The dust settles

If evidence were needed of the world in which we live, the last few days have provided it in spades. As I listened to Radio 4 this morning I was appalled to learn that a staggering 750 million children worldwide are currently experiencing starvation. In the same programme, the details of the Greek monetary crisis began to emerge. Collectively, their finances are in a mess. Heaven knows what Mr. Micawber would make of them. It is interesting to note the advice offered by a Dickensian character to a young David Copperfield in the middle of the nineteenth century. It is interesting because it has seldom been more pertinent than it is today.

Tonight, massed ranks of supporters line the streets of Manchester to pay homage to their football club the day after their remarkable victory in the dying seconds of the season to claim the much coveted Premier League crown. It is estimated that in the four years since Manchester City were taken over by wealthy Arab benefactors, around a billion pounds has thus far been spent in pursuit of this and other trophies. Their bitter rivals on the other side of the city have been spending equally obscene amounts for the past twenty years. The club which scaled the dizzy heights of sixth in this immoral race have been the plaything of a Russian Oligarch for the past decade and have spent sums which surpass my understanding. Fully 50 million pounds was spent on just one player before paying his wages which amount to more per week than the value of the average house. Given that most people pay off the mortgage on their house over a quarter of a century, the disparity between the two could hardly be more stark.

The haves and the have-nots have always been with us and the works of Dickens are particularly good at portraying them. While I'm quite sure that monetary divisions will continue to feature in our lives, I just can't find the moral argument to defend the fact that millions of children starve while grown men get paid more money than they could feasibly spend for kicking a football. What has become of us? Furthermore, nobody appears to be doing anything about this. Writing this will do nothing to redress this imbalance but it will at least make me feel a bit better.

It was Nietzsche who first predicted the advent of nihilism and his words have been fulfilled to the letter. When I attend my church, it is with a heavy heart that I see the steady progress of its demise. Doubtless in a generation or two, it will become a house, a museum or a community centre and the concept of worship the remnant of a time long ago.  The new God of money and materialism seems to have devotees by the million.

The headline of our local newspaper last week warned "use it or lose it" in reference to community pubs. I was struck immediately by the common thread which the pub and the church share. They have both been places of great importance in the community because they were meeting places for the people. However, they have not been replaced by a new form of meeting place but rather virtual meeting places. Can social networking sites really replace the function served by these two former pillars of our communities? Their proponents would doubtless point to the Arab spring of last year in which a vast swathe of North Africa was gripped by the need for social change after centuries of oppression. Perhaps this argument carries weight but it is instructive to remember that these countries have thriving churches and although alcohol is forbidden, their elders meet regularly in cafes to discuss their problems. Hence, in spite of the populist view that such countries need to adopt democracy and catch up with the developed world, I am increasingly of the view that the converse could hardly be more true. In such countries, the model of the family predominates society while our model continues to crumble and fragment like a piece of sandstone.

To return to Manchester, aside from the obscene amounts of money involved in modern sport, what appalls me far more is the utter disintegration of sportsmanship. I witnessed petulance, arrogance and a woeful lack of magnanimity yesterday from those people who can least afford to neglect them. The Golden Age of cricket gave us the template for how sport ought to be played. Players such as Fry, Trumper, Jessop  and Ranjitsinji were the beacons of good grace and humility. In the Golden Age, there was no shame in coming second, third or fourth because the taking part and playing in the right spirit surpassed all else. Oh for the second coming of the Golden Age.

On a serious note though, if I truly wanted to witness a second Golden Age, I would surely be better served seeking it in North Africa or Greece. The Greeks are about to enter a financial coffin by remaining in the Eurozone or the financial abyss by reverting to the Drachma. Either option spells decades of financial hardship for them but I suspect they might emerge all the better for it.

We in the UK have just enjoyed four decades of uninterrupted growth and standards of living which our forebears would not have even imagined.  Yet still we want more. Is there no limit to the extent of our greed. I look around me and never have to look for my next meal. I am never cold and never in need of clothing. I can't even comprehend the lives of most of the people with whom I share this strange planet. Our grandfathers gave their lives in the two world wars so that the next generation would not have to face such horrors. However, I feel that their sacrifice was in vain because if they could see us now, I don't think they'd do it all again - and I for one wouldn't blame them if they didn't.

It is interesting to consider the political ideologies which polarised the world as a consequence of the World Wars. On the one hand Communism espoused equality for all while Capitalism espoused opportunity for all. With only North Korea and Cuba left as the only true Communist nations, it would be fair to conclude that this ideology was fundamentally flawed. However, compared to its Capitalist nemesis, Communism has been a roaring success. Capitalism has been a disaster for millions of us as evidenced by recent developments in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Iceland and Italy to name but a few. All these countries have been living off overdrafts the magnitude of which they couldn't hope to repay.  

Could it be that a third way exists which has not yet been espoused? For the sake of us all, I sincerely hope so because I'm not sure I like what I see around me. Perhaps Dickens was just trying to tell us through the mouthpiece of Mr. Micawber and friends to give us all an insight into what the future could be. Never did he do this to better effect than with the three ghosts who visited Scrooge upon that fateful Christmas Eve. Perhaps like Scrooge we will all wake up and turn over a new leaf. Perhaps we will all start to remember those around us instead of looking after number one. Perhaps a football club winning a trophy might not be so important after all and perhaps we will feel personal responsibility for the plight of our fellow man. Perhaps we won't need to be guided by Public School educated politicians on the payroll of greedy Antipodeans desperate to extract our money from us. Maybe we can all learn to just count our blessings and be truly grateful for what we have rather than what we have not.