Why do we need a politics of care? This is why we do:
More than one in 20 people are homeless in parts of London, according to research published by the charity Shelter on Thursday after ministers set out a new strategy to stop people losing their homes.
Some 382,618 people are estimated to have nowhere permanent to live across England, an annual increase of 8 per cent, according to the charity's analysis of government data.
Both of these are staggering statistics, and the sort of data that drives me to believe a better world is possible.
What I know the right (including some of Labour) will say in response is twofold. First, they will suggest this is down to personal irresponsibility, and second, they will blame migrants. Neither is remotely true. This is the result of:
- Excessive rents
- Interest rates that have been deliberately pitched far too high
- Politicians who are indifferent to issues such as homelessness, when those suffering it are pretty much excluded from voting now
- Underfunding of all forms of social housing
- The withdrawal of support for many mental health services
- The causal destruction of local authorities by the Tories, about which Labour is doing nothing
- Too little support for those left behind in our society by autism and ADHD
- Antisocial neoliberal thinking that deliberately generates loneliness, isolation and indifference with its concentration solely on the individual
And yes, all that makes me angry.
Of course, we need a politics of care.
We have to change.
We have a duty to change.
We cannot afford not to change.
The time for walking on the other side is over.
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It is a shame we have a politics of servitude to shareholders. We are going back to the times when society is geared for the wealthy and we just serve them. Profits boost GDP, while people cannot make ends meet and some sadly become homeless. It is pure greed. Just hearing about Amazon cutting staff because of “AI”, when in fact they are hiring immigrant workers for cheaper labour to maximise profits. Trump’s war on “drugs” with Venezuela is a smokescreen to allow multinational companies to target the richest oil reserves in the world. Private equity is also targeting everything from healthcare to housing. I will say it again, pure greed.
I am doing some work for a charity that helps people coming out of prison.
The other day we picked a young guy up from prison who was being released homeless. He has ADHD and other neuro diverse traits. Lovely guy, 30 years old, history of addiction which he had been helped with in prison.
We managed to find him temporary accommodation with the Salvation Army.
Otherwise he would have been sleeping rough.
We certainly do need a politics of care.
Thanks
Thank you for what you do and for telling us about it. I understand that ADHD and dyslexia are more common in the prison population than in society at large. Lack of support (and often lack of diagnosis) resulting in lost potential, misery, and sometimes, lost souls.
The rise in anti-social behaviour is another reason that we need a politics of care. Crime was falling, but now we have a generation who grew up under austerity, and the rollback of the State, and crime and anti-social behaviour are on the increase again, in parts of thecountry at least. The news outlets that report it don’t make the causal link, though, to the anti-social economic model; they just use words like “a lack of respect.” People, young people in particular, need to be given access to self-esteem again, but neoliberalism has put self-esteem behind a paywall. Meanwhile, this degradation in the fabric of our society will be easy grift for the Right-wing mill.
They will only do as much as their ‘donors’ have paid them to do, and its certainly not to eliminate homelessness.
nd of course they genuinely believe ‘there is no money’, and wont engage or discuss with the many analysist who could show what Keynes’ meant ‘what we can actually do we can afford’.
It is very difficult indeed to get the public to believe that a better, more caring world is desirable for their own quality of life, not just to improve other people’s lives. A phrase from my youth was: I’m all right, Jack, sod everyone else. I’ve heard faint echos of that since 2010; now, they are becoming louder, amplified by the policies of all the main political parties. The phrase sickened me 60 years ago, more so now I see that not much has changed. We all know who is responsible and we are working to change things as best we can.
yesterday I was invited by Buxton Opera House to a ‘relaxed’ performance of Aladdin. I was also invited to a reception beforehand where it was explained what is meant by a ‘relaxed’ performance. A relaxed performance is a show that’s been adapted to suit people who might require a more relaxed environment when going to the theatre, and many theatres provide this. Common triggers are darkness, loud music, sudden noises and a generally unfamiliar environment in which you’re expected to sit still and quiet for a long time. So, doors were open, the music quieter, no loud bangs, and no extreme lighting, whether dark or light.. Before the performance started, the cast came on stage, costumed and made up, and, if a change of costume was to take place, carrying the other costume. They each introduced themselves, explaining costume and character – then the performance started. It was a performance for all the family, music, dancing, family suitable jokes. The children were shouting ‘ he’s behind you’ and joining in. Towards the end, the Dame did a shout out – there was a long list of trusts, charities, organisations, special schools and clubs, all of whom had made it possible for so many people to enjoy a trip to a theatre and an excellent pantomime – the pantomime was written and directed by the CEO of Buxton Opera House who made it possible, along with sponsors, to make a special day out – and I call this care.
Brilliant. I love that.
One of my sons was, when young, genuinely very frightened when the lights went down in a theatre when young.
I know that you are under the weather, but I would add Right to Buy to that list of bad policies as RTB is not under-funding housing – it is literally giving it away and also by doing that, disabling local authorities from replacing what has been sold off. At one time, you needed to sell two to build one new unit. With the Tories, as new build costs went up, you had to sell three or more with their higher discount to afford on new one – even worse in London and the South East.
That is where the under-funding of new housing comes in for sure, with more subsidy for capital investment but the sell off bit under RTB does most of the damage when you also consider that a good portion of ex-council homes are now let out as private (higher) rent properties and waiting lists are quite long.
The worst perversion was the Tory Help to Buy policy extending help to people of sound means to buy really expensive homes – there should be national inquiry into that and it should not even exist whilst there is a supposedly Labour government in power.
I’m all for the politics of care and this needs to be developed and refined more. I go back to the idea that World War 2 taught us that we could harness the power of the war economy to defeat poverty, poor health and education etc. No one ever lost a war in this country did they because someone claimed that there was no money? So, where is the war on inequality and against shrugging off our responsibilities to each other?
Points accepted.
A major cause of homelessness is the defunding of supported housing for vulnerable people of whom there are a great number. Paying for support through Housing Benefits worked admirably but the Neoliberals were determined to destroy it and they did. In addition to this the corporatisation of Housing Associations led to the dissolution of the many small specialist associations providing support to people with serious mental illness, ex offenders , people with addiction etc. The bottom line is that there always has been and always will be a cohort of people needing support at critical points in their lives and that as Maslow Hierarchy of Needs demonstrates, housing is the first of needs to be addressed for people and society to thrive and progress.
I’m still convinced that the vast majority of people deep down do care and that things are on the turn. Might take a while but who knows. I feel quite positive myself
I agree that most folk do care. Our world though is organised in a way that doesn’t share – and there is the rub. I’m not so hopeful about the future. The runes say to me that the survival of our species requires our material conditions to get really really bad before we will be forced to treat each other and our planet with the necessary respect. The structures of capitalism and the abuse that necessarily follows, frame what we consider possible and we seem a long way off developing an order that will enable us to share our planet successfully.
A bleak and tragic diagnosis I know and I do my best to find positive hopes for the future – and that positive line is the one I find I have to offer my students. But the combination of the climate crises, the pursuit of infinite growth on a finite planet and a bunch of narcissistic men in charge, does not look good.