Correspondence from October 2022
Greetings Liana,
Although your comments regarding Sustainable Development Goals and Climate Emergency Centres are commendable they are, unfortunately, extraordinarily naive and fanciful, not to mention unachievable. The scale of world problems is of such magnitude that they cannot possibly be cured on the lines proposed. For example we are told that in Pakistan half of the crop yield has been lost in the current floods and yet in that country the current population of 225 million is projected to increase to 350 million by 2050! A fiver in a charity tin won't cure their problems. Even a simple and poor person must realise that if they cannot hope to support the children they already have, why on earth would they bring more dependants into this world? Also where would the finance come from to, say, sort-out the social problems in Somalia? Not even UNESCO has a birth control/contraception policy!
Then we hear about so called poverty, even in the UK. There will always be folk at each end of the social spectrum for a number of reasons but 'poverty' needs radically redefining. In the 1950s my family had no TV, no car, no telephone, no central heating, no dishwasher and certainly no holidays. If you were cold and there wasn't a shilling for the meter you put a sweater on when you went to bed. The individual must bear a number of personal responsibilities for their circumstances. Certainly there is no reason to be unemployed, except for demonstrable ill health. For those in genuine need there are a number of government welfare payments available. As regards pay rises due to the cost of living, if pay rises of 10% are awarded and energy costs go up then businesses will have to charge 10% more for their goods and services resulting in an ever increasing spiral.
As regards food banks, I would be very interested to know what tests are applied to those using such facilities so that those genuinely in need are provided for but spongers and free-loaders are not. With the UK population already exceeding 65 million and with housing shortages we clearly cannot absorb tens of millions of refugees, whatever their status. As for subjects or objectives such as (randomly) 'reducing inequalities'; the word 'reduce' is important because we are far from being 'equal' in terms of energy, opportunity, ability and therefore inequality could never be eliminated. Capable people on higher incomes who have applied themselves for years already lose half of their income with higher rate taxes and Nation Insurance Contributions and it is completely inequitable to expect them to pay more in a futile attempt to cure the world's problems.
Finally, a word on climate change. We all 'do our bit' by recyling a plastic bottle but the only effective way of making any impact is for all of these CECs to go and stand outside the Chinese Embassy with banners because that country is opening a brand new megawatt coal fired power station every few months! Then we all go and buy Chinese manufactured goods, which account for 29% of the entire world's output. It's a strange old world.
Yours sincerely
John Vaughan
