Rediscovering the Common Good
One of my favourite stories- and you don’t have to be a Christian to identify with it- is that of Saint Peter caught in a terrible storm while out fishing, and with Jesus seemingly far away and up a mountain. With no fish and his boat flooding, Peter throws himself into the water and starts sinking, convinced that God has abandoned him and all is lost. Then he sees Jesus reaching out his hand and he is rescued.
I guess I am not alone in feeling a bit like a troubled Peter this week. Witnessing the riots on TV and seeing part of my local neighbourhood (last night in Clapham)trashed was to feel a terrible sense of powerlessness.
And yet today civility is showing signs of fighting back in a way that should put the hooligans to shame. In Clapham and other affected areas, ordinary people turned up quite spontaneously with brooms and bin bags to help with the clearing up, and to offer a cup of tea and simple comfort to those whose premises had been destroyed. Such gestures of solidarity was something our parents and grandparents experienced during the Blitz when large parts of London and other British cities were being badly bombed.
That spirit shows signs of surfacing again, as people react to the utter callousness of those who have looted and torched the livelihoods of ordinary working people in recent days. Finally social networking –twitters, facebook, texts- is being used in a positive sense, not to identity the next target for trashing, but as a way of connecting with people who want to help restore a sense of co-stewardship in our society. People are rediscovering there is such a thing as a common good, and that brings with it a sense of dignity, personal self-worth, and positive power to all of us Peters.
Jimmy, your above comment is like closing the door after the horse has bolted.
Living in Spain, I have witnessed 2 months of a social movement that is peaceful, occupying main squares of 67 major cities and encouraging forums where there are discussion about politics, the banking system, corruption, youth unemployment, etc.
So living in Clapham and supporting the Labour Party, I am going to put you on the spot: I would love to know from you, why thousands of youths, disenfranchised, underclass (call them what you wish) are freely rampaging around the country while the police look on? What has caused this in a society that has supposed to have cared for the less well off? Why is one of the oldest democracies in the world reeling from mob rule????
Surely that is more relevant than the news of hordes of powerless middleclass (having surrendered their rights long ago to Mother State and keeped mum by political correctness) sweeping the mess up with brooms 3 days later.
Firstly, there any reason not to appreciate the positives that come from an event that assaulted the values that keep our society functioning? Secondly, I suggest that perhaps this is an essential part to the workings of a democracy, rather than a sign of a democratic break down.
While the politicians, the press and the wider media are still analysing, debating and busying themselves at finding blame, isn’t it also important to remind ourselves of the values, characteristics and shape that we would like our society to take.
Essential to the working of a nation state, is a shared consciousness and vision of national community. When an event like this occurs, it sounds the alarm that clearly there is a threat to the social cohesion and common sense of our community. However, it also works to make us question, reassert and potentially re-forge our values and vision of and for Britain.
And from that can come political and social change.
The riots, the clean up and the aftermath are all part of a functioning and evolving nation-state. The clean-up was an important expression and assertion of values by another part of society, and just as important.