Letters - 26 February 2021
From Tradition of citizenship to Costs and questions
Tradition of citizenship
Homelessness and poverty speak to the kind of people we are.
Since Neolithic times the person with the biggest club has grabbed what they wanted. Read the Bible, look at the history books, see the statues in the squares and the portraits in the galleries to see the taken-for-granted assumption that there are people who lead, and the rest who serve.
Most of us are born to serve – as medical or financial advisers perhaps (more often as manual workers) but serve, nevertheless. This attitude of mind lies at the root of monarchy, of aristocracy, of patriarchy (and often in modern domestic violence), of the acceptance of serfdom and slavery.
In Europe, this was challenged first with the French Revolution, and later, across the continent, with the 1848 revolutions and in later years with the communist revolutions.
Our country remained untouched, though gradually concessions were made with votes for working men (and, ten years later, for women), an extension of education, and a form of democracy (though one distorted by the ‘big clubs’ of wealth and of domination of the media in a first past the post ‘big club’ election system). See Frank McLynn’s The Road Not Taken for details.
Bluntly, the will is not there among the richest and most powerful in our country to eradicate these evils because not enough of them respect the right of every citizen to a decent standard of life. Yes, the poor and homeless are citizens too!
I have been married for almost sixty years to a Swiss citizen, where the 700-year-old tradition of citizenship, and being generous to their fellow citizens, whatever their role in life, is plain to see.
Walk from Zürich train station, through the old town and up the hill to the university, and you will see no rough sleepers.
Howard W Hilton
Causes and contributions
This is the time of year when most Friends will expect an appeal for donations to their Local, Area and Yearly Meeting. In most cases the appeal will be a bit more urgent this year due to the loss of income on our premises.
There are many reasons why some Friends can give more freely than others due to variations in income and responsibilities. This year there is another stark difference at large among us.
Some of us will have lost significant income in 2020 due to loss of paid work because of Covid and will be hard put to donate anything.
On the other hand some of us may discover our bank balances are very healthy due to the pandemic.
Nearly all of us will have reduced our spending on travel and holidays, eating out, films and theatres, clothes and other accessories.
I would encourage all Friends (if they haven’t done so already) to examine their finances and see if they can significantly increase their contributions to Quaker funds and, of course, to other good causes.
Barney Smith
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