Having written two blogs in a row on quite personal issues - one on being despised by a commentator on Forbes and another on commentators on this blog who seem intent on a destructive relationship - the question of what does matter seems of relevance early on a Saturday morning when I would rather be asleep but have habitually woken, nonetheless.
Let's make the obvious comments first. My family to whom I have yet to take tea this morning matter.
And so do the enormous number of decent, caring, people I meet directly and indirectly through the work I do, and elsewhere.
But so do those who despise that work matter. That's not just because they are fellow human travellers - although that's true and a reason for saying they matter. They are also of concern because they despise and because they want to block and because their aim appears to be to cause harm.
Now I am sure they will say it is me and my colleagues in the tax justice movement doing harm, but I will unsurprisingly beg to differ. I believe that the time when it was possible to argue, as they all seem to do, that a purely utilitarian view that increasing wealth without consideration for its distribution has long gone. We know now, without a doubt, that distribution of wealth matters and that inequality is harmful.
Again, the time when it could be argued from a libertarian perspective that government per se was harmful has again passed. This is simply not true. What we know as a matter of fact is that when policies in pursuit of this goal are put into practice - as this government and others, using the excuse of the recession, have sought to do - then the weakest in society suffer disproportionately. Real suffering, of the sort denied as real by many such libertarians because they cannot quantify its impact, results.
The denial of this reality matters.
The capture of the income streams of government through the privatisation process that will as a consequence enrich a few when those funds should be used to serve the majority matters.
The denial of tax revenues to governments that need funds to equitably relieve inequality in society and to meet real need matters.
The inequality between societies matters. In a small world our neighbour is everywhere even if some are closer than others.
The delivery of social as well as economic justice matters.
The right - and I think it is a right - of each individual to achieve that of which they are able matters, because to me that is the best expression of equality that there really is. Removing the impediments that prevent that achievement happening matters very much indeed, and has to be the focus of any responsible government.
The support for community matters, because we all live in it, even if many would deny it.
And the time to reflect, to relax, to enjoy, to break bread with others, to breathe in the wonder of the world, and our small part in it, those things all matter - and far too many are denied those pleasures by the oppression of an economic system that is indifferent to them and their need for such real pleasures in life.
The counterpart of this indifference to the needs for the pleasure of many, which is the denial of the purpose of far to many people as evidenced by a willingness to consign them to unemployment, zero hours contracts, and outsourced contracting where their integral membership of the entity they service is denied , matters enormously.
At the end of the day dignity matters. The dignity of each and every person, that is, whatever their situation. Each has a right to that dignity. And that, I think is a key element of what tax justice is about. We have always said each person, their contribution and their rights matter, whoever and wherever they are.
That's why I will take being despised to do this work. Because it matters.
Now, time for tea, I think.
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Well said, Richard. Thank you.
Bravo, Richard.
Many thinking people support you in what you are doing. Many, many more UNthinking people would support you, if they were to be somehow become aware of what you are doing.
Don’t let those who oppose you think that they may be dispiriting you – that would be to reward them . (Reverse the situation and remember how you are strengthened and encouraged by any chinks in the avoidance industry)
KBO
First time comments, long term reader. I think the work you do is vital and I’m sure there are many more of us consuming your blog who don’t comment but support what you say.
Thanks
I think most people will agree with you but their voices are not heard. In a sense, you are one of those who speak for them. I can only imagine the impact of the constant sniping. nit-picking and personal attacks which you have posted in the last few weeks. We need to speak truth to power, admittedly, as we see it. However, you need to look after yourself as well.
Thanks
The last 40 years of this ghastly experiment in failed economic thinking has warped minds and spread narrow mindedness. The ‘my conner’s OK-sorry about yours’ mentality with its short-termism and sweeping the human cost and environmental despoliation under the carpet of ‘externalities’ (how more ‘internal’ can they be?) has taken us to a state of neo-feudalism and debt peonage -the very thing that Hayek was writing about in 1944, only via corporatist kleptocracy rather than state dictatorship. After WW2, people knew that the state could do a good job, could support innovation, foster fairness. The idea that the market can create a decent level and quality of employment is a myth, it hasn’t in the last 40 years and won’t.
We need your voice out their Richard, I and many others are grateful for it.
damn right.
of course those who have been plundering the earth’s wealth with their parasitic behavior are going to squeal like hell now that its being revealed.
it’s like exposing vampires to the the light!
Well said!
Thanks for all the work you do Richard – I rely on your ‘voice’ on the twitter, the links and analysis on your blog and your appearances in front of parliamentary committees to inform and educate me.
Please count me as a at least a bit of a counterbalance to any nasty or mean comments you might receive.
Thanks – from a fan 🙂
Thanks – appreciated
Richard, do not take Worstall’s sophism – for that it all it is – to heart.
That he bothers to scribble that dishonest nonsense means the TJN is effective, the poor sod.
LIKE X 1000!
me too !!
From another reader but infrequent contributor, I endorse the above comments. On a cheerier note, take a look at p.5 of the Guardian’s Review section (12.07.14). It reports that Allan Ahlberg has turned down a lifetime achievement award from the Booktrust, despite initial delight, after he found out that it was sponsored by Amazon. The main reason was not what he calls ‘Amazon’s baleful influence on the British book trade’ but rather, it was its position on tax that bothers him most. On the basis of his comments, I’m almost suspicious that AA is a reader of your blog.
Also, I’m very sorry and quite concerned that you have abusive posts. Genuine disagreement is one thing, time-wasting and abuse is entirely unacceptable. You dont, in my opinion, owe these people a reply. The blog is indexed to a degree. The constant demand for clarification on points that have been covered already, if in a different context, is reason enough to delete the comment without reply, in my opinion.
All the best for the week ahead.
Peter Connolly
Yours appears to be the overwhelming opinion
Thank you
It gas been really useful to find this out
Dear Richard
Thé first subject to be tought in primary school is “What really matters” in Life and in our global society
So very well said, I’m in awe. Long time reader, not contributed before. Compelled to contribute as this post gets to the heart of the matter, evil is done when good people stay silent. More power to your pen, Richard.
For our efforts to raise awareness of neglect in childcare institutions my late colleague and I were persistently harassed online by one particular commentator who gloated over his death.
You may find this on out About page:
“We research and design regional and national programs. More about these programs are in the “Projects” section. We continue throughout with advocacy and activism in raising awareness of stakeholders we aim to help: vulnerable children, and people in poverty, first.
These problems almost always stem from government corruption that was a way of life in the USSR, and remains so to varying degrees. Hence the overall process of what we do in promoting change inevitably runs into varying degrees of conflict along the way. Dealing with such things as threats and smears is as much a part of projects as the hope and good will built within communities for standing up to it. Hope, good will, and improved lives far outweigh the stresses and strains mounted by corrupt government officials, so strife and institutional resistance to change are taken in stride as part of the change process.”
As Martin Luther King once said “Our lives begin to end, the day we become silent about things that matter”
This is a story about one who wouldn’t be silenced:
http://www.p-ced.com/1/node/64
Thanks Jeff
The depths of hatred are astonishing
Especially when there is an alternative
The world is a better place because you are in it! Your work is very important and you and your family matter. Please continue to do your very, very important work and know that you make a positive difference to the world. You are a man with common decency, respect, and compassion in your every being for all. Sadly, the world is filled with not so very nice people (putting it nicely), but knowing you do the work you do makes a difference and enables many to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you not only for the very important work you do, but for the person you are!
Wishing you a swift recovery from the gall bladder operation, Richard.
I agree with all but one of the previous commentators (which is vile!). My suggestion is that whenever you find the assaults overwhelming, you should again find a way to let your huge number of supporters give you their support. United we stand and all that!
You are invaluable.
No operation yet….just more tests
And thanks re the comments
Beautifully put, Richard.
There are many reasons given for the evolution of our species to its elevated position,opposing thumbs, complex language etc.
But there is one that is overlooked.
There are many examples from paleo-archeology of individuals that survived into adulthood despite crippling illnesses or physical deformities. Their survival would have been wholly dependent on the care and kindness of their families and peers. This is, of course, contrary to the standard view that early humanity would have lived by the law of the jungle. Our ancient forbears, we are told, were simple hunter-gatherers who’s lives would have been a constant struggle for survival. In such circumstances most lesser social animals drive the elderly and infirm from their midst. But the sustained existence of these individuals suggests that, in fact, compassion and humanity have set us apart from other creatures from the beginning of our existence.
Could it perhaps be the case that what precipitated our rise to supremacy on this planet was actually the recognition that each of us has a value beyond what we can offer in the mere physical sense? That this capacity for empathy is actually what set us on the road to where we are now?
We do not have to look too far to see the benefits that are found in such actions. Many of our greatest dreamers and visionaries have been weak or infirm. Where, after all, would Physics be if the ‘survival of the fittest’ principle had been applied to Stephen Hawking?
I would venture to suggest that it is the recognition of the importance of every human soul in its own right that catapulted humanity to the top of the tree.
The neo-liberal concensus towards self-gratification is, therefore, not just wrong, it is counter-evolutionary.
Martin
Many thanks
I appreciated that comment
Richard
Martin, we associate ‘survival of the fittest’ with Darwin but in his ‘Descent of Man’, he comments several times that co-operation is a key factor in the evolution of Humankind.
Thank you, Ian. I have to admit that I had almost forgotten about old Darwin. You’re quite right of course, but I was referring to something much bigger than co-operation, which can be regularly observed in all manner of pack and social animals. Rather I refer to the very human quality of empathy, of a mutuality that extends beyond ‘vested mutual interests’ but recognises a value in existence regardless of the ability to contribute in a purely physical sense. We are not alone in this, I would hasten to add, (it is a quality that primates, for instance, display to a lesser degree, as do cetaceans).
I note that without surprise that ALL comments are in strong support of your views; you would not be blocking anything unfavorable to boost your own ego? it does seem like you do not allow any type of contra view, as in Mr Worstal, trying to debate that contradicts your union paymasters line.
Have you noticed I have posted Tim’s comments?
And even the request that I die?
And a couple I declined to answer as they were repetitive and time wasting as a result?
I have in fact deleted none
It just so happens that on this occasion the vast majority of commentators do not share your views
That may shock you. It has been a pleasant surprise for me. But that’s the fact of the matter
I would add, you are in beach of the comments policy
“I have in fact deleted none”
Er, where are they then?
Where are what?
Richard
Thanks Richard for expressing so well what really matters and for all you do to that end. It would be hard to agree more.
It’s also good to see people who’ve never commented here before coming out in support.
Richard,
I have great respect for you & the work you do. I am glad that you are there to fight the battles that I and others cannot fight because of our financial ignorance. I hope that in the end there will be light at the end of the tunnel but we should all be prepared for the long run, so please pace yourself & put your family & your health first. You inspire us all on a daily basis.
Thanks
Richard
Being as busy as you are, you might have overlooked Germany winning the World Cup. The BBC sites are, as you might expect, full of experts (& Alan Shearer) telling us how we must be more like Germany.
This chimes well with me because I’d love us to be more like Germany. In fact, when people on the left dither about how Milliband should put over his message, my answer is simply “we want to be less like the USA & more like Germany”.
Like
1) low, stable, house prices
2) Doing stuff. Finance put back in its box
3) Our private sector aiming for success over 20 years or more, not cashing out in 5
4) Our public sector seeking excellence not aping the worst idiocies of the private
5) Oh & can we borrow Neuer in goal?
$
I watched it all, whilst writing some blogs, I admit
Did you see Stewart Wood’s article in the Guardian? Lord Wood agrees with you
So do I
These are good points. A few more could be added:
1) Germany has a tradition of co-operation with unions, the so-called ‘Mitbestimmung.’ This is better than the UK’s infantilism in this area
2) Companies cannot outsource at the drop of a hat they have to:
a). Announce it to the workforce at least a year before the intended move.
b). Do a study of the local economic/social impact of the prospective move.
Since Thatcher, the UK has been plagued by fly-by-night short- termist, wallet-lining operations that have NO social responsibility and operate with ‘ Del-boy’ mentality.
Richard
I have never met you, don’t always understand what you are on about if I am being honest but was introduced to you via work you did for the PCS union who were campaigning against Tax Office cuts and Austerity. I am sorry to hear that your work has been attacked. It means that your message is hitting home to those who defend the status quo. More power to your electronic quill.
Sean
Thanks
And good luck to PCS in its vital work
And yes, I do still work with them
I am a long time reader and admirer. Tax avoidance/ evasion, in my opinion, is just one manifestation of the selfishness of individuals. It feels to me like we live in an world increasingly run and populated by increasingly self-centred and selfish individuals. Personal gain seems to matter a lot more than anything else.
As an aside, I find it’s beneficial to treat ‘haters’ as precious treasures because they help me develop patience. “How wonderful they are to give me an opportunity to become a better person.”
I wish I was as good as you
Note to self: must try harder!
Thanks