One danger of the constant flood of often contradictory media news and opinion can be that it induces a paralysis- of action, even of attention. This is especially true of President’s Trump’s statements and actions- and that is perhaps his intention. Jeffrey Sach’s analysis of US policy from the days of the Washington Consensus (last month’s mailing- and see note 1 below) offers a useful “vantage point”, though whether Putin merely intends to keep Ukraine out of NATO has yet to be tested (is a pro-Russian Ukrainian President part of his long-term agenda?) And were Eastern Europeans desperate to join NATO as a “shield” against Russia, as many claim? Part of our task is to carefully choose our news source from the many on offer- Guardian Weekly, “The Week” (see note 2 below), Channel 4 News (compared to the BBC?), Radio 4 News PM etc.
Ece Temelkuran (also last month’s mailing) argues that neo-liberal economics inevitably leads to fascism, based on her experience of Turkey. But “fascism” can be an ill-defined insult, unless it accurately describes the deliberate use of violence as the first resort (rather than last) to defend an economic system.
We seem to see today’s world being re-divided into antagonistic power blocks- the USA facing China, Europe and Russia left to work out their own future, Africa abandoned (to China?). If this is so, what should we be saying to Keir Starmer? Perhaps that if we need to increase defence spending (and quickly), we should present this as an emergency case for increased taxation (income and VAT) rather than raid the Development and Benefits budgets – what percentage of the electorate would support that, however, is by no means certain. (And how much would Welfare reform yield if people are given adequate support back into work, rather than being abandoned as they are now- and who creates the available jobs, in any case?).
Our reading was from John chapter 4, the encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. Samaritans were a despised people, the result of the Assyrian invasion and repopulation of northern Israel 700 years earlier (Israel’s version of that history is in 2 Kings 17, verses 24 to 41, with reminders of Israel’s relationship to Palestinians today). Jesus surprises her by requesting a drink, and promising her “living water” (verse 10)- literally “running water”- a constant source of spiritual energy (compare John 7, verses 37 to 39 and Ezekiel 37, verses 1 to 14), best seen as the love which is reflected in the lives of many people, of all faiths or none. The New Testament, however, wishes to say much more about Jesus, echoing what he says about himself (eg Mark 2, verse 10 and John 6, verse 45 etc). A major part of its understanding of the work of Jesus is not only to teach and encourage goodness in humanity, but to break the power of the forces which harm and destroy human life and community (forces which the New Testament letters call the “principalities and powers”- eg Ephesians 1, verse 21 and 6, verse 12; Colossians 2, verse 15). In the case of the Samaritan woman that was not only the racial and religious prejudice from which she suffered, but also her exploitation by several men as a “disposable” commodity (verse 18).
Notes: Washington Consensus: https://www.piie.com/blogs/realtime-economic-issues-watch/what-washington-consensus
“The Week”: https://theweek.com/uk offers a summary of often opposing views in the media.