Is There Another Way?
THERE IS ANOTHER WAY
There is no need for anyone to be thirsty, hungry or homeless on the planet, but there are many.
There was a time when we could rely on local authorities to take on the role of developing all kinds of community projects from social housing to leisure centres. Not anymore. Private developers have taken over this role, but we have to recognise that their main objective is to make a profit, and as significant profit can only come through selling relatively large numbers of flats and small houses. it is easy to understand why so many schemes are considered by so many citizens to be inappropriate.
A community Land Trust would compete with private developers to purchase suitable sites and then develop them on a not for profit basis. Such sites will be developed by the community, owned and managed by the community, for the community. People on the housing waiting list would be housed before anyone from outside the area, unless there were special circumstances.
Britain and western countries are saturated with consumer goods. People are being made redundant and other employers are not taking on new staff. The younger generation coming from education are unable to find work. We are living through the biggest financial crisis to consume North America and Europe for over 50 years. A crisis brought about by a system of greed and recklessness. The free market economics has come to dominate the world over the last three decades. We should be looking at alternatives to the system.
We may be looking at working 3 or 4 days a week in the future. There needs to be a way one can survive on one’s income without state handouts.
Politicians, councillors and financial experts should face up to the fact that unemployment is not going to fall, the arrival of commercialism and computers in the 50s started the decline in jobs. We now have automated machinery and robot devices and still the so-called professional pretend it is not happening. For most people all they want is to be happy, to have a home, enough food, a family and friends, and have enough money to pay their way. But what do we have? There is homelessness, starvation and lawlessness on a global scale. When many people go to work, they sit in traffic queues and cramped trains often for a dead end job just to pay a mortgage or rent, and struggle to pay the rest of the bills.
HAVE YOU EVER ASKED, ‘WHAT IS THE POINT?’
With plants and machinery idle, and with stockpiles of materials, it is evidently not a shortage of labour or capital that is causing distress in the building industry. The problem is that land hoarding and land speculation have driven the price beyond a point at which profitable operation is not possible, not only immediately but in the foreseeable future. Around us already, our welfare state is beginning to crumble.
No doubt big business is the cause of the financial crisis on a global scale. It would appear there are some people who have too much capital. They can destroy others by their actions. It is not the fact they have too much money, but what they choose to do with it that causes problems. State capitalism is also a failed system. It may be said we have a market system, but it is the market which is not working, there needs to be a third way.
The Irish Republic and the United Kingdom
In 2009 the Irish Republic voted to leave the European Union. While this was reversed in a second referendum, many realized the advantages of leaving. Now the United Kingdom has left the European Union, there are now issues with the borders between the North & South of Ireland. Would it not be better to have a referendum for a United Ireland, but within the United Kingdom? Stressing the advantages of being free from the EU.
Railways in Britain
While there should be investment in our railways, with more people now working from home, one has to ask, do we need all the HS2? We could join up the Northern cities, but cancel the HS2 line from London to Manchester. We have the advantage of Zoom meetings and conference technology; one does not have to travel to meet other business contacts. Manufacturing goods can be shipped from the Northern ports. While there should be investments in factories in the North that have been empty for many years, and produce goods we are importing from China, coupled with affordable houses that are not sold on the market or rented, but operated through a Community Land Trust. We must look at building communities.
Climate Change
The climate has been warming up for thousands of years, and will continue to do so, we need to learn how to manage it. It is said we need to plant more trees, and get zero carbon, but zero carbon will kill all the trees. Therefore, it's getting a balance. We are being told, since Brexit, pigs can't leave the farms to be exported to Europe because of the extra paperwork. Then if one goes into a supermarket one sees bacon from Denmark or the Netherlands. Then we are told we can export beef to China, while we import beef from the Americas. They in turn are cutting down the rainforest to grow soybeans to feed them, and turning some forests into more grazing land. Therefore, there is a need for more local self sufficiency, smaller farms and less transporting around the globe.
The Planet and People Coalition
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Registered Office: Cortlandt, George Street, Hailsham, East Sussex BN27 1AE
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