2007 December | Family Affairs and other matters

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION

29. December 2007

“Kindness in other’s troubles
Courage in your own”.

Maybe that will be my New Year’s Resolution.

Or maybe I’d be better off sticking to giving up drinking and eating and anything else I can think of that is actually fun, even if it is killing me. I might have to start wearing a label during January saying “Don’t come anywhere near me, I’m grumpy”.

So, my slightly dysfunctional New Year’s Eve is coming together, with my daughter planning all sorts of party games, my teenage son pleading with me to let him go to a different party and my 7 year old asking how much wine he can drink.

I have decided that my New Year’s Resolutions of yesterday are selfish and small minded and that I should be more outward looking and aim to raise my worldwide awareness in 2008.

I wonder what 2008 will bring for the world?

Personally, I think the banking world have a lot to answer for and as investment banks from London to Wall Street write off billions against their exposure to defaulting US sub-prime mortgage borrowers (that I mentioned months ago), their state of disarray continues. No one yet knows the extent of their losses. In the UK, people continue to spend plastic money. Borrowed money. Not their own money. Who is it that continues to lend them money? The housing market at the very least will have to correct itself (house prices are still about 10% higher than a year ago) and then what? I think banks should be more answerable to the moral debate and have a built-in philanthropic obligation to improve their social responsibilities.

Of course there is still talk of a global meltdown next year, but the world economy has not done nearly as badly as has been predicted, given the financial turmoil that has recently dominated the headlines. Some predict carnage next year, but who knows? Yes, we have a fragile economy, but the near collapse of Northern Rock and the subsequent panic that ensued merely confirms that we are being too selfish. Our concern for our money is far greater than our concern for the people of Darfur and others in the world that our struggling with civil war, hunger and other unimaginable plights.

So, instead of giving up drinking and eating I have slightly revised my list. I’m going to save the world instead. Not only the planet, but the people and the animals that live on it.

That’s much better.

A Happy New Year to you all.

POST CHRISTMAS BLUES

28. December 2007

2 Comments

I survived. I’m so lucky in many ways, but bloody hell does Christmas highlight the fuck-ups we single parents have created for our children. It makes me want to go back to being a complete family, just so that I can give the children everything I had as a child and everything that you imagine [...]