DianePorter

Good News!  The Warrington Guardian is doing an article on me next week – “Warrington Mum shuts up for poverty” or something like that!  David Mowat, my MP, is yet to respond but I’m still hopeful – even if he hasn’t responded to my emails I’m sure he’ll want to take the opportunity of a bit of press coverage to tell the people of Warrington what poverty means to him and what the Government will be doing about it. 

When I started this challenge I thought it would be quite fun to do but I’ve quickly got very fed up doing it.  I was struck by just how many opinions I have - hundreds every day but what I didn’t expect was the speed with which I began to withdraw from life – I would retreat to my room, shun social contact, avoid the news.  If you can’t express an opinion on anything, what’s the point?!  My blog has been a welcome release!! 

What has been lovely has been all the supportive emails and comments I’ve had – I’ve been truly touched and encouraged by that.  I’ve had a tiny taste of what it feels like not to have a voice.  I’ve been hugely impressed by my fellow Poverty Challengers – no shoes, sleeping in a tent, walking miles (in the rain) to earn a water allowance……  I’ve been inspired by them and all the wonderful people at Oxfam who work so incredibly hard.  AND we’ve raised some money to help the people we see on the news all too often – in places like Pakistan and Haiti. 

So heartfelt thanks to everyone xxxx and I’ll be back to my opinionated self tomorrow – Yeah!!!!!!  

I’ve always suspected that the “Big Society” was, as David Miliband put it, a “vacuous” notion but get this: - the World Development Movement and the Jubilee Debt Campaign asked people to send £1 to Andrew Mitchell, Secretary of State for the Department for International Development (DFID), requesting that he deposits it with the UN Adaptation Fund along with the rest of the UK’s climate money.  This fund enables the world’s poorest people to cope with the impacts of climate change and so far the UK has not put a single penny into this fund. 

And the response – DFID didn’t want it!  Instead of passing it on to the UN Adaptation Fund they sent it back.  The explanation – “they didn’t have the legal authority to accept public money.”

Back at the start of George W Bush’s first administration, two women, Jane Roberts and Lois Abraham, were concerned by cuts to the United Nations Family Planning fund (UNFPA).  They asked people to send $1 to the UNFPA to help provide family planning and reproductive health services to women living in poverty.  The money flooded in.  Staff at the UNFPA devoted their lunch hours to opening envelopes and finally the UN Foundation gave grants to hire staff to handle the mail.  Jane and Lois raised £4 million dollars!  President Obama has since reinstated the funding for UNFPA and Jane and Lois continue to fundraise[1].

The “send a £1” campaign strikes me as a good example of the “Big Society” in action – people coming together to do something about climate change, sending the Government some much needed hard cash towards climate change adaptation.  But what happens?  The Government just doesn’t want to know!

I am being to tire of being patronised by this coalition Government.  They have been ramming it down our throats about the budget deficit being all down to Labour - this I believe is designed to make me feel:

• ignorant (I didn’t know this was happening) or
• duped (Labour lied to me) or
• complicit.  (I knew about it, so it’s partly my fault)

We’re all encouraged to become part of the “Big Society.”  Well in case you didn’t notice Mr Cameron – there’s a lot of us out there already – just not within the Department for International Development.

Perhaps David Mowat, my MP, could get an explanation from Andrew Mitchell as to why DFID didn’t want the money.     

[1] Taken from “Half The Sky, How To Change The World” by Nicholas D Kristof & Sheryl Wudunn

Last night I watched “What the Green Movement Got Wrong” on Channel 4.  This type of programme would normally have me drafting a letter of complaint by the time the credits were rolling but last night I felt surprisingly unmoved by it.  Rumour had it that it was going to paint the green movement in a very bad light but as it turned out, despite the hype, I didn’t think it was all that bad.  Along with the ensuing debate, it just seemed to illustrate the diversity of opinion held within the green movement. 

There were some serious accusations and omissions in the film.  For example, it suggested the environmental movement in the west was responsible for denying technologies such as nuclear and GM to poor countries and the role of corporate power was barely touched on.  Craig Bennett, Director of Policy and Campaigns for Friends of the Earth and Dr Bhaskar Vira from Cambridge University both pointed out that opposition to GM had come from within the developing countries themselves, namely Zambia and India who have their own environmental movements.  On GM as the solution to world hunger, George Monbiot said there was a global food surplus and the problem was political and not technological, Mark Lynas said that was rubbish and so forth and so forth…..just your average exchange of views between a bunch of educated, articulate, and passionate environmentalists. 

So am I becoming disinterested because I can’t express a view; am I content to rely on others to express my views for me; do I defer to their judgements because they’re better informed or more articulate; do I think no-one’s going to listen to what I have to say?  I’ve been an environmentalist as long as I can remember and these issues really matter to me but I am definitely feeling uncharacteristically unengaged at the moment.  

And I can imagine this is generally what happens to you when you can’t express your opinion - when you have no money, no access to education, no energy beyond what it takes just trying to feed yourself and your family.  It does make you realise that poverty is about so much more than not having enough to eat and it doesn’t feel good.

Unlike some of my fellow Poverty Challengers, I haven’t yet had a response from my MP and I’m a little miffed by that.  But in fairness I’m sure he’s got much better things to do than comment on my self-absorbed musings on the difficulties of not having an opinion.  It turns out he’s been busy asking some very pertinent questions about the financial services industry and the banks http://www.theyworkforyou.com/   

Apparently we spent about £150 billion on the banks over the last two years.  I think we need to get some of this back.  I wonder what my MP's views are on the Robin Hood Tax?  The bank levy announced by the Government in June this year will raise about £2.5 billion, whereas a financial transaction tax, a tax as small as 0.05% could raise £20 billion annually.  Some of that could go towards climate finance.  And having read Duncan Green’s blog, we’re going to need it.  A new study puts the cost of environmental damage by human activity at 11% of global GDP ($6.6 trillion)!  Two thirds of this cost is attributed to CO2 emissions. 

The Robin Hood tax seems like a very good idea to me.

By the way, David Cameron had an “austerity breakfast meeting” this morning – apparently it was just a meeting - no breakfast included!  Glad to see the PM’s doing his bit. 

OK, I confess, I got on the computer today and before I knew it the opinions were coming thick and fast – I just totally forgot!!  Disaster!  But perhaps it doesn’t count if it’s online – I’m allowed to blog after all – but feeling very contrite – must try harder!  

Off to meditation class tonight - that should get me back on track – we’re learning how not to have any thoughts at all, never mind opinions so that should help! 

Of course, there’s a world of difference between not having a thought or an opinion and having an opinion and not being able to express it - it must be so frustrating – well it is – three days in and I am struggling…... if I could never give my opinion I think I’d explode.  The normal day-to-day stuff is proving the most difficult – my views on the USA mid-term elections can probably wait a few days but just everyday interaction with people is tricky.  Expressing our views on the weather, the traffic, what’s for lunch - it’s all just such an ingrained part of our daily life. 

So feeling a little humbled to-night – this is going to be harder than I thought!