Hoots & Havers with James Irvine Robertson June 2005
NEXT MONTH all hell is expected to break loose at Gleneagles. Crusties, crunchies, grotties, spotties and wombles will join the anarchists to disrupt the G8. I think they’re objecting to global capitalism, but I’m blowed if I know why.
I agree with them that it’s an unfair world. I also agree that we ought to work towards making it fairer through more equable distribution of wealth. So far as I can see the best way to achieve this is through unrestricted global capitalism. The French disagree. They voted ‘non’ for fear that its advancement within the EU would upset their welfare state. We would have voted ‘no’ for fear of its impedance under a blizzard of EU regulations.
To expect politicians to relieve world inequality is absurd. They are responsible to their electorates and you don’t win office if you tell people that wealth must be shifted from their own affluent societies to the Third World. That means Scots voices being replaced by Indian voices on the telephone and Clydeside replacing ship building with sewing machines followed by computer chips followed by damn all. |
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Profits are maximised by the lowest costs. Therefore capital seeks out the cheapest labour. This takes jobs from the first world and gives them to the third. The wages may not be great - those Indians get £2,400 a year at their call centres - but their money circulates. Even when capital finds still poorer people to exploit and moves on, it leaves behind an economy that has begun to stir. Japan, Korea, Singapore and others won prosperity through this route since the Second War. Now China, India, Thailand and others are on the same road. Their increasing prosperity means costs will rise, so the Nikes of this world will move again, on to the next desperate nation where labour can be found cheaper.
The only thing that messes up the remarkable wealth creation programme created by greedy capitalists is bureaucracy and corruption. Slipping the occasional bung to grease the wheels doesn’t matter too much but Africa shows that capital avoids places where politicians try to corner the wealth for themselves. Restrictive trade agreements, ill-advised aid and red tape can frighten off global investors. Sorting out such problems is the job of politicians. Then they must stand back and leave it to money to breed money.
For fat cats like us Europeans, the downside is unquestioned. The right to jobs and pensions has already been severely eroded and the future for us cannot be too rosy. But the consolation will be that every few percent shrinkage in our economies will lead to a boost for others. Pensions in this country are inadequate, but there are still places where the old are food for hyenas when their last tooth has gone. Perhaps their need is greater than ours.
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We were in London the other day, pottering through Regents Park and admiring the ducks. Amongst our hand baggage was a nine-month baby and the small and fluffy dog. The world split into three. The majority who ignored both. Those that donned soupy smiles to bill and coo over the baby and those that did the same to the dog. There was no crossover. Those that clucked over the dog ignored the infant and vice versa.
Predicting who would do which was very difficult. Neither sex nor age was a firm indicator of which of these small animals would be favoured with the attention of a passer by. All that could be said was that young women tended to more interested in the dog and old men by the baby. And people poked and prodded the dog more readily than they would the child. Neither creature was enamoured by the attention.
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An old friend came to lunch the other day. She’s all loved up at the moment and brought along her current squeeze who seemed rather nice and surprisingly sensible. In my book she’s always been mildly deranged and I’ve often told her so. However she has some excuse since she lives in south west England and most people down there are slightly potty. It’s the centre of the alternative culture - Totnes has taken over from Glastonbury as the capital - where they believe in anything, even Findhorn.
At the moment she earns a good living as a past life therapist. People come to her filled with angst because they have unresolved issues arising from their previous incarnations. If, like many folk, they have been Cleopatra they are distressed by the size of their noses and dislike snakes. If concubines in eastern seraglios they have problems related to promiscuity. If Edward II, they often have haemorrhoids.
In the past she’s been an astrologer and a consultant on feng shui. But her new trade demanded a three year course for her to become properly qualified. I could have inquired about just who runs such courses and what they teach but experience has led me to avoid such questions since I soon become either confused or incredulous. We had a bit of a fall out once when she sought my advice about hooking her telephone to a ley line since it would be cheaper and more eco-friendly than BT. She did ask me about my own past lives but I fobbed her off by telling her that they gave me rise for little concern.
A few years back it looked as though Highland Perthshire might become a centre for such things but now we seem to be more into money and property.
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