Remembrance day London

                                                Remembrance Day London

Once again the yearly rituals are back with us. Poppy day is here again. For a few weeks before the day poppies will be sold mostly by sellers from the Royal British legion as a source of income. Many will buy these poppies as a sign that they remember the sacrifice of the troops who fought in two word wars and in other wars.

In many ways the greatness of the day is that it is mostly not political. People of every background celebrate together. There are no bounds of politics as a nation remembers those who died in the great conflicts. The tone is rather somber. There is no passing out of military bands. Most people just speak of remembrance at this time. The official ceremony takes place at the cenotaph in central London, a great monument to the dead of the world wars

On the day and for a few weeks before poppies are sold everywhere. Sellers lurk outside stores and in the streets while everybody clamours to get one of the red poppies on sale! Most public figures are expected to wear them and some tend to complain occasionally about “Poppy Fascism” and being forced to wear one.. However the general consensus is that it would be mean spirited not to wear one.

The main problem on the horizon is that young people tend to be less aware and so poppy wearing among the younger generation is not so common. In some ways the generation that fought in the second world war is dying off and their descendants are ageing fast. There is still however some commemoration of those killed in the wars of today such as in Afghanistan and Iraq. On the day convoys of bikers can be seen with all the remembrance insignia.

Services of remembrance are held throughout the land. The main message is the sacrifice of the generations and the memory of those who did not come back.

While most poppies are red some white poppies are also made. These tend to be used by pacifist groups. There is also a purple poppy worn by animal welfare organizations. This commemorates the animal victims of the war. These are usually worn alongside the red poppy. The event is fairly unique in that it is almost universally celebrated

Stolen Generation

                                    Stolen generation

In this age of austerity questions are never asked about what happens to the young people in our society. In many ways they will make up a lost generation as they fight tooth and nail for  a foothold on the ladder to success. While it is certainly true that older workers face discrimination there is always a problem with young workers entering the job market for the first time. As they have no track record there are very few employers who will give them a chance

One of the first acts of the coalition government was to  make university fees prohibitively expensive top the extent that many of them have been deterred from going to university. This has resulted in many people seeking options that do not involve going to university. These however are becoming harder to find.

Successive governments have operated on the premised that more and more people should go to university. Past generations grew up secure in the knowledge that a university place would guarantee success and in many ways the feeling has arisen during the course of the current recession that the old idea that every generation would be richer than their parents has been fatally undermined. Now many people are having to deal with a rather different reality.

In this post austerity world jobs are very few and far between and so opportunities are very limited. For most young people life is an endless round of application forms and interviews none of which seem to lead anywhere. The graduate market is fairly saturated and many graduates are finding themselves in the competition for menial jobs.

Previously these were given out to those who had no qualifications at all. Now however employers have their pick of graduates to interview and so consequently can pick and choose. The competition for first jobs is intense. Now internships which are unpaid are seen as the way. However even these are subject to the amount of influence parents have and often as of before it is not what you know but who you know that counts.

This scenario plays out increasingly among the richer segments of society. Of the less rich there is little account apart from the fact that it is often seen that they way to a good standard of living is to be involved in crime. In accordance with this the prison population is booming. This is to some extent raised by the fact that not only have young people nothing to do but the traditional means of keeping them occupied such as youth clubs have been hit hard by cuts in local authority budgets.

As a result a whole generation of young people risks becoming a stolen generation with no prospect of work and no prospects of any meaningful activities. The increasing crime rates tell their own story. While official figures are doctored to make it look as if crime is falling a lethal cocktail of cuts in police numbers and an expanding number of young people points o a different interpretation. Everybody now speaks of the increase in crime in defiance of official figures.

The problem of alienated youth which has already expressed itself in the previous year’s riots is not one that is likely to go away. Since the recession began a whole generation of people have  become disengaged from society as a whole. As the politicians debate economic policy which seems to most people to be more and more obscure the fact remains that there is now a generation that threatens to become a huge ticking time bomb at the heart of Britain. Whatever is done it is likely to be a development that will scar the country or a generation. It is also a development that has not fully run its course as whole generations have grown up never aging a proper job. In years to come the country is likely to rue this lost generation and the subsequent breakdown in the cohesion of the society as crime rates rise and the society continues to break apart.

What is to come from all of this is anybody’s guess.

OHbama's

                                                OHbama's

The days seem so long ago when at the start of the economic troubles in which we now live London watched the American elections. So many people spoke of their hopes at that time, hopes of a new politics and a new economic beginning. Obama was wildly popular on this side of the pond and everybody was wishing his campaign well.

For many people it was the idea of a break with the previous Bush years. Also there had been fairly general condemnation of the Iraq war and President Bush had been held responsible. Still the vote was eagerly awaited and when Obama won the city was jubilant. From all across the political spectrum people had supported Obama, the idea of the first black president in particular emphasizing the new age of racial tolerance was a powerful one.

The country watched in belated anticipation as the election results poured in. When it became clear that Obama had won there was general rejoicing! In the area of London in which I live he was wildly popular and people were talking about it everywhere. In the markets, on the buses and in the pubs it was one of the main topics of conversation

In this atmosphere I met an American who had set up a new stall in the nearby market. He had set up a stall to sell memorabilia of Obama’s victory. When I first met him he wore a badge saying he had attended the inauguration. On his stall he sold fridge magnets and photographs of the queen standing with the Obama. In the atmosphere of that time they sold like hotcakes and people were snapping them up all over the place. He had come into the situation that the country was euphoric about what was seen as a great new development. The conservative party promoted this as the idea of change and many of their grandees were courting controversy by backing a Democrat party contender.

I met the man who established the stall several times. First he had a commercial winner and his products were just flying off the stall. All round people were buying them. However you cannot live for so long on one idea and eventually the novelty wore off. My friend diversified and started selling Jamaican food and CDs. The food part became increasingly difficult particularly in regard to Britain’s rather extensive and onerous food hygiene regulations. In a while the food stopped and all he concentrated on was soul music and reggae music CD’s along with a smattering of soft drink labels from the Caribbean and tee shirts of Jamaica

Previously he had used the slogan for his store which he called “Ohbama’s” “better than your mama’s”. This seemed to strike a chord for a while and with the new terms he seemed to prosper to some extent. I would often meet him on my travels and he seemed to work well with the changing fashions. His business of music CDs seemed to go well and he was selling a lot of music, even to the extent of employing an assistant. He seemed a steady presence on the street.

And then a year ago he was gone. The sign disappeared! The shop stood vacant for a wile and then suddenly a new shop appeared selling Naan bread. In the atmosphere of this part of London the shop seems to do well. Every Saturday they churn out Naan bread. But of my friend there is no sign.

Now the US elections are seen from a distance. There is not the same enthusiasm as there was before and it is seen as a distant side issue. Londoners are intent on getting on with their lives and the pull of domestic worries is greater still. The election generally at present seems to excite little comment among ordinary people. The papers mention it mostly in the vein that it will be a shoo in for Obama. However on the streets the same passions are not excited and it seems a distant story of little relevance to ordinary people>

Riotous London 2 October 2012

                                                            Riotous London

Last year something new happened or something old if you remember past experience, there were riots. I happened to be out of the country at the time but news broke that riots had been happening all over London. The reason ostensibly was the killing of Marc Duggan by the police allegedly because he had a firearm. This incident sparked off rioting in North London which came down to South London.

By the time they had really started the reasons were soon forgotten ad the whole distance took on a momentum of its own. Shop windows were smashed and looters poured in taking whatever they could get. A friend of mine who was there at the time told me how frightening it was because he said it felt as if law and order did not exist. People were smashing windows and raiding shops and the police were nowhere to be seen. He told me he had seen a bus driver attacked for the takings of the fares(Since most buses in London have a pre loaded card system these would appear to have been minimal).

In many ways the targets seem to have been random. One of the stores attacked was “poundland” where everything costs only a pound. However this apparently provided rich pickings. Other stores were attacked by mobs and extensively looted. It took several days for order to be restored ad then of course the prosecutions began.  It looked absolutely crazy in terms of the fact that Britain is one of the most spied on societies in the word. CCTV cameras are everywhere and soon looters began to be identified

In Peckham the smashed up shop of poundland spawned a wall of peace where people wrote messages of hope for Peckham, a fairly deprived area of London. Standing nearby a shop rather inappropriately named “loot” stood and still does (It appeared not to have been attacked). After a spell of renovations the messages were transferred to the public arch nearby in order to make a permanent memorial. Today it is possible to go and read them today. All speak of peoples love for Peckham and their hopes for the future.

Will the riots happen again? I think without any doubt. They were avoided this year but present government policy particularly cuts in youth facilities and benefits will probably serve to make the problem worse. In many ways it is hard to credit the stupidity of rioters thinking that they would not be caught with CCTV everywhere. However rioters were very much in a minority among their own age group. Many of the people caught up in the net were simple opportunists who saw a smashed window and took the pickings. Of course they are now paying dearly for it with the courts still convicting and harsh sentences being handed down usually some term of imprisonment.

All around as in Peckham the civil pride shows in the walls. Even in the ghettos a pride in the area does arise and that is perhaps the best legacy to come from the whole sorry episode.

Olympic London feat

                                                Olympic London Feat

Well now the Olympics have been and gone. London is now a different place. The public transport of course went back to its earlier state. Cancellations as usual and the buses do not run!!! Long delays become part of life again

What can we make of all this now? In many ways the Olympics made us! Instead of wallowing in self pity we chose to look at the careers of others. And so many stories were made here!! The wonder of Mo Farah, our Londoner who clinched so many gold’s. Also the story of the great Jamaican, Usain Bolt that electrified the proceedings. In many ways we found the feelings again that we thought we had lost. Londoners came together to cheer their heroes on. With Team GB getting a good medal haul one other factor seemed to arrive. The transport disruption was not as bad as most of us had feared. Somehow during this period everything ran on time. Most people were electrified by the tales that arrived from the front and the Olympics was a regular topic of conversation all around

In many ways London is coming of age again. True there is still the time of the Paralymmpics. Yet though the interest is there and though they have been promoted well they are not catching the public interest quite as well. This is probably a long haul as the public attitude to disability has to change and though it is changing it will be a long haul. Tales of heroism are greater still particularly in the overcoming of disability as well. For the first time controversy has raised its head and all are talking about Oscar Pistorius’s complaints about the blades of his opponent being too long. This level of debate and argument has never really been heard before in the context of the Paralympics.

London is recapturing  a bit of its glory in these races.

The only worrying thing about this an apparent spike in the attacks on disabled people. This has been reported and shows that there are still problems despite the great efforts to promote the recognition of the disabled in this town and nationally by giving almost as much recognition to the Paralympics. Recognition of disabled people obviously still has a long way to go!

Olympic mania

Olympic mania

At the moment London is supposed to be abuzz with Olympic fervour. We are all supposed to organize events for the Olympics.  And the street committees are working overtime. We hear about events being organized though none of them seem to be organized anywhere where we all live. Supposedly sports meetings will be organized for those of us not lucky or well connected enough to get tickets for the real thing.  Too bad that most of us have not been able to get tickets for the events. Mostly we have been too busy trying to stay sane and solvent in this city!

Still the Olympic mania goes ever on! We are exhorted to get into the spirit of it as if all the wealth of London depended on it.

Most of us have had to put up with the roadworks and the transport disruption. That has been something else. Everywhere you look we see the roadworks. In almost every street they rear their ugly heads.

Every street becomes an obstacle course with pedestrian signs leading in all directions in most cases right into the road. But that is another story. I wonder if there are any statistics to do with an increased number of accidents!

 In many ways there seems to be little rhyme or reason in this.

Every small crossing is full of people supposedly working all hours though they tend to look abandoned more times than not! To say nothing of the transport disruption that is to ensue! We are told everything will work as clockwork though most of us here will have some reason to doubt that assertion!