Original Broadcast: Thought for the Week
The major economic challenges confronting humanity — including the chronic and acute polarisation of wealth — are global in character, just as the major environmental issues. However, nations are too reticent to establish effective global governance to deal with them. All the signs are that Andy Burnham will take quite the opposite approach, with his emphasis on regional devolution within the United Kingdom. This is why it is so important to build awareness and debate on the merits and methodology of a global approach to egalitarian capitalism. Background music: 'The Plan's Working' by Cooper Cannell
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Original Broadcast: Thought for the Week
As the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of its independence, what better way for Donald Trump to anchor his legacy in the minds of all young people born during his presidency than granting them a $1,000 contribution when their Trump Account is opened? However, as Michael Dell and other philanthropists have shown, we need to focus on the most disadvantaged in order to break the cycle of deprivation. The Share Foundation and Share Alliance show how to do this, alongside initiatives such as this new American starter capital account. Background music: 'Everything Has a Beginning' by Joel Cummins
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One of the extraordinary sights in nature is starling murmurations — hundreds of thousands of birds in what looks like a co-ordinated dance, but without any central control. It can be seen as a metaphor for humanity: individual freedom means charting your own way through life, but with respect for others. As yet again we face leadership in uncertainty, politicians need to learn that we don't need them to be prescriptive about how people should live, or to run everything on their behalf. Will Andy Burnham respect individual freedom? Time will tell. Background music: 'Floating Home' by Brian Bolger. Image source: YouTube
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Original Broadcast: Thought for the Week
Starmer's clarion call for the 2024 General Election was 'Change', somewhat different from Tony Blair's 'Education, Education, Education'. However, in contrast to Blair's delivery in Government, Starmer has got stuck in a morass of inaction, bogged down by the crisis in public finances and an unwillingness to tackle the big issues. The biggest of these is welfare spending, major changes to which former Chancellor Sir Jeremy Hunt recognises as the only way out of this dilemma. As we said on 26th May, it's time to call 'time' on 75 years of democratic socialism (and yes, let's remember that the Conservatives tacitly went along with this also). Background music: 'Taking in The Changes' by Everet Almond
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Original Broadcast: Thought for the Week
There has been a spate of reports on youth unemployment recently, and Alan Milburn will warn of 'a generational, societal and economic catastrophe’ if we don't recognise that the welfare state was built for a different era, and must now change. The impact of such substantial debt, in both personal and public contexts, of Artificial Intelligence and the pervasive influence of social media present real challenges for young people. David Willetts set out the scale of the challenge at Share Alliance's Inter-generational Rebalancing Conference, and Professor Sir Julian Le Grand put his finger on the huge change in mindset that's required. It will require much more than tinkering with Labour Party leadership to sort this out. Background music: 'Metamorphosis' by Quincas Moreira
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Original Broadcast: Thought for the Week
The collapse in electoral support for both Labour and the Conservatives shows the extent to which central governments have become a black hole for people's economic wellbeing by freezing tax thresholds, clinging on to universal (as opposed to targeted) welfare, and failing to address the gulf of opportunity which is holding back so many young people. It's time for politicians of all colours to reflect the need for all to see the opportunity for individual ownership and empowerment. Background music: 'Something Is Wrong' by Sir Cubworth
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Original Broadcast: Thought for the Week
'Contemporary global inequalities are close to their early 20th century level, at the peak of Western imperialism': the World Inequality Report in 2022 laid bare the failure of the past one hundred years of socialism. It has failed to make any appreciable impact on wealth polarisation — in fact Russia has the highest wealth inequality in the world alongside Brazil, with a 'Gini Coefficient of 0.82. It's time to show how egalitarian capitalism can shift the dial. Background music: 'Missing Persons' by Jeremy Blake Image source: Wikipedia/Credit Suisse
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Temper tantrums do not solve fights in the playground, and they certainly don't resolve international disputes. If we are concerned about young people under the age of 16 having access to social media in order to reduce the risks to which they are exposed, we should certainly be concerned about the existential risks to which we are all exposed as a result of this 'Epic Fury' being unleashed on the Middle East, the powder-keg for so many conflicts. Background music: 'Don't Look Inside' by Biz Baz Studio Image source: Sunday Times
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Original Broadcast: Thought for the Week
For the past fifty years the world's conflicts have been powered by our addiction to oil, while the climate has continued to suffer. If concern about our environment is insufficient to break this addiction, perhaps the straw that breaks the camel's back is more likely to be the immense geopolitical and economic instability which results from relying on regions such as Russia and the Middle East. Could the current conflicts be the birth pangs of a new world order without fossil fuels? Background music: 'Addicted' by VYEN
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Donald Trump's comment about Keir Starmer being 'No Churchill' wholly overlooks Churchill's part in destabilising Iran when the UK and US were the prime movers behind the 1953 coup d’état — or was he perhaps making reference to that? What followed was 26 years of authoritarian rule by the Shah, which brought about the 1979 Islamic revolution — then the past 47 years of more authoritarian rule. It's now more urgent than ever to provide a forum for stability and peace, and the UK has a real duty to help find the answer. Background music: 'Lost in Prayer' by Doug Maxwell
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