Lord Hylton is one of our few governance peers trying to reach out two-way direct to us the public, via their Hansard and WordPress e-site http://lordsoftheblog.net .
The following is Part One of a ‘public-participant’s’ submission concerning a new book which Lord Hylton has taken time to review for us.
Part One having been published Thursday morning, Part Two has now been submitted also [please see below].
“Our Common Good” by John Nickson – book review
by Lord Hylton • • 0 Comments
(published Biteback 2017. Hardback)
ISBN 978-1-84954-803-8 411 pages
The first 11 chapters in part 1 discuss the problems facing British society – for example concentrations of wealth and inequality; the dysfunctional housing situation, with homelessness and destitution; the reduced role of the state; youth alienation; and dissatisfaction among those barely managing.
The second part concentrates on the role of philanthropy by giving and volunteering, in cooperation with local and central government. It provides detailed case-studies of the regeneration of local communities, who in turn can provide care, as they regain self-confidence and improve the local environment. It challenges us to emulate well-tested best practice.
Nr Nickson sounds a clarion call for generous giving by all age groups, as well as cooperative approaches to problem-solving. The methods he describes have already reduced crime and raised local morale.
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This is in hidden Fact a grievously serious Matter, noble lord; and my submission is lengthy, so I propose to send it in two parts.
Part One:
I haven’t read the book yet,
and probably it is too expensive for me who manages on a permanently lowest-bracket income;
and any accessible library copies will have already been earmarked and snapped-up by “insider” multiple-human-incomes-established middle-class hierarchy ‘stalwarts’.
Nevertheless your introductory brief review reveals a few “chinks” –
into which “light” may perhaps be shined;
and allow me to take just one, between the stipulatively ‘populistic’ title “Our Common Good”, and your reading of Part1 as containing
“concentrations of wealth and of inequality”;
“the dysfunctional housing situation with homelessness and destitution”;
“the reduced role of the state”;
“youth alienation”; and
“dissatisfaction among those barely managing”.
{each of these is something of a misleading euphemism – but I have a very personally-damaging UK-governmental “rort”, “malfeasance”, “civil-service-corruption” among the records I keep, which will take quite a few words even ‘though its import is “clarionly-clear” – governmental gross-overexpensiveness,
gross unfitnesses-for-purpose; and gross neglect of the whole-life needs of the great majority of People}.
And these “whitened sepulchres” are in further toxic-contrast with the author’s “clarion call for ‘generous giving’ by all age-groups as well as ‘cooperative’ approaches to problem-solving”.
{Lifesupportive and Civilisational-Human-Development Needs
should always be primarily and majorly ruled and budgeted by Government,
and never, ever, left to “Charity” to provide}.
—————-
My instance should follow very shortly as Part Two –
of how “the reduced role of state”
is a cowardly rhetorical cover-up for
“the State’s ‘Weapons-of-Mass-Destruction’ namely
(i) Gross Over-Costliness to Taxpayer Funds;
(ii) Utterly Blind Under-Fitnesses-for-Purpose; and
(iii) Gross-Neglect of People’s Essential Holistic-Living and Health-Building Needs.
And how one of these was “dumped” upon myself and my (similarly 90-years-old) voluntary caree mid-2013 – and is still un-redressed and “crippling” upon us each, and both.
==== 0317 Th 30 03 17 JSDM ==== Part Two should only be shown here following its submission first to the Lords of the Blog (probably later today, Thursday) ====
Just one “little” instance
[because we are only two low-income and disabled old-folk
out of millions of such disadvantaged people;and this “governmental rorting event” at-core only oocupied at the most 50 hours of governmental “work-time” (yet costing our Taxes £3500 just for the Sitter’s “planned” 49 hours (actual “sitting-time total was less than 20 hours) ] –
and thus it was “dumped” upon us :-
[but was asked of us, ‘no-alternative’, by an inter-authority meeting in PCC Windsor House, that we undertake a 24/7 whole-of-life-needs relationship and ‘duty’ of care, safety, life-needs-management, and companionship].
To improve my lifeplace-abilities and thereby my caring abilities, I sought “further education” which not being available in Plymouth led me to the nearest available 7-weeks course in Totnes. PCC began to send different carers every day, three times a day, to “support” my 24/7 caree; they could never relate to Adela, nor could they comprehend any of the modern holistic-health-building advances I was endeavouring to utilise and to obtain support for.
[What a waste of both our carer-caree otherwise successful time and joint effort; what literal “disruption”, and at what hidden exorbitant costs to the Taxpayer ?];
and PCC arranged for a minimum-wage Sitter to be with Adela 9a.m. to maximum 4p.m. every Thursday whilst I had to pay my own way and costs to the Feldenkrais re-education course in Totnes for which I needed to be up at 7am and to return just after midday).
For that maximum 7 hours of minimum-waged Sitting, PCC invoiced Westminster government £500.00: and did so in the name of “Respite for the Carer” [the carer being myself, having to pay all of my essential carer-caree relationship, and British-citizen’s support-for-the-common-good efforts, out of my own pocket; and I don’t begrudge the nice young Sitter the two or three cups of tea s/he enjoyed, at Adela’s expense, either].
But £3.500 for less than 49 hours of mere Sitting ?
And yet similarly “dog-in-manger” not even the local NGOs and Other “charities” (such as the Church of England) have been willing and able to launch a new Association dedicated to utilising such Taxpayer funds “direct” through local small not-for-profit self-and-mutual Holistic Health Building cooperative groups.
————
And that is just the tiny “tip” of just one of the huge fleet of Not-Fit-For-Purpose Governmental “Icebergs” literally “black-hole-destroying” Taxpayers-and-Helpless-Disadvantaged-Persons’ hard-earned monies and life-enablements –
“Icebergs” that constitute –
not “Our Common Good” –
but “Our Monarchicly-Democratic Governments’ Greedy and Aggressive Wastefulnesses ***
.
====JSDM 1408 Th 30 03 17 ====
PS *** “wastefulnesses” to be further revealed in our next post this week: today Thursday. tomorrow.Friday, or Saturday
“How Many Human-Beings Are You ?”