Some of you that follow my articles regularly already know that it is my occasional habit to give space to my exchanges with those who respond to me. In particular I want to show my appreciation to the genuine and widespread depth of feeling my articles on Alzheimer’s and Cancer have engendered this week.
These are illnesses that affect us all, either directly or indirectly at one stage of our lives. It is how we respond to these enemies of us all that demonstrates and defines us as human beings, with all our magnificence and weakness, knowledge and foolishness. We all hope that we are never to be touched by the grim reaper in this tortuous guise, and that if we are, we will somehow manage, at least, for our dignity to survive.
Here are some of the responses I received this week, and I make no apologies for applauding these quiet heroes, for I find their calmness, love and dignity under fire inspirational. Sharon, Neville I know you must have sometimes screamed inside how unfair fate can be, but your examples demonstrate that anything can be overcome, well done and thank you for your inspiring examples.
“Very powerful. I thought it was going the other way, and then you surprised me.” – Dick
Tony
“Your article has struck a resounding chord with me. My late wife didn't have Alzheimer's but she displayed the symptoms of it. Over a period of 10 years, I watched her disappearing in stages.
In 1994 she started to become disorganized - this was a woman who previously raised organization to an art form.
In 1995 she forgot how to drive; which gear to be in, what the pedals were for....
In 1998 she forgot how to use a knife and fork in tandem.
The same year she forgot how to swim.
While all of this was going on she was steadily losing her short-term memory and her ability to join up the logical dots. As the world started to make less and less sense to her, she gradually gave up trying to decipher it and abdicated responsibility.
Between 2001 and 2004, she lived in a nursing home, where everything was done for her. By this time, she had become a 5-year-old, with no short-term and very little long-term memory. She knew her immediate family but she would peer at the nurses who attended her every day as if to say "I know you from somewhere but I'm not sure where."
By the end, she could only remember songs. That's right! Songs. If an advert on TV featured an old song from 30 years ago, however obscure, I would hear her singing along, without animation, as if in a trance, yet she knew all of the words.
I felt like an artist looking at a block of stone or wood and
envisaging the sculpture that he is going to carve out of it. I could
see her in there, but I couldn't reach what I could see. One day, when I am ready, I am going to write the story of her life and death; I may never show it to anyone but I will need to do it.
Thank you for writing this article; I found it strangely comforting; I
couldn't tell you why.” - Neville
Following that response here is a very thoughtful and detailed letter from Sharon;
“It has taken me a day to be able to reply to your article. As you might imagine, I found it difficult to read and it was very poignant. I hope your article finds the right targets.
Unfortunately, for my mum, she lives in Barnet. If she lived in Harrow I could approach the very wonderful Admiral Nurses. The social workers are bound by budgets and I was told by mum's social worker that when people in the borough are asked what they what money to be spent on, dementia is rarely mentioned and then probably only by those who have a loved one who is suffering from this cruelest of diseases. Interestingly, I have NEVER been asked how I think money should be disbursed and I wonder whom it is that the borough approach when sending out these forms. I know of no one who has been asked. Although I have to fight Barnet every inch of the way, and believe me, they don't give an inch, I do have the support of the Maurice Lawson Dementia Support group for carers. However, it is an ongoing fight, which ultimately will be lost because my mum simply can't improve but can only get worse.
What I find unbelievable is that Barnet will not fund full time care at
Home, which for a Malaysian or Phillipino carer costs in the region of £350 per week but that they will fund residential care which costs £500-£800 per week which even after deducting pension income is still costing more. There doesn't seem to be any common sense used just bureaucratic red tape and forms - oh lots of forms. I receive some funding via direct payments and as well as coping with all the emotional stuff I also have to deal with the inland revenue and do the wages and national insurance on a weekly basis as well as end of year tax stuff.
Caring for a relative with dementia of Alzheimer’s is isolating and depressing and certainly, in my experience, there is insufficient care and support available from the local authority unless there is a crisis. They are so busy putting out fires that they don't think about preventing the fire from starting.
Thank you for taking the time to write your article and try and get the message across.” -Sharon
If my writing these articles helps anyone in any way, then I’m glad to have done so. For those of you suffering from these afflictions in any way I can only pass on the wish that you have the strength, wisdom and tenacity to deal with this heavy load.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
ALingeringFarewell
Today we are going to mull over a moral dilemma. Is it right or acceptable behavior to share your own death with the paying public - Isn’t this the ultimate reality television?
Prime Minister Gordon Brown expressed his sympathies for British reality TV star Jade Goody, who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
He is quoted as saying that people should "applaud her determination to help her family", by her sale of the media rights to her wedding this weekend. OK! magazine has bought exclusive rights to this Sunday's ceremony for £700,000 and Living TV paid a further £100,000 to broadcast it.
The former Big Brother contestant's plight was "very sad and tragic"; Brown told his regular monthly press conference. Mr Brown went on to say: "It's very sad and tragic that such a young woman has this cancer. It's very sad indeed that the treatment has not been successful."
He added: "Her determination to help her family is something that we have got to applaud and I wish her family well."
In January 2007, Ms Goody received a huge barrage of criticism for her alleged racist bullying of her fellow Celebrity Big Brother contestant, Indian film actress Shilpa Shetty. Goody was consequently slung out of the Big Brother house.
Last year, in an ironic twist, Ms Goody appeared on the Indian version of Big Brother. She had to leave prematurely when informed she had cervical cancer.
Months of treatment followed and now it has just been revealed that the cancer had spread to her bowel, liver and groin, leaving her only months to live.
This young woman decided that she wants to share this experience to the end. She claims two reasons for doing so, the first is that she wants to provide as well as she’s able for her young sons. The second is that Jade believes that other women can benefit from the terrible lesson she is learning about regular health check ups and screenings. Apparently if Jade had followed up as she could and should have done she would have enjoyed a 90%+ chance of survival whereas she now has a 0% chance.
I know the benefits of regular medical checks myself as twice they have spotted pre-cancerous cells in me, which were quickly and easily dealt with, and following which I am fortunate enough to have suffered no consequences.
Ms. Goody is not so fortunate, and is hated and loved by many who have watched her short career as a TV celebrity, famous for being famous. She might not be the brightest intellect in the world, but surely no one deserves an end like this.
My wife was shopping a few weeks ago and found Jade distraught and crying in her car in the parking lot. She offered the young woman whatever comfort she could, but she was distraught at the obvious distress she was in. Imagine having to put on a brave face in public all the time whilst your world is literally falling apart.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with Jade’s decision to share her harrowing experience with the world; no one else has the moral right to condemn her motives, whatever they might be. I think she is very brave and deserves our total support in this, her toughest fight. In a way, if she has this support she will triumph even in her own death, and that is what she deserves.
If Jade needs the money to cushion the blow of her imminent demise for her children surely she deserves that right.
If Jade, by her terrible example, can warn just one other woman to protect herself adequately health wise then that would be wonderful. There are, in fact, reports of a 20-30% increase in young women seeking the appropriate cervical smear tests since Jade made herself a public campaign.
For those sanctimonious and patronizing members of the chattering classes who take a morally higher tone I respond with the words of Mark Twain, “Man is the only animal that blushes, or needs to.”
Prime Minister Gordon Brown expressed his sympathies for British reality TV star Jade Goody, who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
He is quoted as saying that people should "applaud her determination to help her family", by her sale of the media rights to her wedding this weekend. OK! magazine has bought exclusive rights to this Sunday's ceremony for £700,000 and Living TV paid a further £100,000 to broadcast it.
The former Big Brother contestant's plight was "very sad and tragic"; Brown told his regular monthly press conference. Mr Brown went on to say: "It's very sad and tragic that such a young woman has this cancer. It's very sad indeed that the treatment has not been successful."
He added: "Her determination to help her family is something that we have got to applaud and I wish her family well."
In January 2007, Ms Goody received a huge barrage of criticism for her alleged racist bullying of her fellow Celebrity Big Brother contestant, Indian film actress Shilpa Shetty. Goody was consequently slung out of the Big Brother house.
Last year, in an ironic twist, Ms Goody appeared on the Indian version of Big Brother. She had to leave prematurely when informed she had cervical cancer.
Months of treatment followed and now it has just been revealed that the cancer had spread to her bowel, liver and groin, leaving her only months to live.
This young woman decided that she wants to share this experience to the end. She claims two reasons for doing so, the first is that she wants to provide as well as she’s able for her young sons. The second is that Jade believes that other women can benefit from the terrible lesson she is learning about regular health check ups and screenings. Apparently if Jade had followed up as she could and should have done she would have enjoyed a 90%+ chance of survival whereas she now has a 0% chance.
I know the benefits of regular medical checks myself as twice they have spotted pre-cancerous cells in me, which were quickly and easily dealt with, and following which I am fortunate enough to have suffered no consequences.
Ms. Goody is not so fortunate, and is hated and loved by many who have watched her short career as a TV celebrity, famous for being famous. She might not be the brightest intellect in the world, but surely no one deserves an end like this.
My wife was shopping a few weeks ago and found Jade distraught and crying in her car in the parking lot. She offered the young woman whatever comfort she could, but she was distraught at the obvious distress she was in. Imagine having to put on a brave face in public all the time whilst your world is literally falling apart.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with Jade’s decision to share her harrowing experience with the world; no one else has the moral right to condemn her motives, whatever they might be. I think she is very brave and deserves our total support in this, her toughest fight. In a way, if she has this support she will triumph even in her own death, and that is what she deserves.
If Jade needs the money to cushion the blow of her imminent demise for her children surely she deserves that right.
If Jade, by her terrible example, can warn just one other woman to protect herself adequately health wise then that would be wonderful. There are, in fact, reports of a 20-30% increase in young women seeking the appropriate cervical smear tests since Jade made herself a public campaign.
For those sanctimonious and patronizing members of the chattering classes who take a morally higher tone I respond with the words of Mark Twain, “Man is the only animal that blushes, or needs to.”
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
LivingInTheShadows
Horrible Alzheimer’s disease, could there be anything more cruel or arbitrary than this illness that robs us of our loved ones and leaves us with their shadows? This is an intensely personal article and a plea from the heart on behalf of us all.
I am not a medical expert so I won’t write an article with any pretense to knowledge I don’t possess, but I have seen the results of Alzheimer’s on two occasions. The first time I witnessed this especially insidious illness the victim was my lovely Nana Bertha. This big, jolly lady who dispensed her love via her sweet smile and her big balls of East European food, in the form of knadels or meat or lockshen was slowly diminished to a husk as her brain became a useless empty shell.
Now her daughter, my special Aunty Renee, is suffering from the same fate. I’ve watched from a concerned distance as my Aunty has been taken from us inch by terrible inch. I don’t see her as much as I should because I am unsure of how to deal with her; I am also diminished by her illness. I still love her dearly, but my Aunty Renee is not “in” any more. Now when I look into her eyes and she returns the stare, still with love, but unsure who I am, and usually wrong when she ventures a guess. For my more recent visits she thinks I am my nephew, Daryl. I don’t try and argue with or question her; my instinct is just to go along with our small deceit if it makes her happy. I wonder who she thinks Daryl is when he sees her, but there’s no point in correcting her as she now has a memory like a goldfish trapped in a bowl. Our family just wants her to be happy as her world steadily contracts.
Compared to the fate of my aunt and grandmother the sudden death of my father from a heart attack was a blessed relief. Of course at the time we are all hugely shocked and grief stricken when a loved one is yanked from us by their sudden demise. The lingering nature of Alzheimer’s is intensely draining and lengthy. It makes the people in the families who care for the victims of Alzheimer’s wonder if they can continue to be strong and determined enough for the entire length of this terrible and unrewarding journey to death of their loved ones.
I watched my mother and her family try to cope with my grandmother’s illness and despite their unrelenting determination and love it was unrelenting and crushingly hard for them. Now I see the same thing happening to my cousin Sharon as she fights every inch of the way to deal with her mother’s slow drift to the end. This is made more poignant by the fact that my cousin is a health professional that understands exactly what’s happening and is savvy about the system and deals with it expertly. It’s still hard for her almost beyond bearing; so how much worse is it for those less eloquent or able? Another route for some is to spend the money necessary to provide the necessary care but there are very few people with the financial muscle to furnish the essential 24-hour a day caring resources.
My reason for choosing to write this article was the revelation by the British TV news anchor, John Suchet, that his wife, Bonnie, was another victim of Alzheimer’s. She has been a victim for more than three years and as he bravely faced the questions on TV this morning he made the point that in the entire UK there are only 60 nurses trained to help deal specifically with this awful disease. That equates to 60 trained people battling an illness that 700,000 people in this country are presently suffering from!
I was appalled when I heard these statistics, which by any measure is a national disgrace that shames us all. There is an urgent and pressing need for help to be given to the families of all those suffering from this dreaded and silent killer and robber of personalities. All of you who form our government, you must listen because one day this will affect someone in your family, or a friend or a loved one, and none of can ignore this desperate need. This is not just a job for families or charity; this is a function of a caring society. We are going through parlous economic times but nevertheless we can find these resources if we eliminate banking bonuses and government overspending on expenses and wasteful, failed social engineering experiments to pay for it.
I am not a medical expert so I won’t write an article with any pretense to knowledge I don’t possess, but I have seen the results of Alzheimer’s on two occasions. The first time I witnessed this especially insidious illness the victim was my lovely Nana Bertha. This big, jolly lady who dispensed her love via her sweet smile and her big balls of East European food, in the form of knadels or meat or lockshen was slowly diminished to a husk as her brain became a useless empty shell.
Now her daughter, my special Aunty Renee, is suffering from the same fate. I’ve watched from a concerned distance as my Aunty has been taken from us inch by terrible inch. I don’t see her as much as I should because I am unsure of how to deal with her; I am also diminished by her illness. I still love her dearly, but my Aunty Renee is not “in” any more. Now when I look into her eyes and she returns the stare, still with love, but unsure who I am, and usually wrong when she ventures a guess. For my more recent visits she thinks I am my nephew, Daryl. I don’t try and argue with or question her; my instinct is just to go along with our small deceit if it makes her happy. I wonder who she thinks Daryl is when he sees her, but there’s no point in correcting her as she now has a memory like a goldfish trapped in a bowl. Our family just wants her to be happy as her world steadily contracts.
Compared to the fate of my aunt and grandmother the sudden death of my father from a heart attack was a blessed relief. Of course at the time we are all hugely shocked and grief stricken when a loved one is yanked from us by their sudden demise. The lingering nature of Alzheimer’s is intensely draining and lengthy. It makes the people in the families who care for the victims of Alzheimer’s wonder if they can continue to be strong and determined enough for the entire length of this terrible and unrewarding journey to death of their loved ones.
I watched my mother and her family try to cope with my grandmother’s illness and despite their unrelenting determination and love it was unrelenting and crushingly hard for them. Now I see the same thing happening to my cousin Sharon as she fights every inch of the way to deal with her mother’s slow drift to the end. This is made more poignant by the fact that my cousin is a health professional that understands exactly what’s happening and is savvy about the system and deals with it expertly. It’s still hard for her almost beyond bearing; so how much worse is it for those less eloquent or able? Another route for some is to spend the money necessary to provide the necessary care but there are very few people with the financial muscle to furnish the essential 24-hour a day caring resources.
My reason for choosing to write this article was the revelation by the British TV news anchor, John Suchet, that his wife, Bonnie, was another victim of Alzheimer’s. She has been a victim for more than three years and as he bravely faced the questions on TV this morning he made the point that in the entire UK there are only 60 nurses trained to help deal specifically with this awful disease. That equates to 60 trained people battling an illness that 700,000 people in this country are presently suffering from!
I was appalled when I heard these statistics, which by any measure is a national disgrace that shames us all. There is an urgent and pressing need for help to be given to the families of all those suffering from this dreaded and silent killer and robber of personalities. All of you who form our government, you must listen because one day this will affect someone in your family, or a friend or a loved one, and none of can ignore this desperate need. This is not just a job for families or charity; this is a function of a caring society. We are going through parlous economic times but nevertheless we can find these resources if we eliminate banking bonuses and government overspending on expenses and wasteful, failed social engineering experiments to pay for it.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Nearly25Things
First I wish to include a note via my good friend Chip in America who sent me the following;
Muzzammil Hassan, of Orchard Park NY (SE of Buffalo), is the "founder and chief executive officer of Bridges TV, which he launched in 2004 amid hopes that it would help portray Muslims in a more positive light. Its slogan was 'connecting people through understanding'."
He was arrested on Thursday and charged with beheading his wife.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29189095/
Keep working on the image building Muzzammil.
I am almost totally caving in on two fronts today. Firstly I have cravenly submitted to the seemingly inescapable “Twitter” craze and signed up after being “Twitted” many times over the last weeks by those wishing me to join the trend. I really don’t see the point of being in a text based messaging system to send or receive chains of random thoughts to and from people I either don’t know well or at all. Perhaps I am missing something profound.
Last week it was the thoughts of actor, comedian and all round genius Stephen Fry when he was trapped in a lift (elevator) with a bunch of strangers. As ever he communicated his plight in tight little sentences; this time is he a Twittee for the transmittal of his plight or am I the Twittee for reading of it?
I don’t see why we should wish to communicate in this truncated form in either direction, particularly since instead of personalizing our relationships this will, by definition, other than by accident, do precisely the opposite. However, this is no doubt one of those giant crazes that sweep the world in minutes so one has to participate to witness its evolution and be annoyed by it.
I have also decided to join another craze, the one in which you list 25 things about yourself, although I have randomly decided that I shall construct a list that is slightly shorter or longer on the arbitrary basis that I must not totally conform. I’m not sure of the precise reason for this listing of one’s peculiarities and peccadilloes being a necessity but on the other hand, it does, momentarily, release your mind from thinking about the economy or Gordon Brown or the multi trillion deficits our countries are all running. I wouldn’t be so angry if at the same time our leaders didn’t keep telling us what we are doing wrong, when clearly they don’t have a clue how to do anything themselves!
So here we go, purely in the interests of not being too serious. Some things you didn’t know about Tony Klinger and perhaps don’t care to know.
1. His favorite color is red, which is the color of the strip for his favorite football team, Manchester United and, of course McDonalds.
2. He must never drive a red sports car since a psychic told his late mother he would be killed if he drove one, Avis and Hertz please note.
3. In the UK Tony drives an American car, a Cadillac, but in the States he usually drives a Japanese car, go figure.
4. The first thing Tony read was the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.
5. His first school was St. Francis, in Acton, London, where he was the first non-Catholic to attend. Interesting but ridiculous.
6. The best book of stories he ever read was the Old Testament.
7. Klinger’s favorite book is Catch 22 by Joseph Heller but it’s run close by Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged that possibly signifies that he has a somewhat split personality.
8. Tony’s favorite film is Citizen Caine and he thinks it is also the best film ever made.
9. Klinger’s dad was also a filmmaker, producing films such as Get Carter with Michael Caine and executive producing, amongst others some wonderful stuff like Repulsion and Cul-de-Sac with the director Roman Polanski and the ultra successful Confessions series.
10. Before that Tony’s dad had many occupations, but he was most proud of having been a structural engineer, having designed, during the Second World War the first machine that tested bombs and other munitions on the production line.
11. TK has worked in every capacity on film and media production except for make up and hair.
12. TK once scored 6 goals in a single soccer match in Los Angeles and when a teen he won all his boxing matches bar one and once won all the races at a swim meet and the Twist dance competition at Hastings Happy Holiday Camp, beat that!
13. Klinger has filmed in 37 countries, and made over 600 productions for cinema, TV shows, music videos, documentaries, commercials and corporate films and in doing so he has won more than 50 awards.
14. Tony’s most proud professional achievement was to be part of the team winning The Queens Anniversary Award for Education when he was a Lecturer, Course Director at the Bournemouth Film School.
15. Tony, like the British BBC news guru, Jeremy Paxman is very disappointed by the fall in standard and quality of Marks and Spencer’s once great men’s underpants, and is still in search of a suitable replacement. Time is running short.
16. Klinger has been called a Socialist, a Liberal and a fiscal Conservative since he started writing articles on politics but is, like Charles De Gaulle, “above such things”.
17. Tony’s first book, Twilight of the Gods will be published this summer.
Muzzammil Hassan, of Orchard Park NY (SE of Buffalo), is the "founder and chief executive officer of Bridges TV, which he launched in 2004 amid hopes that it would help portray Muslims in a more positive light. Its slogan was 'connecting people through understanding'."
He was arrested on Thursday and charged with beheading his wife.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29189095/
Keep working on the image building Muzzammil.
I am almost totally caving in on two fronts today. Firstly I have cravenly submitted to the seemingly inescapable “Twitter” craze and signed up after being “Twitted” many times over the last weeks by those wishing me to join the trend. I really don’t see the point of being in a text based messaging system to send or receive chains of random thoughts to and from people I either don’t know well or at all. Perhaps I am missing something profound.
Last week it was the thoughts of actor, comedian and all round genius Stephen Fry when he was trapped in a lift (elevator) with a bunch of strangers. As ever he communicated his plight in tight little sentences; this time is he a Twittee for the transmittal of his plight or am I the Twittee for reading of it?
I don’t see why we should wish to communicate in this truncated form in either direction, particularly since instead of personalizing our relationships this will, by definition, other than by accident, do precisely the opposite. However, this is no doubt one of those giant crazes that sweep the world in minutes so one has to participate to witness its evolution and be annoyed by it.
I have also decided to join another craze, the one in which you list 25 things about yourself, although I have randomly decided that I shall construct a list that is slightly shorter or longer on the arbitrary basis that I must not totally conform. I’m not sure of the precise reason for this listing of one’s peculiarities and peccadilloes being a necessity but on the other hand, it does, momentarily, release your mind from thinking about the economy or Gordon Brown or the multi trillion deficits our countries are all running. I wouldn’t be so angry if at the same time our leaders didn’t keep telling us what we are doing wrong, when clearly they don’t have a clue how to do anything themselves!
So here we go, purely in the interests of not being too serious. Some things you didn’t know about Tony Klinger and perhaps don’t care to know.
1. His favorite color is red, which is the color of the strip for his favorite football team, Manchester United and, of course McDonalds.
2. He must never drive a red sports car since a psychic told his late mother he would be killed if he drove one, Avis and Hertz please note.
3. In the UK Tony drives an American car, a Cadillac, but in the States he usually drives a Japanese car, go figure.
4. The first thing Tony read was the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.
5. His first school was St. Francis, in Acton, London, where he was the first non-Catholic to attend. Interesting but ridiculous.
6. The best book of stories he ever read was the Old Testament.
7. Klinger’s favorite book is Catch 22 by Joseph Heller but it’s run close by Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged that possibly signifies that he has a somewhat split personality.
8. Tony’s favorite film is Citizen Caine and he thinks it is also the best film ever made.
9. Klinger’s dad was also a filmmaker, producing films such as Get Carter with Michael Caine and executive producing, amongst others some wonderful stuff like Repulsion and Cul-de-Sac with the director Roman Polanski and the ultra successful Confessions series.
10. Before that Tony’s dad had many occupations, but he was most proud of having been a structural engineer, having designed, during the Second World War the first machine that tested bombs and other munitions on the production line.
11. TK has worked in every capacity on film and media production except for make up and hair.
12. TK once scored 6 goals in a single soccer match in Los Angeles and when a teen he won all his boxing matches bar one and once won all the races at a swim meet and the Twist dance competition at Hastings Happy Holiday Camp, beat that!
13. Klinger has filmed in 37 countries, and made over 600 productions for cinema, TV shows, music videos, documentaries, commercials and corporate films and in doing so he has won more than 50 awards.
14. Tony’s most proud professional achievement was to be part of the team winning The Queens Anniversary Award for Education when he was a Lecturer, Course Director at the Bournemouth Film School.
15. Tony, like the British BBC news guru, Jeremy Paxman is very disappointed by the fall in standard and quality of Marks and Spencer’s once great men’s underpants, and is still in search of a suitable replacement. Time is running short.
16. Klinger has been called a Socialist, a Liberal and a fiscal Conservative since he started writing articles on politics but is, like Charles De Gaulle, “above such things”.
17. Tony’s first book, Twilight of the Gods will be published this summer.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
MyFunnyValentine
Today we feature my exchange with, Brad, about the potential future of our economies. In featuring this we have edited for space and use of expletives, mostly on my part. I apologize for our not being more loving on Valentine’s Day!
“Tony:
Well...I am not sure who predicted what...but I know that every time you beat the war drums I came back with four paragraphs on the economy and got nowhere--you called it "pragmatism" and "cynicism"...defeatism, etc. America's top spook came out today with something interesting: the top threat is no longer terrorism but the economy. …--That’s been true for six years. Things have been bleak in America for at least six years--this is what I kept trying to tell you--but only if you were in a city--I mean really in a city, teaching in urban schools or hanging around industrial America. Anyone with a credit card and credit line was basically skating by--but the scale of the homelessness and misery was staggering. The cost of these wars is also largely hidden--you have to go to towns around here that have actually sent a significant number of troops--where just about everyone is in the national guard because there is nothing else to do --it's been hardcore for years.
I would say that things were also bleak in the Reagan era if you lived in Hollywood and saw the mental patients that Ronnie let out of the asylums after canning federal money for mental health--the immigrants, the uninsured, all of those shut out of the emerging "bubble" economies that are now bursting around our ears. The "economic downturn" is not just a matter of a change in the weather...it's a touch bigger than that. Things aren't the same in this country, and haven't been for some years now.
Those were the Ronnie Reagan eighties--for me at least. Having said that, I think your recent stuff on the economy is interesting, and I am glad to learn. I've been reading heavy criticism of Obama along the lines that he should essentially be nationalizing the banks and every month that he dithers on this is a month closer to Japanese-style decline. Does that make sense to you?
Hello Brad,
On the economy, banks and Obama, and I would add the UK and Brown. Yes, we're heading, if we're lucky, to stagflation a la Japan just a little while ago. I was there for a few weeks in that period and it was hard to understand……..there seemed no way out even though they had a huge balance of payments surplus and were manufacturing like crazy, and on the surface it should have worked out fine.
The problem there, as it is here and in your neck of the woods, is that the structure of our economies is false, and can't work longer term. That's because the whole thing was based on smoke and mirrors and now that they've been removed we can all see the little green man, and we know he knows nothing and is incapable. Like the bankers in the UK this week who turned out not to have a single banking qualification or experience between the lot of them.
What I'm saying, somewhat clumsily, is that the whole trick could only work with the good faith and blind gullibility of the masses and that is now gone, possibly forever. Once that cat is out of the bag there isn't much that can work properly in a market capitalist society. The problems have not yet really begun, and I'm afraid, unless we get very lucky it is going to be truly awful for all of us.
I have already predicted that the banks will have to be largely nationalized both here and in the US, and I'm sticking with that view. One of the banks here, Lloyds TSB, was 45% nationalized a month or two back when it was encouraged by our Prime Minister, to take over HBOS to now have about 30% of all British retail banking. Lloyds TSB, announced that the taken over bank had a bad year, it lost £10 billion, in one year; in fact its about £1 billion worse than that according to my brief computation of their figures!
This doesn't spell immediate disaster for Lloyds or the government, because the bank is presently pretty well capitalized, but if things go wrong at all, then the only way back would be for this bank giant to be totally nationalized, which would mean more than half of our giant retail bankers were now publicly owned, in less than 3 months.
It is a huge and bloody disaster but next will come the printing of money, (probably in both the USA and UK) and who knows how that will work, but what else can they do now that the interest rates are effectively zero, what tools are left to our governments to energize our economies? Then we might be choosing between stagflation and hyperinflation and both are poisonous.
Hold on to your hat it’s going to be a very bumpy ride!
All the best,
Tony
“Tony:
Well...I am not sure who predicted what...but I know that every time you beat the war drums I came back with four paragraphs on the economy and got nowhere--you called it "pragmatism" and "cynicism"...defeatism, etc. America's top spook came out today with something interesting: the top threat is no longer terrorism but the economy. …--That’s been true for six years. Things have been bleak in America for at least six years--this is what I kept trying to tell you--but only if you were in a city--I mean really in a city, teaching in urban schools or hanging around industrial America. Anyone with a credit card and credit line was basically skating by--but the scale of the homelessness and misery was staggering. The cost of these wars is also largely hidden--you have to go to towns around here that have actually sent a significant number of troops--where just about everyone is in the national guard because there is nothing else to do --it's been hardcore for years.
I would say that things were also bleak in the Reagan era if you lived in Hollywood and saw the mental patients that Ronnie let out of the asylums after canning federal money for mental health--the immigrants, the uninsured, all of those shut out of the emerging "bubble" economies that are now bursting around our ears. The "economic downturn" is not just a matter of a change in the weather...it's a touch bigger than that. Things aren't the same in this country, and haven't been for some years now.
Those were the Ronnie Reagan eighties--for me at least. Having said that, I think your recent stuff on the economy is interesting, and I am glad to learn. I've been reading heavy criticism of Obama along the lines that he should essentially be nationalizing the banks and every month that he dithers on this is a month closer to Japanese-style decline. Does that make sense to you?
Hello Brad,
On the economy, banks and Obama, and I would add the UK and Brown. Yes, we're heading, if we're lucky, to stagflation a la Japan just a little while ago. I was there for a few weeks in that period and it was hard to understand……..there seemed no way out even though they had a huge balance of payments surplus and were manufacturing like crazy, and on the surface it should have worked out fine.
The problem there, as it is here and in your neck of the woods, is that the structure of our economies is false, and can't work longer term. That's because the whole thing was based on smoke and mirrors and now that they've been removed we can all see the little green man, and we know he knows nothing and is incapable. Like the bankers in the UK this week who turned out not to have a single banking qualification or experience between the lot of them.
What I'm saying, somewhat clumsily, is that the whole trick could only work with the good faith and blind gullibility of the masses and that is now gone, possibly forever. Once that cat is out of the bag there isn't much that can work properly in a market capitalist society. The problems have not yet really begun, and I'm afraid, unless we get very lucky it is going to be truly awful for all of us.
I have already predicted that the banks will have to be largely nationalized both here and in the US, and I'm sticking with that view. One of the banks here, Lloyds TSB, was 45% nationalized a month or two back when it was encouraged by our Prime Minister, to take over HBOS to now have about 30% of all British retail banking. Lloyds TSB, announced that the taken over bank had a bad year, it lost £10 billion, in one year; in fact its about £1 billion worse than that according to my brief computation of their figures!
This doesn't spell immediate disaster for Lloyds or the government, because the bank is presently pretty well capitalized, but if things go wrong at all, then the only way back would be for this bank giant to be totally nationalized, which would mean more than half of our giant retail bankers were now publicly owned, in less than 3 months.
It is a huge and bloody disaster but next will come the printing of money, (probably in both the USA and UK) and who knows how that will work, but what else can they do now that the interest rates are effectively zero, what tools are left to our governments to energize our economies? Then we might be choosing between stagflation and hyperinflation and both are poisonous.
Hold on to your hat it’s going to be a very bumpy ride!
All the best,
Tony
Thursday, February 12, 2009
WhenYouAreWrong
It is human nature to let others know when you predicted something and it turned out as you forecast. I managed this feat with quite a few things that modesty forbids me mentioning here if I was modest. OK, you forced me; I did predict the recession and the busted flush in the property market etc. But I am not here to boast; too much.
It also does us good to admit when we have made a mistake. Having taken some credit above I shall point out a very recent error on my part. On the day prior to the Israeli elections my prediction was for a narrow Benjamin Netanyahu right wing Likud victory over Tzipi Livni’s centrist Kadima party. In fact she won the battle between these two parties by one seat. It being Israel, and therefore very politically complex, his potential right wing partnerships are potentially just a little more likely to work than any combination of the centre and left, and therefore it will probably be Bibi (Netanyahu) who is called upon by President Shimon Peres to form a government coalition, if he can.
This is made even more difficult by the fact that the leader of the third largest party, Y’Israel Beytenu, Avigdor Lieberman, detests the religious parties who would normally form a natural part of any Nehatanyahu coalition.
So, it being a very Israeli business, I was wrong but I might yet turn out to be right, although I admit that my head hurts thinking about the possible permutations.
For the sake of peace a broad based coalition of national unity would be the best solution but we’re probably several weeks from the answers.
What is clear from the voting in Israel is that security and how to deal with the Palestinians is the paramount question, even in these parlous economic times; financial issues barely warranted a mention during the elections.
I also stated that during Israel’s brief and stormy history it is their strong, right wing leaders, not the well-intentioned liberals, who do the best peace deals with their Arab neighbors. This is a paradox I ascribed to the national characteristics and histories of those at the negotiating tables. I remain convinced that this is the case but I didn’t mean to include Avigdor Lieberman in the category of strong leaders. He, and his supporters are potentially nearly as big a danger to the future of peace as the extreme Arab and Muslim leaders he seems happy to confront.
So there you have it, a fulsome admission that I was in error, and I don’t feel blemished or diminished by my act of public contrition.
In the last few days we also witnessed a series of bankers and other financial titans admitting that they made mistakes. President Obama also owned up to a minor gaffe. The head of the Bank of England also admitted that the bank’s reading of the financial tealeaves had been severely at fault.
It seems the time when it is fashionable, as well as desirable to hold up one’s hands and utter the words, “I screwed up, and I got it wrong, I am sorry!”
So why does Prime Minister Gordon Brown find it so difficult?
He hired Sir James Crosby as deputy chairman of the financial watchdog, the Financial Service Authority, which is created to oversee the running and well being of our financial institutions. During his tenure of this office, Crosby, while also Chief Executive of HBOS apparently personally fired the bank’s most senior risk expert for predicting that Crosby’s risk taking stewardship of HBOS could lead to huge future problems for that company.
When this was exposed Sir James Crosby almost immediately resigned his post as deputy chairman. Did he fall or was he pushed? The answer is that he was pushed, very quickly and very ignominiously and almost certainly from the direction of Number 10 Downing Street.
This situation is rendered surreal when it became clear that the FSA had also issued warnings about the risks HBOS was taking. It is more than strange that the man effectively running both was Sir James Crosby.
Today there was a parliamentary inquiry into all these dealings that personally questioned the Prime Minister. As ever our dour leader failed to show any contrition. As ever none of this is his fault in any way. He didn’t apologize for any of it.
For those with short memories you will recall that Mister Brown accepted all the praise for everything that seemed to be going right in the British economy for the last dozen years or so. Now that our recently mighty financial ship has hit stormy weather he must accept culpability and blame or he will be consigned to the dustbin of history along with all the other fakes and phonies.
It also does us good to admit when we have made a mistake. Having taken some credit above I shall point out a very recent error on my part. On the day prior to the Israeli elections my prediction was for a narrow Benjamin Netanyahu right wing Likud victory over Tzipi Livni’s centrist Kadima party. In fact she won the battle between these two parties by one seat. It being Israel, and therefore very politically complex, his potential right wing partnerships are potentially just a little more likely to work than any combination of the centre and left, and therefore it will probably be Bibi (Netanyahu) who is called upon by President Shimon Peres to form a government coalition, if he can.
This is made even more difficult by the fact that the leader of the third largest party, Y’Israel Beytenu, Avigdor Lieberman, detests the religious parties who would normally form a natural part of any Nehatanyahu coalition.
So, it being a very Israeli business, I was wrong but I might yet turn out to be right, although I admit that my head hurts thinking about the possible permutations.
For the sake of peace a broad based coalition of national unity would be the best solution but we’re probably several weeks from the answers.
What is clear from the voting in Israel is that security and how to deal with the Palestinians is the paramount question, even in these parlous economic times; financial issues barely warranted a mention during the elections.
I also stated that during Israel’s brief and stormy history it is their strong, right wing leaders, not the well-intentioned liberals, who do the best peace deals with their Arab neighbors. This is a paradox I ascribed to the national characteristics and histories of those at the negotiating tables. I remain convinced that this is the case but I didn’t mean to include Avigdor Lieberman in the category of strong leaders. He, and his supporters are potentially nearly as big a danger to the future of peace as the extreme Arab and Muslim leaders he seems happy to confront.
So there you have it, a fulsome admission that I was in error, and I don’t feel blemished or diminished by my act of public contrition.
In the last few days we also witnessed a series of bankers and other financial titans admitting that they made mistakes. President Obama also owned up to a minor gaffe. The head of the Bank of England also admitted that the bank’s reading of the financial tealeaves had been severely at fault.
It seems the time when it is fashionable, as well as desirable to hold up one’s hands and utter the words, “I screwed up, and I got it wrong, I am sorry!”
So why does Prime Minister Gordon Brown find it so difficult?
He hired Sir James Crosby as deputy chairman of the financial watchdog, the Financial Service Authority, which is created to oversee the running and well being of our financial institutions. During his tenure of this office, Crosby, while also Chief Executive of HBOS apparently personally fired the bank’s most senior risk expert for predicting that Crosby’s risk taking stewardship of HBOS could lead to huge future problems for that company.
When this was exposed Sir James Crosby almost immediately resigned his post as deputy chairman. Did he fall or was he pushed? The answer is that he was pushed, very quickly and very ignominiously and almost certainly from the direction of Number 10 Downing Street.
This situation is rendered surreal when it became clear that the FSA had also issued warnings about the risks HBOS was taking. It is more than strange that the man effectively running both was Sir James Crosby.
Today there was a parliamentary inquiry into all these dealings that personally questioned the Prime Minister. As ever our dour leader failed to show any contrition. As ever none of this is his fault in any way. He didn’t apologize for any of it.
For those with short memories you will recall that Mister Brown accepted all the praise for everything that seemed to be going right in the British economy for the last dozen years or so. Now that our recently mighty financial ship has hit stormy weather he must accept culpability and blame or he will be consigned to the dustbin of history along with all the other fakes and phonies.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
StatingTheObvious
It’s pretty obvious what went wrong with our economies in general, but needs stating anyhow. Too many people were too greedy. Too few people are making stuff and too many are selling and buying financial products that no one understands.
Abraham Lincoln said part of this better than anyone else, “I don’t believe in a law to prevent a man from getting rich…(But) we do wish to allow the humblest man an equal chance to get rich with everybody else.”
There is nothing wrong or objectionable about creating wealth but there is certainly something wrong if that becomes the sole motivation for our society. In the last years the deal became king, short-term gains were paramount, above any other consideration. We simply cannot and will not sustain our way of life on this basis.
You cannot build society on consumerism and rising property prices alone.
It only takes a few people obtaining a disproportionate share of the pie to upset the balance for the rest of society. That’s exactly what has been happening with rapacious bankers and deal making entrepreneurs at the very summit of our economies over the last decades. This was exacerbated by insufficiently stringent financial regulation, and where the law was sufficient it was not applied with any rigor.
There was also an entirely cavalier and inappropriate duty of care employed in the hiring of the men to run our leading banks. During yesterday’s inquiry in the UK’s House of Commons it became clear that none of the leaders of the banks that have just been bailed out had any banking qualifications.
All of these financial gluttons should learn something from Millard Fuller who passed away on February 3rd. This was the man who more or less invented the term, “sweat equity” and the “theology of enough.” He developed a philosophy that typified generosity of spirit, which should inform all our thinking for the future well being of our society. He co-founded Habitat for Humanity with his wife, Linda.
He didn’t start off as an altruist, making his first million before he was 30. Linda refused to stick with him if he was going to obsessively collect money as his reason for living. To get her to return he changed himself and his ambitions. He not only got Linda back he also went on to fulfill his dream of building homes with no interest mortgages for the poor. With the help of uncountable volunteers and many future occupants their organizations have built nearly 1.5 million homes with no interest mortgages around the world.
As Fuller said, “There are sufficient resources in the world for everybody but not enough for the greed of even a significant minority.”
Abraham Lincoln said part of this better than anyone else, “I don’t believe in a law to prevent a man from getting rich…(But) we do wish to allow the humblest man an equal chance to get rich with everybody else.”
There is nothing wrong or objectionable about creating wealth but there is certainly something wrong if that becomes the sole motivation for our society. In the last years the deal became king, short-term gains were paramount, above any other consideration. We simply cannot and will not sustain our way of life on this basis.
You cannot build society on consumerism and rising property prices alone.
It only takes a few people obtaining a disproportionate share of the pie to upset the balance for the rest of society. That’s exactly what has been happening with rapacious bankers and deal making entrepreneurs at the very summit of our economies over the last decades. This was exacerbated by insufficiently stringent financial regulation, and where the law was sufficient it was not applied with any rigor.
There was also an entirely cavalier and inappropriate duty of care employed in the hiring of the men to run our leading banks. During yesterday’s inquiry in the UK’s House of Commons it became clear that none of the leaders of the banks that have just been bailed out had any banking qualifications.
All of these financial gluttons should learn something from Millard Fuller who passed away on February 3rd. This was the man who more or less invented the term, “sweat equity” and the “theology of enough.” He developed a philosophy that typified generosity of spirit, which should inform all our thinking for the future well being of our society. He co-founded Habitat for Humanity with his wife, Linda.
He didn’t start off as an altruist, making his first million before he was 30. Linda refused to stick with him if he was going to obsessively collect money as his reason for living. To get her to return he changed himself and his ambitions. He not only got Linda back he also went on to fulfill his dream of building homes with no interest mortgages for the poor. With the help of uncountable volunteers and many future occupants their organizations have built nearly 1.5 million homes with no interest mortgages around the world.
As Fuller said, “There are sufficient resources in the world for everybody but not enough for the greed of even a significant minority.”
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