I have been thinking about fairness quite a lot. It is one of those things that has been rattling around in the back of my brain. But it always feels rather childlike to say 'it's not fair'. But there now seems to be step change in the unfairness of what is happening
I think that fairness has been coming under increasing pressure. We Brits like things to be fair (not that everyone has to have the same thing). I have a hunch that fairness is one of those fundamental parts of our culture. Without it, there is no legitimacy and anarchy lurks.
The broad sense of unfairness has been looming for a while. The actions of the banks have taken this to another stage and the pension of Sir Fred Goodwin seems to be on the verge of taking it a step further. I wonder if he realises how out of touch he is with the real world. It would appear not.
Ignoring the growing sense of injustice is worrying. Fairness has been coming under pressure from many sides - traffic rules that seem to be about revenue generation, fortnightly rubbish collection with rising council tax, decisions about war that seem to be based on less than half truths, the rich getting richer, the poor taxpayer footing the bill, small pressure points but all building up and feeling as if they might all soon come to a head. There are police predictions about riots and they seem to understand what is going on. I shall be foregoing barricade building until the weather improves. In the meantime I am going to read up about Wat Tyler. Smithfield anyone?
Thursday, 26 February 2009
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Hidden workers
As I travelled around Britain I was fascinated to find out where everyone worked. There seemed to be lots of new houses. Small rural towns that I knew as a child now seemed to be ringed with housing estates, but there was no sign where everyone was working.
I am still struggling to work out where everyone works. I have been going through the government statistics which are interesting and give a few clues. Firstly how few people are working, the population is 61 million (give or take) but there are only 31 million economically active people (and that includes those who are unemployed but available for work). There are the young and the old who aren't working, but there are still lots of people not working.
Wholesale/retail is the largest single sector account for 4.5 million jobs, followed by 4.2 million people who are self-employed. There is then a category called 'rent and other business services' which accounts for a further 4.2 million; this is followed by 3.3 million people working in health and social work and 2.2 million in education. After this the numbers fall, there are (or were at the end of 2008) more estate agents than people employed in farming, fishing, forestry and the Armed Forces added together.
But the figures don't tell me that much. The big categories hide as much as they reveal. We seem to have become a nation of shoppers as well as shopkeepers, so the recession will bite hard and deep.
It's also struck me that lots of work is hidden work. We don't know what it takes to get the stuff we buy into the shops and perhaps that is where people are working. We recognise the person who takes the money and gives us the goods, but don't think about the finance department and the cleaners, the stylists and delivery drivers.
These days it is difficult to work out what people do from the clothes they wear. Perhaps it's a sign of changing times, but sometimes it's difficult to know exactly what it is that most of your friends are doing at work.
I am still struggling to work out where everyone works. I have been going through the government statistics which are interesting and give a few clues. Firstly how few people are working, the population is 61 million (give or take) but there are only 31 million economically active people (and that includes those who are unemployed but available for work). There are the young and the old who aren't working, but there are still lots of people not working.
Wholesale/retail is the largest single sector account for 4.5 million jobs, followed by 4.2 million people who are self-employed. There is then a category called 'rent and other business services' which accounts for a further 4.2 million; this is followed by 3.3 million people working in health and social work and 2.2 million in education. After this the numbers fall, there are (or were at the end of 2008) more estate agents than people employed in farming, fishing, forestry and the Armed Forces added together.
But the figures don't tell me that much. The big categories hide as much as they reveal. We seem to have become a nation of shoppers as well as shopkeepers, so the recession will bite hard and deep.
It's also struck me that lots of work is hidden work. We don't know what it takes to get the stuff we buy into the shops and perhaps that is where people are working. We recognise the person who takes the money and gives us the goods, but don't think about the finance department and the cleaners, the stylists and delivery drivers.
These days it is difficult to work out what people do from the clothes they wear. Perhaps it's a sign of changing times, but sometimes it's difficult to know exactly what it is that most of your friends are doing at work.
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
Depression or liberation?
I continue to plough through depressing economic predictions and it is hard to see how the 'big world' of finance can recover quickly. But there are cheering signs of how people are coping.
From my travels around Britain I had a strong sense that lots of people were getting bored with endless shopping, but it was difficult for them to talk about it. The discussion was all about designer this and that. It was all about leveraging assets, to save was to be foolish.
Interest in growing your own food was rising. Gardens and allotments were full of fruit and veg. Allotments were attracting a new generations of growers (albeit sometimes leading to different views of the traditional allotment holders). Today I hear that sales of sewing machines are booming and classes teaching people to knit and sew are filling up quickly. So it looks as if the economic future might be gloomy, but even so people might be able to have a good time on a budget.
After all, it is the people who matter most. It was interesting to watch how London changed in the snow.Everyone was forced to slow down, and suddenly people started to chat. The lack of public transport meant there were more people walking and chatting. It's largely back to 'normal' now, and most are plugged into their ipods once more.But for a day it was fun.
From my travels around Britain I had a strong sense that lots of people were getting bored with endless shopping, but it was difficult for them to talk about it. The discussion was all about designer this and that. It was all about leveraging assets, to save was to be foolish.
Interest in growing your own food was rising. Gardens and allotments were full of fruit and veg. Allotments were attracting a new generations of growers (albeit sometimes leading to different views of the traditional allotment holders). Today I hear that sales of sewing machines are booming and classes teaching people to knit and sew are filling up quickly. So it looks as if the economic future might be gloomy, but even so people might be able to have a good time on a budget.
After all, it is the people who matter most. It was interesting to watch how London changed in the snow.Everyone was forced to slow down, and suddenly people started to chat. The lack of public transport meant there were more people walking and chatting. It's largely back to 'normal' now, and most are plugged into their ipods once more.But for a day it was fun.
Monday, 2 February 2009
Risk and what happened to our money
As well as explaining the 2% rule Paul Ormerod also told me of an article he wrote about risk and why the economy all went wrong. This is a link to the article http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article360204
For at least half an hour after reading it I understood why the economy is in such a mess when most of us have continued to pay our mortgages.
Snow has provided the perfect day for staying in and writing. But I have been distracted by the scenes outside my window. Everything is white. This morning there were more people walking to work than cars. The buses had been sent to bed early and not allowed out all day. Despite the chaos most people seemed cheery, lots of cameras flashing to capture the moment, snowmen being built and over-excited children and slightly less excited adults.
For at least half an hour after reading it I understood why the economy is in such a mess when most of us have continued to pay our mortgages.
Snow has provided the perfect day for staying in and writing. But I have been distracted by the scenes outside my window. Everything is white. This morning there were more people walking to work than cars. The buses had been sent to bed early and not allowed out all day. Despite the chaos most people seemed cheery, lots of cameras flashing to capture the moment, snowmen being built and over-excited children and slightly less excited adults.
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