Monday 2 July 2012

Wokingham Local Elections 2012 post from previous blog


Going Green

I want a sustainable future for my grandchildren, where they can raise their children in a suitable house and not have to work more than eight hours per day per adult to afford it. Even if they are just using recently acquired skills.

I want them to be able to enjoy their surroundings in relative safety without threat from angry hopeless youths who's lack of fear is all they have to be proud of.

I had always voted Conservative. Those clever men in dark suits speak so well and understand all those little rules they keep making up. It always seemed that to get rid of them would inevitably return us to the dark ages? Gradually we learn that half of these little rules exist only to hoard wealth at the top.

The Conservative vision. A free market economy.

A free market economy is like evolution - gradually the most efficient way of growing will be found. I also believe this is true.

But the problem with evolution is that it is cruel.

The problem with our definition of growth is that it is measured in money?

My idea is to measure growth by looking at how much time a person has to spend doing things they would rather not do, in order to live a full life, not at the expense of future generations, and still contribute enough to society to support those less fortunate.

In later posts I will elaborate on what fundamental economic changes I believe can achieve this. But I was pleased to find that it was the writing from members of the Green party, no less, that matched most closely to my own. Not a bunch of lazy hippies after all but intelligent people who are willing to work hard and smart, and have not forgotten that quality of life is paramount.

That is why I became a member. Shortly afterwards, I received an e-mail from the amazingly well-organised Marjory Bisset of the Reading branch, inviting me to stand as a Wescott local councillor for the Green party as a paper candidate. A paper candidate is someone who has little realistic chance of winning, but at least the few voters who do share our concerns get a chance to vote and be counted.

I was most surprised because I had always thought that there would be a mountain of equally opinionated and concerned people ready to take up the mantle. As part of a household that generally clocks up over 80 work hours per week with kid stuff on top, I do not have time for much else. And as my family is only young once, I’ll not sacrifice these precious moments lightly. But if no-one else in Wescott will, someone must, and if I want the Green party in power there needs to be some drive for votes.

I am often concerned about the motives behind the decisions made when there is so much money riding on them. It is troubling to see how much related power and wealth gets picked up by those in office, albeit a few years later.

I'm laying down the gauntlet and hoping to set a trend here. Lets get our representatives to sign away their route to corruption.

'I will never profit or seek to profit from anything I influence in the public's confidence, for myself or anyone,  now or in the future, other than in the way it generally benefits the wider economy.'

If the person seeking your confidence will not sign something like this then they are not in it for the right reasons. Spread it, tweet it and get everyone involved in choosing the words. Then only vote for people who have signed it.

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