And then there is the civil nuclear power connection. Our Nuclear Power station were originally designed to be dirty, to produce large amounts of waste that could be refined into fissile material that could be turned into bombs. This is one of the reasons why western governments are so worried about countries like Iran building Civil Nuclear Power Plants. If we are to use Nuclear Power we have to go back to the drawing board and find a way to build truly clean power stations - indeed we could do better investing the money we are wasting on Trident submarines in truly clean nuclear power generating systems. Another argument for building the submarines is to keep the shipyards going, but if we used the skills in the shipyard to create truly clean nuclear power generators then we have a win-win situation.
So, finally,

"Ban the Bomb"

Drink to me only with thine eyes

So 50p a unit of booze is going to solve all the problems of the fractured society because it will price out the kids and the piss artists and the middle classes wont actually notice. This idea has come from the governments Chief Medical Officer, Liam Donaldson - what planet dose this bloke actually live on? I have got no problem with the concept of a minimum price of alcohol. after all none of us needs to drink. It is not an essential to life and many of us don't, ever, drink alcohol. Not me, I should point out, I like a good pint of decent beer or a glass or two of fine wine. No, what worries me with this report, most of which I have not had a chance to read as yet, seems to be saying that this imposition of a lowest tariff will stop people who abuse booze from doing so. What rubbish. With kids all you will do is find that they will start steeling more of it and as for those who think they need the booze it will not stop them from getting it. People who have an addiction like that will do anything to get their fix. And with most of us, once we start drinking we carry on till chucking out time no matter what the price of a pint. No, the way to deal with the violence that goes with drinking is two fold. First thing is that kids should be taught about drinking when they are at school. It is where I learnt. I had teachers who were not working under the fear of being sued if they put temptation in front of young person. Because kids today have had no training in drink when they get the opportunity they just throw it down their neck and get drunk as quickly as they can, usually using some foul larger that no-one in their right mind would actually enjoy the taste of. The other thing that is needed is a reliable way to get home from the pub that is not going to cost a fortune. That means public transport. Taxis of course, but their prices need to be reduced (A trip that cost me £1-90 when I first arrived on Tyneside cost me £8-45 on Friday.) But the buses and the Metro need to run later even if the vehicles they use are cattle trucks. Keep people passive and there is little violence, give them transport home and they won't drive. Teach them properly and they will not destroy their health, but the idea of 50p a unit is the be all and end all of the problem is, well, naive.

Peace be with you!

Yesterday, in Luton, a bunch of people hurled insults at a bunch of squaddies who had just got home from a war that many of us dislike (two wars that many of us dislike. One in Iraq and one in Afghanistan). These people have deep felt beliefs that these wars are against them because they are Muslims and as such part of the world wide brotherhood that is Islam.
Hurling abuse at the perpetrators of war is a long and justifiable action. I have done so myself on a number of occasions starting with anti-Vietnam war demos in the 1960s and 70s. Over the years I and many others have hurled abuse at numerous countries, or I should say the leaders of numerous countries. It was always recognised that the the squaddie or grunt who is out there being shot at, on both sides, is in the true sense of the word, cannon fodder and as such should be treated as misguided friends, not the enemy.
But these people in Luton were hurling abuse at squaddies and that is where they crossed the line and are being vilified. Of course what they will say is that they are being vilified because they are Muslims and we all hate Islam and wish to destroy it. Patent nonsense of course but it is a good way of churning up feelings for Islam and getting some very dodgy interpretation of the Holy Books accepted as the way it should be. And I should say that it is not only the radical parts of Islam who do this, Jews, Christians, Hindus and even good honest atheists do it. Most religious texts are so written that they can be "interpreted" by any passing holy man who has been inspired by a God to do so. This is because they were all written down by humans rather than being brought into being by a miraculous act by a God; okay the followers of the writings will claim that the human was inspired by a (usually the one and true) God, but that human factor has made them all imperfect. A strategy by God perhaps to keep himself undefinable, remote. If I was a God I would want my message to be unequivocal and clear to everyone who read it and I would have the Godly power to make it so.
I hope that people will continue to protest at these senseless wars and all the other senseless wars that are happening now and to come, but I hope that they will aim their slogans at the right target, the governments on both sides of the wars. No squaddie or grunt has ever stopped a war, they get shot as traitors if they try, so where they are concerned silent mourning is the best way to protest in their presence, calling them names won't help but will hinder.

Please can I retire now?

So bosses are allowed to fire people once they hit 65. What is more some people actually object to this and are demanding the right to work for someone until they drop dead. Now I don't know about you but I personally can't wait till I get to retire so I can get my pension and do all the things I want to. Now I know that there are certain jobs, professions even, that are so fascinating that the people who do them just want to carry on. I mean scientist, medics people in the arts who have fascinating jobs, but just working on the line in a car factory is not my idea of fun. I is important that we allow those who have interesting jobs to do them but this can be sorted by allowing them facilities while they get - earn - their pension. Something like being an emeritus professor at a university. One of the problems is that people feel that all they have in their lives is work, paid work that is; it defines them. Some how they have nothing else in their lives so when they lose their job, either by retiring or as a result of the recession, they have nothing in their lives except day time television - a soul destroying edifice at the best of times.
People should have things to do, have hobbies, anything that has nothing to do with work - or employment as it should be called as we will always be working. Industry should be encouraged to help their employees to develop outside interests by allowing such things as sabbatical days (weeks) and company external activity groups. This would have advantages for both the companies and the individuals employed by them. By investing in these non-core activities the company will expand is knowledge base and so provide itself with some protection when the going gets tough. Employees will be both happy to retire (often as soon as possible) and still be repaired to give of their knowledge if necessary.
If we can get Industry to start thinking Green it must be as much in relation to their personnel and employment strategies as to their manufacturing or service strategies. There is a whole world of Green possibilities for industry out there but Industry needs to understand that unless they adopt steady state economics and abandon the fruitless pursuit of growth there is only one direction they can go.

Keep the Tyne & Wear Metro Public.

Last night I attended an open meeting of the Keep Metro Public (KMP) and it was fascinating. I learned a lot about what was going on and how things were set up at the moment and what was being proposed. Basically, at the moment the Metro is run by Nexus and has a "board" made up of twenty councilors drawn from the five Tyne & Wear Boroughs. This has worked very well for a long time but does not fit with our dear governments concepts so it has to be put out to tender. This has been done and there are four groups who are putting in bids. Three of them are private companies, all from abroad. The forth is the system as it stands now. They have to put in a bid up against the others and meet the criteria set by the government. Now the it would seem logical that if the present system is working efficiently then it should win the bid hands down, but that is not thinking as an economist who will only be interested in the bottom line.
One of the problems with this campaign is that it is heavily influenced by the Unions and the local Labour party and there seemed to be a bit of an idea that that is all you need. Of course the campaign needs to have a wide public base to succeed and so it is necessary to involve as wide a community base as possible. Indeed what it really needs is a healthy injection of Greenness, but then I would say that wouldn't I.
One of the things discussed was a rally in Newcastle which encompassed a wider brief of anti-privatisation than just the Metro. A provisional date for which is 18th. April with speakers from a wide range of organisations.
Before that on the 28th. March at 9 a.m. in the morning there is a lobby of the Passenger Transport Authority at Newcastle Civic Center. The is an opportunity for a bit of street theatre here. There was also talk about a Mayday rally and a stall at the Green Festival. Everything was healthy debated and at times I was surprised that a resolution of the discussion actually happened.
The last thing on the agenda was the date of the next Open Forum Meeting to which all are invited. The 7th. April 2009 at 6:00 p.m. at the Irish Center, Gallowgate, (Across from St. James Metro). Well worth a visit.

Community Cohesion?

Yesterday evening I went to a most useful meeting of North Tyneside Green Party in Monkseaton. The pub was excellent with beer that was far, far to nice to induce meetings, if you know what I mean. What we were discussing was the Manifesto for Green Transition in NT which is to go with the Mayorial campaign. I don't know if you have ever tried writing such a document but it has been a great eye opener for me highlighting both my strengths and weaknesses and giving me the opportunity to make some corrections.
A question that arose during the course of our discussions was what is "Community?" Community is a word that we Greens bandy about all the time but do we really know what we mean by it. I have my view on the concept but I am sure that there are others around that could add to the pool of knowledge. To me there are two forms of community. The first is that imposed by "boundary commissioners" as political boundaries. These include national frontiers and borough council boundaries, both of which in this part of the country have been fluid over the years, flowing between the English and the Scots, between Northumberland and Tyne & Wear and the like.
The other form of community is that defined by more natural forces and boundaries. We are all of the community of planet Earth. This planetary boundary is the most binding one most of us (and for those who argue that the Earth-Moon system is a binary planet then for all of us). However, I out to become Mayor of North Tyneside so I will leave the world domination bit aside till later and think about natural communities in North Tyneside. The borough is a political enterty and is the shape and size it is because someone decided that that was a reasonable size and shape to be governed under the Tyne & Wear County and Borough system. Wallsend has no real connection with Killingworth or North Shields or Whitley Bay but we have to work together to make things work. This doesn't mean that these "natural communities" can't still act as natural units. Indeed, it is the Green Party's fervent hope that when in power it can reinstate this community spirit making the local government an enabling body rather than one that imposes. Community, and community cohesion is a vital part of the thinking behind Political Ecology and it would be interesting to hear what other have to say on the subjects.

Cosmetic Greenness

On Saturday I went to do my normal weekend shopping at the co-op in the Wallsend Forum when I came across North Tyneside making the effort to be green and, as usual, getting it all wrong.
Firstly I have to applaud North Tyneside Council for getting the "Big Spring Clean" going and giving responsibility to the communities of North Tyneside to keep thing neat and tidy. A a Green I whole heartedly approve of this and hope to join in with the communities on their clean up days information about which you can find on their website at www.northtyneside.gov.uk under "Big Spring Clean" I assume because it doesn't actually say so.
So what was wrong with it? As an incentive I was given a very nice hessian shopping bag which I will be putting to good use once I have managed to ease the fibers out a bit. I then took a look inside this rather nice bag and found a pen and a "Rainbow Spring" toy both of which I will be making use of. But how green are they? Let's consider the pen. The barrel and pocket clip are both made of what appears to be a paper composite which is excellent as it will be easy to recycle, or even put onto the compost heap [maybe?] but the pen also is made of plastic and metal components that make it almost impossible to recycle so it will have to either be burnt or go to landfill with all the environmental consequences of these forms of disposal - and they gave away a large number of pens on Saturday.
And what about the toy? They used to be called Slinky's when I was a lad and be made of metal. This one was called a Rainbow Spring and is multicoloured and made of plastic. By the very nature of a slinky they break so there are going to be a lot of brightly coloured plastic [probably PVC ] scattered across the environs of North Tensed. Further more these springs are not of a local manufacture but have been transported half way across the world from Taiwan to brighten up out day. Somehow I don't thing they were transported in a wind powered ship to get here.
When I am the Mayor of North Tyneside I will expect the local civil servants working with me to think in joined up thoughts and make sure that a supposedly Green campaign such as the Big Spring Clean is properly thought through and if locally produced Rainbow Springs are to expensive or we cant get a fully recyclable pen then we don't give them out. The bag [which doesn't have a makers name and address on it] would have been sufficient.
This is one small incident of cosmetic greenness that occurs every day, not only in North Tyneside but throughout the country. Politicians at Westminster, Brussels, and locally think that they can say the magic word "Green" and that is that. But to be truly Green you cannot just wear a cosmetic, it has to be in your soul. And you must be prepared to make changes in your life, big and small, because if you don't it is not us who will suffer, probably not our children but our grandchildren and into their future is where the problems will occur. So, do you think only about yourself and keep the status quo or do you be generous and give your grandchildren a chance by voting GREEN.