Monday 19th October 2020
3 of us were present, 10 people gave apologies for not attending.
Participants today had the option to attend an outdoor face to face meeting or a Zoom meeting. The Zoom meeting is reported separately.
Discussing arrangements for further meetings over the winter months we would return to The Pub if that was possible. In the meantime, those at this meeting favoured continuing to meet Face to Face outdoors.
We wondered what the effect of face to face meetings being replaced by zoom was having on political processes more widely.
Discussing the troubling situation in USA we were reminded that ultimately power resides in the individual states rather than the federation. What will happen if Trump loses? Would California declare independence? Would there be violence on the streets? Orchestrated by Trump? And would Biden be able to make peace with the Trump supporters? Or is it just the extreme right fringe who would be prepared to take up arms?
While the situation in UK is very different, the political right in both countries is fragmented. On the one hand are the globalist Tories (Republicans) and on the other hand the nationalists. But while Trump is ideologically driven by a kind of America First frontierism, Johnson is more likely to adopt whatever position gives him power. We considered that the key role of USA in conflicts around the world would likely decrease under Biden or Trump in the light of the increasing influence of China.
In a discussion of climate change we considered, but were not altogether persuaded by, the possibilities afforded by carbon capture. Indeed, would any ‘technical fix’ address the real problem which, we felt, was wider than simply (!) global warming? A change in the relationship between humans and the natural world was needed: one based upon collaboration and respect, rather than competition and domination.
The corrupting influence of marketisation was considered in relation to the environment, the arts, sports, etc. As an example, the ‘business’ of football could collapse under stress of Covid (and similarly much in the arts), but might this, in the longer term, lead to an unravelling of the marketing pressures to the benefit of many areas of human activity?
As in the economy more widely, we felt that the present disruption of the status quo could lead to a realisation that we had to construct more collaborative, rather than competitive, ways of organising life. But it might also lead to more authoritarian and dictatorial politics. The next meeting will be on 16th November by which time we may haver an answer to some of the above questions!