AndrewPointon.Com

on 19 March, 2010

in Life stories, Politics and Travel

. 0 Comments

Homeless person on Jacksonville Beach

Many think that life at the beach would be idyllic. For one section of the community in Jacksonville Beach living by the seaside is less about sunbathing and surfing, but more literal - the sands and environs are the closest they have to a home, it is their life. There can be few examples of the wide gulf in wealth within US society as strong as the differing experiences of people who populate “The Beaches” area of Jacksonville.

While a couple of miles down the A1A multi-million dollar homes nestle around the Ponte Vedra Golf Course (a few miles further and you encounter the exclusive and world famous Sawgrass Golf Club), at the other end of the social ladder homeless people sleep on the sands through necessity not choice. There is a mission house on Shetter Avenue which provides daily meals, showers, clothing and some medical assistance, but many homeless people find themselves without a bed for the night and gather on the beach instead.

During my six months in Jacksonville Beach my early morning bike rides would often coincide with small groups of homeless people awaking near the dunes and getting ready to make the journey to the Mission House for a meal. One man (pictured above) was a permanent fixture on the beach, his belongings in tattered plastic bags and a small suitcase that had seen better days. Whenever I saw him he was either asleep or more often indulging in a bizarre ritual of a dance-like shuffle making a small square shape motion in the sand while nodding to some kind of music. Whether it was from a mp3 player or just a tune in his head was difficult to tell. A walk along the beach yesterday once again included passing this dancer moving to to the beat of his own private world.

Another encounter was more involved. One evening back in July at the Ritz bar I had my camera ready for the space shuttle launch at Kennedy some 150 miles south, having been told the tail of flame could be seen from the beach on a clear day. As I made my way over to the boardwalk with a few other shuttle spotters, I met Rodney and Tammy, a homeless couple trying to earn small change by telling jokes. Spotting the camera Rodney told me to take their photo as it was their second anniversary, and I duly obliged. Three weeks later I bumped into Rodney again one morning as I locked my bike up outside Walgreens. “You do right to lock it up my friend, I had mine stolen a few days ago”, he informed me. We spoke for around five minutes during which time it became obvious he was local celebrity, nearly all those entering the store said hello to him. Rodney offered to take the shirt off his back to clean my bike wheels to earn $2. He got the money without the toil. I told him that I’d taken the photo of Tammy and himself a few weeks before and that I would print him a copy. Rodney was delighted and told me the two regular spots on the beach where they spent the night so I might find them to hand it over. On my rides I always carried the photo in my bag in case I saw Rodney again. In the end probably a couple of months passed before I did, spotting Tammy and Rodney walking along the very road Tina was driving us down to collect her children from their father’s. We pulled over, my initial shout startled and seemed to worry them. As I approached it was clear Rodney did not recognise me, his face wracked with concern, but a swift explanation and offering of the photo brought about huge smile, and a vigorous handshake. As we drove away Tammy and Rodney remained motionless, both holding the photo and peering at it in amazement. In the scheme of things a small gesture and certainly no answer to their problems, but I hoped it made their day and made them realise someone cared something about their situation.

While trying to research homelessness in Jacksonville Beach I came across this video report from First Coast News made in November 2009 just before I left the US. It contained some familiar faces. Police Clean Out Homeless Camp In Jacksonville Beach I have yet to see Rodney or Tammy during my latest visit to Jacksonville Beach so I don’t know if they are still in the area or have been moved on to another county, or worse, sent to jail.

The City Rescue Mission in central Jacksonville says that homelessness has increased 33% in Jacksonville and could increase another 10% to 20% in the near future. Below is a factsheet that City Rescue Mission has produced:

Federal officials say homelessness over all is expected to rise 10 percent to 20 percent in 2009.

Each year, more than 3 million people experience homelessness, including 1.3 million children. One-third of the homeless population is made up of families.

And according to national studies, even more Americans are at risk of homelessness. Millions of low-income American households pay more than 50 percent of their income on rent when estimates say the figure should be no more than 30 percent.

A missed paycheck, a health emergency, or an unpaid bill creates a crisis, pushing them out of their homes and in to homelessness.

While the number of homeless individuals in shelters was about the same as last year, the number of people in families increased by 9% to 516,700, suggesting that family homelessness was on the rise.

Approximately 40% of homeless men are veterans, although veterans comprise only 34% of the general adult male population. The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans estimates that on any given night, 200,000 veterans are homeless, and 400,000 veterans will experience homelessness during the course of a year.

There were early signs that the economic crisis may have affected trends in homelessness nationally. Notably, a greater share of people accessing the homeless system in 2008 came from stays with friends and family and from places where they had lived a year or more, suggesting that people who had been stably housed were becoming homeless after exhausting their housing options.

The number of homeless families with children has increased significantly over the past decade. Families with children are among the fastest growing segments of the homeless population. In its 2007 survey, the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that families with children comprised 23% of the homeless population. These proportions are likely to be higher in rural areas. Research indicates that families, single mothers, and children make up the largest group of people who are homeless in rural areas.

Sources: http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/who.html, http://www.nlchp.org/hapia.cfm and http://www.ich.gov/

Time flies

Published

on 16 March, 2010

. 0 Comments

It has been some considerable time since I added an update to this blog. Back in September 2009 in fact, then still still a couple of months away from ending my Florida adventure. Maybe with a hint of appropriate consistency I am once again sat at the table in the Jacksonville Beach apartment, this time just for a brief two weeks holiday, the very place where the last blog entry took shape.

A great deal has occurred since that last blog post. The arrival of my parents in Florida in July provided a lot of potential material to post, photos to edit, and yet limited the available time to carry out such tasks. I fell behind with the entries and apart from a couple of retrospective postings, lost the drive needed to catch up and continue a regular offering. Furthermore a restructure at work turned my attention to submitting a job application, preparing for a video conference interview via Skype, and the days in the local Beaches Library were dedicated to retaining my own job rather than the observations of Florida life. Once the interview was complete Tina and I then spent ten days in Italy, attending her brother’s wedding in Siena. Those ten days provided more items to write about but little free time, the most notable event was proposing to Tina in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican, Rome on 23rd October. She accepted by the way!

Leaving Tina and Florida in mid November and returning to the cold, bleak Leeds streets, and a workplace where staff morale was the lowest I have ever encountered, was as hard as it was painful. I had obtained a position in the restructure, a promotion in fact, but no joy could be taken from it when colleagues and friends were unsuccessful and in danger of losing their jobs. Most shocking was the tragic news that during the six months I was away two colleagues took their own lives. The mood at work was sombre at best, sometimes mutinous, motivation absent, and the feeling towards management close to outright fury. This atmosphere, the cold weather, and the returning to an empty house every night left my mood very dark, and the last thing on my mind was writing a blog.

But there are positives. Tina and I have, with her ex-husband’s co-operation and support (in fact he suggested it), decided to live in the UK. Tina came over for Christmas which was a happy time, and we looked for wedding venues, settling on Temple Newsam House in Leeds. We now are embroiled with the frustrating and complex task of sorting out the application for settlement in the UK for Tina and two of her boys, so they can be over in time for a September wedding. Having been used to having Tina, her boys, and the cats around for six months, not to mention being in a location where mid November still allowed cycling after dark in t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops, it was remarkably hard to go back to Britain to the solitary life. Furthermore the need to save money has necessitated a frugal life of simple pastimes, staying home reading, watching TV, or browsing the internet. I have so far failed to see a Stoke City match at the Britannia this season, my football fix obtained from a few trips to the now defunct Farsley Celtic FC.

One distraction I have embraced enthusiastically is a greater involvement with the Green Party as the General and local Council Elections loom. I helped during the unsuccessful campaign in the Leeds ward of Hyde Park & Woodhouse byelection in February, and have been leafleting around the Farnley & Wortley ward with the aim of getting Cllr Andy Parnham re-elected and helping Cllr David Blackburn’s Parliamentary campaign for the Leeds West Constituency. Leafleting has a rather soothing and stress-busting effect. When striding up an unknown driveway, one’s concentration is locked on folding the leaflet correctly, the potential awkward letterbox that makes insertion a chore, and the possibility of some slavering beast waiting on the other side to remove any straying fingers. All worries of the day at work, or the months ahead are gone, the mind is cleared and focused on the simple task of getting the paper through the slot without incident, and the exercise is also good for body and soul. While this blog as suffered, I have been busy updating the Farnley & Wortley Green Party website and have also assisted with the Headingley Green Party’s new site too. I have also agreed to be David Blackburn’s election agent during the General Election campaign.

While this latest holiday in Jacksonville Beach affords me the time to restart blogging, I must give credit to another source of inspiration. A contractor called David has been working in our office since my return to Leeds. Stoke born and bred, a similar age to myself, and a great fan of Stoke City during my favourite era - the Lou Macari Years in the early 1990s - so no wonder we have stuck up a rapport and shared plenty of laughs. David discovered my blog by accident, and has apparently been working his way through past entries. It was his compliments about the stories and enjoyment of them that gave me the impetus to write something new. Sometimes the thought of “what’s the point” flits across one’s mind, but if other people do appreciate the efforts made, it is flattering and galvanises the resolve to continue. I find writing fulfilling, people seem to enjoy reading my observations, and if I can provoke thought and positive action from just one person then the whole exercise is worthwhile. So thanks David, and we must keep in touch when you move to your next contract.

In the meantime I think I should make the most of the sunshine and head outside. Who knows what things are going on out there that are just asking to be written about!

The dirty game of politics

Published

on 15 September, 2009

in Politics and Travel

. 1 Comment

Today is election day here at the beaches, and indeed throughout the Florida Senate District 8 area. The special election was caused by the death of Republican Senator Jim King in July from pancreatic cancer. So staunchly Republican is District 8, that the Democrats haven’t bothered to field a candidate. As a result four Republicans have been battling it out for the privilege of representing this area in the State Senate in Florida’s capital Tallahassee.

As a graduate with a degree in Politics and Sociology, this sort of stuff usually interests and entertains me. But even more so round here. It has bordered on a comedy. A neighbour, who is a registered Republican, has been shoving a plethora of election mail shots under our door. This is part of our ongoing game of winding each other up in jest. In return he gets left-wing postcards stuck to his door but that’s a different story. Receiving these pieces of mail has given me an insight into the contest, as too has watching the television adverts between plays in American Football games. There’s not many positive messages, not many ideas about how to improve matters, just a volley of abuse, charges and counter charges. Marvellous.

The original favourite is John Thrasher, a former member of the Florida legislature, who is endorsed by former Governor Jeb Bush (brother of George W Bush), the National Rifle Association, and the Right to Life PAC. So three good reasons not to vote for him then. Thrasher, 65, claims to have three fundamental principles: government reform, government efficiency, and government scale, believing government ought not to grow faster than the ability of its citizens to pay for it. Sounds like that nasty ogre of “Big Government” rearing its head eh John? Meanwhile his opponents have accused Thrasher of spending millions of taxpayers’ money, including to redecorate his office and the state house chamber—even using a state plane to fly to Texas to shop for desks! The source of these claims are a group called Stop Tax Waste, Inc. Lovely.

A Federal judge’s recent ruling dismissing Florida electioneering laws has allowed special-interest groups like Stop Tax Waste, Inc to freely spend in this race without disclosing who they represent or who contributed to their cause. Another, Conservative Citizens for Justice, is running an advert called, “Enough,” that compares John Thrasher to South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who lied when he traveled to Argentina to meet his mistress, and ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is accused of trying to sell an appointment to the U.S. Senate. But it isn’t just Thrasher who has faced this negative campaigning.

Thrasher’s principal opponent is 40 year old “New Conservative” Dan Quiggle. In 1989 Quiggle worked for President Ronald Reagan in his post Presidential office and now claims he intends to stay true to Reagan’s conservative principles of personal freedom, economic opportunity and undying optimism that America’s best days are ahead. Behind this would be lowering taxes, and being a proven job creator having started three businesses. Don’t call us Dan, we’ll call you. Quiggle has been accused by his opponents of being an opportunist hurting conservative causes for personal gain, using First Coast Tea Party video footage and logo without permission, and using donations from “liberal personal injury lawyers” to attack rival Thrasher. A group called Truth Matters, a Tallahassee-based organisation, also accused him of hiding behind trial lawyers. A conservative mingling with dastardly liberal lawyers for electoral gain? Surely not. Imagine that. In reply, Quiggle has accused Thrasher of spying on his family and filming his home, the footage appearing on You Tube. Cripes.

Apparently Thrasher and Quiggle are neck and neck in the polls. Gawd help us. But there are two more candidates. Most amusing electoral leaflet goes to 71 year old Stan Jordan. Jordan owns a 40 year old pickup truck which was pictured on a leaflet about saying no to the Obama “cash for clunkers” scheme, and demonstrating that “Stan’s your man” knows the value of thrift. If it wasn’t such a gas guzzler I’d salute his green credentials! A former US Army Colonel, Jordan claims he represents tax cutting, rooting out wasteful spending, creating jobs (as a owner of three beach diners) and traditional Christian family values. Jordan also believes education is important, something that has been rarely discussed on the campaign, probably as it might involve spending some money if my experiences at a recent school parents’ night are anything to go by.

Finally former Jacksonville City Councilman Art Graham suggests himself as something of a compromise candidate - neither a lackey of the state Capitol nor a political novice. “Vote Smart, Vote Art” is the 45 year old’s slogan, confusingly using the colours of the British Liberal Democrats on his banners. There’s an irony - someone ought to tell him. Graham’s experience includes being on Jacksonville Beaches City Council from 1998-2002 and, from 2003, two terms on the Jacksonville City Council. A president of an environmental consulting business, Graham portrays himself as a self-made man from a military family who paid for college with scholarships and work. As well as championing low taxes, small government and economic growth, he sees the need to re-examine the way public schools are run and stresses improvement to transportation and other infrastructure at the Port of Jacksonville as more international carriers look to bring goods through Northeast Florida. Graham also supports the introduction of a commuter rail system, and was the man behind the Beaches Trolley system which provides cheap transport around the beaches area during weekends. But just when I was warming to him slightly, an updated website message blows him out of the water. Pro life, a supporter of off shore drilling for oil, NRA card carrying member, and doesn’t not support “Obama Care”. No thank you Art, I’ll pass.

While Jordan and Graham have escaped the negative campaigning, one mysterious leaflet slipped under our door had racial undertones. It neither supported nor attacked any of the candidates, but showed photos of President Barack Obama, Black Panther radicals from the 1960s, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and the liberal activist groups ACORN and moveon.org encouraging people to vote. It was distributed by the Conservative Voters’ Coalition. “Armed thugs may try to scare you away from the voting booth. Do not let intimidation and threats of violence against you keep you from exercising your constitutional right to vote.”, it advised. Bizarre.

The cost of the campaign is enormous. According to state records the four candidates had already raised nearly $774,000 by 28th August, with more than $400,000 of that heading to Thrasher. It is estimated the special election will cost between $550,000 and $600,000, although some of that cost will be reimbursed by the state, while voter turn out is expected to be no more than 12%. This is the price of democracy. It’s obviously only an academic exercise as I’d be unable to vote at all given I’m neither a US citizen nor a registered Republican. But faced with this bunch I really despair. There’s much posturing but little substance, little in the way of policy initiatives. All favour lowering taxes in a state where there is no income tax. In a separate election for the City Council District 13, the favourite, a Republican called John Meserve stands accused of accepting $105,000 he’d “forgotten about” for acting as an “unpaid agent” for a development company looking to build in Mayport, the area he represented. No wonder that mistrust of politicians and government is so great here. If it wasn’t so serious it would be funny. It’s kept me smirking and fuming in equal measure. Whatever the result the public won’t be the winner that’s for sure.

A Totalitarian’s Tick List?

Published

on 5 February, 2009

. 0 Comments

Last night I attended a local Green Party monthly meeting. These are open to all, not just party members, and they take the form of a brief presentation followed by a discussion. The topic yesterday was “Civil Liberties”. Martin who delivered the talk took Naomi Wolfe’s “Ten steps to Fascism” as his central theme for the discussion, and very thought provoking it was too. Wolfe argues that Fascist and totalitarian regimes almost have a shopping list of ten things they must achieve if constitutional freedoms are to be snuffed out by the would-be dictators. She draws parallels with the Bush administration but it doesn’t take much of a leap to see how a similar picture is developing in the UK. But then again as Matt Johnson opined on The The’s excellent “Infected” LP, we are the 51st state of the USA.

Read Wolfe’s full article but the 10 steps to Fascism are;

1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy
2. Create a gulag
3. Develop a thug caste
4. Set up an internal surveillance system
5. Harass citizens’ groups
6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release
7. Target key individuals
8. Control the press
9. Dissent equals treason
10. Suspend the rule of law

Update
Almost right on cue, a day after writing this the BBC report on the worrying increase of surveillance in Britain today. See here: warning over a “surveillance state”..

Dogged resistance on the doorstep but NHS deliver quality response

Published

on 9 December, 2008

. 1 Comment

Determined to be more than an armchair supporter, a week ago today I started to deliver leaflets for the Green Party. Tonight was my fourth outing, not too far away from the library in Armley. The first street I had to do was a dimly lit back alley, and dispatching the first couple of leaflets easily I had a little difficulty with the next letterbox. At first I couldn’t get the folded paper to go in, so folding it again to increase its thickness I tried again. Second time of asking it went in, unfortunately my fingers slipped through to the other side with it where they were met by the mouth of some unidentified beast.

Given the power of the grip I had to wrestle my hand from I assume it was a dog, but it made no noise to give away its identity. What was certain was my fingers were bleeding quite badly and I was dripping on the pile of leaflets until I fashioned a homemade bandage from my hankerchief. I clearly could not go on. My fellow leafleteers advised that I go to hospital for a tetanus jab, something that did not fill me with delight as I hate needles, and I’m sure the last tetanus jab I had was administered to one’s fleshy derriere. But I duly complied and set off to the Accident Unit at LGI.

It was busy in the reception waiting room as usually is the case. Amongst others there were a collection of gammy legs, kenched backs, and some dazed youth with a substantial bandage around his head. I expected a long wait, my ailment neither life-threatening nor particularly painful. But I was pleasantly surprised. The National Health Service might get some stick but it does a marvellous job in difficult circumstances and with stretched resouces. Indeed I was out before one hour had passed, assessed, cleaned, bandaged up, and armed with a box of antibiotics because I’d been bitten by an “unknown quantity”. “Might have even been human”, advised the Sister. Thankfully I escaped the tetanus injection because apparently the new guidelines state that the inoculations received in childhood will last a lifetime. Whether these are the guidelines of the British Medical Association or NHS accountants I’m not sure. But I’m not complaining, indeed I have only high praise for the care I received. I shall just have to develop a new technique next time I’m delivering for the cause.

Pointon endorses Obama!

Published

on 4 November, 2008

. 1 Comment

I suppose as a Green I should be supporting Green candidate Cynthia McKinney or Independent and environmentalist Ralph Nader in the US Presidential Election. However I am also a pragmatist and I realise that this is a two horse race between Democrat and Republican.

Senator McCain once impressed me in an interview many months ago before he had even entered his nomination. He seemed a reasonable man with principles unafraid to stand up against the ill deeds of the Bush Administration. However as this campaign has gone on, the vile side of Republican politics have appeared, using smear and deceit instead of forceful argument about policy. Any notion of putting “country first” went out of the window with the appointment of the horrendous Sarah Palin as running mate. This clearly was to help a flagging party and rightfully has made many people question McCain’s judgement. For me the Republican Party now represents narrow minded bigotry, the privileged, and corporate interests of America. It has little to offer the vast majority of Americans and hopefully voting Americans are waking up to that fact.

On the other hand while no means perfect, Senator Obama represents hope to the marginalised in US society, and the record registration levels show that rather than resigning themselves to their lot, many Americans now are engaging in a political process they feel might deliver them better opportunities. I read Obama’s “Audacity of Hope” a few months ago. Obama’s plans for health care, education, green jobs, and a foreign policy based on diplomacy not unnecessary force, offer real measures to combat America’s difficulties, while for me showing a better analysis and understanding of what America and the world now faces. McCain is a man of the past, Obama is a man for the future, and that’s why I hope he becomes 44th President of the USA.

Obama was in Jacksonville Florida yesterday on the final day of campaigning before Election Day. Tina was in the crowd and kindly provides these pictures.

Obama in Jacksonville 3rd November

The crowd shows Florida wants change at the Obama rally in Jacksonville 3rd November
[c] CrazyHair Productions

Mondays with meaning

Published

on 21 October, 2008

. 0 Comments

Monday evenings have recently turned into an interesting time to settle down in front of the television. I say that as a fan of investigative journalism, and believing it is necessary to hear two sides to a story, especially when powerful forces back one point of view to the extent it becomes accepted as unquestionable. There two good broadcasts last night, one from the BBC and the other from Channel Four.

The BBC’s Panorama programme Should we be scared of Russia? provided a differing interpretation of Russia’s recent alleged aggression. By contrast it argued that having embraced capitalism, consumerism and democracy, Russia has felt let down by the West , and indeed has been found itself threatened by Western expansionism. The defensive organisation NATO was not disbanded at the end of the Cold War along with the Warsaw Pact, but has changed its ethos to a more interventionist approach, and has recruited former soviet states on Russia’s border into its membership. The plan to establish US missile bases in Poland and the Czech Republic has rankled Russia further, and in response Russia has increased military expenditure. With 20 million Russians living in the now independent former soviet states it is no wonder that what goes on their borders is of interest to them. The BBC report asked us to look beyond the rhetoric of Western politicians and look deeper into Russia to what is happening in their society, and consider another point of view.

Closer to home was Channel Four’s Dispatches programme which examined whether the energy companies’ claims that rising fuel prices meant that huge increases in household bills over the last year were justifiable, and they have no choice but to pass these rises on to the consumer. Is this the truth? There is also evidence that shows that the profits paid to shareholders has increased by 20% over the same period. I recommend a viewing
Dispatches.

Globalisation and a Green Alternative

Published

on 15 October, 2008

. 0 Comments

Considering the global economic crisis that has been unfurling over the last few weeks, I guess it’s timely and appropriate that I’m currently reading the so far excellent book “Green Alternatives to Globalisation: A Manifesto” by Michael Woodin and Caroline Lucas.

Arguing that globalisation increases poverty, undermines democracy and destroys the environment, the authors attempt to demonstrate the urgent need for a new approach, namely economic localisation, which is based on the Green principles of equity, ecology and democracy. So far I’ve read about the critique of globalisation, and I’m about to start the section that prescribes the alternative and the necessary solutions. It’s a very accessible book, easy to understand, interesting, and enlightening. It highlights some of the important counter arguments to globalisation which largely get swept under the carpet by the economic elite who attempt to portray the current path as being an unquestionable consensus, and not merely the latest incarnation of capitalism.

Here’s a few excerpts, firstly a definition:

“Globalisation
Noun: 1. the process by which governments give away the rights of their citizens in favour of speculative investors and transnational corporations.
2. The erosion of wages, social welfare standards and environmental regulations for the sake of international trade.
3. The imposition worldwide of a consumer monoculture. Widely but falsely believed to be irrevocable.
(From the dictionary of ISEC - International Society for Ecology and Culture)” [1]

Here’s part of the introduction to what the alternative may be:

“Adding a few environmental clauses here or a social clause there will not alter the fundamental nature of the beast. The bottom line is that a planet of finite resources and increasingly unmet social needs cannot sustain an economic system that is driven by corporate and interests and based on ever-increasing free trade and international competitiveness… The drive for international competitiveness is one of the greatest obstacles to achieving higher social and environmental standards and the whole raft of Green policies needed for a more sustainable society. As soon as proposals like this are suggested, corporations put the brakes on by claiming it will reduce their competitiveness, and threatening to relocate.

Greens believe therefore that rather than trying to make dog-eat-dog economic globalisation a little bit kinder and a little less ruthless, it can and must be replaced by an alternative that challenges its insistence that all economies be contorted to the end goal of international competitiveness, and its emphasis on beggar-your-neighbour reduction of controls on trade and investment.

Economic localisation is the antithesis to economic globalisation. This involves a better-your-neighbour supportive internationalism where the flow of ideas, technologies, information, cultures money and goods has, as its end goal, the rebuilding of truly sustainable national and local economies worldwide. Its emphasis is not on competition for the cheapest, but on cooperation for the best.” [2]

George Monbiot also wrote an interesting piece on the global market turmoil in the Guardian yesterday arguing that the economic crisis is petty by comparison to the nature crunch. However they have the same cause.

[1] “Green Alternatives to Globalisation: A Manifesto”, Goodwin & Lucas p.18
[2] “Green Alternatives to Globalisation: A Manifesto”, Goodwin & Lucas p.68

Talking about a (social) revolution

Published

on 14 October, 2008

. 0 Comments

I’m just on a train heading back from London, browsing the internet courtesy of National Express East Coast’s free wifi service for all passengers. I’ve been to an event at the stunning National History Museum held in the equally impressive Mary Anning Room. While a welcome distraction from the usual working day, the event’s main concern was promoting a website called TALK, which aims to provide free space to public sector organisations to host content, and collaborate with other like minded bodies to avoid duplication of effort and swap ideas or highlight pitfalls. The site provides private “spaces” where project materials can be stored for sharing with colleagues and partner groups, but the ethos is very much about collaboration regionally and nationally, publicising experiences so all may benefit.

My grandiose title of “Content Manager” essentially means that I champion the site encouraging its use, and then setting up the news spaces and users as the requests flock in! Less exciting is the necessary compiling of statistics about site visits and use. Today’s event was to drum up new support and to promote the growing use of “social media” in the public sector, and how it has become an important consideration around service delivery and reduction of costs. Everyone seems to be at it these days, writing blogs, posting photos about their local area, or campaigning online to improve aspects of life in their local community. Seeing the large numbers of laptops on this train that are not just in the hands of businessmen, it is clear that the internet is driving a social revolution, and is central to many aspects of life including the nature of how the public sector needs to work.

The guest speakers today included Malcolm Forbes, Director of Regenesys and Council Member of the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce), Tom Reynolds an Emergency Medical Technician for the London Ambulance Service who writes a blog called Random Acts of Reality about his daily experiences, and Peter Kawalek of the Manchester Business School, who was once a sceptic thinking blogs were “self indulgent twaddle”, but now sees social media as being a profound yet unpredictable force in shaping our world.

I have to get off the train soon, but will add more later…

Well it’s much later and as promised here is a bit more on the day.

One of the delegates, Alan Holding of MDDA (part of Manchester City Council), was kind enough to provide a live blog of what was happening today, and it is an excellent and detailed summary of the speakers’ presentations (minus a few required insertions to come later). So it would be rude not to link to it here. To be honest it removes any need for me to report any further on matters. I encourage you to read it, especially the piece on Peter Kawalek’s entertaining use of Top of the Pops, bookshops, his fictitious social heroine Anna Eagin, and the romance to be found on a canal bench!

Sun shines on Manchester peace protest

Published

on 23 September, 2008