A Musing About Bread...

Tonight, having worked, played football, watched a movie, and changed for bed, I decided to make a sojourn to that lovely oasis of debauchery more commonly known as the Tesco Metro. Having missed my lunch and having forfeited my customary second serving of vegetables to the wrath of the "vegetable machine" (question: Should vegetables actually be processed in a machine?), I decided to undertake a quest for some form of late-night sustenance.

With my travelling party which included James, Jamie, and Stuart, I walked on through a surprisingly warm night until our destination was overtaken. Going through the bakery, I picked up an approximately 300 gram French baguette and an equally-sized loaf of wholemeal bread. Total cost: 10p (it came to 98p with the peanut butter, though). As I snacked on the baguette (now finished along with a goodly portion of the peanut butter), I walked along South Street and marvelled (aloud) at my good fortune: I had acquired a reasonable helping of bread (enough to constitute a meal) for one minute's wages...

As I think back through history, my limited knowledge of World History reminds me that skyrocketing bread prices was one of the primary catalysts of the French Revolution. In other words, people working twelve hours a day in mills, mines, and marketplaces were finding it difficult or perhaps even impossible to feed themselves on their wages, and this in the richest portion of the world in just the past few centuries. How could so much effort turn offer them so little in return? Thomas Hood, a contemporary poet, wrote (from the perspective of a female mill worker),

My labour never flags;
And what are its wages? A bed of staw,
A crust of bread - and rags.

Her story is not unique: all throughout history, men and women have suffered the scourge of hunger and often have suffered and died simply for want of foodstuffs that I so easily acquire through a minute's worth of stuffing envelopes.

What have I done deserve such affluence? Nothing. If, by some chance, I had been placed in a different part of the world or a different time period, poverty, misery, and hunger would be my constant companions. In his overwhelming generosity, the Almighty saw fit to place me in that narrow window of time, geography, and class that allows me to enjoy the most sumptuous luxuries every minute of my life. Abraham Lincoln, speaking to a nation that did without automobiles, telephones, television, the internet, and millions of pounds worth of spending money, noted that the American people enjoy, "the choicest bounties of heaven". Truly, such is my lot.

How Blessed, How truly Blessed I am...

Praise Be to God.

-Douglas

Talking about the Tories

Conservatives Must Inspire
By: K. Douglas Cochran

Any casual observer of Britain’s political climate will note the terminal decline of the Conservative Party, but few have fully appreciated the mammoth task which faces the Tories this year as they attempt to retake Westminster after two terms out of power. Indeed, trying to unseat a popular government during a time of economic prosperity is difficult enough without the internal squabbling and lack of direction that have plagued the Conservatives since their exile to the Opposition benches nearly eight years ago.

What’s more, nearly all of the major issues in modern politics favor the left by default. Indeed, Labour can automatically win on issues of health, education, the environment, housing, and social spending with the magic words, “more investment.” The Conservatives cannot hope to top the government in a bidding war for public services, so they must look elsewhere for winning issues.

Generally speaking, there are five issues which can deliver elections for the right: moral values, foreign policy, economic management, crime, and taxes. Moral values are not the trump card that they are in America, and Conservatives risk reminding the public of charges of “sleaze” that dogged Major in 1997 if they attempt to raise questions of ethics. Foreign policy usually works well if your party championed a short war against aggression (i.e. The Falklands), but Middle England isn’t so keen on neo-imperialist ventures with no clear end in sight. Gordon Brown’s economic management has been surprisingly prudent, and voters certainly don’t wish to return to the days of Thatcherite “boom and bust”. Crime, too, has become a winning issue for Labour, which has spared no expense in increasing numbers of police. More damaging, as Blair is fond of reminding the British public, the number of police in Britain actually fell during Michael Howard’s term as Home Secretary.

Taxes, however, may yet work for the Tories. While the government has been careful not to increase the top rate of income tax, Labour has raised other taxes sixty-six times and may be forced to go even further if economic growth begins to falter. Michael Howard has done well to bring the government to account for its stealth taxes, but he cannot win on taxation without providing a credible alternative. Simply holding the line on taxes may be prudent, but it is far from inspirational. Only credible promises of meaningful tax relief will give voters a reason to come back to the party of Thatcher and Lawson.

A message of, “New Labour is fine, but we’re marginally better and anti-Europe” simply isn’t the rallying cry that will win back moderate voters, or even turn out the party faithful on polling day. Unless they are content to simply compete with the Liberal Democrats for second place, the Conservatives must strike out with boldness and conviction. They have nothing to lose but their complacency.

Taking Inventory...

Rather than wait until New Year's Day to think about the past year and the year to come, I intend (rather uncharacteristically) to avoid procrastination and getting right down to it at once.

The Year in Review:

Let me start by staying that I often find it very difficult to compose "year in review" things because for me, years don't start and end in January and December; as a student, my school year has provided the most important line of demarcation. Needless to say, this will be rather difficult. Thus, I have decided to organize it thematically rather than chronologically:

Academically: (this will be long)

This year opened with one thought on my mind: COLLEGE. The very idea was all around me. If I wasn't thinking about it, my friends were talking about it or my parents were shouting at me to think about it. Unlike a lot of my friends, however, I opened the year with a general idea of how college was going to turn out; I already was the proud owner of rejection note from Oxford and an unconditional acceptance from St. Andrews. For me, it had more or less been a choice between the two to begin with, now the choice was a bit easier. January was spent filling out applications to Wheaton, Princeton, and William and Mary. William and Mary and Wheaton both said yes, while Princeton surprised me (rather pleasantly) with a seat on the waiting list. I refused it, however, because of some news from St. Andrews... In March, Dad established that St. Andrews was willing to give me home-rate fees, which would dramatically reduce the tuition fees. Moreover, June came with the news that AT&Ts scholarship would be granted for a full four years, which made a good situation much better.
I finished school in June, graduating second in my class, which was a great shame because graduating third would have given me an extra two grand in scholarship money. Nonetheless, I was fairly happy about the whole thing. St. Andrews opened with poor grades in IR and Management, but it's still early to tell.

Socially:

Saying goodbye to my friends from high school was terribly tough. Saying goodbye to friends from church made things even worse. The Crazy-8s, Roger and Thomas, the HCC youth group, Corey Flynn, Ray Tillotson, Ryan Smith, to name but a few. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to Easter and coming back to America. St. Andrews is a friendly town, however, and I have established some worthwhile friendships with decent people both in St. Salvator's Hall and in the university as a whole.

Physically:

This time last year marked the beginning of my determination to cut out the extra weight put on while I had the leg brace on. The infamous "apple diet", while rather silly to some, may be one of the better decisions I made so far. I did manage to drop two stone as a result, and, while certainly not an adonis, I feel healthier and feel that I live healthier now, as well (although Christmas break has seen me live a bit more on the indulgent side!)

Spiritually/Philosophically:

Challenged by both the HCC youth group and the CU at St. Andrews, I feel that my faith has grown stronger as a result of seeing so many intelligent, steadfast Christians. At the same time, I have lost my belief in the infallibility of the "Bible", by which I refer to the sixty-six books commonly named by that common title, though I still retain my faith. I also have somewhat amended my political views. Now thinking of myself as a "moderate libertarian", I have changed my mind in that I now: support gun control, oppose the death penalty, and oppose the constitutional amendment against gay marriage, though I recognize that it may be necessary in the face of judicial activism. My first vote was for Michael Badnarik for president, though the rest of my ballot was a straight one for the Republican Party.

Three philosophical ponderances that started this year that continue to inform my thinking:

1. If it is, in fact, true that giving a pound or two here and there can save the life of a child, or, at the very least, prevent human misery on a large scale in the life of an individual, is it my Christian obligation to divert every spare penny, every hour of my time, to alleviating that suffering? What would I have a first world citizen do, if I lived in desperate poverty?
2. I have a limited amount of time on earth. Therefore, I should live according to my values, doing what I ought, then what I want, and not caring what others think of it.
3. I am truly blessed. God has given me so many undeserved blessings.

Wishing all a Happy New Year,
-Douglas

Hello technology, nice to make your acquaintance...

Who knows if I'll actually write here or find some way of overcoming my technological illiteracy to make it worth reading, but I have always wanted to blog. Blogging is nice way to keep myself from all the things that I should be doing anyway, I suppose!