I am deeply aspirational – but don’t confuse that with the pursuit of wealth

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Alan Johnson said today that Labour must be more appealing to the aspirational. I leave Labour's debates to it to pursue, but there is a deeper issue in here. Alan Johnson is undoubtedly confusing aspiration with a desire for material accumulation.

Let me be clear, a desire for material well being is natural. But it is not without limit. Only advertising has created that belief.

And aspiration is for very much more than material well being. I explored these issues extensively in The Courageous State, and offered theory based on my logic.

But suffice to say that as material well being I aspire to strong relationships, including with, but also well beyond, my family.

And I desire the intellect to understand, relate to and participate in the world of which I am a part.

And I seek to understand my purpose in that world.

These four aspirations make up a person, in my opinion.

Johnson subscribes to aspiration in the only area that can actually harm our well-being in the other areas and constrain our ability to achieve well-being in them whilst also harming the planet and so generations to come (to see how, read the book)

I reject that politics.

The fact that it has been the prevailing offering of all the major parties is precisely why, I think, most people deep down know that a great deal of politics - just like  too much of the advertising nonsense that is thrown at them daily - does not relate to the world they live in.

We need a politics that speaks to the hopes of the whole person. Rather is the SNP is, like it or not.


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