Michael Kelly: Like the poor, it seems greed is always with us

Published on Friday 10 February 2012 00:00

Soup kitchens for Scottish families are a sure sign that despite centuries of preaching no-one really seems to get the message, writes Michael Kelly

I don’t know if this is a tale of hope or despair, an indication that there is still a spark left in humanity that can change society for the better, or resignation that there will never be a just society.

Depression comes from the announcement this week that Eastwood Church of Scotland has found it necessary to relaunch a charitable effort originally targeted at asylum seekers. It is now to concentrate more on ordinary Glaswegians “in response to the changing needs in our local community in difficult economic times.”

It is outrageous that in 2012 there is a need to offer a free lunch once a week and household goods and clothing to our neighbours. It is heart warming that there are good people with the conscience to tackle such social problems in the face of government callousness.

This is the kind of Christianity that was missing from the Catholic education of my generation. Religion for us was avoiding sin, confessing it if you didn’t and going to Mass on a Sunday. All pretty negative. But, of course, we had the consolation of being told daily that we were right. However, all during my adult life I have come across the practice, mainly by Presbyterians, of another form of Christianity – one more firmly based on good works. It is a much more humane, pragmatic and practical way of expressing one’s ethical beliefs. No doubt Catholics after a generation of ecumenism have learned to co-operate.

But are small groups valiantly making these philanthropic efforts amongst general indifference sufficient fundamentally to change society? There is not a lot of evidence that they are. Human nature is just too venal. Having just returned to Dubai after a gap of 30 years, the sense of materialism and acquisitiveness destroying a calm desert community is overwhelming. A deliberate policy of driving for wealth, not oil but service based, has seen the creation of the worst that western capitalism can offer. There are multi-lane motorways, polluting congested traffic and malls – malls where greed meets the desire for ostentation in a blitz of overpriced branded luxuries, none of which is essential or even necessary for a fulfilled life.

Despicably, this decadent lifestyle is built on the backs of serfs – poor ex-patriot workers imported and exploited for years and decades, work for a pittance in Victorian conditions because life back in Pakistan, India or Bangladesh is so much worse. The desperate immigrants queue for five hours at the airport to plead for visas which entitle them to servitude. Enslaving the poor to enable conspicuous consumption by the rich is an affront to humanity. Not that there ever was justice in these feudal states, but this is the form of exploitation that we have exported to, and support in, a country where all around are the signs of another religion that preaches the equality of man, if not of woman. The world hasn’t improved since the days of the Old Testament. Not even in Scotland, where we claim to have the warmest feelings for the idea of society. We do have that core belief which sometimes emerges forcefully. When Margaret Thatcher, who started the latest attacks on the under-privileged, and which continue today, attempted to preach the Gospel to the General Assembly her message was so alien that she was received by that polite body with stony silence. Reducing the parable of the Good Samaritan to a question of money went down like a pocketful of jingling cheels. But that was the hallmark of her idea of civilisation

However, since the 1980s the damage caused by poverty has become, if not worse, more apparent. We now know that poverty harms the very DNA of our children who are damaged forever before birth by deprivation in which they were conceived. Yet by embarking on a programme of health, housing and benefit cuts as rising unemployment cuts the living standards of even more people we are consciously and deliberately creating more deprivation when the latest evidence as well as our moral responsibility suggests that we should be increasing efforts to reduce pay inequality and increase benefits and opportunities for the less well off.

Tackling these root causes of poverty is something that is talked about but never addressed. Peripheral action like tackling the alcohol addiction which is another of Scotland’s woes mistakes the causation. It is poverty and hopelessness that cause the excessive drinking in poor communities, not the other way round.

No government since 1951 has faced up to the reforms needed to create a more equal society. What is needed is the zeal with which the Attlee government revolutionised health care. In truth it is not the politicians’ fault. There are people of goodwill in all parties. But there never has been a demand from those who elect them to take the action necessary to bring justice to the poor. People are selfish and refuse to support radical policies that would significantly redistribute income. Charity for them does begin at home.

We are stuck with democracy and rightly so because the attempts at socialist revolution have proved conclusive failures. They simply turn into not-so-benevolent dictatorships like the USSR and now Cuba. Nor should we welcome the fundamental un-Christianity that has tarnished the American right

What we need in the UK is a fundamental culture shift causing voters to support parties advocating policies that commit to radical change to improve the lot of the downtrodden despite the personal cost to the better off. Yet things are moving in the opposite direction with Chancellor George Osborne claiming that bonus payments are good for Britain. What did bonuses ever do for the poor of Glasgow?

Can the banding together of groups like that of the good folk of Eastwood Parish Church turn the current revulsion of the greed culture among businessmen into a movement that will generate enough grassroots momentum to encourage any political party to dare to adopt an anti-materialism culture. I would like to hope so.

But Christians have had 2,000 years to implement the teachings of their founder and things are getting worse. So I am left as one of the sceptics. “The poor you will always have with you.” Believe it.

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douglas-home rule

Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 10:26 AM

Labours heartlands in Scotland, where Labour has ruled for decade after decade, are among Europes poorest communities, while the MPs who represented them, live lives a medieval King would have been envious of. The gap between rich and poor got bigger under Labours watch, and people like Lord Mandelson have wealth that their working lives cannot explain.

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allymax

Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 12:56 AM

#11 africraig; totally agree with you. Keep Witnessing the Lord, the poor in Scotland need all the Christian help in these real hard times. If you're abroad, then that's where the Lord wants you just now, but can you please talk-up Scotland's push for independence; it's Westminster's fault all this horrendous poverty in Scotland.

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africraig

Friday, February 10, 2012 at 10:49 PM

As I understand it, Christianity in Scotland had a huge impact on society, from building schools to hospitals to orphanages to campaigning for more equity. Christians in Scotland still have a big impact, but it is the type of thing that isn't heralded and bigged-up by anyone. An example of an organisation doing incredible things in Edinburgh is Bethany Christian Centre, a place where alcohol and drug addicts get freedom from the slavery of their lifestyles. I worked there for 3 years and saw the impact for myself, God's message does make a difference... much more than any political party's policy ever will!

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samcoldstream

Friday, February 10, 2012 at 08:00 PM

The author will find both the poor and the greedy in his former council ward in the East End of Glasgow. Glasgow's Millions Better off.

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florian albert

Friday, February 10, 2012 at 12:04 PM

#5 bdj I agree totally. It would have been close to impossible not to notice the work of the SVDP when growing up as a Catholic in the 1950s and 1960s. Perhaps he also failed to see the box at the back of the church 'for the poor.' As far as I am aware, Michael Kelly and his family have never told how much money they took out of the club you mention - set up to help the poor - before they left it bankrupt.

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maccamckenzie

Friday, February 10, 2012 at 11:51 AM

if you don't like oil, walk, or cycle but will the millions do it no. they the poor have always been there, their education is slightly better than before, they the majority of the poor, will never make it out of their ghetto. John Smith who is related to capitalism to benefit all, forgot about the poor! Thatcher is blamed for many things, but thatcher was voted in by a majority mainly from England and a few Scottish tories. We let it happen, misery is sometimes ones own making. When we Scots vote to leave the fold, not much will improve for a long time! poor will still be around , and the snouts will still be in the trough :-)

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Goodbye London Labour

Friday, February 10, 2012 at 11:43 AM

Kelly, can you really not work out that YOUR party-London Labour-is the reason there are so many poor people in Scotland? Our riches have been squandered by the unionist twins, Labour and Tory.

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famous15

Friday, February 10, 2012 at 08:41 AM

Mr Kelly surprises me. Why did Canute come to mind. Canute with a red rose. We deserve better and it may just be on its way if George Square is still shaking.

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bdj

Friday, February 10, 2012 at 08:13 AM

Perhaps Michael Kelly is above joining it, but the catholic church's SVDP was in virtually every catholic parish in Scotland as he grew up and profoundly assisted the lives of the very poorest in our society. Unheralded, it continues to do so, as it has for over 100 years, with the participation of ordinary catholic men and women from very poor parishes to the best well off parishes who, supported by clergy, have given of their time and love to the poor with money and resoucers raised by catholic parishes and given it to the poor. Kelly's characterisation of the Catholic church of his youth as not reaching out to the poor is a real head in the sand response to what was going on all around him on a daily basis. I might also add that the Marist Brothers (one of dozens of a catholic religious orders whose whole lives were dedicated to raising up poor people through education) are well known for starting a football team to feed the poor of the east end of Glasgow, but he wouldn't know much about the motivation for that either, I suppose.

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McNasty

Friday, February 10, 2012 at 07:27 AM

#1. Straight too the main point. Westsinister corruption, mostly at the MOD. That so many should become dependent on charity for a meal is a disgrace.

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allymax

Friday, February 10, 2012 at 01:56 AM

Well done to Eastwood Church of Scotland; allymax..................Michael, you said, "We are stuck with democracy and rightly so because the attempts at socialist revolution have proved conclusive failures."..........I'd luv tae huv a political discussion wi ye oan this very ideal, but now is not the time. Needless tae say, ye'r wrang!..............Then you said, "...encourage any political party to ... adopt an anti-materialism culture....But Christians have had 2,000 years to implement".....Ehhh, we don't have politicians with Christian mindsets, nor Christian values. For Glasgow's Labour politicians, it's all about Westminster trougher-expenses, war, capitalism, City of London, Peerages, Golden pensions, titles that mean absolutely nothing to anyone. What's that got to do with the Christian church in Scotland? Both the Catholic, and the Protestant Church in Scotland do actually care about the poor; Glasgow in Eastwood is a good example. When have we ever seen Labour politicians slummin'-it fir ra poor? But the Church does it. So stop wi' yer agravatin' ra church, micky!.............Congratulations to Revd. Graham R.G. Cartlidge.

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Angus McLellan

Friday, February 10, 2012 at 12:38 AM

When I saw the title I was expecting something on Glasgow's budget vote shenanigans from an insider. Paint me very disappointed.

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Handsome Scotsman

Friday, February 10, 2012 at 12:28 AM

Trillions of oil revenues getting scooped up from the bottom of North Sea, yet, for some unknown reason, Labour thought it better that cash went to London to fritter on nuclear bombs and military mis-adventures. Weird people making weird choices.

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