Iain Banks

The terribly sad news of the death of Iain Banks, following his recent cancer diagnosis, is a dreadful loss for Scotland and for book lovers all over the world. Iain’s first novel – The Wasp Factory – once read, never forgotten. Its horrifying conclusion about the identity of the main protagonist, is one of the most memorable in 20th Century Scottish writing. If that was some ending then, “It was the day my Grandmother exploded” was some beginning. A memorable first line to “The Crow Road”, sitting alongside Complicity, The Bridge and many others as amongst the most engaging, humourous and thoughtful novels of the time. And while Iain was clearly, undeniably, unashamedly and proudly Scottish, his novels, though often set in his homeland, had international appeal. As a book lover from Scotland, Iain was definitely Iain, never Banks. His friendly, avuncular, chummy nature could set an audience at ease, whether at a book festival or in a pub. He was in many ways the man next door, but he had a talent which set him apart, even from fellow writers. It seems sad to consider that his forthcoming novel ‘The Quarry’ will not be followed by any others. His vivid imagination was undoubtedly already working away on new plots and we have been cheated of the product of his remarkable, fertile mind. At the age of only 59, in a profession from which few retire, Iain could easily have produced a further dozen to twenty novels, especially if he had kept up his incredibly book a year productivity. If you do one thing this year, read or re-read at least one of Iain’s novels. You won’t regret it.

The new European Revolutions

Europe is in the midst of a revolution. Democratically elected governments have been quickly and silently removed and replaced with government by technocrats.

The new Italian government is being led by a man recently ennobled as a “senator for life”, a position which last appeared in the public eye when enjoyed by General Augusto Pinochet.

Who has caused these coup d’etats? Not the armies, nor even the people of these countries, but “the markets”, whose confidence is desperately sought after the installation of these unelected technocrats.

In this they have been supported by the EU. The newly installed Italian government have received a vote of confidence from the unelected “President” of the EU, Barosso and his European Parliamentary henchman, Hermann van Rompuy. At the head of this new enforcement agency lies a duopoly of Sarkozy and Merkel. Both at least have some democratic legitimacy as leaders of France and Germany, but none in Italy or Greece.

Italy’s borrowing crisis reached a peak last week when an organization called LCH. Clearnet increased the costs associated with purchase of Italian government bonds. Not, apparently, because of concerns about the countries ability to repay its debt but out of concern about the sluggish rate of growth of the Italian economy. None of the features of the so called austerity package seem calculated to encourage growth. Their point rather more bluntly appears to be insure against the countries ability to repay debt.

Greece has many endemic problems, not least of which is its Olympian standards of tax avoidance. Papandreou was elected on a platform of economic growth and has ultimately fallen on his sword because of his unpreparedness to tackle tax evasion and his inability to deliver economic growth. If inability to deliver economic growth had been the key factor in late twentieth century elections, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan would not have been re-elected at the first time of asking.

The new leaders of Greece and Italy are, respectively, a former central banker and an economics professor. Both appear to be gentlemen of unalloyed integrity and fundamental decency. Both appear to be acknowledged experts in their fields, though those fields have not been entirely innocent in the recent economic disaster. Both, whilst having the qualified support of their parliaments, have no democratic mandate.

How far does democracy go before technocrats have to step in and over-rule? What are the challenges facing those who believe in democracy in this situation? When push comes to shove, who decides?

What does the crisis also mean for Capitalism? Is Capitalism ultimately sustainable? Why do economies – corporate and national – always have to grow? Indeedn do they always have to grow? Why? What does untramelled growth in the west mean for the rest of the world? Is such growth environmentally sustainable? What does it ultimately mean for peace and security?

My bucket list

Inspired by someone I follow on Twitter, @bookshop_girl, this is my bucket list. A bucket list is like a To Do list of things that you have always wanted to do. I've kept mine deliberately short. For career reasons I haven't published a few things but amongst the other things I would like to do with my life are:-

1) Teach people things
2) Write a book
3) Go on a long trip round Europe seeing the places I've read and learned about
4) Ride a stage of the Tour de France
5) Cycle from Lands End to John O Groats
6) Live and/or work abroad for a period
7) Complete a PhD

That should do to be getting on with. Now lets hear yours.

Radix Malorum est Cupiditas

...is frequently mistranslated as "money is the root of all evil" which is wrong as it actually means "The love of money is the root of all evil". It's the love bit that makes the crucial difference and it also goes some way to explain the miserable condition of our national finances today.

Of course, the banks have a substantial - a very substantial - responsibility. And don't get me started on how bankers can earn bonuses when their firms are majority owned by the tax payer and they are still making losses. (I'm still considering a 100% tax on bank bonuses to be a good idea.)

But the fundamental reason we got it into such a mess is greed, pure and simple greed. Which is, oddly enough, one of the original translations of the Latin maxim. But it's something for which we all bear responsibility. We've all been responsible: spending irresponsibly beyond our earnings, buying houses at ridiculous salary multiples and for what? Has it made us any happier? It is therefore no surprise that clever financiers seeking more complex and remunerative products saw a market for bundling debt and then re-selling it on the international financial markets and it is therefore something for which we are all responsible.

All of which partially explains why I am in favour of today's increase in VAT to 20%.

It is a tax on discretionary spending with the most important essentials excluded :food, children's clothing and (most importantly) books. It therefore largely applies to items that we do not necessarily need to buy and should therefore reconsider. A trip to the Perth recycling centre is instructive in this regard. Look at the electronics recycling section and count how many modern functioning TVs have been discarded. Multiplied across the country and it shows just how much money is unnecessarily being spent replacing perfectly serviceable electrical goods.

With house prices being the main reason for the current recession, it makes me wonder why VAT shouldn't also apply to house prices. It would discourage spending, irresponsible mortgage lending and encourage people to settle in their existing homes. Spending on home improvements could be excused from VAT to maintain employment in the building trade and to encourage people to adapt their existing home to suit their purposes rather than move every three or five years.

I think the bottom line is that I would argue that a large, modern home and a flat screen TV is not a recipe for happiness. It brings with it additional pressure and worry and the potential for a greater fall if things go wrong. Nor is my suggestion meant to inhibit ambition. In fact I am extremely ambitious but my ultimate ambition is for contentment and that wont be affected by the rise in VAT, a bigger house or a flat screen TV.

Tom Harris

Tom Harris used to be my M.P. , not that I ever had occasion to meet him. So I know him more through his entertaining and informative blog "...and another thing". I was therefore sad to see that he has decided to stop blogging because he felt it was taking over his personal and family life. As you can see from how prolifically I blog, I can understand what he means.

No, the reason I'm sorry to see Tom's blog disappear is that his blogs, and his website in general, showed his humanity. It made him seem somewhat normal which, many will be surprised to find out, most politicians are.

I have had the pleasure - admittedly sometimes a dubious one - of meeting many politicians and what has always struck me os how few self-serving rogues I have met. Indeed, I've met more of these characters in my own game.

I'm sorry that Tom has stopped his blog but I wish him well in his career.

More redundancy news

So I got a new job and it was a nightmare!

Three months in my new boss called me into his office and told me that things weren't working out and they were letting me go with seven days notice.

It was all I could manage to feign some indignation and leave in high dudgeon pretending to be upset. In truth I was far from upset and I found it difficult to disagree with the statement that things weren't working out because they sure as heck weren't working out from my point of view.

Things started badly and got worse. I've had a few new jobs over the years but I have never, ever sat in a coffee shop across the road before going in on day one thinking, "I wish I wasn't going in here. I'm making the biggest mistake of my life."

Of course, I shouldn't have taken the job in the first place. In the first instance they tried to screw me on salary by offering me £2,000 less than they had originally indicated at the outset of the recruitment process. They then proceeded to screw me out of a bank holiday and refuse to pay me for working it or give me a day in lieu, despite my contract saying I was entitled to it. When I left their attitude was basically, 'Go ahead and sue us'. Of course they knew I wouldn't bother for a couple of hundred quid. The couple of hundred quid would be nice of course but I'm more upset about the day of my life that I won't get back. Finally they started screwing me on expenses by which time I'd just about had enough and my CV was on the market.

So since leaving things have well and truly improved. My health has improved. I have begun cycling again and lost just over half a stone in the process. I have been eating better and sleeping better. My mental health is fantastic and I have a really positive outlook for the future.

So, if you're in the insurance industry and a particular broker in Stirling wants to employ you, do yourself a favour and give it a miss.

For Harry Patch and his friends

The Old Soldier

The string of history snaps with a heartbeat
casting the mud and grime of your sacrifice
away to join that of generations before.
Although you were a survivor, an old man
at the end, your kindly eyes still show that you
too sacrificed much. Too much.

Not dulled with the misty passing of time
but blazing with the fierce, sharp, sad memories
of friends torn apart, poisoned and broken,
The stench of the rat-scurried trench, the cries
of the wounded, the grey bird-less sky
and everywhere mud... mud...mud.

Your memories seeped back through the
mud and the blood of Passchendaele, and your eyes
told us more than any Owen poem or history book.
Through them your pain and humanity blazed
like the guns on the Western front. Through them
you remembered friend and foe as we now remember you.



Copyright D. Findlay 2009