We shall overcome

Posted on 24/12/2020 by stewculbard

As we come towards the end of 2020, the people of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are beset by the twin issues of the spread of the Covid-19 virus, and the present situation with respect to Brexit.

The first issue, the spread of the coronavirus, is assuming a new significance by the existence of a new variant, one that is threatening to get out of control. Various parts of the country have gone into a major lockdown, with the distinct possibility that, before the year ends, this lockdown may be on a national scale.

Over the Christmas period and beyond, the people of the UK face the prospect of there being a limitation on the time in which families can get together – and only in designated places, and with limited numbers of persons. There is the distinct possibility that numbers of elderly persons will face Christmas and New Year festivities in lonely isolation from other members of their families, including grandchildren.

Fortunately, and for many not before time, vaccines to combat the coronavirus are being rolled-out across the country, with present preference for vaccinating those in essential services – notably in hospitals and care homes – as well as the elderly at home. The vaccination programme will gradually work its way through the entire population, from older to younger, but this will take many months. There will be many for whom a badge of courage will be replaced by a band of honour once they have been vaccinated.

Unfortunately, during the period of the pandemic so far, the British people have often been ill-served by its government. Decisions have been delayed, protective equipment has been substandard, contracts for the provision of services have been given to the wrong companies, testing and tracing projects have been near to shambolic. To add to the confusion and agony of planning and programming, the established public sector services in health and welfare are being largely ignored in favour of private companies – too many of whom with links to government personnel.

There has been some sympathy for the government for, having been elected a year ago with an overwhelming majority of seats in Parliament, it now finds itself plunged into a fight with a pandemic for which it was ill-prepared and has proved to be ill-suited. So too, the government faces an opposition that is in the process of reorganising itself after years of leadership failures and an inability to accurately define itself.

The second issue is the ongoing situation with respect to the seemingly unending question of Brexit. Numerous deadlines have come and gone and still there is indecision, lack of agreement, and extended discussion on various matters (e.g., UK sovereignty, fishing rights for EU/UK fishermen, and a level playing field for economic exchange) that, for years, have dogged the discussions between the UK and the EU.

As this article is being written, Christmas Eve, 2020, there is no clear understanding as to what will constitute a workable deal between the EU and the UK, with a “no deal” scenario (masqueraded as “the Australian deal”) being a distinct possibility. There exist the twin feelings that either those engaged in the negotiations between the EU and the UK are not up to the job, or else a reasonable and practical agreement between the two bodies seems beyond the realms of possibility.

Of course, the economic damages to the UK of a no deal have been thoroughly explored, though much of this has been ignored. So too, incomplete attention has been given to the effect of a no deal or inadequate deal on the situation in Scotland, as well as the troubles in Northern Ireland.

The prospect of an incoming President of the USA, moreover, one with Irish roots, being favourable towards an “Irish criterion”, will signal gloom for those formerly hopeful of a meaningful trade deal with the USA. There will no longer be an anti-EU Donald Trump in the White House. Gone will be the ego-boosting bonhomie between the leadership of the USA and the UK.

Scotland is to hold its own national election next May. Present indications suggest that the Scottish National Party will again win with a sizeable majority, irrespective of the outcome of dealings between the UK and the EU. Such a result will hasten calls for another referendum on Scottish independence from the UK. Whether a British Parliament can refuse such an action is a matter of conjecture.

The UK faces the distinct prospect of a break-up, with an independent Scotland being in the vanguard of a movement that, for the above reasons and others, could see the Irish being once again united. The Irish question has been given a new edge during the past year in consequence of the British government’ s cavalier treatment of the trade border between Northern Ireland and mainland Great Britain.

An increasing number of commentators believe that the odds are stacked against the UK holding together. Break-up is more likely. This in turn brings about more general and widespread damages than the economic damage caused by the UK leaving the EU.

When putting together the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic with those of Brexit, it is realised that there is a sequence of “spiralling effects”. These have been variously described as a “knock-on of political consequences”, the fostering of “manic-depressive pessimism”, a “weakening of centrist political moorings”, a rise of “national-utopian fantasies”, and an “increase in extremism and instability” (with thanks to a recent Federal Trust essay for suggesting headings such as these).

As the political sociologist, Ira Straus, has reminded us, “The logic of separates states leads also to gradual reversion towards intra-Isles geopolitical struggles” (No EU Deal, no US Deal: US-EU again aligned, UK out in the cold). It may be that the foregoing could be termed “unpredictable”. This could be a political/diplomatic term that mean that they are in fact “predictably very damaging; with great uncertainty however, over their specifics.”

This writer was born at the end of WWII. Scarcely has there been in his lifetime such personal and international momentous times as now – that would include family emigration from the UK to Australia, the Cuban Crisis, the Vietnam War, personal unemployment, and the worldwide economic recession of 2008. Along with a multitude of others, the combination of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the looming realities of Brexit, are scarcely the kinds of realities for which the experiences of life are adequate preparations.

The year 2021 will be brings its own challenges, some of which will be formidable. However, the coming year may be greeted with a strange excitement at the prospect of overcoming adversity, an indomitable spirit that is convinced that we can rise above even the most intractable of situations, accompanied by an empathy and compassion for others less fortunate than oneself. 2021 may yet turn out to be the most ambitious, the most achieving and fulfilling, the most singularly successful that individually, and as a nation, we have yet experienced.  

One of the most recognisable and memorable songs from the 1960’s – that decade of student protest, the Black Rights Movement, Martin Luther King, the Kennedy assassinations, and, of course, the Vietnam War – was the song “We shall overcome”. The unforgettable words of this song are as relevant for today as when they were first composed and sung.

RSC

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All over…,bar the shouting

Posted on 26/11/2020 by stewculbard

In Australia, where I grew up, there is a saying: “It’s all over…bar the shouting”. Usually, this is said with reference to sporting events, but it can apply to others, including political happenings. So, with contemporary reference, what is over is the USA Presidential Election. The shouting is coming from the loser in that election, the present American President, Donald J. Trump.

The election process was prolonged – mainly a consequence of the American election system, enhanced, on this occasion, by the increase in postal voting due to the impact of Covid-19 on the USA population. However, as the election outcome was given after the poll result in the State of Pennsylvania, the volume of shouting increased. Donald Trump, in a seemingly vain attempt to reverse the election result, began a process of vain enquiry and litigation to “derail the voting system, accuse several American States of permitting, even colluding with, election fraud, and announcing that the system cheated him from winning the election.”

Despite the overwhelming evidence against him, Trump claims that he is still the legitimate President of the USA – a claim echoed by a multitude of his diehard followers, and not a few reputable Republican politicians.

Notwithstanding Trump’s vain, rear guard and disreputable litigious action, it appears that Trump, and “Trumpism”, is over. If that truly is the case, then it is to be hoped that, as one British journalist stated, “it is the beginning of the end of the type of empty-airhead-fake promises populism that saw Trump come to power, saw Brexit win, and saw the Tories get back in with such a landslide last December.” Notwithstanding, when you look at the American election result, you realise that, despite “the rambling, incoherent, paranoid, dishonest, childish trash that Trump spouted all of the time”, he got close to half the overall total of the American vote. Scary!

Donald Trump received the second highest number of votes in the history of American Presidential elections (on the latest figures, the 2020 winner, Joe Biden, received the highest ever number of votes – over four million more votes than Trump). So, Donald Trump achieved something that no one would have thought was possible. That tells us a lot, not only about the character of USA Presidential candidates, but also about the state of contemporary American society… and its democracy!

Amongst other contemporary events across the pond, the 2020 Presidential Election has shown that the USA is not what it has generally been seen to be – the “great symbol of truth and democracy, the antidote to tyranny and oppression.” On the contrary, the words, antics, and political manoeuvrings of Donald J. Trump has shown us just how thin is the ice on which the USA stands “above the chilling depths of totalitarianism and fascism”.

The American post 2nd WW geo-political scene is littered with examples of the neurotic and megalomaniacal, the grandiose and the empiric – Truman and the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Lyndon Johnson and the ruination of the people and the landscape of Vietnam and Cambodia, Richard Nixon and Watergate, Ronald Reagan and the mirage of his “Star Wars ballistic missile defence system”, the Bush ascendancy and the “American Century” and, finally, Donald Trump and “Make America great again”.

There is a cartoon currently doing the rounds, showing a grown-up Donald Trump in a children’s nursery. He is cowering on the floor yelling “I don’t want to go… I don’t want to go.” The absurdity of his infantile, undignified posturing, often brought, and continues to bring, the USA near to being an object of laughter and derision. The election of a mature person of governance, Joe Biden, as the President of the USA, will be, indeed, already is, a cause for rejoicing in most nations of the world – and amongst their leaders (with apologies to Boris Johnson, Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong-un).

Judith Butler is a professor of comparative literature and critical theory at the University of California, Berkeley (USA). In her book, “The Force of Nonviolence”, Ms Butler, whilst declaiming that Adolph Hitler and  National Socialism is the model by which all other fascist forms of government should be identified and judged, nevertheless identifies “a general logic of destruction that kicks in when the downfall of a tyrant seems nearly certain.” This destructive impulse was evident in Hitler’s actions when it seemed that the Nazi defensive stronghold was vanquished. Hitler “resolved to destroy the nation itself, ordering a destruction of transportation and communications systems, industrial sites and public utilities. If he was going down, so too was the nation.” Hitler’s missive was called “Destructive Measures on Reich Territory”.

Donald Trump is not Hitler, his politics are not military war (though questions and evidence of  civil strife in the USA have latterly arisen), but his actions following the 2020 American Presidential Election would suggest that “Destructive Measures on American Territory” could be ascribed to Donald Trump’s political activities as the 45th President of the USA.

The above-mentioned actions would include: a refusal to accept the result of the Presidential Election; destructive criticism of the American electoral system; false charges of corruption amongst civic leaders and election officials; incitement to violence of followers; attempted character assassination of political opponents; the pardon of convicted American political figures, and more.

Donald Trump, recently referred to as “the man who has haunted the world’s dreams and sparked a thousand nightmares”, has all but lost. He will leave the White House, or be removed if necessary, but not before his leave-taking makes its maximum impact. The Trump presidency, “a shameful chapter in the history of the republic”, will soon be over, but that is not to forget those announcements and acts which, over the past four years, have caused pain and disgust, as Trump sank to ever lower depths. He is widely regarded amongst his opponents, and many neutral observers, as the worst President in American history.

In addition to those words and action mentioned above, one critic counted that, amongst his many misdemeanours, Donald Trump:

  1. Engaged in ripping children from their parents and keeping them in cages.
  2. Wrote what has been described as “blithely exchanged love letters with the murderous thug who rules the slave state of North Korea”.
  3. Coerced the Ukraine to dig up dirt on Joe Biden, or else “lose the funds that it needed to defend itself against Vladimir Putin” (the high crime for which he was nearly impeached).
  4. Denied the reality of the coronavirus pandemic, insisting that “it would melt away” (with or without the use of domestic detergent), thereby leaving more than 300,000 Americans to their fate and to their deaths.

When the above are added to his misogynistic and racist comments, the interminable lies, and the electoral turmoil Trump is currently causing with his calculated process of litigation following his defeat in the USA Presidential Election, it is not complicated to work out why it is that his opponents, indeed, neutrals everywhere, wanted Trump’s defeat and ejection from power.

For the winner, however, there has been no “swift moment of euphoria and elation, no unambiguous landslide announced on election night with a drumroll and fireworks display”. Instead, there has been a steady and ongoing counting of the votes, “a verdict delivered in slow motion”, and, perhaps what may prove to be more significant than any of the foregoing, the failure of Joe Biden to win a majority of seats in the USA Senate. This will make it more difficult for a Biden administration to tackle those things that urgently need attention – the climate crisis, racial injustice, the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic, greater firearms control, economic inequality, and the USA’s dysfunctional electoral system.

In terms of the American Presidential race, it may be, indeed, “all over…bar the shouting”, but the very nature of this shouting shows that, although Donald Trump is banished from the Oval Office and the power it conveys, Trumpism will live on in the USA, with the potential for future damage to the people, political system, international reputation and activities of the United States of America.

For the time being, however, democrats everywhere may enjoy the defeat of a populist demagogue, a narcissistic rogue who will take away his ball if the game is not played according to his rules and in his own ball park.

RSC

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Shocking, but true

Posted on 08/10/2020 by stewculbard
Every now and again a book comes along that, after reading it, one wants to strongly recommend to the wider reading public. For me, such a book is The Untold History of the United States.
When commenting on this book The Guardian journalist, Ed Vulliamy, said “This is not history for history’s sake…, this is the history of our present and future; long beyond cold war, into war on terror, war on drugs.” When introducing his book, the co-author, Oliver Stone, stated that the contents of the book are what history students in the USA – and, by implication, history students everywhere – should be taught, rather than the re-cycled and homogenised versions for domestic consumption they are currently taught. The contents of the book justify this statement.
The Untold History of the United States is co-authored by the decorated Hollywood filmmaker Oliver Stone and the distinguished American University Professor of History Peter Kuznick. Both are North Americans writing about their own country. Daniel Ellsberg, the American economist, activist, and former USA military analyst, and author of the Pentagon Papers, says that the book is “a masterpiece”. Mikhail Gorbachev, the true force behind the ending of the Cold War, considers the book to be “indispensable reading.”
The history with which the book deals is the modern history of the USA. The period before the 20th Century receives no comment as the material commences with the period immediately before the First World War and the USA’s involvement in the Central American states. There is also a brief treatment of the Russian Revolution. This serves as a necessary foundation for the main content of the book’s overall material. The Untold History of the United States is the history of the period that the authors, Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick, designate as “the rise and decline of the American empire.”
The book chronicles a “riveting landmark account of the rise and decline of this empire – the most powerful and dominant force the world as ever seen.” It is a broad narrative that traverses the landscape of a century that the American magazine magnate Henry Luce declared would be the “American Century”. Throughout the book, the authors parallel this concept with that attributed to President Roosevelt’s Vice President, Henry Wallace, that the 20th Century should be “the Century of the Common Man.” It is crystal clear that the authors of this important book on the history on the USA favour the view of Wallace over that of Luce.
The book is a lengthy and elaborate, highly detailed and incisive, investigation of USA history. It is impeccably sourced from the latest research and recently classified documents – personal accounts, government records, biographies and autobiographies, a comprehensive variety of historians and history books, with detailed chapter by chapter notes. The book’s pages are filled with pictures, and the occasional cartoon, of historical persons and events, declassified documents and records, and historical datelines.
The erudition of The Untold History of the United States is quite remarkable, as, beginning with the USA’s forays into Central and South America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it plots step-by-step the course of a self-destructive latter-day American history. The concluding section of the edition of the book under review, 2019, comments on Donald Trump’s “cavalier and precedent-defying approach” to presidency. It could be called “the truth on Trump”, and the antics and pronouncements, the follies, of this president could be viewed as an inevitable outcome of the preceding American century.
Reading the book is itself a massive undertaking, as it chock-full of information and deals with aspects of and opinions about USA history that, seemingly, have never been taught in the classrooms of America – or anywhere else for that matter!
As indicated in the above, there is also a documentary film series of the book. Having seen these documentaries, which originally appeared on the Public Service Broadcasting Channel (PBS) in the USA, and are now on DVD and Blu-ray, this writer, again, strongly recommends their viewing. In addition to the material in the book, the documentaries contain interviews with the authors and other prominent figures in the political world. The DVDs bring the full force of the book to the screen and impacts both the imagination and the conscience with the breadth and depth of its footage. It helps the enquirer to understand why this history has rarely seen the light of day in the educational establishments of the USA.
Oliver Stone asks a series of penetrating questions with both the written and filmed material: Do Americans really know and understand their shared and complicated history? How do the citizens of the USA recall the small details and forgotten players that influenced some of the biggest events from America’s past? Will American children, present and future, actually “get” the whole story from reading history books? And how will the foregoing (the events presented in the book) affect the future of the United States of America?
Oliver Stone also narrates the filming contained on the DVDs and his voice is accompanied by suitably serious, sometimes ominous, music as the commentary presses on to summations, insights, and conclusions that are important for the world, as well as the USA. In the process, the material features such well-known Americans as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George Bush senior and junior, Barack Obama and, of course, Donald J. Trump. Many not so well-known, but important figures in USA history, are also covered, e.g. Woodrow Wilson and Henry Wallace, and many others.
The book builds “a meticulously documented and shocking picture of the American empire.” Further, it is the view of the book’s authors that this empire has “determined the course of world events for the interests of the few across the 20th Century and beyond.” The motivation and emotion behind the book can be seen in the concluding paragraph. “At the start of this journey, when we began the documentary film and book project, we dedicated it to our six children – biological, adopted, and step, of Asian, African, and European ancestry – and ‘the better world that they and all children deserve’. We end on the same note, affirming our faith in our often misguided, sometimes destructive, and occasionally exalted species, to someday achieve that goal.”
As a former teacher of secondary school history, but never one who has formally studied or taught American history to any great extent, I found this book, published by Penguin at a very competitive price, and the documentary series, to be a most valuable source of information and recollection. I can recommend both the book, The Untold History of the United States, and the DVD series of the same name, without equivocation.
To conclude, Oliver Stone offers his personal testimony: “From the outset I’ve looked at this project as a legacy to my children and a way to understand the times I’ve lived through. I hope it can contribute to a more global, broader insight into our (American) history.”
Read, view, and understand.
RSC
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Ironies abound

Posted on 13/09/2020 by stewculbard
After a Spring and Summer when the British, if not the worldwide, conversation has been dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the arrival of Autumn finds that Brexit is back on the scene. The major topic within the Britain and Brexit conversation is the thorny subject of Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom.
Those familiar with this writer will know that I have often argued for the rightful status within the UK of Northern Ireland – otherwise known as Ulster. This argument has included comment on the perplexing nature of Northern Ireland’s British identity. This can be seen in the ongoing Brexit negotiations, where the British government has suggested that there be a UK border with the Irish Republic down the middle of the Irish Sea. Such a suggestion means that there would be no recognisable land border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland.
So too, the occlusion of Northern Ireland from being an intrinsic part of the UK, can be most brazenly seen when, in recent years, British sporting teams have been called “Great Britain”, or “Team GB”!
Realistically, as well as technically, Great Britain is an island containing the UK countries of Wales, Scotland, and England – but not Northern Ireland. However, Northern Ireland, though not a part of the island of Great Britain, is a constituent country of the United Kingdom. So Northern Ireland must take its rightful place when teams represent the UK. These teams should not be called “Team GB”! What is wrong with “Team UK”?
This matter reintroduced itself to my consciousness recently when I came across an article, written several years ago, that spoke of the reaction within the UK to the Scottish independence referendum of September 2014. Most of the fall-out from this event had focused on the umbrage that England, the largest partner in the union of the British states, had taken with the promise of more devolved powers for the Scottish parliament. As usual, Northern Ireland opinion, as with the Welsh perspective, had tended towards being ignored, or at least, not heard very loudly.
Northern Ireland has always had close links with Scotland. Many immigrants went to Ulster from Scotland. Scottish west coast seaports are a favoured way for Ulster people to enter the Great Britain mainland. My maternal grandparents left Northern Ireland for Glasgow, Scotland, just before my mother was born. Not surprisingly, my late mother considered herself to be Irish. So, a significant part of my ancestry is Irish.
If, in 2014, Scotland had said “Yes” to independence, then Northern Ireland would have been squeezed between an independent Eurozone state to the south, the Irish Republic (Eire), and an independent and likely Eurozone state a few miles across the sea to the east. The British national flags, conspicuously seen around Ulster, would have been drained of some colour, and the Orange Order on both sides of the Irish Sea may have had cause to question some loyalties.
So, as one newspaper put it, “We had people who believe in the political unity of the island of Ireland supporting the political partition of the island of Great Britain; whilst people who supported the continuing partition of Ireland tramped the streets in support of the unity of Britain”.
To put it another way, Northern Ireland wanted Scotland to stay within the UK, but itself wants no part of the Irish Republic. On the other hand, Scotland had a referendum on withdrawing from the UK, yet wished Ulster to remain as part of the UK and not join with the Irish Republic.
Ironies abound!
To emphasise the ironical, it seems that a pub on the (Roman Catholic and pro-Irish union) Falls Road in Belfast, paid for a pro-independence (for Scotland) “Yes” billboard. So too, on the eve of the referendum, poll graffiti artists climbed halfway up Black Mountain – a hill on the outskirts of Belfast and visible from almost everywhere in that city – and painted a “Yes Scotland” message. Meanwhile, in support of the campaign of “No” to independence for Scotland, the pro-UK Union, anti-Irish unification, Loyal Orange Order held street marches in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, during the week before the referendum vote.
The British Isles certainly have their fair share of irony. Ironies do, indeed, abound! Yet, one further irony sits quietly in the background, that is, we were told, even if the people of Scotland had voted in their referendum to leave the UK, Elizabeth Windsor, the Head of the UK State, would have remained, at least for the foreseeable future, as Head of State for Scotland!
In the event of Scotland becoming independent of the UK, the remaining union of British countries might well have complained about such things as the continuing use of sterling in the Scottish banking system, the matter of Scotland retaining Scottish oil, border controls and passport requirements, but it seems that there would have been no argument about a British monarch remaining as the Head of State for the independent nation of Scotland! As a republican, and a Scot by birth, I find that to be the biggest irony of all.
Strange people, us Brits!
Postlude:
When I worked in community organising with World Vision UK (WVUK), my office tried to appropriately respond to the volatile sectarian situation in Belfast, the capital city of Northern Ireland, by having two concurrent community organising projects – one in the Roman Catholic Falls Road and another at the top of the Protestant Shankill Road. The arrangement seemed to work satisfactorily.
Notwithstanding, I always sought to go the extra mile. So, when I went to Belfast on WVUK business, I was accommodated in the Roman Catholic Cathedral. The cathedral was located on the Falls Road, Furthermore, I had the privilege of staying in the same apartment as the most senior Roman Catholic in the whole of the Irish island – the All-Ireland Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church – when he visited Belfast.
The situation was that of a Protestant minister of religion (as I was at the time), and a republican (as I still am), having a room, not at a neutral, non-sectarian “inn”, but high up in the tower of the Roman Catholic Cathedral in a predominantly Protestant and pro-UK union city! Rather ironic really, but it does indicate that you do not have to be a royalist in Northern Ireland, nor a Roman Catholic, to be respected for being a concerned human being!
RSC
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Double vision 2

Posted on 23/08/2020 by stewculbard
In my previous blog (Article 153), I sought to discuss some of the inter-connections between the British Republican Movement (BRM) and the National Secular Society (NSS). The focus of the discussion was on such matters as the respective attitudes of these two organisations to such areas of British life as democracy and governance, the monarchy, the role of religion in the life of the British State, and the place of the Church of England (CofE) as the established institutional religion of the nation.
The discussion concluded with the realisation that monarchy is at the very centre of the institutional life of the United Kingdom, including aspects of its governance and the operation of the Established Church. Monarchy’s place is epitomised and legitimised through its institutional connection with a minority faith, the Protestant Church of England. This church is privileged in its presence and archaic in its practice and position. This situation is unsustainable; it is both an affront to the freedom of religious faith and to the democratic principles under which the governance of the UK is supposed to function. This is a major point of intersection between the NSS and the BRM.
It might be asked, then, as to why a concerned and widespread critique and action has not, heretofore, been brought to bear on this situation. This may be due to several contributing factors. It will be my purpose to discuss these factors in the following article, part two of this essay, “Double Vision”.
Firstly, it may be said that the situation is brought about by the inertia of the British people and their democratic institutions.
It might be thought, wrongfully in this writer’s opinion, that monarchy impinges little upon the ordinary and everyday life of the people. On the contrary, monarchy is endemic in the perpetuation of memorable days and ceremonies in national life – especially those to do with seasonal religious festivals and militarism.
Secondly, monarchy – its appearance and presentation, palaces and estates, publicity and celebrity, and its manifold trimmings – is assumed to be a tourist attraction and, therefore, a major contributor to the national coffers.
Several investigations by the BRM have shown this to be a false assumption – even without the continuing presence of a “royal family” tourists would still come to this country in their droves, indeed, it is quite fallacious, if not fatuous, to claim otherwise. For the tourist to any country that still harbours monarchy, the latter is wallpaper; the tourist dollar is not spent on wallpaper, no matter what its colour or pattern.
Thirdly, it is repeatedly stated that Elizabeth Windsor has earned the respect of the British people by the manner of her efficient and devoted attention to her monarchical role.
Most public opinion would say that she has done “a blinder of a job” over a long and successful career. It needs to be recognised, however, that much of what she says and does appertains to the conduct of her official role and its necessary functions. It must also be kept in mind that she, and her considerable extended family, are generously remunerated for their functional duties, enjoy numerous inherited privileges, are amply rewarded in kind for gratuitous services, as well as private and institutional protection from many of the dangers and hardships that are faced by the vast majority of British citizens.
In the evolution of each of the above, the CofE has played its part. The role of the CofE would include the presence of regal cathedrals, seasonal and annual ceremonies of both a national and peculiarly religious nature, rituals in the Houses of Parliament, or events to mark the continuity with the religious past of the nation – especially with the English nation. It needs also to be said that secular figures in the past, notably Charles Bradlaugh, the founder of the National Secular Society, have, through oration, law practice or participation in governance, made known their opposition to the constitution of the UK and, by implication and practical application, the place of monarchy and established religion in this constitution.
Despite the protestations of persons such as Charles Bradlaugh in the late 19th century, as well as those more contemporary protesters to be found in the BRM and NSS, and in the wider society of the 21st century, there remains the affront of the twenty-six bishops of the CofE who are afforded the privilege of sitting with the unelected Lords in the Upper House of the British Parliament, the lack of reform within the cloisters of the CofE, the undemocratic basis for and formation of the House of Lords, or the democratically questionable royal prerogatives given to the government of the day through such bodies as the Privy Council.
Each of the foregoing delivers special privileges to their receivers, making it unlikely that change would be welcomed, at least by those in receipt of such special privileges. It could be concluded, therefore, that the latter is a fourth reason for the lack of a concerted critique of the institution of the monarchy and its relationships with other national institutions.
In a meritocratic democracy where equality is, or should be, a working principle, the ideal is that all persons have the right to choose an education, a career, a partner, a religious faith to follow – or none if that is the desire. A member of the royal family who is in the direct line of succession is unable to make these democratic choices. Her or his life is circumscribed by the intentions and objectives of their future role in British society. That role also prescribes a peculiar religious adherence that necessitates a bias in the choice of religious faith.
What further choice, apart from leaving the religious faith of their choice and passion, does a typical member of the CofE have if his or her political principles and beliefs do not agree with the privileged position of their particular religious faith in British society? Is there a contradiction in the theological statements of Christianity including the pronunciation that “Christ is King” and, by implication, the head of the Christian faith and its constituent churches,  when, in fact, a male monarch – a king – being Head of the British State, is also be the Head of the CofE?
Whilst accepting the role of a monarch in the constitution and practical functions of the CofE, what can a practising member of the CofE do when believing that the life of a monarch is inconsistent with the beliefs and proclamations of the church for which they have sworn fealty? What should the person of faith do when that faith is sullied by its links with governments that operate with principles that are clearly devoid of Christian, or any religious, content – or are simply corrupt?
Does the person of faith face the same limitations within the CofE as does the ordinary British citizen face with the government of the day when wishing to protest at the ideas and actions of their respective institutions? Where does genuine democracy reside in both Church and State in British society?
Persons of religious faith can be found in the membership of the British Republican Movement, though they are most unlikely to be members of the National Secular Society. Monarchists can be active supporters of the NSS, although divesting themselves of any support for the notion of “the divine right to rule of kings and queens”. It is salutary to consider that all founders of the NSS were republicans but, whereas the NSS supports the removal of all unelected bishops from the House of Lords, not all NSS supporters consider that the House of Lords should be an elected chamber. Monarchists, however, are most unlikely to be supporters of the BRM.
The authenticity of the above statements can be verified by an examination of each of founding principles and ongoing activities of each of the BRM and NSS organisations. There are strands in each of these movements which intertwine. Each have campaigns that would welcome the support of the other. Each has a vision of British society that encourages democracy, meritocracy, citizen participation, and freedom of conscience and belief – including religious belief.
I am of the twin view that neither a specific religious faith – Christianity or otherwise, nor a monarchy – inherited or otherwise, should have a privileged place in the public life of British, or any other, society. The reasons for this double perspective, this “double vision”, have been outlined in the above and are the bases for my membership and ongoing support of both the National Secular Society and the British Republican Movement. I commend both organisations to the reader.

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Double vision

Posted on 09/08/2020 by stewculbard
For many years I have been a member of the British Republican Movement (BRM). This is a movement that supports the abolition of the monarchy in the United Kingdom and, until that institution is finally and democratically ended, calls for reform in its day-by-day functions and relationships with other British institutions. The BRM has links with republican movements within Europe and the wider world.
In recent years I have also been a member of the National Secular Society (NSS). Founded in 1866 by the lawyer and politician, Charles Bradlaugh, the NSS has ten principles upon which it was founded and according to which it continues to operate. The binding force of these principles is George Jacob Holyoake’s definition of secularism as “a positive alternative to atheism”. The NSS is not opposed to religion but holds to the view that society should “promote freedom of and from religion.” Moreover, “genuine religious freedom is best secured by keeping religion out of the public sphere and running public policy on reasonable, rational grounds, where everyone’s rights are balanced.”
It is likely, therefore, that an examination of these two organisations, the British Republican Movement, and the National Secular Society, would lead to the recognition of the links between them. Thinking of this, I recently listened to an NSS podcast that involved a conversation between Dr Emma Park, the Podcaster for the NSS, and Graham Smith, the CEO of the BRM. Together, these two knowledgeable commentators provide a clear pair of eyes, a genuine double vision, on related and increasingly controversial subjects.
The focus of this discussion was on such questions as: If you are a secularist. should you also be a republican? How have the two movements been historically intertwined? How close are the ties between monarchy and the Church of England (CofE) today? Can a hereditary monarchy ever be compatible with a truly secular democracy? The discussion touched on several other and related issues. In what follows, I will draw on the substance of that conversation as I discuss the possible links between republicanism and secularism in the British context.
The Chief Executive Officer of the BRM, Graham Smith, is of the view that, as an institution, “the contemporary British monarchy reflects a 19th century culture of middle England”. It has undergone few reforms to bring it into the modern world and, at times, it has shown itself to be a dysfunctional family. It is quasi-religious institution that links religion, a “royal” family, and the governance of the UK. As such, it gives a privileged place in the religious life of the nation to the CofE. A BRM survey (2019) found that only 12% of the UK population identifies with the CofE, yet the latter is regarded as the “Established Church” of the nation.
When a new monarch is enthroned, the ceremony is replete with references to Christianity and the new monarch’s devotion to God through that religion and its embodiment in the CofE. The presiding monarch is the “Supreme Governor” of the CofE. It is presently forbidden for the UK monarch to be a Roman Catholic, nor a devotee of any non-Christian religion – despite the multi-cultural, multi-faith nature of contemporary Britain. So littered is a coronation ceremony with oaths and promises associated with religious and stately duties, that there is little room in the ritual for a detailed statement of the monarch’s role with the people – or, as it is still stated with respect to the British people, the monarch’s “subjects”.
The limitations of the specific oaths and promises associated with a monarch’s enthronement, as well as with the practical nature and structure of her or his role, makes it difficult, if not impossible, for a sitting monarch to speak out on such secular and social awareness issues as democracy, poverty, inequality, racism, political corruption, international economic aid, as well as more faith-based issues, for example, the existence of religious discrimination and questionable quasi-religious cultural practices. The foregoing subjects do, of course, possess a religious dimension, but, for republicans and secularists alike, these areas pose major dilemmas for the closed system of institutional monarchy as practised in contemporary Britain.
The present monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, has been an exemplary adherent to the religious nature and function of the UK monarchy. It seems obvious that Elizabeth Windsor believes in, if not the actual “divine right of kings and queens to rule”, then the divine nature and function of her role and her personal desire for its religious fulfilment. It could be argued that it is for this reason that the present queen will never abdicate her position in British life.
The person who is expected to succeed Elizabeth Windsor, her eldest son, Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, has stated that he desires not only to become the Head of the CofE, but also the “champion of all faiths”! Apart from the apparent arrogance of stating his perceived personal suitability for this role, as well as the impertinence of his thinking that the variety of religious faiths as practised in the UK desire such a champion, there are serious doubts as to whether some, if not many – and not only more fundamentalist religious faiths – would want him to be their champion!
It could be asked, therefore, will monarchy ever catch-up with modernity, and is Charles Windsor the most appropriate person to be the next head of the British state and its traditional and established form of religious faith? It might also be conjectured that, if both the CofE – as the “established church” of the British state – and the inherited British monarchy are archaic institutions linked by the persona of a single figure, then removing one would prefigure the removal of the other.
From the above, it will be realised that monarchy is very much associated with a peculiar form of religion in British society. Monarchy’s place is epitomised and legitimised through its institutional connection with a minority faith, the Protestant Church of England. This is both an affront to freedom of religious faith and to the democratic principles under which the governance of the UK is supposed to function. This is a major point of intersection between the NSS and the BRM.
It might be asked, then, as to why a concerned and widespread critique and action has not, heretofore, been brought to bear on this situation. This may be due to several contributing factors. It will be my purpose to discuss these matters in the next article, part two of this essay.
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For what it is worth

Posted on 10/07/2020 by stewculbard
During the lockdown in England, there has been a steady stream of cartoons and comments appearing on my mobile telephone and computer – most of them emanating from family members but shared on a wider basis. One of the most recent of these stated the following:
“The lockdown will have demonstrated three things:
  1. Our economy collapses as soon as it stops selling useless stuff to over-indebted people.
  2. It is perfectly possible to greatly reduce pollution.
  3. The lowest paid people in the country are the most essential to its functioning.”
As with most people, I have an interest in the things that are bought and sold and how this effects my economic status. So too, my concern about pollution in our world is deep, and has been for a long time. However, it was the third point in the above comment that particularly took my interest, that is, the statement that, “The lowest paid people in the country are the most essential to its functioning.”
I am quite certain that this is a reference to the value of those persons, for example, hospital nursing staff, cleaners, and Care Home workers, who are performing a vital role in the National Health Service (NHS) and related areas. So too, it would extend to include those who contribute their manual work to our society, for example, those who work in sanitation, refuse collection and labourers in various fields.
There is little doubt in my mind that the reference to the above categories of workers has its roots in the contribution of hospital staff in the worldwide battle against the current Covid-19 pandemic. In England there has been a weekly ritual of persons standing in the streets and handclapping those who work in the NHS. The work done by these persons, as well as the current importance that has attached to their work, has inevitably led to appeals to increase the wages/salaries of these workers once the major effects of the pandemic have been controlled, if not eradicated.
The assumption being made in this appeal is the situation where those “heroes” of the NHS are all being paid at an equal or equivalent rate. It is quite true that hospital workers have been, and continue to be, essential to the functioning of our country, but are these all to be paid at the same rate? Is a nurse more essential than a specialist epidemiologist; is a hospital cleaner more essential than a resident doctor; is a hospital porter more essential than a skilled thoracic surgeon?
A rational analysis would surely lead to the conclusion that many of those in the NHS work in an adjunct capacity to those highly trained in the medical disciplines. As such, these adjunct workers are paid at a lower rate than those whom they assist, prepare the way for, or clean-up after. What is true within the hospital and medical field is also true of other fields of work.
Perhaps the bone of contention in the saying that “The lowest paid people in the country are the most essential to its functioning”, is the use of the suffix ‘most’. This gives a superlative meaning to the following word “essential”, thereby inflating its relative position in the sentence.
There are many whose vital contribution to the upholding and development of our society who are paid at a rate that is low in relation to others. Often these low paid jobs, whilst being important, do not require a high skill component – their value lies in the actual personal physical contribution, often remunerated at a level that is not commensurate with the risk it involves. An example of this would include a member of the armed services, whose life is often on the line in warfare, but who is not duly compensated for the same when such a situation arises.
None of the foregoing is in fact to argue that NHS workers, for example, should not be given a pay increase in consequence of their services during the Covid-19 pandemic. Such an increase would recognise the contemporary value of their work, but it is not to say that such work is more essential than that of persons, usually with specialist qualification and who are highly trained and whom we depend on at all times, for example, general practitioners, dentists, lawyers, skilled trades-peoples and educationists.
It would seem relevant to the above that to have some idea as to what constitutes “low pay” and high pay. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) offers two methods of measuring people’s household disposable incomes: median and mean incomes, both within a range of £0 to £80,000. Interestingly, this range would suggest that those persons earning in excess of £80,000, though s relatively small percentage of the British working population, in terms of disposable income, could be considered as being a privileged, even elitist, segment of the population.
The mean measure of income divides the total income of individuals by the number of individuals. A limitation of using the mean measure is that it can be influenced by just a few individuals with substantially high incomes and, therefore, does not necessarily reflect the standard of living of the “typical” person.
In mitigation of the above reasons, the more usual method of measuring income is to use the “median” measure. This method of measuring disposable household income is the income of what would be the middle person if all incomes in the UK were sorted from poorest to richest. Median income provides a good indication of the standard of living of the “typical” individual in terms of income.
Both methods of measuring income are “equivalised”, that is, they account for the fact that households with more people will need a higher income to achieve the same standard of living as households with fewer members. The ONS calculates that the distribution of equivalised disposable income in the UK is skewed towards lower income people; mean income (£35,900) is £6,300 larger than median income (£29,600).
So, to return to the original statement that, “The lowest paid people in the country are the most essential to its functioning”, would be to suggest that the “most essential” workers in the country are being paid less than the median wage, that is, less that £29,600.
Clearly, this is an unsustainable argument as it would depose, by dint of the salary they earn, most of the UK workers in the professions, many who own and work in private businesses, employees in banking, protective services, public services, local government and politics – just to name a selected few areas of employment – and who are vital cogs in the national economic machinery.
However,  the original statement presents us with a moral, not a financial or legal, choice. The statement was most probably written as an emotional, yet realistic, reaction to and appreciation of the urgent and difficult work that was being done at a time of national crisis. Such work deserves public recognition and acclaim, and, in such circumstances, an objective re-assessment of their financial remuneration is one such appropriate reward.
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Searching the soul

Posted on 16/06/2020 by stewculbard
The music of Aram Khachaturian is an acquired taste. This is especially so where his symphonies are concerned. Those persons coming to his symphonic output expecting a typical “European” sound of music will be surprised, disappointed, delighted or rendered speechless. It has been said that this composer’s style is a blend of traditional Russian and “Transcaucasian” elements – central Asian or oriental. This can be explained in terms of his personal background and music education.
Aram Khachaturian was born in 1903 in the multicultural city of Tiflis, the capital of Georgia. His family background was Armenia and he is generally regarded as a Soviet “Armenian” composer. He died in 1978 and is buried in Yerevan, Armenia – a country probably best known as the location of Mount Ararat, upon which, according to the biblical story of the flood, Noah’s Ark came to rest. So too, Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity. An understanding of Khachaturian’s personal and music philosophy can be approached through an examination of his three symphonies, as well as his attractive concertos for violin and piano.
This article will focus on Khachaturian’s symphonic output.
Aram Khachaturian’s rather unconventional symphonies require an approach that is independent of a western European understanding and appreciation of the genre and, therefore, the listener’s musical mind should be open to a more aggressive and dynamic sound – a musical sound quite different to that of most of the well-known composers in the development of classical music. However, Khachaturian’s symphonies do contain echoes of his European counterparts, e.g. Gustav Mahler, as well as the more traditional Russian composers (Rimsky-Korsakov, Balakirev, and one of his teachers at the Moscow Conservatoire, Miaskovsky). Whatever the case, the effervescent and emotionally arousing music of this composer provides enjoyable and satisfying listening – appreciation of which grows with repeated playing.
The Symphony No.1 (1934) is dedicated to the 15th Anniversary of Soviet Armenia. The music contains traditional Russian elements but with a style that has been described as “Transcaucasian” (see above). The musicologist, Deryck Cooke, has described the first symphony as “impressionistic and quiet, barbaric and noisy, but absolutely fascinating”. The opening of the first movement indicates the direction the music will take.
The large symphony orchestra provides an energetic platform upon which to construct the movement, before what seems to be a delightful, and recognisably Russian, main theme is heard. There is also a suggestion of jaunty jazz music. The whole is built into a massive climax (one of many in this symphony). The slow movement is marked “Adagio Sostenuto”, but there is not a great deal of that which is “slow and sustained” in the music. Notwithstanding, the movement concludes with due dignity. The third movement contains elements of dance music, with themes initially heard in the first movement now combined with oriental strains. This is an attractive mix and carries the symphony to a bright and energetic conclusion.
By the time of the Symphony No.2, sub-titled “The Bell”, Khachaturian’s fame as a composer had become widespread – chiefly through the popularity of his concertos for piano (1936) and violin (1940), as well as his ballet music. The 2nd Symphony was a product of the Russian experience of WW2, commonly remembered in that country as the “Great Patriotic War”. It was certainly seen as such by Aram Khachaturian and the 2nd Symphony is probably his most profound, and best known, symphonic work. Its composition began as the Nazis invaded western Russia in 1940, and the symphony was premiered in 1943. In between those years, the agony of the Russian people evolved.
The Symphony No.2 has a higher level of dramatic expression and this is immediately evident in the symphony’s first movement. The “colourful instrumentation, passionate melodies, balletic rhythms, and instrumental virtuosity” of the second movement reflects the Asiatic elements in the composer’s background. The elegiac third movement contains echoes of the 13th century “Dies irae” chant, showing the religious flavouring of some aspects of Russian music. This movement contains massive musical climaxes and “The Bell”, the sub-title of this symphony, can be distinctively heard – the sound of alarm for the Russian people. The fourth and final movement of the 2nd Symphony is pregnant with optimism as it conveys the people’s triumph over oppression. The characteristic brass contribution to Khachaturian’s music is very much to the fore in this movement and, after a mountainous cascade of sound, the symphony ends in a sea of tranquillity.
Khachaturian’s Symphony No.3 (1947) was composed for the 30th Anniversary of the October Revolution. It is a symphonic cavalcade of triumph and rejoicing. Somewhat unique in the symphonic repertoire, it is a one movement composition that again uses a large orchestra, with an organ and a prominent part for an extra quota of trumpets. Despite an almost unrecognisable pedigree, the music has an irresistible energy and awesome power.
The work commences with a quiet organ solo and is gradually joined by the orchestra. The violins are prominent before the trumpets echo the main thematic material. All these elements are gradually combined until the force of their energies moulds a climax of strength and brilliance before offering a more tranquil conclusion. A mesmerising piece that one critic described as “an astounding creation, a vision of almost unstoppable energy and fierce muscular strength descending from afar, borne on a high wind, bursting upon us with shattering force.” Wow!
The music of Khachaturian is limited in its profusion of recordings and it has not enjoyed productions by the more popular recording studios. However, the ASV label has been faithful to this composer, as has the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra and its conductor, Loris Tjeknavorian. However, there are few composers who express their loyalty and passion to the people and modern history of Russia (or Soviet Union when this nomenclature was appropriate) than Aram Khachaturian. Wearing its passion on its sleeve, the music of the composer – often noisy and violent, sometimes serene, but always reflective and loaded with expression and meaning – searches the soul of his nation.
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Grasped by ultimate concern

Posted on 30/05/2020 by stewculbard
It is nearly eight years since I wrote my first article for this blog. The piece was not so much an article as a short welcome to prospective readers of what was hoped to become something of substance. It was published on 20 July 2012.
After sixteen years of teaching secondary school Humanities, I was about to retire from all forms of employment that stretched back to 1960 – when I began work in a relatively short career as a Telecommunications Technician with the Australian Post Office. In between the latter (teacher – 1996-2012) and the former (technician – 1960-1966), I served the Christian Church, in a thirty-year career, as an Ordained Minister of the Baptist denomination.
During the past eight years I have had the opportunity of reflecting on those years and the requisite three careers that have now passed into history and memory. Much of that reflection has found its way into the articles that have appeared in this blog. Someone said to me recently that, by reading the last paragraph of each article, you can usually tell what each of them has been about. In so doing, continued the commentator, the reader would discover that the blog has been about one of “politics, religion or royalty”.
Should that same commentator search through the 149 previous articles comprising this blog, it would reveal that such a conclusion would be incorrect. This blog has contained a substantial volume of articles concerned with such disciplines as music, literature, philosophy and ethics, history and comment of a more personal nature. The sub-heading for the website locating the blog articles says that it is “A site for the examination of and commenting on life and time.” On inspection and as the author of the articles, it occurs to me that the blog has to do with what, in a general manner of speaking, could be described as “culture”.
For our purposes The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines “culture” as: 1 a. the arts and other manifestation of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively, b. a refined understanding of this; intellectual development, 2. The customs, civilisations and achievements of a particular time and people. In short, life and time!
Coincidentally or otherwise, it seems timely that, as I recently was running my eyes over a now aging and little used theological library, my gaze alighted on a small book which, whilst protected with a plastic cover, nevertheless, showed the signs of age and use. An address label on the inside of the book’s cover indicated that it had once resided, with the same owner, at an address in Melbourne, Australia, attesting to the fact of the book’s longevity (it was published in this reprinted edition in 1972).
The name of the book is Theology of Culture. It was written by Paul Tillich, the German theologian and philosopher of religion. Dr Paul Tillich is, by general consent, the 20th century’s best known and most creative writer on religion. Perhaps the widest read and most influential publications of Paul Tillich are Courage to Be and his scholarly volumes on Systematic Theology.
Theology of Culture is a little gem of a book. It draws together fifteen of Paul Tillich’s finest essays, “in which a diversity of contemporary attitudes and problems is brought within the wide scope of his philosophy.” By discussing religion in relation to art, psychoanalysis, (the philosophy of) Existentialism, science and education, Dr Tillich shows “the religious dimension in many special spheres of man’s cultural activity.” He compares the cultures of “Europe and America, America and Russia, and the philosophies of Protestantism and Judaism.”
Tillich provides a definition of “religion” that I adopted and used for many years. He states that “religion is being ultimately concerned about that which is and should be our ultimate concern. This means that religious faith is a state of being grasped by an ultimate concern, and God is the name for the object and content of that concern (whatever that concern may be).” He is pointing to an existential, not a theoretical, understanding of religion – a God grounded in human existence and experience; not one that is supernatural, supra-terrestrial or defined by dogma and submerged in formulae.
Paul Tillich is equating religion with radical questioning about what is the meaning of human existence. He does so against the background of what is happening to human beings in the 20th century – world and continental wars, economic crisis, wealth inequality, scientific discoveries, disparities in education, and the meaningless of so much that is part of human life. As I reflect on his writings, situated as I am in the early part of the 21st century, and do so against the background of the troubles, travails and terrors of contemporary life and times – in a word “culture” – to this list I would add worldwide terrorism, the full force of market globalisation, and the environmental crisis.
The over-arching invitation of Theology of Culture is for the reader, indeed, for humanity, to discover through all the exigencies of contemporary living what is of ultimate concern and importance for human life – what is ultimately important for me! In this discovery God and the purpose of humanity, indeed, what it means to be a person, are to be found.
Some years ago, around the period of the pinnacle of Paul Tillich’s literary influence, it was said that the kind of thinking represented by his works and words, as encapsulated in Theology of Culture, is part of “the expression of the great revolution within and against Western industrial society which was prepared in the nineteenth century and is being carried out in the twentieth.”
As I conclude this, my 150th blog article, it seems clear to me that the thoughts and words of Dr Paul Tillich, his philosophy of God and of human existence, resonate as much in the 21st century as they ever did.

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Looking forward in freedom

Posted on 03/05/2020 by stewculbard
As people gaze out from their windows and yearn for a more recognisable form of living, as the desire for the lifting of the national lockdown increases, as a greater number of persons become more unrecognisable due to the wearing of face masks, as the government of the UK seeks to increase national testing, tracking and tracing in its bid to turn back the tide of the damage being done by the Covid-19 virus, we come to realise the relevance of what one commentator has said: “The irony is that everyone’s liberation depends on their willingness to be incarcerated”
In the meantime, by some strange quirk of their national psychologies, we are informed that various polls show that, despite the enforced population lockdowns in each of their countries, well publicised leaders of a number of governments have experienced a spike in their popularity. This is true of Boris Johnson in the UK, Scott Morrison in Australia, and, most bewilderingly of all, Donald Trump in the USA.
One of the stranger aspects of the stories surrounding the worldwide response to the Covid-19 pandemic is, for this writer, the increasingly widespread demonstrations in the USA against the enforced government lockdown on freedom of movement for the citizens of that country. This lockdown is, of course, a contemporary feature of life in many countries and appears to be focused on economic and personal liberty concerns. It seems to me, however, that these demonstrations are misplaced.
Viktor Frankl was a Viennese psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor. His family perished in a concentration camp near Dachau. Following his Holocaust experiences, Frankl published a memoir called Man’s Search for Meaning (1946). The philosopher Francis J. Ambrosio (Georgetown University, Washington, USA), has said that “this memoir can be understood as a translation of Socrates’ principle of the ‘care of the soul’ into the more contemporary idiom of the human search for meaning.” Frankl’s version of the “care of the soul” confronts the reader with “the necessity to make a decision about the role that freedom, responsibility and suffering play in the human search for meaning in life.”
In his memoir Viktor Frankl speaks of the difference between liberty and freedom.
He describes liberty as “the way in which human beings choose to deal with external, circumstantial situations.” It is a capacity for humans to select for themselves from different options – a bit like choosing from a restaurant menu. It is a “body” choice and, incidentally, it has echoes in the American Constitution. Lockdown is a reduction of our liberty; it limits our choices. Freedom, however, is more of a “spirit” (soul) choice. It has to do with choosing one’s attitude to any given set of circumstances. It has to do with thinking positively and then immersing oneself in these thoughts.
Freedom, “the capacity of each person to decide what his or her identity as a person will be”, can never be taken away. Viktor Frankl realised this in consequence of his experiences in the concentration camp.
In a particularly poignant passage in his memoir he states: “We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may be few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a man but one thing; the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Freedom, in other words, is freedom of conscience.
Those protesting American citizens (perhaps to be numbered amongst those who gave Donald Trump his popularity spike), indeed, lockdown protesters anywhere, may also need to recognise that lockdown may take away one of their liberties, one of the menu delicacies; but it does not take away their freedom, it does not take away the menu. Freedom remains the property of the individual. It is that quality of the spirit that enables the individual “to develop a contagion of courage, good health and solidarity.” (Ben Okri)
The UK, as with other nations, faces an existential crisis, a crisis that may well define what the nation, what the family of nations, is to become.
Freedom imagines that a day will come again when Covid-19 pandemics and their like will no longer entrap and disable whole populations; when peoples’ attitudes, their freedom, will once again have full reign in determining their liberties and their view of the world in which we live.
Freedom imagines a time when humanity can redirect its attention to issues of climate change, civil rights, universal healthcare, justice and poverty; when human beings will no longer have to obediently listen to or abide by the prejudice and diktats of government officials, religious leaders and royal persons; when other voices will be heard and not just those of wealth and power.
Freedom imagines a future when body and soul will once again work in harmony. That is a future for which to look forward – in freedom.

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