I said in this morning's video that we can all do our bit to change the world.
I think I had already recorded that video when I received an email from Roger Steer of the Sheffield Funding the Future group, telling me that one of its members, Berenard Little, had secured publication of this letter in the Sheffield Star.
Three thoughts follow from that.
First, a group had been formed, and I do think this helps when addressing issues.
Second, letter writing can work, and it is much longer than anything that would have got in the national press.
Third, my thanks to Bernard and Roger.
We can make a difference, and it is by chipping away at things that we do.
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Well done!
Last November I wrote an article for the Scottish Currency Group in The National about the Scottish Government Bond Programme. It was critical of the SG plan to issue bonds to global investors. Simultaneously, and totally independently, William Thomson wrote a piece on his Scotonomics blog making the same points. That was the start of what has become a collaboration between the SCG and Scotonomics (now renamed Resilient Economy) which is promoting the proposition that Scotland should “invest in ourselves”. This has now found its way into the Scottish Parliament through a number of MSPs who have engaged with the principles of “investing in ourselves” and it is also getting attention from within Scotland’s local government pension funds. Small sparks create big wildfires when the conditions are right. As the old Chinese saying goes – “to cross a river you have to feel for the stones”. You can’t cross a river by sitting on the bank – get in, make the first steps and find the way and be persistent if the early efforts don’t work.
Erin Pizzey opened a place for women in 1971 where they could find some respite from the pressures they faced.
But then, one afternoon, a woman appeared at the open doorway.
She was holding two small children.
Her body was covered in dark bruises.
She was trembling violently.
She looked at Erin with terrified eyes and whispered:
“Please… I just need somewhere to hide from my husband.”
Erin did not hesitate.
She opened the door.
The woman and her children came inside.
At the time, British society largely treated violence inside the home as a private family matter. Even when women called the police, officers were often told they could not intervene in what was considered a “domestic dispute.”
Erin had already seen this failure firsthand.
So she contacted a local official to report the abuse she was witnessing.
The response was cold.
“There was no such thing as a battered wives problem until you invented it,” the official told her.
The small refuge she created, Chiswick Women’s Aid, eventually grew into Refuge—one of the United Kingdom’s largest organisations supporting survivors of domestic abuse.
In Parliament, MP Jack Ashley described Erin as:
“The first to identify the problem, the first to recognise its severity, and the first to do something practical about it.”
( cut and paste from facebook)
We can’t all achieve things on this scale but we can support those who want a better world. There is a lot of good will out there which only has to be harnessed.
Thanks again Richard to you and your team
If you doubt your ability to make a difference (which of us doesn’t get regular attacks of imposter syndrome?), ask a trusted friend to help you answer the question, “What have I ever done for anyone, in my life?”. They may surprise you.
This morning’s video was excellent. Full of tips and strategies that I will use when listening and responding to those that, but understandably, just moan and criticise
Thanks
It did not go well on YouTube