My
politics is well known. Many people approach politics with either apathy or a
deep cynicism. I think for the most part, the cynicism is misplaced and most
people have the right intentions. (I am increasingly cynical and suspicious of
the current government but that is a different post). What I want to talk about
here is the philosophy that shapes my thinking. In this sense, politics is a
very wide concept, affecting so much of life.
The
concept of fairness is often at the centre of this, with both left and right
thinking appropriating the word. The problem is they usually mean something
subtly but profoundly different by the term. Hence, in my experience often
Lefties and Righties end up talking past each other: Lefties declare it's NOT RIGHT that children go to bed
hungry and Righties say it's NOT
RIGHT that anyone forces me to do something about it, I have what I
have, because I earned it. Which is
the greater wrong?
I do need to point out at this point that most of my right-leaning friends are
at the front of the queue to give freely from what they have. So maybe we have
an impasse, should we just agree to differ and know we will always have a
different perspective and focus on what works?
But for me, that is not the end of the argument, because I don't think that
some having LOTS and LOTS and others having so little is a natural phenomenon
or simply the result of some being prepared to work hard and others not at all.
Our huge wealth inequalities (in microcosm in our country, and on the
full-scale across our world at large) are the result of specific factors. Of
course work should be rewarded and people have a right to decide to work for
something and enjoy it when they get it. But it is nowhere near that simple.
The bigger factors are things like access to natural resources and who picks up
the bigger costs. In the UK in particular, but also in most of the world, if
you own land, you are already winning. But who says I own this piece of land?
Because I inherited it, or because I bought it off someone else? But why did
that person own it...? etc. etc.
I also think that, if you look at the great wealth owners, it's often because
they have exploited natural resources, such as oil. Surely, if oil belongs to
anyone in a country, it belongs to everyone? But what actually happens is the
companies who extract it pay peanuts in access rights and then for the most
part, it's the rest of the world who pays the price of the pollution at the end
of the day. If you are doubting this, have a look at how Fracking rights are
being handed out.
Coupled to that is an economic-political system that means wealth allows access
to power that has been used to concentrate wealth and so the cycle goes on.
It is not simply a case of taking MY
MONEY off me. It is the case that I benefit from all that a modern society
provides: security, legal system, infrastructure etc. etc. and so I should pay
towards it. Tax is the means to do so. Moreover, our economic system is
concentrating wealth and to argue therefore that it's morally unacceptable to
redress that process is a flawed argument in my view. Most of the poor in this
country are in-work. For the most part, unemployment is not a personal choice
but inflicted on someone by forces beyond their control.
In the
race of life, it's a very staggered start.
The
concept that success is based on hard work and talent and thus by definition
those who do not succeed have mostly themselves to blame underpins this
right-leaning view of fairness. The problem is that it is simply not true. For
the most part, those who succeed are those who have all the advantages to begin
with. So many, who work hard and try to use their talents are by this measure
totally unsuccessful.
I have written before about my own story. I am significantly better off than my
parents. I came from a secondary school where only a small minority aspired to
university. I was the first generation of my family to do so. It would be easy
to turn this in to a story of individual striving and reward. Two things need
to be said here. Firstly that narrative ignores the fact of all the advantages
that did come my way, and secondly it denies the fact that so many equally
talented and hard-working people have not had the opportunities I have. Yes, I
have worked hard and tried to make the most of the opportunities that have come
my way, but I have no illusions about how little I could have done if the
opportunities were not provided for me.*
What
frustrates me is that rather than try to address the deep ingrained
inequalities we would rather lie to ourselves about the systemic bias that
exists and pretend that those who are poor are so because it is their own
fault.
“So wickedly, devilishly
false is that common objection, ‘They are poor, only because they are idle’.” –
John Wesley
I have not even touched on the issues of illness
and disability which can afflict any of us. Having a disability (or a child
with a disability) is one of the biggest predictors of poverty in the UK. All
of us can be afflicted and yet we continue to lie to ourselves about this.
Where has the idea of a ‘universal insurance scheme for all’ gone? When did we
stop believing in a society with a mutual responsibility to each other.
And
finally, as a Christian when I think about these issues, I find one other
thought inescapable. God’s grace came to me when there was nothing of value in
me. I could not earn his love and acceptance. The idea that people do not
deserve help is a very dangerous one for a Christian to adopt.
Essentially,
in microcosm in our society and across the whole world, where you begin is the
biggest predictor of how your life will be – much, much more so than your
personal input:
In the race of life, it is a very staggered start.
AFZ
*There
are also more insidious factors about how able people are to take opportunities
but that would need a whole different blog post.
