I haven’t written anything recently, not through lack of time but rather a lack of motivation. I put it down to getting used to my new normal, namely a complete lack of discipline, being lazy and not getting into a new retirement routine. Maybe this will be the start of the new routine. We’ll see!
All through my few months of semi-retirement the whole world has been affected by the Covid-19 virus. Some countries have coped well and others, the UK included, have not done so well. The countries who cope less well seem to be run by very right wing leaders e.g UK, USA, Brazil etc. I’m not sure why this should be but my observation is that the leaders of these countries want to be seen as strong, tough and great leaders so are not very good at actually listening to others.
So Trump tells us what a great job he is doing in fighting the virus. Tell that to over 220,000 people who have already died under his leadership.
Boris Johnson fails to listen to anybody but Dominic Cummings and fails to lockdown quickly enough. He tells us that the (outsourced) NHS Test and Trace system will be world beating, ignoring systems already running successfully in countries such as Germany. Instead he gives us a failed trial on the Isle of Wight, goes back to the drawing board and still the new system is not working! Worst of all, older people are sent back to care homes without Covid tests resulting in, I believe, an excess 28,000 deaths over and above the 5 year average in the care sector alone. That lack of care is criminal incompetence. We can only hope that as the second wave of infection hits, our government has learnt some lessons.
The economic effects of the pandemic are wide ranging and have hit many people and it seems that those in the lower paid sector have been hit the hardest. As a result the government actually got something right! They extended the free meal voucher scheme to try to ensure that the children of the poorest family had food in their bellies during the summer holidays. It is appalling that in one of the richest countries in the world this should even have to be contemplated. What is even worse is the the government only took action after a high profile campaign by Marcus Rashford, a 22 year old footballer.
Which brings me to my main point. The pandedmic has brought out the best and the worst in people. At the beginning there was a fantastic upsurge of community togetherness: people started helping their neighbours, caring for the more vulnerable amomg them: local shops offering home deliveries, local pubs and restaurants offering takeaways. These are only a couple of examples of the very best of people. Among this, Marcus Rashford started a campaign to persuade the government to extend the school meal voucher scheme during the summer holidays. The campaign was ultimately successful.
Marcus deserves a great deal of credit for this. He knows what it is like to like to go hungry and sees that, after all these years, nothing has changed. So, with half term approaching, he has tried to persuade the government to extend the scheme again but this time they have said no. And so it starts, some of the very worst of people. He is criticised for being young, succesful and famous. It is suggested that given the wages he earns that he should put his hand in his pocket and solve the problem: I’m old, there was never anything like this in my day: that’s right, leave it to the taxpayer to pick up the bill
And so it goes on. What a sad, sorry, bitter and twisted bunch these people are. They probably complain about the “youth of tday” as well. Premier League footballers are well paid but lets remember they also pay tax, £1.1 billion are the latest available figures! They also know that they are priveleged and do a lot of uncredited, unseen work. They cannot solve the worlds problems simpy by dipping into their own pockets and asking them to do so reveals a lot about the critics.
Marcus Rashford is a young propelled from a poor background to stardom by virtue of his talent. This doesn’t just happen, along the way is an awful lot of hard work and the knowledge that is can all come crashing down in a moment with one bad tackle, one boot getting stuck in the turf. In all this time he has not forgotten where he came from and has had the courage to stick his head above the parapet to try to speak for the people who have no voice, knowing the abuse that would come his way. There is now a wave of businesses stepping up to support his campaign, offering free meals for those in need and some local councils are also stepping in to help.
For such a young man to do this has taken a lot of courage, we should celebrate and support him and he should be proud of what he has achieved.
Pete's Blog. Dorset and Beyond 