K.P. Webster's Blog, page 25

Feedback Friday :: Itchy Feet, Godlessness and an Unencumbrance of Wealth

bulk :: 12st 12

days away :: 4

beds slept in (sofas and mattresses included) :: 5  

books sold :: no idea (I kind of wish you’d stop asking)

book reviews :: 0 (I’m trying not to get too sad about this)

days till I go back to France for a fortnight :: 5

weeks till I give up and go farming :: 10

feet that itch :: 2 

 

 

I had a very good time in London, thank you for asking, not least because I saw lots of old friends again and was asked if I would become a secular godfather to the daughter of a couple of them. A kind of godlessfather. Of course I said I would be honoured. And I am. I also feel like it’s another spur to keep going, to get a move on, to make something of my life and pass whatever I can of it on.

 

‘Whatever I can of it on.’

 

I know my words.

 

I spent too much money at the weekend. I have none left again. France is going to be tough. Everything’s going to be tough. It’s tough being free, let’s face it. Free of money I mean. Free of wage-slavery. Unencumbered by wealth. 

 

Plus, it’s snowing.

 

Now, in honour of the budget, and ramped-up austerity, and the great gift of capitalism in general, I’d like to leave you with this letter to the Guardian from Michael Meacher MP, which you may have seen before. Even if you have seen it before, it’s really worth reading through again, just to remind yourself how obscenely unfair is the system to which you shackle yourself, and in so doing, help to perpetuate. I’m not having a go at you. I’m just saying, you should probably quit your job and start growing your own vegetables. Anyway, here’s the letter, from May of last year…

 

The annual Sunday Times Rich List yields four very important conclusions for the governance of Britain (Report, Weekend, 28 April). It shows that the richest 1,000 persons, just 0.003% of the adult population, increased their wealth over the last three years by £155bn. That is enough for themselves alone to pay off the entire current UK budget deficit and still leave them with £30bn to spare.

 

Second, this mega-rich elite, containing many of the bankers and hedge fund and private equity operators who caused the financial crash in the first place, have not been made subject to any tax payback whatever commensurate to their gains. Some 77% of the budget deficit is being recouped by public expenditure cuts and benefit cuts, and only 23% is being repaid by tax increases. More than half of the tax increases is accounted for by the VAT rise which hits the poorest hardest. None of the tax increases is specifically aimed at the super-rich.

 

Third, despite the biggest slump for nearly a century, these 1,000 richest are now sitting on wealth greater even than at the height of the boom just before the crash. Their wealth now amounts to £414bn, equivalent to more than a third of Britain’s entire GDP. They include 77 billionaires and 23 others, each possessing more than £750m.

 

The increase in wealth of this richest 1,000 has been £315bn over the last 15 years. If they were charged capital gains tax on this at the current 28% rate, it would yield £88bn, enough to pay off 70% of the entire deficit. It seems however that Osborne takes the notorious view of the New York heiress, Leonora Helmsley: “Only the little people pay taxes.”

Michael Meacher MP

Labour, Oldham West and Royton

 

Depressing, huh?

 

Have a great weekend.

 

x

 

 

freedom, impermanence and love

When I was probably around 13 or 14 I saw a weird film about a young man’s romantic relationship with a much older woman. The only other thing I remembered as my life sauntered along and the film occasionally resurfaced was that the young man in the film kept faking his own death.

 

The film of course is Harold and Maude, and a couple of weeks ago, I watched it again, for the first time in a ridiculously long time.

 

 

The funny thing is, I tried to watch it again a few years ago when a friend recommended it, but it was late at night and I was a little bit under the weather (drunk), and it didn’t work out. I say it’s a funny thing, because in retrospect, I don’t think that was the right time to watch it. Instead, when I watched it for the second time a couple of weeks ago, that was the right time to watch it.

 

I’ve been getting more into Buddhism again recently, you see. You may remember I was dabbling with it a couple of years ago when I chanted for that street-cat in Italy and inadvertently killed it. (I don’t really think I killed it by the way. I’m joking. I’m joking about life and death. Ha ha!)

 

And the reason I’ve decided it was right that I watched it now and not then is because Harold and Maude is a very Buddhist film. Which is to say, it has a lot of Buddhist themes and philosophy in it.

 

 

And I don’t think that would have meant so much to me a few years ago as it does now.

 

Apart from anything else, it’s a brilliant, inspirational, invigorating, awesome little film and I wholeheartedly recommend you watch it.

 

So there you go.

 

 

You can read about the Buddhist elements here if you like. Or not bother. And you can watch the film here for free on YouTube or send off for your own copy for a couple of quid here.

 

Or, thanks to digital technology and a tiny splash of html, you can even watch the film here, on this very website. Go ahead. I’d be honoured…

 

 

Good God, look at the time.

 

Nightnight. 

 

x

 

 

Living France :: Making It Through Winter

One day soon I’ll have something more interesting for you than these old columns. Not that these old columns aren’t solid gold and absolutely well worth bequeathing to a dangerously underplenished internet. But I know, some of you, one or two of you, deserve something more interesting. Your time will come. Hang on in there.

 

Living France :: A Red Letter Day

I did not choose these titles of course. You should know that. Nor the pull-quotes. I wish I had.

 

 

 

Living France :: The Retreat

This is terrible quality, isn’t it? It should be legible – should you wish to leggerlo – if you click on it…

 

 

 

Follow Your Bliss

Today’s blog post is easy.

 

I urge you to set aside 80 minutes of your life and watch this film.

 

 

Then – if you’re not already doing it, and you have enough courage, and you’re not too bound up by your own cynicism – follow your bliss.

 

I thank you.

 

Living France :: The Fête

I’m so tired. So very tired. Here’s another column from the past. I’m trying to put them up in the correct order but I’m promising nothing. I hope you had a splendid weekend. I did.

 

 

 

Living France :: March 2012

I’m so tired. So very tired. Here’s another column from the past. I’m trying to put them up in the correct order but I’m promising nothing. I hope you had a splendid weekend. I did.

 

 

 

Living France :: The Second Feature

The first feature I wrote for Living France apparently went down well enough for them to commission a second. I’m not sure why some of it looks like it’s had vaseline rubbed all over it. I can only assure you it hasn’t. Honest. Here it is…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Living France :: November 2011

The first feature I wrote for Living France apparently went down well enough for them to commission a second. It may have been December 2011 actually, rather than November. It may even have been January or February of 2012. I have no idea. Doesn’t matter though, does it? And I’m not sure why some of it looks like it’s had vaseline rubbed all over it. I can only assure you it hasn’t. Honest. Here it is…