MEDITATATION IN THE BATH TUB
I enjoy a good soak but am not a great ‘wallower,’ I am too impatient to be getting on with whatever it is that I am getting on with, bath times, invariably in the morning are time for listening to the news, radio 4, the Today programme. The BBC is one of the joys of living in England, though with the Internet I have, rather surreally, listened to the Today programme in south eastern Bulgaria. With its lack of political affiliation and heavy cultural punch, all for next to nothing, it is hated by all its commercial rivals in general and by the Murdoch press in particular, the latter having launched, through its allies in the Tory party, an attempt, with some success, to nobble the organisation financially.
The news is dominated by the Euro zone crisis a by product of the crisis of the banking system in particular and of capitalism in general, this is followed by the sports news.
I am struck by the example set by the Premier League, for if you wanted an example of the consequences created by unconstrained capitalism you need look no further. This year yet again the title will have been purchased by either, a sinister Russian Oligarch, a megalomaniac American business man or an Arab Sheikh with literally more money than he knows how to spend. Thus my own team Everton take to the field facing rivals who have spent more money on one player than the cost of the entire Everton team! Even the most naïve commentator on our national game no longer believes that it represents a level playing field in which all clubs compete equally. Interestingly American Football in contrast is run on almost socialist lines. One by product of this has been the stocking up of the league with all the most expensive foreign footballers, neglecting home grown talent the consequence being that this country, the home of Association Football will almost certainly not be a contender for the World Cup in the lifetime of my football supporting nephews.
I have been told that I need, and more importantly, want to loose weight. With this in mind I have consulted a whole range of websites respecting diet and appropriate forms of exercise. Most suggest brisk walking as a way to keep fit and healthy. I can enjoy walking but not briskly. Walking is a leisurely pleasure, designed for reflection and observation and of course people watching. When I walk briskly all the pleasure drains from the exercise, therefore I will continue to dawdle, to dally and dilly.*
Discussion about the declining possibilities for home ownership for young people sets me thinking about the whole concept of ownership. Now I am not sure that all property is theft, though when I reflect on home the common land in this country was stolen from the English people over the centuries I rather warm to the idea of expropriation and certainly I am at one with the indigenous people of north America who viewed the idea of owning forests and rivers positively ludicrous. Given the average life-span this idea of owning things certainly seems slightly wide of the mark, at best we ‘possess’ things on loan.
The exception to this rule is I feel books and music, books only after you have read them, incorporated the contents in your psyche, similarly a piece of music can truly become your own.
I re-engage with the world after a bath not only feeling cleansed but also curiously more optimistic.
*Lovely English words whose etymology are somewhat obscure. T
The news is dominated by the Euro zone crisis a by product of the crisis of the banking system in particular and of capitalism in general, this is followed by the sports news.
I am struck by the example set by the Premier League, for if you wanted an example of the consequences created by unconstrained capitalism you need look no further. This year yet again the title will have been purchased by either, a sinister Russian Oligarch, a megalomaniac American business man or an Arab Sheikh with literally more money than he knows how to spend. Thus my own team Everton take to the field facing rivals who have spent more money on one player than the cost of the entire Everton team! Even the most naïve commentator on our national game no longer believes that it represents a level playing field in which all clubs compete equally. Interestingly American Football in contrast is run on almost socialist lines. One by product of this has been the stocking up of the league with all the most expensive foreign footballers, neglecting home grown talent the consequence being that this country, the home of Association Football will almost certainly not be a contender for the World Cup in the lifetime of my football supporting nephews.
I have been told that I need, and more importantly, want to loose weight. With this in mind I have consulted a whole range of websites respecting diet and appropriate forms of exercise. Most suggest brisk walking as a way to keep fit and healthy. I can enjoy walking but not briskly. Walking is a leisurely pleasure, designed for reflection and observation and of course people watching. When I walk briskly all the pleasure drains from the exercise, therefore I will continue to dawdle, to dally and dilly.*
Discussion about the declining possibilities for home ownership for young people sets me thinking about the whole concept of ownership. Now I am not sure that all property is theft, though when I reflect on home the common land in this country was stolen from the English people over the centuries I rather warm to the idea of expropriation and certainly I am at one with the indigenous people of north America who viewed the idea of owning forests and rivers positively ludicrous. Given the average life-span this idea of owning things certainly seems slightly wide of the mark, at best we ‘possess’ things on loan.
The exception to this rule is I feel books and music, books only after you have read them, incorporated the contents in your psyche, similarly a piece of music can truly become your own.
I re-engage with the world after a bath not only feeling cleansed but also curiously more optimistic.
*Lovely English words whose etymology are somewhat obscure. T
