Wry was the answer in a recent crossword clue, see:
Using or expressing dry, especially mocking, humour.
Well it is I suppose, given this definition, stretching a point to describe this blog as Wry!
But given the subject matter that I try to cover, the whole rigmarole of the so called, 'Big Society', the attack on those who stuggle in an increasingly hostile environment to make ends meet, who literally are faced with a choice between heating and eating, where the best example of the so called big society, in which citizens seek to help each other out, is the explosion of food banks, that dry, especially mocking humour, can only be seen as inappropriate.
But wry is the word I hang onto because every example that comes along simply re-inforces the view that whilst some folk barely hang on with the 'help' of pay day loans, others simply amass unsustainable wealth in their barns.
Two deaths this week, Bob Crow, the indefatigable leader of the RMT who worked tirelessly to defend and improve, the pay and conditions of his members and now Tony Benn.
Both men, who have been excoriated by the press and politicians of both left and right, will now see their legacy reviewed and those who couldn't find a good thing to say about either will pay their glowing tributes.
In the village that I lived in until I retired and moved North, there was an eccentric couple who had literally filled their house with newspapers and magazines, rumour had it that when they died there were editions of various magazines and newspapers dating back to when they bought and moved into the house.
There were rooms that it was impossible to enter, piled high as they were with newsprint.
Certainly no car had ever been parked in their garage as that was the first place in which they began to store the collection.
They weren't misers.
They exhibited no particular signs of irrationality, they just couldn't thowaway or recycle their newsprint.
But it was odd behaviour which when it was shared amongst neighbours and villagers was described using dry, mocking humour.
But what if these elderly neighbours had otherwise been amassing instead money?
Brown, Green and Blue banknotes. stacked under the bed, in the garage, in the lounge and hallway.
What would have been said when this huge treasure hoard was finally revealed?
That amassing all this wealth only served to make other people poor?
That it was irrational?
That nobody benefits when such a huge amount of money is withdrawn from circulation?
That nobody needs a house stuffed with money?
But then when Bankers negotiate their bonusses, when the the senior management team of a business are offered retention bonusses simply for staying in the jobs they applied for and to which they were appointed.
When CEO's simply seek to amass wealth and store it in their barns.
What do we say?
Better to prepare for a rainy day?
Well I think that I would want to report the wry view of a penniless teacher from 2000 years ago who described such people as 'rich fools' who simply attached too much importance to wealth.
This 'rich fool' of Luke's Gospel amassed his wealth in his barns until his barns were full and then he built new and bigger barns and then he died.
As the condems vision of society, of which someone said, there is no such thing, moves towards its completion people are finding that there is simply less humour, less compassion, people are smiling less, we are entering difficult and anxious times, there is simply less kindness in human interaction.
Instead of piling up treasures on earth in bigger and bigger barns it is surely time for a spirit of generosity by which treasure is shared more widely and commonly between people.
As Tony Benn and Bob Crow might have suggested quoting another socialist visionary, from each according to their ability, to each according to their need ......
Using or expressing dry, especially mocking, humour.
Well it is I suppose, given this definition, stretching a point to describe this blog as Wry!
But given the subject matter that I try to cover, the whole rigmarole of the so called, 'Big Society', the attack on those who stuggle in an increasingly hostile environment to make ends meet, who literally are faced with a choice between heating and eating, where the best example of the so called big society, in which citizens seek to help each other out, is the explosion of food banks, that dry, especially mocking humour, can only be seen as inappropriate.
But wry is the word I hang onto because every example that comes along simply re-inforces the view that whilst some folk barely hang on with the 'help' of pay day loans, others simply amass unsustainable wealth in their barns.
Two deaths this week, Bob Crow, the indefatigable leader of the RMT who worked tirelessly to defend and improve, the pay and conditions of his members and now Tony Benn.
Both men, who have been excoriated by the press and politicians of both left and right, will now see their legacy reviewed and those who couldn't find a good thing to say about either will pay their glowing tributes.
In the village that I lived in until I retired and moved North, there was an eccentric couple who had literally filled their house with newspapers and magazines, rumour had it that when they died there were editions of various magazines and newspapers dating back to when they bought and moved into the house.
There were rooms that it was impossible to enter, piled high as they were with newsprint.
Certainly no car had ever been parked in their garage as that was the first place in which they began to store the collection.
They weren't misers.
They exhibited no particular signs of irrationality, they just couldn't thowaway or recycle their newsprint.
But it was odd behaviour which when it was shared amongst neighbours and villagers was described using dry, mocking humour.
But what if these elderly neighbours had otherwise been amassing instead money?
Brown, Green and Blue banknotes. stacked under the bed, in the garage, in the lounge and hallway.
What would have been said when this huge treasure hoard was finally revealed?
That amassing all this wealth only served to make other people poor?
That it was irrational?
That nobody benefits when such a huge amount of money is withdrawn from circulation?
That nobody needs a house stuffed with money?
But then when Bankers negotiate their bonusses, when the the senior management team of a business are offered retention bonusses simply for staying in the jobs they applied for and to which they were appointed.
When CEO's simply seek to amass wealth and store it in their barns.
What do we say?
Better to prepare for a rainy day?
Well I think that I would want to report the wry view of a penniless teacher from 2000 years ago who described such people as 'rich fools' who simply attached too much importance to wealth.
This 'rich fool' of Luke's Gospel amassed his wealth in his barns until his barns were full and then he built new and bigger barns and then he died.
As the condems vision of society, of which someone said, there is no such thing, moves towards its completion people are finding that there is simply less humour, less compassion, people are smiling less, we are entering difficult and anxious times, there is simply less kindness in human interaction.
Instead of piling up treasures on earth in bigger and bigger barns it is surely time for a spirit of generosity by which treasure is shared more widely and commonly between people.
As Tony Benn and Bob Crow might have suggested quoting another socialist visionary, from each according to their ability, to each according to their need ......
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