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Happy days?
‘Schooldays are the happiest days of your life’, according to the old
saw. Like most old saws it is a load of nonsense. Here are two reports
from the same newspaper that paint a far from idyllic picture of the
schoolroom. “The number of children prescribed antidepressant drugs is
rising faster in the UK than anywhere else in the world. Prescriptions
rose by almost 70 per cent between 1992 and 2001, according to studies
published in Archives of Diseases in Childhood.” “Schools will be given
the power to search pupils for knives and other weapons in plans to
combat disruptive students announced by the Education Secretary,
Charles Clarke. Head teachers could also invite police into schools
unannounced” (Times, 23 November). Inside capitalism the nasty,
aggressive nature of competition mars even the so-called golden days of
youth. |
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The wasteful society
“Companies around the world invested $334 billion in advertising last
year – more than the gross domestic product of Switzerland. Advertisers
in the UK spent £10.8 billion for the year ending 30 September”
(Observer, 28 November). This $334 billion represents an immense amount
of human labour and material. Just imagine what this could accomplish
in the fields of human welfare such as medical research, food
production and sanitation inside a socialist society, where
advertising no longer existed. |
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Home alone
In Charles Dickens novels the old workers were condemned to eke out a
miserable existence in a workhouse. Today things are much better, the
old are allowed to freeze to death at home.” Pensioners in the UK are
more likely to die from cold this winter than older people in any other
Northern European country, campaigners warned today. Age Concern said
that 22,000 pensioners were likely to die from cold-related illness
this winter in the UK” (manchester online, manchester news, 2 December)
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Infanticide
“Lack of food and education still afflict millions of children around
the world, with nearly 10 million youngsters under the age of 5 dying
each year from preventable diseases, the UN children’s agency said
Sunday. UNICEF chief Carol Bellamy underlined the challenges of
improving primary health care for children on a global basis as she
opened an international conference in the Pakistani capital to
encourage volunteers to help at aid agencies and in government
programs. ‘Children under the age of 5 are still dying at a rate of
nearly 10 million a year from preventable causes like diarrhoea,
measles and acute respiratory infections,’ said Bellamy, who arrived in
Islamabad on Sunday for a three day visit” (Yahoo News, 5 December) |
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All right for some
“The wealth of the super-rich has doubled since Tony Blair came to
power, the Office of National Statistics said yesterday in a report on
social inequality in Britain. Nearly 600,000 individuals in the top 1%
of the UK wealth league owned assets worth £355 billion in 1996,
the last full year of Conservative rule. By 2002 that increased to
£797 billion, the ONS said” (Guardian, 8 December) We can safely
assume that none of these super-rich will be among the 22,000 that
freeze to death this winter. |
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Contrasts
Two recent newspaper reports illustrate what a mad society capitalism
has become. “The world’s most expensive weekend getaway is to be
launched by an exclusive resort in Baja California, Mexico. The
three-day package will cost $8.4 million (ú4.5 million) and
promises a “bedside performance” by Sir Elton John and a private jet
for whale watching” (Times, 1 December) “A record number of people are
working in the global economy but half of them make $2 a day, or less,
according to a report published yesterday. The International Labour
Organisation’s World Employment report said that about 2.8 billion
people were employed globally in 2003. But nearly 1.4 billion, the
highest number ever, are living on less than $2 a day, while 550
million are living under the $1 poverty line” (Guardian, 8 December) |
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