JIMMY REID –  ALIENATION FROM DECISION MAKING

He spoke of the the feeling shared by many voters i.e. “who will listen to likes of us” Jimmy Read, Clyde Shipyard activist, spoke of this  away back in 1972 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Reid 

Why are we still waiting?Jimmy Reid (Clyde shipbuilding worker and activist) in his famous 1972  Glasgow University Rectorial Address  http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_167194_en.pdf  said

“……. alienation. It is the cry of men who feel themselves the victims of blind economic forces beyond their control.

“It’s the frustration of ordinary people excluded from the processes of decision-making.

“The feeling of despair and hopelessness that pervades people who feel with justification that they have no real say in shaping or determining their own destinies.”

What has improved since 1972?

For my own part I  believe we should strive to all be more involved.   Take action against this feeling of alienation.    I believe we can and must.

Reid  refers to the character in Catch 22  who was a farmer in the American Mid-West”….   an enthusiast for the agricultural policies that paid farmers for not bringing their fields under cultivation. From the money he got for not growing alfalfa he bought more land in order not to grow alfalfa. He became rich. Pilgrims came from all over the state to sit at his feet and learn how to be a successful non-grower of alfalfa. His philosophy was simple. The poor didn’t work hard enough and so they were poor. He believed that the good Lord gave him two strong hands to grab as much as he could for himself. He is a comic figure. But think – have you not met his like here in Britain? Here in Scotland? I have.

And later Reid adds

“The untapped resources of the North Sea are as nothing compared to the untapped resources of our people. I am convinced that the great mass of our people go through life without even a glimmer of what they could have contributed to their fellow human beings. This is a personal tragedy. It’s a social crime. The flowering of each individual’s personality and talents is the pre-condition for everyone’s development.”

For my own part this respect of the individual is more important than any economic theory and I want to see this introduced to local government?

This means I do not want to be making decisions FOR you   I want the people who live here and matter to have a say in those decisions

THAT is why I stand as independent and do not join any of the parties that might help meet get elected in the last parliamentary election in 2016 and now in your local election 2017