This week I had the very great pleasure of doing another “Forest Voices” recording with Jules at Dean Radio, The topic this time was my time in local government and in particular at The District Council.
Just like in the original show I did a few months back I had to come up with a few tunes to go along with the chat. Obviously being a chap of impeccable musical taste I once again chose a few real “bangers “ as Jules put it , well shes very much the deejayist these days.
Among this list of “bangers” was George Michaels political anthem Praying for Time. I chose this tune for two reasons , Firstly any list of songs I have to come up with invariably has to contain a George tune and secondly the lyrics remain very apt today some 30 years after it was first released.
These are the days of the open hand They will not be the last Look around now These are the days of the beggars and the choosers
This is the year of the hungry man Whose place is in the past Hand in hand with ignorance And legitimate excuses
Now essentially George was a much deeper thinker and certainly a more eloquent wordsmith than I could even think of being but I reckon these lyrics and the rest in that song resonate with many today.
I used to watch the news on tv to understand the world around us. Now I think that sometimes the more I watch it the less I understand. As the former Whamster said in his tune, “these are the days of the hungry man whose place is in the past”. We see in the news nationally and locally how food banks are running low on stock, they often release calls for this or that and while that is relevant and the work these people and food banks do is absolutely vital and worthy, I’m not sure that’s the news story here.
Surely the News story is that in 2021 we need foodbanks at all? “Whose place is in the past?”.
We have gone back a hundred years with people not having enough money to feed their families for heavens sake. Just take a moment to consider that. If your old enough to recall the 70s or 80s or even the 60s try to even contemplate such a need such a concept being so commonplace.
And these aren’t just the very poorest among us having to use the foodbanks. I hear of people working 40 hours a week of NHS workers of self-employed people having to use Foodbanks to feed themselves or their families. And it’s becoming the norm, it’s something we all accept. Its abhorrent.
We live in a world where MPs can sign a letter demanding action and cash to assist the clean up of a polluted river Wye one day and the next day vote against a bill in parliament that would prevent water companies pouring sewage into our rivers.
And we live in a world where leaders can suggest that promising to stop destroying the rainforest in 9 years is a huge environment, save the climate success. You can chop a lot of trees down in 9 years but I suppose there’s always “legitimate excuses”
The latest “Forest Voices” is available on the DEAN RADIO website and Jules tells me the episode we have just recorded will be broadcast in the New Year.
One day, there might come a day when our brilliant foodbank volunteers can close every foodbank because there is no need for them, there may be a day when water companies don’t think its acceptable to pump sewage onto rivers and there may be a day when our leaders see climate change as the emergency it undoubtedly is.
Then again perhaps I just have too much Faith !
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