A vision for a better Britain

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In my post yesterday I explored how we might build a strong, attractive view of a progressive future – one that a large number of people might want to get behind.

As promised, below is a first go at how to present the vision and what to include in it. No doubt it needs more work and more time to flesh out the detail. But, whilst the General Election campaigning is underway and the main parties are regurgitating the familiar soundbites, I wanted to present a different way of talking about the future and the things that matter to people. If you want the background on why it’s been constructed in this way, read my previous post – ‘What a new progressive movement should look like‘.

 

A vision for a future we can be proud of

We love this country, its history and what it stands for.  But we’ve had enough of an economy where the 1% win and everyone else loses, where public services and transport are squeezed and getting worse, where the public bail out corrupt bankers, where we don’t get a proper say in our politics and where no-one seems to be doing anything about the disaster we’re facing with climate change.

There’s lots to feel good about in Britain, but we want to feel truly proud of it, not just for its history, but as a fantastic place to live and the values it stands for.  So, we want to build a Britain we can be proud of – and we want you to be part of it.

The Movement for a better Britain aims to bring together millions of people who want to see a country where everyone has better jobs, better lives and better public services, and where there are strict rules for playing fair – whether you are a one of the richest or someone who wants to make their home here. We want to think big – anything’s possible (just look how Trump got elected!).

Below, we have set out a vision of the future containing 5 simple principles we want to see.

What we want

1. Jobs and better lives for everyone

We want everyone – not just the rich – to have a standard of living they can be proud of. We want to help everyone get jobs, earn a living and feel the sense of pride and self respect that comes from doing this and providing for their families.

The current way of running the economy isn’t working for 99% of people. So, we will make the economic system work for people, not the other way round. And, as we are a close-knit island community, we will get people to contribute their fair share to ensure everyone has opportunities.

We want to build the houses people need but we must also take steps to ease the pressure on the housing market.  Housing is a basic need, not something to exploit through financial speculation, so we want to clamp down on this, including things like second homes. We also want a properly regulated rental sector, so that rental becomes a more attractive, stable and affordable option for people, as it is in countries like Germany.

Surrounding all of this, we want a country that lives within its environmental limits. We see this as a non-negotiable.

2. Public services we can be proud of

Our public services are vital, but if we want them to run properly, we have to give them the funding they need. So, we want the investment needed to make our NHS, education, transport and other public services the best they can be – for everyone.

If we’re going to spend more, we want to hold the government accountable and see how the money is being spent. So we want to see the government establish a simple way of reporting back to every member of the public on how their taxes have been spent.

3. Clear rules of fair play

We want a tight-knit country where people feel that everyone is contributing and ‘doing their bit’, no matter who they are – from bankers to companies to people who want to make their home here.

To make this happen we want clear rules to ensure people contribute fairly, and that these are enforced, including ending tax avoidance for individuals and tightening up tax rules for companies. No-one should have special treatment.

To ensure we can afford to give people the best possible lives and build a sense of tight-knit community, we also need to place clear, fair limits on the number of people who can come to live here.

4. A kinder country

We want a kind, tolerant and civilised society – one with values we can be proud of.

We should use kindness as a barometer for the policies and political debate we want. For example, evidence suggests that a more equal society is a happier one, so we should seek greater equality – in every sense.

We also want a society that sees value in how we conduct ourselves as individuals. Our children should learn about compassion, civility and other key values as part of their education. Politicians should be made to set the standards for this and act as examples for other people – so we need to clean up the tone, honesty and transparency of politics too.

We want our country to be respectful, tolerant, welcoming and outward-looking.  We want people to feel a sense of community and of looking after each other.  We also want a country that does its bit in the world (including providing aid to other countries) and offers generous refuge and support when people urgently need it.

5. A country we can be proud of

Our country has an amazing, proud history. We want to get back this sense of pride – but for all the right reasons.

 

Don’t mention the E-word

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It’s been baffling and annoying this morning to see so much news coverage of the non-story that the National Trust and Cadbury have dropped the word ‘Easter’ from their annual Easter Egg Hunt event.

First, it’s hard to work out who planted this story in the media as a bit of speculative PR.  The most likely suspect would be the church, as this one of the main times of year it likes to pop up and remind people how much we’ve forgotten about Christianity in the UK – as a result, generating lots of publicity for….Christianity in the UK.  Alternatively, it could just as easily have been planted by the National Trust or Cadbury, who have seen a massive spike in the publicity for their event as a result of this coverage.

So, the fact that an obvious PR story rather than actual news item can gain so much coverage is annoying.

Equally irritating is how the usual suspects from religious interest groups can stir someone as senior as  the Prime Minister of our country into getting involved in such a debate, with Theresa May calling the omission of the word Easter ‘absolutely ridiculous’.

First, she seems to have been very badly briefed on this, as they’ve only removed the word ‘Easter’ from the title, and it remains prominent in the rest of the advertising. Does the PM not have better things to do than get involved in this?
Second, what business is it of hers – or any church leader – to get involved in how a company decides to brand and present their event?

This episode is another example of how the voices  of certain interest groups are given too much attention in the UK – however ridiculous their claims are. To illustrate how ridiculous this particular example has become, Archbishop of York John Sentamu is quoted as saying “To drop Easter from Cadbury’s Easter Egg Hunt in my book is tantamount to spitting on the grave of Cadbury.”

Religious voices somehow still seem to have greater influence than other interest groups  in the UK – and this minor episode is yet another example of religion’s over-reach into the business of our state, and another illustration of why we need to support groups like the British Humanist Association to challenge this influence.

A new vision

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“Politics has failed through a lack of competing narratives (to neoliberalism). The key task now is to tell a new story of what it is to be a human in the 21st century. It must be as appealing to some who have voted for Trump and Ukip as it is to the supporters of Clinton, Bernie Sanders or Jeremy Corbyn.”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/14/neoliberalsim-donald-trump-george-monbiot

Yep. That’s pretty much it. Let’s get to work…

The power of kindness

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The world is in a chaotic state at the moment. 2016 has felt like the most negative year I’ve experienced on this planet – and partly for the toxic and negative political atmosphere that has enveloped western democracies in the last few years.

It’s reached its nadir (so far at least) with the rise and election of Trump in the U.S. and Brexit in the UK. Both these events, and many others involving a shift to the right in various countries around the world, leave me with a sense of deep unease, shame and sadness.

This is not just because of the policies that this shift to the right entails, but the language and thinking that is used to describe certain people (e.g. Trump’s view on Mexicans), and the suspicion and resentment towards various groups in society. The bigger picture of history seems to suggest that politics works in cycles – and we don’t know where the current cycle of political unrest and a lurch to the right may lead.

In this time of darkness, I was wondering what the most important thing was to do or say to people – what actions to suggest that could prove most effective and powerful. Having thought about it for some time, I concluded that the thing missing from much of the political discourse, media and people’s views at the moment is simple kindness.

In fact, I’ve reached the conclusion that kindness is not some hippyish, abstract concept that isn’t viable in the ‘real world’. It is in fact the most important virtue that exists among human beings.

It is more important than love, as kindness (in its true sense) is unconditional; it demands and expects nothing in return – it is done for its own sake. Kindness is a particular attitude towards the world beyond the individual’s own head – a warm, welcoming, embracing attitude that reaches out to the world and everything in it (including other people), rather than closing down towards it and treating it with suspicion and fear.

It leads to a perspective in which the individual sees themselves as part of the world and part of other people – not as separate and isolated from them.

It should be fairly obvious from the outline above as to which direction many western democracies currently seem to be moving.

So, I’m not going to repeat the political arguments here about why we need a better, fairer world (as they are being repeated powerfully all over the world), but to appeal to one of the most fundamental principles in people’s humanity in order to support them – simply, that kindness is what matters.

It is the thing above all others that we need to build back into our politics, societies and cultures. And we should be deeply suspicious about any political, religious, economic or other doctrine that doesn’t aim to show kindness – as it is likely to be ultimately inconsistent with human flourishing.

In fact, whether something is kind or not could be a very useful way of evaluating whether it is worth supporting – whether it is a political party, policy, action or personal viewpoint.

Aside from choosing politics that are consistent with kindness, there’s another important way we can have a meaningful positive impact on the world, and it’s one that we each have direct control over – namely, to resolve to our lives with an attitude of kindness ourselves.

By bringing this benevolent, friendly, and open attitude into the world we will make life significantly better for both ourselves and other people – so let’s all start living with kindness.

The religion-shaped hole

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I’ve just been to see AC Grayling talk about Humanism at the Lewes Speakers Festival. It’s reminded me of a point I’ve been thinking about for a while. As religion becomes less of a central force in people’s lives (in the UK at least) there is, for many people, a ‘religion-shaped hole’ in their lives. Not that they miss religion, but that, for many people there are very few other places in modern society where they can get opportunities to think about the meaning of their lives, their values or have the chance to reflect generally. As the founder of Life Squared I naturally think these things are very important, but so far nothing (apart from consumer capitalism) has really come in to fill this religion-shaped hole for most people, and I think the movement best suited to filling it it humanism. It is not yet however in a position where it can assume this position, as it is still on the defensive – seeking to argue against religion and protect the secular state from religious excess. It needs to move into a position where it is also taking a more constructive role – helping people to think about these bigger questions and supporting them in this journey – as there is a great need for this role now, and it would be of benefit to millions of people.

The wonders of the universe

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Everyone seems to love the latest BBC popular science programme ‘The Wonders of the Universe‘ and it’s no surprise – apart from having everyone’s favourite former-pop-star-prof as a presenter, it provides an awe-inspiring view of the universe that we live in.

I think having a regular dose of this sort of perspective is important in our lives. It helps us to retain a sense of balance and context for our lives, and to appreciate both our relative insigificance in the great scheme of things and the remarkable fact that we are alive in the first place. See this link for an article on the value of perspective.

At Life Squared, we’re currently redeveloping our website, and one of the new features the new site will carry is an interactive tool to help people see various aspects of their lives in a broader context. Apart from simply being very interesting, it may well encourage users to think about their lives and how they live them. Keep checking the site in late April/May to find out more…

Freedom debunked

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‘Freedom’ is often held up as an unequivocal good in our modern individualistic society, and many people (and politicians) justify their actions or views on the basis of this. The short paper available I wrote for ChangeStar here explores the idea of freedom and our desire for it. It reaches what I hope is a reasonably common sense conclusion:

“Each person’s claim to freedom brings competing claims from others and we should be sure to weigh these up carefully before we jump to defend anyone’s claim for ‘freedom’.”