Sunday, 31 March 2013
How We Were..
Courtesy of the Wellcome Library on Youtube.
'When the rest of the world sleeps, a call may come from the sick or those in trouble - a call that cannot be disregarded.'
That call is now.
Monday, 4 February 2013
The Daughter of Time
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) Novum Organum:
With regard to authority, it is the greatest weakness to attribute infinite credit to particular authors, and to refuse his own prerogative to time, the author of all authors, and, therefore, of all authority. For, truth is rightly named the daughter of time, not of authority. It is not wonderful, therefore, if the bonds of antiquity, authority, and unanimity, have so enchained the power of man, that he is unable (as if bewitched) to become familiar with things themselves.
Some years ago, I was clearing out the loft in our house. It's not very comfortable; there is enough head room to sit in it (while avoiding the swinging light bulb) but no room to stand. I was going through a pile of mildewed books that my mum and dad had collected and was sorting them into 'will-never-notice-it's-gone' to 'don't-even-think-about-chucking-this-out' piles, when I came across a book called 'The Daughter of Time' by Josephine Tey. Intrigued, I opened it up and for the next hour I sat cramped in the loft and read it.
The story is obstensibly a fictional one, but it is actually an examination of the facts surrounding the disappearance of the princes in the Tower and whether Richard III did indeed have them killed or if someone else did it. The book concludes that it was Henry Tudor that did it and it convinced me, but I'll leave you to read it. What was more important about the book was the care that the author had taken to put together her case and her ability to look beyond what had become an accepted truth - that Richard III had killed the princes. I didn't realise how important the book was to me until today, when it was confirmed that the skeleton found under a car park , was that of Richard III. To prove it, the archeologists found the location of a long demolished church, compared DNA from a relative, re-modelled the skull and analysed the wounds, which had come from a battle.
Why is it important to me? Because of this. So much of your time as a politician is spent creating paper trails about what actually took place and so much of your time is spent reading trails that others created in the hope that someone one day would actually seek out the truth. Sometimes the creators don't even know they are doing it; but when they do their job exceptionally well it can really matter. For example, I didn't realise how important maps were, until I had to research the land that a local school was getting built on. Then I understood why my father had held onto old maps of our town and why someone had to collect them in case they needed to be checked. Again, I was looking for the history of the local canal, which tied into it and I spent a couple of months trying to get an out-of-print copy of a book on the subject, only to discover it in a cupboard in my own house. My dad had bought it when it had first come out and had kept it.
Recording is so important. Libraries are so important, because when a myth has built up, they can contain the means by which to find out the truth. It can be painstaking and bitsy, but it is there. And sometimes just one sentence can make all the difference in an account. In the Daughter of Time, it was a casual reference in a history book to Henry Tudor systematically killing all claimants to the throne after he had taken it that made the difference. For me, it was a single detail on one of those maps that became vital.
The truth is out there. But it depends both on those who record it and those who seek it and sometimes it can take centuries for it come out. Truth is the daughter of time and depends on the pedants and hoarders of this world to keep it safe. I now wish that I had not been so casual in throwing out so many of my parents books. And I am glad that I kept 'The Daughter of Time'. It taught me far more than I thought.
With regard to authority, it is the greatest weakness to attribute infinite credit to particular authors, and to refuse his own prerogative to time, the author of all authors, and, therefore, of all authority. For, truth is rightly named the daughter of time, not of authority. It is not wonderful, therefore, if the bonds of antiquity, authority, and unanimity, have so enchained the power of man, that he is unable (as if bewitched) to become familiar with things themselves.
Some years ago, I was clearing out the loft in our house. It's not very comfortable; there is enough head room to sit in it (while avoiding the swinging light bulb) but no room to stand. I was going through a pile of mildewed books that my mum and dad had collected and was sorting them into 'will-never-notice-it's-gone' to 'don't-even-think-about-chucking-this-out' piles, when I came across a book called 'The Daughter of Time' by Josephine Tey. Intrigued, I opened it up and for the next hour I sat cramped in the loft and read it.
The story is obstensibly a fictional one, but it is actually an examination of the facts surrounding the disappearance of the princes in the Tower and whether Richard III did indeed have them killed or if someone else did it. The book concludes that it was Henry Tudor that did it and it convinced me, but I'll leave you to read it. What was more important about the book was the care that the author had taken to put together her case and her ability to look beyond what had become an accepted truth - that Richard III had killed the princes. I didn't realise how important the book was to me until today, when it was confirmed that the skeleton found under a car park , was that of Richard III. To prove it, the archeologists found the location of a long demolished church, compared DNA from a relative, re-modelled the skull and analysed the wounds, which had come from a battle.
Why is it important to me? Because of this. So much of your time as a politician is spent creating paper trails about what actually took place and so much of your time is spent reading trails that others created in the hope that someone one day would actually seek out the truth. Sometimes the creators don't even know they are doing it; but when they do their job exceptionally well it can really matter. For example, I didn't realise how important maps were, until I had to research the land that a local school was getting built on. Then I understood why my father had held onto old maps of our town and why someone had to collect them in case they needed to be checked. Again, I was looking for the history of the local canal, which tied into it and I spent a couple of months trying to get an out-of-print copy of a book on the subject, only to discover it in a cupboard in my own house. My dad had bought it when it had first come out and had kept it.
Recording is so important. Libraries are so important, because when a myth has built up, they can contain the means by which to find out the truth. It can be painstaking and bitsy, but it is there. And sometimes just one sentence can make all the difference in an account. In the Daughter of Time, it was a casual reference in a history book to Henry Tudor systematically killing all claimants to the throne after he had taken it that made the difference. For me, it was a single detail on one of those maps that became vital.
The truth is out there. But it depends both on those who record it and those who seek it and sometimes it can take centuries for it come out. Truth is the daughter of time and depends on the pedants and hoarders of this world to keep it safe. I now wish that I had not been so casual in throwing out so many of my parents books. And I am glad that I kept 'The Daughter of Time'. It taught me far more than I thought.
Saturday, 26 January 2013
London is on the March
Here come the first casualties of the Health and Social Care bill. Thousands are marching today to save Lewisham A&E, which was going to be downgraded to shore up the neighbouring South London Trust (which they are not part of). The item's six or seven down the Beeb's list just now - apparently a shrieking tennis player doing the dying swan in Australia is more important.The terminology is also infuriating.Since when did trusts make profits or losses? They are either funded or underfunded. Auntie please take note. But it's started, and these people will not be ignored. If only they had understood what was happening last year and come out in those numbers..
Friday, 4 January 2013
A Job for Dr No?
It's the New Year - time for pastures new, striking out, going where you've never been before... How about a nice GP job on the isle of Arran? I can highly recommend the island itself. And there's a helicopter. Just wondering where Dr No is..
Sunday, 23 December 2012
So Beautiful
I was going to post a Christmas carol here for the season. Then I came across this and just had to post it. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year..
Wednesday, 19 December 2012
Compulsion and Choice
It wasn't going to last. Just a couple of weeks after UKIP was riding high on a wave of sympathy, following the removal of a child from a UKIP voting couple, they have come crashing to the ground because of one Geoffrey Clark, who thinks we should bring in compulsory abortion for Down's Syndrome and spina bifida to reduce the national debt. He also thinks that free euthanasia advice should be offered to over-80's. UKIP tried to back him at first and then ditched him, in the face of shocked protests from Mencap and the media in general. Someone in Labour or Conservative HQ will be watching in silent satisfaction at this mess - I have no doubt that since UKIP's resurgence, the party nerds will have been trawling UKIP websites looking for someone foolish enough to catch out in this fashion. And Geoffrey Clark has been well and truly caught.
On the surface, I agree with that shock and indigation at his views. It's especially depressing after a wonderful summer of the Paralympics that we're back to auld claes and porridge as far as the disabled are concerned. Another part of me is feeling profoundly uncomfortable with the whole scenario.
It's this. The abortion rate for DS in the UK is round about 92%. Apart from the fact that this means that Geoffrey Clark's master plan to reduce the national debt would be a failure, it also means that the only difference between Geoffrey Clark's views and the general public's, is compulsion. It is not Geoffrey Clark's values that are really being questioned; it is the fact that he would make a common choice, mandatory.
What is the actual choice for someone carrying a child with DS? There's abortion. Or, if they choose to have the child, years of fighting with the state for help and support. A piss poor amount of money going into research for the condition and bleak employment prospects. A choice has been made, but it's been made by our society, not by the parent of the child. The choice that they are offered, is in reality, just short of compulsion.
Again, take the dismantling of the NHS. On what pretext was that done? Why, choice. The right to choose a GP, a hospital, a private provider. In reality the government has chosen to bomb the NHS and we will shortly have to chose which health care insurer that we are going with, because it shure ain't going to be the government. And don't expect your National Insurance contributions to go down correspondingly.
Chesterton once said, ' To admire mere choice is to refuse to choose'. In saying this he identified what has become a growing phenomenon; the idea that choice trumps all. It's a good tactic for shutting down debate by branding those who question the values behind a choice as intolerant, and it's a good tool in government for shunting people in a direction they might not otherwise take, by portraying it as a choice.
I do not disagree with those who slam Geoffrey Clark on mandatory abortion. I am just so disappointed that the debate went no further. So much went unsaid this week, and an opportunity was missed to examine our own values with regard to those with DS. If we had done, maybe we would have realised how shockingly close our own views are to his. And maybe we would have made an informed, responsible choice to turn away from them.
On the surface, I agree with that shock and indigation at his views. It's especially depressing after a wonderful summer of the Paralympics that we're back to auld claes and porridge as far as the disabled are concerned. Another part of me is feeling profoundly uncomfortable with the whole scenario.
It's this. The abortion rate for DS in the UK is round about 92%. Apart from the fact that this means that Geoffrey Clark's master plan to reduce the national debt would be a failure, it also means that the only difference between Geoffrey Clark's views and the general public's, is compulsion. It is not Geoffrey Clark's values that are really being questioned; it is the fact that he would make a common choice, mandatory.
What is the actual choice for someone carrying a child with DS? There's abortion. Or, if they choose to have the child, years of fighting with the state for help and support. A piss poor amount of money going into research for the condition and bleak employment prospects. A choice has been made, but it's been made by our society, not by the parent of the child. The choice that they are offered, is in reality, just short of compulsion.
Again, take the dismantling of the NHS. On what pretext was that done? Why, choice. The right to choose a GP, a hospital, a private provider. In reality the government has chosen to bomb the NHS and we will shortly have to chose which health care insurer that we are going with, because it shure ain't going to be the government. And don't expect your National Insurance contributions to go down correspondingly.
Chesterton once said, ' To admire mere choice is to refuse to choose'. In saying this he identified what has become a growing phenomenon; the idea that choice trumps all. It's a good tactic for shutting down debate by branding those who question the values behind a choice as intolerant, and it's a good tool in government for shunting people in a direction they might not otherwise take, by portraying it as a choice.
I do not disagree with those who slam Geoffrey Clark on mandatory abortion. I am just so disappointed that the debate went no further. So much went unsaid this week, and an opportunity was missed to examine our own values with regard to those with DS. If we had done, maybe we would have realised how shockingly close our own views are to his. And maybe we would have made an informed, responsible choice to turn away from them.
Wednesday, 21 November 2012
Says it All, Really
I came across this picture of a poignant message left on a lamppost at the NHS protests from March.
Says it all, really.
Says it all, really.
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