Deference

Deference is a strange state of mind particularly when employed towards a group of people who are generally extremely remote from the people who are expected to be deferential.

I have just been witnessing the arrival of the Olympic Torch in Windsor Castle carried by a 75 year old lady for an "audience" with the Queen. As usual people were lined up to shake the hand of the Queen, with a few chosen words asked of each person. I always get the impression that the questions are perfunctory and the answers ignored !! It all seems to be in poor taste that the aristocracy have such an inflated evaluation of their own world which largely excludes the "People". We play our part in maintaining the whole sad story as we bow are heads and curtsy reaffirming our willing collusion of what should be an anachronistic state of affairs not fit for duty in the twenty first century.

At the other end of the social spectrum, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has published a report suggesting that for a "Socially acceptable standard of living" a family of two adults and two children need £37,000pa.  Given that the bulk of families fall below that figure what does it say of the standards that generally epitomise the British Public writ large. Everything is relevant of course and even given the high cost of living here in the UK the purchasing profile is not to be confused with the dire situation people face in other parts of the world. People on £20,000 have recall to the Welfare State in various ways. These "Benefits" improve the picture substantially but the system has the stigma that this sort of State help demeans an individuals sense of worth.

Means tested Benefits are worse in that the individual has to reveal the depth of their poverty, to an inspectorate who can ask for the most intimate financial details.

This all leads one to ask what does "acceptable"mean as a standard. Do we "need" those things that some would claim make their lives acceptable or should we ask ourselves to rethink our general consumption patterns and our values of worth !!

What we "want" and what we "need" - and what we are "led" to believe we need ?

It is a sobering fact that one of the problems in virtually all Western Society is the gradual erosion over the last 15 years of the ability for wages to keep up with the rise in the cost of living. Wage increases have been flat for a number of years whilst inflation although low as a statistic of a basket of goods has been much higher in the things that ordinary people buy, particularly food and accommodation.

At the other end of the pile the top management have had spectacular increases across the board and it is common for top CEOs to earn well over a million with share options and a golden handshake when they leave, even if they leave under a cloud.

Happiness does not automatically come with a six figure pay cheque but it helps to eradicate many problems that concern so many of us.

Happiness conversely can come, along with contentment, from the way we apply ourselves to this aspect of self worth. Our capacity to run against the flow of the common societal value set with an individual appreciation of what "we" think important. Books, music, good conversation, fresh air, and of course the most important - "good health"