The Dole Money Funded Demo EP
Mentioned once or twice *cough* on Twitter that I was off to Silverstone for the British F1 GP. The ticket I had been given gave me access to the inner circuit (shouldn't have ended up parking in the inner circuit, but that's another story to do with me being confused a lot of the time). As we arrived a brace of Bugatti Veyrons arrived over the bridge. The wealth was obvious. Helicopters were relentlessly swarming in.
The following week the Euromillions lottery was won. In excess of £160m. So, would the winner be one of the wealthiest in the country? Nah, there's probably at least a hundred wealthier, I thought. Then glancing through the headlines I read they wouldn't be in the top hundred, nor the top two hundred. Nope, according to the Sunday Times Rich List they were (a rather pathetic) 430th. So there's 429 wealthier. Also, there's hundreds below them with £159m...£158m...£157m...£156m, great wealth. I naively hadn't realised there was so much wealth, in this country alone. I knew there were the landowners, upper class etc but not to this extent. To be honest, I hadn't given it much thought before. More recent Euromillions winners of £101m didn't make it into the top 700.
Recently, Edwina Currie was asking why people were receiving food parcels. She went to a shelter where a Nun was working to ensure people never went without food. Currie challenged her, saying (and I will now paraphrase Currie & the Nun as I do not recall exact words, just the gist) that it was ludicrous people were receiving food parcels with one hand and texting on their mobile phones with the other. The Nun simply replied that it was not her position to question why people could not afford food but to feed them. Currie pushed her further asking 'doesn't it frustrate you that these people cannot help themselves?' Again, the Nun simply replied if they were hungry, they would be fed. Yes, I understand Currie's argument (and so did the Nun), but the Nun was simply providing food, unconditionally.
Currie's challenge was flawed as it assumes a level playing field. A level field where circumstances, education, opportunities and support are equal. So, whilst the media try to whip up confrontation and frustration between us, we'd take quicker steps forward by taking on the Nun's attitude. Whether or not to feed should not be confused with how to help or educate etc. And it's not a case of money, there's plenty of that to go around (and it doesn't have to be evenly distributed); it's about attitude.
I've often thought a good leveler in situations is to assume 'what if everyone did it'. So, if everyone was like the Nun, no one would be hungry as there is plenty to go around and if everyone had the view Currie presents (not necessarily her personal view) , we'd all be policing each other with rumbling stomachs whilst the food perished.