Remember, Remember on the 5th of November: Inequality is Unjust

What better day that the 5th of November to stage a protest at the Houses of Parliament. Well, not so much day as night and not just Westminster, but Trafalgar Square, Whitehall and No. 10 Downing Street as well. This march was organised by the Occupy/Anonymous Movement and it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up for many reasons including socioeconomic, political, historical and photographic. I have great sympathy for sense of outrage that fomented this global cause. I appreciate how these activists have brought the injustice and unsustainability of inequality to light and I earnestly hope that we see real change in the near future – for the sake of young people and generations to come.

Scientology: The Art of Obfuscating and Marketing

A few weeks ago we received through the letterbox a questionnaire calling itself the Oxford Capacity Analysis.  It contained well over a hundred questions concerning personality as well as mental, emotional and behavioural disorders.  When I looked carefully at the small print I noticed that the organisation which had devised this had nothing whatsoever to do with Oxford University, but had come from the London-based Church of Scientology.  The flyer invited me to complete the questionnaire, whereupon it would be analysed and the results presented to me at no charge at its London centre on Queen Victoria Street.  So as part of my personal project into investigating as many places of worship in my area as I can, I thought this was an opportunity not to be missed.  I filled out the form and within a few days was invited to meet a Scientologist to discuss my problems – as this is what the Oxford Capacity Analysis inevitably finds out about participants.  She was a lovely person – very professional and in a centre that seemed like a cross between a hotel and a mausoleum.  I saw no other human beings in the centre besides my “analyst” and the receptionist.  It was a little creepy.  As a way of introduction I was given a video to watch from which the only memory I have is a slideshow of all the stunning Scientology Churches around the world – most photos taken at night and positively glowing.  Then it showed people reading books in what looked like Scientology libraries.  Oh, and there were lots of smiling faces in the film. 

So back to the Oxford Capacity Analysis.  It’s set up to look at 10 categories of emotions & personality traits with a sliding scale between the”desirable state” and the “undesirable state”.  For example, based on how you answer some of the questions, you’re ranked between stable and unstable.  Okay, is that straight forward?  Here are the other categories:

Happy | Depressed

Composed | Nervous

Certainty | Uncertainty

Active | Inactive

Aggressive | Inhibited

Responsible | Irresponsible

Correct Estimation | Critical

Appreciative | Lack of Accord

Communicative | Withdrawn

So in presenting my results, it was pretty clear that I had some major issues to deal with. Now, keep in mind, this is the primary way that the Church of Scientology has presented itself – its beliefs, teaching and methods - to me for the first time.  The message is:

1. You’ve got some serious problems that we’ve uncovered with our “scientifically” developed analysis. 
2. Don’t you want to free yourself from these in order to be successful and reach your full potential?
3. We can help you do this.
4. Will that be cash or card for your first course? 

I asked the woman giving me my analysis to tell me what Scientology is about; I wanted to understand what the philosophical basis of it was.  Most religions and philosophies try to answer these four basic questions:  Why are we here?  What’s wrong with us?  What can be done about it?  And how’s it all going to turn out in the end?  I mean, even atheists can answer those questions.   But she just skirted around these, repeating over and over that the only way to get to the heart of Scientology was to practise it immediately – by reading the L Ron Hubbard books and enrolling in a class.  It was as though the fundamental beliefs of Scientology could not be understood until you were well and truly neck deep in it.  And that was something I was completely unwilling to do.  This reminded me of some of the practices of New Age Spirituality, like meditation, yoga, crystals, tarot cards and such.  So many don’t really explain the basis upon which their practices are built, but rather give the message:  you have a problem; do this; you’ll get enlightenment when you’ve made sufficient progress.  

I can also understand tithing to places of worship in order that they provide for the less fortunate and other worthy causes.  But it really wasn’t clear to me why Scientology considers itself to be a church.  It seemed more like expensive self-help in a tax-free hotel.  It’s not that I’m cynical; rather I think people are actually being duped into believing that ultimate reality is about being a person with Scientology-determined characteristics and without Scientology-determined flaws; there really wasn’t much discussion in the area of ethics in those posh halls.  Yes, we all have problems, some of which can be lessened with psychological counselling.  But I strongly urge people not to base their entire worldview on a “religion” that can’t even reveal what it really believes in an hour and a half.

Photojournalism outside Downing Street

On Saturday the 23rd of August I attended the demonstration in Whitehall against the continued selling of arms to Israel, organised by a range of organisations protesting against the current siege of Gaza. For the most part the event was peaceful, though without question one of high emotion and energy.  There was only one small scuffle I witnessed between a single demonstrator attempting to cross the road heading towards the gates of 10 Downing Street.  He was swiftly grabbed by Met officers as well as one of the protest organisers.   This brings the newspaper headlines and television reports home.  It also makes me grateful to live in a country where the freedom to gather and speak truth to power is an important part of the culture.

SME Growth Accelerator Clinic

This past Friday I had the privilege of photographing the SME Growth Accelerator Clinic in the offices of PayPal in Richmond.  Rarely have I attended a workshop as enjoyable and worthwhile: its aim to help the vital SME sector address the challenges that hinder their growth.  The importance of this segment of the supply side of the economy was underscored by the presence and speeches by Vince Cable and Zac Goldsmith.  Our local mayor, Meena Bond showed her support as well.  I found particularly vital and interesting the talk about the importance and opportunity of sustainable business practices and the unintended consequences of changes in planning regulations to increase the housing stock.  Many congratulations to Helen Roberts of CGP for a great event.

It's Local Election Time

Two weeks ago our MP Zac Goldsmith hosted a Q&A session at a small local café in Kew Village. If you’ve never been here, Kew is very small – though 20 minutes from central London, the meeting had no more than around 30 people in attendance (including local councillors and an MEP). Zac had invited Greg Barker, minister for energy and climate change to talk about the current and future status of energy policy in the UK. He was late, but had a great excuse – he had to drop his child off at school. Oh, and he showed up with his pet dachshund who sat in his lap for the duration of the talk. Politics with the people just doesn’t get more cosy than that. Mr. Barker is an eloquent speaker, waxing lyrical about all the wonderful things happening in Germany and elsewhere in the UK in the area of alternative energy generation. What’s there not to like about that? Thing is, I think most people instinctively love hearing about sustainability and blasting the stranglehold the top 6 energy companies have on energy generation and distribution. Still, I think people generally are unaware of what’s been occurring under our noses over the course of the past few years in this area. There was time for very few questions so I emailed Zac my concerns after and I include these along with Zac’s responses.

MB: Firstly, when talking about fracking, attention focuses largely on the environmental concerns. Understandable and important. But I think we must also understand the impact of fracking in the US has on the price of coal. Generators in the UK choose coal in preference to gas where carbon and pollution regulations allow. Gas consumption for power generation today is little over half the figure at the peak 2008 to 2010. There is currently more coal used for electricity generation in the UK than gas. Alternative energy is exciting and vital but prices of the various types of energy determine what is supplied. Longer term, LNG (from Australia and the US), LNG tanker availability and a truly more integrated European pipeline system as well as renewables will change this profile, but I don't think many have a clear idea of what's actually occurring today.

ZG: I should say first that while I share many of the concerns surrounding fracking, I don’t believe the issue is entirely black and white. For the short and medium term, gas will inevitably form part of the energy mix, even if we see a massive push for renewables and clean energy. No matter whose model you look at, there seems to be a consensus around that. If that’s the case, the gas therefore has to come from somewhere, and it is likely that British shale gas can make a contribution. But, I do have very serious concerns about the potential local environmental impacts of fracking, particularly in relation to groundwater, and more broadly, I think we would be very unwise to imagine that fracking is going to deliver the kind of price reductions described by some of my colleagues in Parliament. In addition, I don’t think that local concerns about the impact of fracking rig installation on landscape character and visual amenity should be simply ignored, and I have pushed for the Government’s new planning guidance, which gives a greater say to local communities over wind farms, to apply equally to fracking rig installations. I have also backed calls for the development of the best possible regulatory regime.

MB: Secondly, I'd like to know what Mr. Barker's relationship is with Ofgem. Does Ofgem have a strategic remit? Why do we hear so little from Ofgem and how would you and/or Mr. Barker rate Ofgem's performance over the past few years.

ZG: Ofgem work independently from the Government. They are a non-ministerial government department and an independent National Regulatory Authority, recognised by EU Directives. However, the Energy Act, which reached Royal Assent in December, was introduced to improve regulatory certainty, and it ensures that Government and Ofgem are aligned at a strategic level through a Strategy and Policy Statement (SPS).

It’s easy to like Zac Goldsmith. He appears to care deeply about certain issues I tend to agree with him upon, such as the Recall Bill and opposing the expansion of Heathrow. It concerns me, however, that though politicians may speak passionately and articulately about issues, my sense is that there’s as much obfuscation as explication. When Boris Johnson spoke in Kew a few months ago, he responded to a concerned citizen’s objection to the new football stadium in Brentford saying that he would review these concerns, knowing very well that assent for the development had already happened weeks beforehand. For all Zac & Boris’s promises that Heathrow won’t be expanded, I have this sinking feeling that the horse trading has already happened. Call me cynical, but like so many in this city, we’ve earned our scepticism.

Cultural Community Centre Watch

It seems that at least once a week I discover some new community centre project in the UK, providing vibrancy and culture to local communities.  A recent article in the Guardian proposes a transformation of cultural organisations into “vital, cherished hubs of their local community, making their disappearances unthinkable.”  Many centres are already hives of activity including classes and workshops at the Battersea Arts Centre and the Albany’s commitment to open its doors to the people of southeast London.

Outside of London, however, the funding climate is harsher.  Annabel Turpin of the ARC in Stockton insists that “arts have a much bigger part to play in the lives of local people.”  She plans to open up her organisation as much as possible to the community, “giving people permission to come in and use the building.”  Her centre provides activities for young, old and every demographic in between.  In a similar vein, mac Birmingham boasts high levels of local engagement.  Its multi-art form centre allows for a wide range of activities.

A key asset of cultural community centres is obviously their space.  This is recognised by Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff and Farnham Maltings in Surrey.  The director of the latter, Gavin Stride, said, “For us to thrive – to be truly popular – we need to become relevant to more people and improve our usefulness.”

As public space shrinks, art centres remain some of the only places that can be enjoyed without necessarily having to buy anything, a fact many people are not aware. Some centres are actively handing ownership over to local people, such as Contact, Manchester where a group of young people from the area play a key role in how the venue is run.  This allows for a greater interactive conversation with the audience as their voices are increasingly being represented in the arts organisation’s decision making structures.

These anecdotes are a sample of some of the exciting new ways in which local communities are coming together to produce and enjoy the arts.  Here’s hoping that these centres remain vibrant, become sustainable and stand as examples for other communities.

Ultimately, Reality is Personal

Yesterday morning Rabbi Lord Sachs presented a provoking Thought for the Day on Radio 4.  In light of new research and development at Ohio State University into algorithms that identify human facial expressions, he asked what differentiates humans from machines.  A fascinating question to with which all worldviews must come to grips, but which I think Christianity handles in a more truthful and hopeful way, particularly in contrast to monistic faiths and philosophies.  Lord Sachs concludes that the distinguishing feature of humans vis a vis technology is the particularity of love. Quoting his former philosophy tutor, Sachs says:

We love individuals, not types.  We love what is unique and irreplaceable, not what can be mass produced.  That is what gives love its poignancy: its inseparable connection with the possibility of loss.  It’s what makes human life sacred: the fact that no one is a substitute for any other.

This calls to mind the dystopian vision of the film Never Let Me Go in which clones are produced and raised to ultimately perform the task of supplying organs to their originators.  Loads of moral and ethical ideas here on the nature of what it means to be human.  I’d really like to hear how monism addresses some of these.  From what I know of some of this thinking, reality and the particularity of the individual are supposedly illusions which would seem to indicate that the clone concept might not be much of a problem at all.  The particularity of love means that it is personal, that ultimate reality is between individuals/among community.  I think many people assume that the foundational notion of compassion in Buddhism is akin to empathy or love, but this isn’t the case.  As Marcia Montenegro explains on her website:

Many admire Buddhism because its teachings on ending suffering often include references to compassion. Compassion, karuna, arises from wisdom and in Buddhism, wisdom is "understanding or discernment of the Buddha's teaching, especially the teaching of anatta, no self." Compassion is the desire to free "all sentient beings" from rebirth. "Sentient beings" include all living creatures, including animals, residents of all the realms (similar to worlds of spirit beings), and demi-gods. One must be human to attain enlightenment, so compassion is needed for these non-humans (including demi-gods) to be reborn as human.

It seems that if the goal of monism is an ultimate reality where all life is freed from rebirth into enlightenment, then ultimate reality wouldn't be characterised by love, but perhaps something more akin to an endless void, dare I say a world of algorithms and nothing else.