Tuesday, October 19, 2010

PROGRESSIVELY RESTRUCTURING FOOTPRINTS IN THE COLD

There are a few of things that I feel keenly today.

A selfish concern: today I have been cold. I put thicker outdoor wear on this afternoon as the temperature dropped lower than it was in the morning. I think there was an attempt at snow, but it was just too cold. The wind chill made it feel even colder. I may turn up the heating.

I heard a mature man's heart rend today, the sound of loss and grief, because of the Government announcements which will affect the community in which he has made his home.

The Moray coastal towns in Scotland have been hard hit with the defence cuts that were announced today. A report highlighted that this area was the most militarily dependent one in the UK. 1:6 people (and attendant businesses) are going to be severely affected by the announcement. I am still trying to work out what the fancy terminology of 'reforming and/or restructuring the defence footprint' is supposed to mean. It sounds like another political attempt at re-framing the English Language with home made definitions concocted to suit.

That other overused political use of vocabulary... the positive word 'progressive': I don't know about you, but I am switching off, it has become progressively jaded. The positively progressive spin that is being placed on every action initiated by the government is anything but progressive.

The chill wind of harsh politics will be keenly felt by the vast majority of the UK population.

6 comments:

TG said...

When they degrade something, they wrap it in "progressive" and sell it too the public. So far, nobody complained. And Britain is happily progressing with the new gov. I wonder how long.

Anonymous said...

its' going to be a long hard winter for lots of people, i fear.

i'm still baffled why we're getting 2 new aircraft carriers (one of which will be mothballed after 2 years) and not a single jet to fly from them!

keiko amano said...

ZACL,

In the U.S. and also in Japan, I feel that, too, comparing with what they used to be. It's pretty bad. Last time I was on the plane, I sat next to a Korean woman. She said Korea's economy has been booming, and their young people don't want to leave the country. I only thought of a cycle though, not envy. I'm busier nowaday in thinking what to do in case of this and that at least mentally.

ZACL said...

Hi MKL.

Britain's coalition, the majority is right wing, have used the honeymoon period to impose their political dogma, with some limited variations to maintain the support of the coalition partners. There are other ways to work with the recession, elements of which would have included some of the current proposals, though the larger picture could be different if a whole range of employment was better supported. Sadly it is not.

We are all aware of the global nature of the crisis, however, the majority are also aware, that there are other methods than those currently being imposed, which admittedly, may be a slightly slower walk to the desired result, but would get there nevertheless.

Your question as to how long the British will sit quiet is a pertinent one. Rumblings of discontent are being heard.

ZACL said...

Hello Ax,

As for the aircraft carriers, it is too costly to cancel the contracts.
It tells you something about the nature and complexity of contracts, when it becomes cheaper to continue to pay up and pay wages.

Contractors wised up to the abuse of the contractual process where required tendering imposed enormous unrecoverable expense onto those tendering to various governments, including the smaller individuals down the chain.

The elements that are factored in a tender at the beginning have not, up till now, been the real final cost of the work to be undertaken, therefore, various caveats and compensations have been installed into contracts. In other cases, the range of contractors used, can hold one element to ransom if more payment is wanted and not forthcoming.

ZACL said...

Hi Keiko,

It is a chill wind wherever you are. Certainly there are regions of the world that at present are feeling the effects of recession a lot less, or not at all. I do not think that this means the banking crisis has not had some impact on those regions, I believe it means they were minimally exposed to the kind of irresponsible banking that caused other countries to heave.

China is a somewhat different story and its monetary and banking manipulations affect all of us.

I understand what you are saying when you think of maintaining, insofar as you can, your own world in microcosm around you.