We’re all sitting down more

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We’re frequently exhorted to get off our sofas and get active, but it seems such public health campaigns are not having enough impact.

A pan-European study has found that since 2002 people have tended only to become more sedentary. In 2002, just over 49% of Europeans displayed “sedentary behaviours” – meaning they spent more than four and a half hours a day sitting. However by 2017, that had crept up to 54.5%. Among British men, the change was more extreme. In 2002, 45.7% showed sedentary behaviours; by 2017 this had risen to 57.2%. Among women, the proportion rose from 42.4% to 49.4%.

“This negative lifestyle change presents a major risk factor in the development of many chronic diseases such as obesity, type-2 diabetes, hypertension, cancers, and even premature death,” report its authors, in the journal BMC Public Health. They speculate the rise could be down to longer commutes, more labour-saving devices, and the growth of screen-based recreation.   (The Week, 5 Sept 2020)

My comment:  My wife and I go forwalks outside every day.  We also have two flights of stairs which, because of the design of the house, means that we have to go up and down those stairs multiple times a day.  Homes with more than one storey are better for your health, but more tiring.  Problem: I enjoy drawing and water colors.   Result ? A lot of sitting.  Who am I to lecture?

Brexit blues

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Why on earth is Boris Johnson illegally revoking the EU withdrawal treaty which he himself so enthusiastically signed, claiming it gave Britain an “oven-ready” Brexit?

Polly Toynbee’s theory is that he is trying to shift the blame for the pain that would follow crashing out of the EU without a deal – on top of a pandemic-induced recession, the worst in 300 years.

Britain is, to put it mildly, under-prepared for leaving the single market and customs union in just four months’ time. As the Guardian reveals, traffic jams of 7000 trucks at UK ports  and two-day delays to enter the continent are just two expected effects of government policy. Who better to scapegoat for the chaos and catastrophe than Brussels?

It is also suggested that Johnson wants a freer hand post-Brexit to funnel state aid to industry in the “left-behind” English regions which voted for him but could be hammered by Brexit. Ireland is the collateral damage.  (Edited versión of an article by Polly Toynbee in The Guardian, 9/16/20)

My comment:  One of the things Tories desperately need to justify wrecking the country is a trade agreement with the United States.  They haven’t read the the news.  For a start Trump  reiterates his “America First” message ( e.g expect no favors, or prioritization from the US).  Secondly, if Biden wins the election he has a pile of work the height of Everest, and a trade deal with the UK must be near bottom in terms of the mountain.  In short, forgeddit!   I’m afraid Britain is about to become the basket case of Europe.

Rumination: I am a citizen of the US and the UK.  To lose one country is a misfortune.  To lose two simultaneously seems careless.

Dumb protests

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“Thousands of demonstrators – many of them carrying placards proclaiming Covid-19 to be a “hoax” or a “scam” – recently gathered in Trafalgar Square in London to protest against lockdown restrictions. Among the speakers was Piers Corbyn, the older brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was fined £10,000 for his part in organising the rally, in defiance of the new rules restricting public gatherings of more than 30 people. He described the rally as an “epic success”.”

(The Week, 5 Sept 2020)

My comment:   So what, for these crazy people, would not be a “ hoax” or a “scam”?   Maybe, several members of their own families on life support in hospital?  Or, more likely (since they are focused solely on their own convenience), catching covid 19  themselves and ending up on a ventilator?  Why do we give publicity to these deeply ignorant and selfish people?

For those of us influenced by the civilized and inclusive teachings of Epicurus, the advice of scientists is impartial and informed, and trashing it is totally self-defeating and socially toxic.

A second version of a poem called “Dawn”

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Dawn on an early March morning.
The still, silver surface of the sea
Merges softly with the morning mist,
Confounding the division between earth and sky.
A tropical sun peeps above the sea,
Likes what it sees, and hurries up,
Wreathed in purple, gold and white,
Catching the masthead of an anchored yacht
Swinging lazily in the warm and breathless air.

All else is misty grey and tranquil.
The creeping tide slackens with the flood,
And not an eddy, swell, or ripple —
Or the faintest gust or drift of breeze —
To break its placid and unruffled calm.

A sandpiper pecks along the water’s edge.
Here is someone with no leisure to reflect.
Then come the pelicans – – comic birds,
Ushering in the business of the day,
Quartering the waterfront for food
And skimming the shallow sea, their wings outstretched.

Soon men will rise and greet the day,
Their noise and clamour closing out the dawn.
Helicopters, generators, growling, grinding.
Cars and car horns, revving engines, gears,
Strimmers, mowers, arguments and slamming doors,
The cellphone tunes, inconsequential chatter.
Modern man cannot function without toys
That make a constant, reassuring noise.

For you who yearn for silence and for calm,
Join me in my morning meditation.
Rise before the sun; sit with me on the soft, soft sand.
Watch the light and shadow in the coconut palms,
The glint of livid sun on water.
Hear the rustle of the palm leaves.
Listen to the gentle lap of water, the wings of passing birds,
The mild plop of fish in the water,
The sea crab scuttling to its morning meal,
The tide as it inches in
Covering the sandbar and any hint of shallows.
Hear the distant sound of a bird calling its mate;
Listen to the silence and the sounds of dawn.

A punt is poled slowly, quietly near the reef.

Man has fished like this for centuries,

Seeking food, and peace, and solitude.

Timeless.  A special moment.  A memory.

(Robert Hanrott)

Q – Anon : patriots???

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“Are Republican leaders really willing to throw in their lot with demented conspiracy theorists? “The answer, for the moment, would seem to be yes. President Trump tacitly endorsed the far-right QAnon cult the other day, saying its followers were patriots who “love our country” and, more importantly, “like me very much”. When a reporter pointed out that QAnon followers believe Trump and a mysterious figure called “Q” are secretly saving the world from a satanic, “deep state” cabal of paedophiles who eat children, the president responded, “Is that supposed to be a bad thing? If I can help save the world from problems, I’m willing to do it”.  (taken partly from an article by Jonathan Zimmerman,  USA Today, and The Week, 5 September 2020)

My comment: This blog is intended, not to discuss party politics, but to rehearse what stance we might – or should – adopt towards trends,  events and cultural changes in the modern world, using the principles established by Epicurus.  But this “movement” has to be commented upon and labeled for what is is.

The issue of so-called QAnon is a no-brainer. Excuse me! “paedophiles”? “deep state cabal”?  “Eating children”?  “Communist controlled?” Have we really descended to this?  Did these people ever get any discipline or advice from their parents? Did they ever go to school, and if so, what on earth did they learn?  These peddlers of hatred and fantasy have no place in the modern world, and to give them a minutes-worth of credence is shameful, medieval and laughable – except it is not only dangerous but makes the rest of the world laugh at us. (Believe me!)

 

Addendum to yesterday’s post: Unhappy teenagers

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Britain has the least happy teenagers in Europe,  at least that’s what a new survey by The Children’s Society tells us. Why might this be? The charity’s chief executive, Mark Russell, believes he knows the reason. It’s down to “the increase in child poverty”, he says.

There are two big problems with this explanation. The first is that “there hasn’t been a rise in child poverty in the UK”. The second is that our children are actually far better off than many others in Europe. Take Spanish youngsters: 82% reported themselves happy in this survey (compared with a mere 64% of their UK peers). Yet a Eurostat study by the European Commission shows they’re of equal risk of poverty or social exclusion as British children. Their peers in Greece, Italy and Romania are at considerably more risk, yet they rank among Europe’s most cheerful teenagers. In fact, the correlation appears to be the opposite of the one Russell identified. It’s not a lack of money; if anything, it’s the “appurtenances of affluence” – feelings of entitlement, social media-fuelled dissatisfaction and envy – that are making our children miserable.  (Rod Liddle, The Sunday Times and The Week 5 September 2020).

My comment:  Mr. Liddle might have a partial point, but he omits (typically for a conservative) the issue of fear for the future. What is the future for the young,  and what do they have to look forward to?  I refer to climate change.  If the horrendous fires in California and Oregon don’t alert you to the danger, you have your head in the sand.  I can hear the unspoken words, “yeah, it’s going to upend the human race, but let me get through my allotted years, comfortable and undisturbed, and let the kids sort it out. Just don’t mess with my cosy way of life – I deserve it.”

Epicurus would, were he alive, would actively opt for addressing the problem head on, as far as is humanly possible.  He would spot the lack of ataraxia among the young, and draw the correct conclusions.

We had a really mean Mom

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“While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, egg and toast.

When others had a Pepsi or a Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches.  And you can guess, our mother fixed us a dinner that was different from what other kids had, too.

Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times.  You’d think we were convicts in a prison. She had to know who our friends were, and what we were doing with them.  She insisted that if we said we would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less.

We were ashamed to admit , but she had the nerve to break the Child Labor Laws by making us work.  We had to wash the dishes, make the beds, learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, and all sorts of cruel jobs. I think she would lie awake at night thinking of more things for us to do.

She always insisted on us telling the truth.  By the time we were teenagers she could read our minds.

Then life was really tough.  Mother wouldn’t let our friends just honk the horn when they drove up.  They had to come to the door so she could meet them.

While everyone else could date when they were 12 or 13, we had to wait until we were 16.

Because of our mother, we missed out on lots of things other kids experienced.  None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing other people’s property, or being arrested for any crime.  It was all her fault.”

Now that we have left home, we are all God-fearing, educated, honest adults.  We are doing our best to be mean parents, just like Mum was.

I think that’s what’s wrong with the world today.  It just doesn’t have enough mean moms anymore.    (Mike Doyle)

My comment:    He might have added:  “We weren’t allowed to spend time on social media, ending up feeling inadequate”.  But then he is talking about a different era, when discipline, politeness, reliability, learning useful life skills – and telling the truth – were givens.  (it must be my age!)

Bumble bees

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Information collected by a University of Ottawa team using data collected over a 115 year period and covering 66 bumblebee species, show that bumblebees are in drastic decline across Western Europe and North America, owing to higher and more extreme variations in temperature. The likelihood of the bee population surviving has declined by 30% in the course of a single human generation. The trend appears to be “consistent with a mass extinction”.

As pollinators, bees play a part in every aspect of the ecosystem. They support the growth of trees, flowers, and other plants, which serve as food and shelter for creatures large and small. They contribute to complex, interconnected ecosystems that allow a diverse number of different species to co-exist.

Bumble bees are social insects who live in colonies, usually located in nests underground containing between 50 and 500 individuals. Except for new queens, which hibernate in winter, bumble bee colonies die in late autumn.

Bumble bees do not produce honey, but pollination services they provide are worth more than that product would yield.

Commercially traded bumble bees have become big business during the past two decades as demand for bumble bee-pollinated berries, peppers and, especially, hothouse tomatoes has skyrocketed.  But how are we to protect their numbers?  (Sources:  a variety of newspaper reports, including The Times, The Guardian and The Week)

My comments: Locusts swarming in East Africa, flooding, bigger than ever storms, California almost literally on fire – and now the bumblebees are dying.  And to those with vested interests in the status quo (we know who you are!) dismiss it all as “fake news”.  This gets scarier every week. Truly, it is getting more difficult to find ataraxia.  But it doesn’t matter about me ; it’s the grand-children’s generation that I fear for.  How we need leadership!

Curing the common cold

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Not exactly on the forefront of our minds at the moment, but we may be closer to defeating Covid 19’s  less deadly cousin – the common cold.  A vaccine that protects against one of the most common cold viruses could be available as soon as 2024, after it has proved safe and effective in clinical trials. 

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is so contagious that more than 90% of people have experienced their first infection by the age of two. While it typically causes mild cold symptoms, it can cause severe illness in the very young and elderly, with at least 70,000 people around the world dying every year after catching the virus.

The vaccine developed by Bavarian Nordic can triple the levels of RSV-fighting antibodies in the blood. The immune response was shown to last for six months – enough to cover a winter cold season – and was restored with a booster shot after 12 months. US company Moderna, known for its Covid-19 work, is also developing a combined vaccine to protect children against other cold and influenza strains.  (Athens Week 22 Aug 2020)

My comment:  Oh, how I wish the politicians would respect the scientists!  One can only assume that they had zero science in school, and the subject seems too difficult to comprehend, like learning Chinese.  What you don’t understand you are fearful of.  Regrettably, it’s a human failing, which, when a covid 19 vaccine comes onto the market, is quite probably going to guarantee that only part of the population, proportion unknown but too high, is going severely reduce the number of beneficiaries.

Moral: Too much of American schooling (can’t say “education”) is inadequate.

I was taught science as a teenager by the same man who taught my father! But, poor though my science is, I am in awe of the subject and deeply respect the professionals.  Why do too many people treat it as voodoo?

The global scale of lead poisoning

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One in three children around the world have enough lead in their blood to endanger their long-term health, scientists have found. The Unicef-published report, based on blood tests performed on hundreds of thousands of children worldwide, estimates that around 800 million under-19s have at least five micrograms of lead in their blood per decilitre – widely defined as the potentially unsafe level for children.

Though the use of lead in petrol, paints and water pipes has been phased out, a number of sources of exposure still remain – including car batteries, which use lead and acid to generate a charge, and food additives containing lead compounds, which are used in some countries to sharpen the colours of spices. Exposure to even modest levels of lead can cause symptoms ranging from pain, vomiting and seizures to developmental delay, mental difficulties and mood disorders.

Nicholas Rees, a policy specialist at Unicef and co-author of the report, described the findings as “absolutely shocking”.   (The Week 15 Aug 2020)

My comment: The situation in the US is getting worse as safety and health regulations are being (or have been) scrapped or rolled back to please big business.  The US health system is already skewed quite enough towards those with money to pay for it, good if you can afford it, but “exclusive” (shall we call it).  Epicurus, were he alive today would advocate a healthcare system accessible to all.  But first, he would demand that dangerous substances, such as lead, are immediately banned in products handled, breathed or eaten by the public.  Common sense?  Mmmmmh!

Why do I even have to discuss this?

The new brand of fascism

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President Macron has condemned the defacing of a memorial to the victims of a notorious Nazi massacre in the Limousin. In 1944, SS troops stormed into the village of Oradour-sur-Glane, and killed nearly all of its 642 inhabitants. The men were shot in the legs and then set alight; the women and children were burnt alive in the church. Only a handful of residents survived. Oradour has been preserved as a memorial ever since. Last week, vandals crossed out the word “martyr” on the main entrance sign, and added “menteur” – “liar”.   (The Week, 29 Aug 2020)

My comment:  The rise of extreme right wing know-nothings is not confined to the United States.  It is fueled by social media where you can say the most outrageous, cruel and hurtful things with little or no come-back, prepping impressionable young people with lousy “education” to reject moderation, kindness and decency, the hallmarks both of Epicureanism (and genuine Christianity).  We have to forthrightly fight back against this monstrous trend, used by ruthless politicians and racists to undermine social peace and well-being.

(One of my university tutors was simultaneous translator at the war crimes trial of the people who ordered the Oradour atrocity – I will never forget the tears that welled up in his eyes as he described what he heard.  Too few people are educated on the terrible damage wrought by extreme, violent bullies who deliberately violate historical fact)

An Epicurean Poem ( about peace of mind)

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    Dawn   

A still, warm, and breathless tropical night,

Before the birds awake and fishes stir.

There is no breeze or whisper from the palms,

Only a gunmetal gloom and swish of waves

Gently shifting seaweed on the sand.

I lie on a hammock counting intervals

Between the flashing lights of marker buoys,

And watching the passage of a distant ship,

Lights blurred and blinking in the sea-fog.

As I sit there the dark morphs into misty grey,

And, herald of the day, a lonely fish

Skitters the water beneath the wooden jetty.

Robert Hanrott,  February 2006

The holocaust was not only about Jewish people

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When you read about the Holocaust consideration is mainly given to anti-semitism.  Added is often the information that “millions of others” were also killed. In reality Nazi racism extended to Roma and Sinti people, (Gypsies, as they are otherwise known).  In the former Czechoslovakia 90% of the Roma and Sinti people were murdered, and those left have tried for many years to get reparations, but have been ignored by government officials and museum boards, who seem to assume that the murders were somehow unconnected with the Jewish holocaust.

A letter dated 10 March 1944, signed by Himmler, expressed the goal of genocide against Romani and Jewish people in brutally bureaucratic language.  Roma victims were, like Jewish victims, deported to concentration and death camps, Auschwitz included.

The fact is that the Roma holocaust is not only forgotten, but anti-Romani racism is very common, even in England where in the recent election the Tory Party manifesto outlined a pledge to “seize the property and vehicles of trespassers who set up unauthorized encampments”, a promise aimed at Gypsy and  Roma communities.  On the Continent there is a rise in the numbers of murders of Romanies. A Roma holocaust survivor is quoted as saying, “ I’m afraid that Europe is forgetting its past and thatAuschwitz is only sleeping”.   (Prospect magazine March 2020).

My comment: My family had its run-ins with the “travelers” (as the Gypsies used to be called in England), but the worst that happened was that our hens and our toys disappeared at night – the culprits had nothing;  we were fortunate.  While we feared them, nothing excuses the treatment they have had over many years from racists and bigots.  More should be done to given them constructive alternatives to the wandering life.

Homelessness

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I have recently been traveling short distances by bus. On almost every (free) trip there is some poor soul, disheveled, hair down to his shoulders and carrying a weird assortment of plastic bags etc.

Homelessness where I live is all too common and affects both black and white communities.  They closed the hospital/ hostel called St. Elizabeth’s,  a haven for homeless people.  There seems nowhere for these poor souls to go. Recently, a man I spoke to said that he, his wife and children, were camping in the local library (there was no reason to think he was lying).

Many  have lost their jobs and homes (the virus is only one reason) and have psychological problems.  I keep some cash on me on the way to the gym to help anyone clearly in distress. (Yes, there is the drugs question – is that what the money will go on?) Notwithstanding the fact that you cannot know all the circumstances, I consider it a disgrace that these homeless people are not looked after.

For a quarter of the money handed by the current government to the ultra-rich in the last few years, every one of these homeless people could be given a roof over their heads, however basic.  Now that would be Christian!

Without  regard to gender, income, class and origin Epicurus welcomed people into his garden.  The least we can collectively do is to contribute towards giving the homeless shelter and food – and a bit of self-respect.  I will stay off the politics of all this, but the implications are obvious to everyone.

 

OK Boomer!

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 “OK Boomer.” is the retort from Generation Z (now in their teens to mid-twenties), to Baby Boomers (in their 50s to 70s) “who just don’t get it”. Teenagers use it to reply to Boomers ranting about “snowflakes”; to climate-change deniers; to Donald Trump’s tweets; to basically “any person over 30 who says something condescending about young people and the issues that matter to them”. It’s “the digital equivalent of an eye-roll”, blasé but cutting, and it’s all over social media.

It started as a meme, but now “OK Boomer” merchandise is selling like hot cakes: phone cases, bed sheets, stickers, socks, shirts, posters, water bottles. Many regard it as the “perfect response” – not least because it offends Boomers, who themselves are always going on about how easily offended the young are these days. There is, though, a serious side to the phenomenon.

“Anti-Boomer sentiment” is genuinely on the up, fed by “rising inequality, unaffordable college tuition, political polarisation and the climate crisis”. “OK Boomer” is a jokey phrase, but also a symptom of real hostility. Does it mark “the end of friendly generational relations?” (Taylor Laurenz, New York Times & The Week, Nov 9, 2019).

My comment:  I belong to the generation that preceded the baby boomers.  We lived through World War 2, experiencing rationing, bombing, and fathers absent at war.  No one had time, resources or inclination to spoil us.  But the generation after  this – the boomers – is another matter. They enjoyed the post- war boom, seemingly  unable to grasp how they, as a generation, enjoyed the voyage but then shoved the younger generation back into the cold water – overpriced housing, no job security, often no pensions, and outrageously expensive further education – to name just four parts of the problem.

My personal sympathy is totally with the young.  No wonder many are resentful and hostile!  Maybe Covid will change things, but I’m not betting on it.