Dear Richard,
How do folk on minimum wages survive in this country? I couldn't. The United Nations measures inequality in countries across the world (the GINI coefficient). Inequality in the UK increased between 1996 and 2003 - we now measure highest in Europe. But you don't need the statistics - just talk to people at the edge - things are getting more scary. As the gap widens society becomes more unjust and unstable. Yet none of the political parties seem bothered. State controls are tightening - are we expecting trouble?
For myself, as long as I've got my wits, I can earn enough for my needs. Some of my friends, coming up to retirement, are cashing in their chips - selling businesses - down sizing houses - activating pensions. Alas I have made no such provision - it's getting a bit late - the end game looms. But no complaint - it was my choice - it seemed the best way to travel at the time. I'd do it again. Solzhenitsyn wrote in the Gulag "The purpose of life is not prosperity, but the maturing of the human spirit." Like the sound of that - I'll enjoy exploring what it means - this maturing of the spirit.
Some lines from a poem "I know more or less how to live through my life now. But I want to know how to live what's left with my eyes open and my hands open; I want to stand at the door in the rain listening, sniffing, gaping. Fearful and joyous - like an idiot before God." 'What's Left'Kerry Hardie
