More thoughts on the English city lootings

What is money? It is difficult to define. We have ingrained within our deepest psyche a sense that our monetary wealth reflects our success and affects our happiness.
But we know from studies that once a certain and fairly modest standard of living has been achieved any further increase in wealth does not improve our happiness. It is then influenced more by our status in society, the quality of our personal relationships and our physical health.And status emphatically does not mean celebrity status. It means being valued for our own unique gifts and qualities, whatever those may be.

And that is an important point in considering the reasons for the riots of the last week in English Cities: being valued for our own unique gifts and qualities, whatever those may be.

Because these lootings of shops and businesses were not about need. Many of these youngsters didn’t actually want for very much in material needs – many seemed to have expensive smart phones, and many also drove away from the trouble when they had done their worst in cars that were more than “old bangers.”
Yes the looting was about materialism and greed, and a lack of understanding between what is right and wrong. But what example have these people been set over the last few months by the Members of Parliament expenses scandal, or the News of the World Phone Hacking revelations. It is more than just these youngsters (and some not so young) who need to learn the difference between right and wrong. And what do our youth think when they see the ‘super rich’, to be found most visibly to them among the celebrities of sport, television and movie, but particularly the footballers.

The lavish life-styles led by many such persons breed an envy and greed, particularly it would seem among the young who are being taught by example that material wealth and celebrity status are the measure of ‘success’. Add to that a lack of education, jobs, stable family relationships, a lack of self worth or self esteem, and the recipe for disaffection and looting and violence is put together. All it takes is for the fuse to be lit.

I expand these thoughts and offer many ideas for how we can all do our bit to heal these and many others issues of the world in my own book. There is much more information on my website.

Roots and walls and the Great Recession

There are two primary spiritual responses to what in America is being called the Great Recession; to build walls around us, out of the weakness of fear, or to put down roots to give us strength and hope. So writes Tim King, assistant to Jim Wallis, in Jim's book Rediscovering Values: on Wall Street, Main Street and Your Street (A Moral Compass for the New Economy). The former response of fear comes from the "Greed is good, it's all about me," "I want it now" camp. Too scared to share, too scared to show vulnerability, these people build ever bigger walls around themselves and their ever more "valuable" assets, trying to buy security and happiness. but of course it won't work in the long run.

On the other hand, we can have hope, and grow roots to give us the strength to live by the maxim that enough is enough, we're in this together, and we will look after the interests of the generations coming after us. Roots dig under the surface, reach to the source, give us the strength to meet the challenges ahead - with such a sound source of strength we are not afraid to share, not afraid to be vulnerable, and we can make the world a much fairer and better place.
This is a good book. Even though it is primarily written for the American reader it is just as relevant and accessible for any English speaking audience - the recession has after all been global. But all will be wasted if we don't use this opportunity to change things - don't just go back to the same economic and spiritless behaviour that got us in this mess in the first place. We need real change of heart and mind, and we need spirituality. Tim King recalls the sound wisdom of sharing so that all may have enough, passed down from his great grandmother to his grandmother. I am reminded of an even older wisdom in a passage in Alastair McIntosh' wonderful book Soil and Soul:

McIntosh recalls how Tom Forsyth, a crofter from the Scottish West Highland community of Scoraig, would say: ‘it’s not good enough to do your community-development only at the grass roots. So much of the grassroots are just at the level of spectator sport, television, cigarettes, drink and consumer culture. No, you’ve got to get down to the taproots…that are rooted in the ‘ancient spiritual bedrock.’’ This is where change has to start.
Amen

The need for a Dunkerque spirit.

The planet is in a bad way - surely few can disagree with that statement. And there are lots of ideas around for the reason why, and for what can be done to help secure a better future for us all. My theme is that we need a return to spirituality - and that the vulnerability and compassion of the Wounded Healer can play a part. Meanwhile years tick by as we crawl inexorably towards a precipice - beyond the point of no return even. Gloomy prognosis? Yes, perhaps, but I am sure it reflects the truth!

But I have often wondered why it seems to take so long for obvious truths to be heeded, and for action to be taken when solutions to problems sometimes seem so clear. Our greed and mass consumerism is surely unsustainable. But what drives us to this? And why does behavioural change often seem so slow, even if we accept that such change is needed. Let's leave it to the next man, we say. why should we be the first to start change?

Some say that as humans we actually need a sense of urgency, a Dunkerque kind of mentality before we will all pull together as a race to save our fellow beings. This may well be so. We all know how easy it is to procrastinate around our less favourite activities, revising for exams for example, until the last possible moment. Sometimes good ideas for change can be buried in cumbersome and unwieldy bureaucracy. Sometimes effective leadership is missing.

Ignorance is often to blame. Obviously, busy individuals do not tend to read books and textbooks outside their own spheres, and specialists do not tend to look beyond their own fields to the wider significance of their knowledge and skill – often having quite enough to do in their own work! Too often it seems that wisdom is then lost within the pages of a book – good ideas do not always convert into positive action - and are never developed further. And even the most respected media will distort facts either by accident or design to grab headline attention.

Am I right? Is there hope?

please let me have some thoughts!

By the way I liked the photo and I guess it has some relevance to the topic!! Any one like to hazard a guess as to where I took it?!