Dearth of Deaths Recognition.

Dearth of Deaths Recognition.

The Egyptian book of the dead was an instruction on how to deal with the demised and prepare them for the after life. It was an instructional book that gave an obligation on the living to care for the deceased in an organised and respectful way and depicted ceremonies that had to be performed to offer the best advantage to insure that the deceased was carried to the after life with full respect and the necessary resources. This preparation in its extreme is shown up in tombs and mummy finds and one might assume that with the cultural attitude of the time that the same care, albeit on a much poorer level, was also carried out for those that believed in the same attainability of an after life.

Although the book could well be read as part of a religious process and made specific to the time of the pharaohs, it might be that some element of the intention of the ceremony themselves relies on written records built on centauries of previous verbal rituals that marked the passing of a life from one realm to another. In this organised process it may have offered a more conscious mechanism for the living to both mourn, pay respect and create a power source for the deceased to move to another place and thereby give some continuity to the living that they may also be given the same rite of passage when their own times comes.

Throughout time different ways have been made to formulise the process of death. The process of formalisation stemmed from before the time of old cultures like the Egyptians, Mayan, Indian, Aboriginals etc to the organised ‘undertakers’ and church gatherings of today. They have all carried within the ceremonies some form of symbolism to pass the spirit on. Such symbolism that there is, formalised in the organisation of death, are in many cases poignant ceremonies that are both sad and hopeful and marks the mortality for those that attend such ‘ceremonies’, reminding them also that every step taken by them is one to ones own parting. However as society as become more specialised and to some extent disfranchised from the process of actually taking care of the deceased body, the process and disposal of the remains has become sanitised. As social structures have become sophistically complicated this sanitisation is probably useful and to some degree this is also as a result of the legalities surrounding death, the interment process and subsequent cremation due to a lack of space to bury the remains.

Death, stating the obvious, is a very personal affair, very few have any fore knowledge of the appointed day and for those given the responsibility to attend to residue affairs it is an onerous and emotional task. To those few that do have time to get their affairs in order, it is potentially a stressful period but one that at least offers some time for preparations and ‘good bys’, however the time given is generally as a result of time limited physical or mental disintegration and in most cases not necessarily a welcome one.

In some ways death has always been hidden away, it is not a general lively dinner table topic of conversation. In life one might carry such aspiration, imagination, hope and fears; only busy in the activities of survival and life; too active to know that an end will come. Is it enough to know that as: - “humans forget the simple tenet: - they are born, they die, the in between bit is too short to be totally happy and too long to be always miserable!” Yet if there is time for contemplation in life, how can one avoid examining the question; is this all there is? Not to do so in some way denies the quest of a curious spirit.

To get a sense of how much humans avoid a discussion of death consider the angst over whether to have or not have a death penalty. The main argument against the death penalty is that it is:-
An ultimate sanction to serious acts of crime, usually acts of murder, with no chance of correcting a mistake inflicted on an innocent person if one is made.
In a civilised society it is not acceptable to have organised state driven putting too death; as it can be seen as a failure of civilised society as a whole to avow such legal judicial termination that can find no other means of controlling serious acts of crime.
Is it the only way that a crime of such a serious nature can be punished in order to have the offender not able to commit any other such crimes that would otherwise call for completed whole life incarceration?
See 6th Commandment 1.1.06

Humans are born and accept that they are alive in the present as consciousness takes place but apart from being acquainted with death as a secondary condition of life that is to befall others, the nearness of it to one own departure is avoided. It is being denied its rightful place in the normal life process and society is not generally respecting the process of death; that there is a time to die. As the preparation for death is un-discussed and the actual process of dying has become subcontracted, it is as if the imminent nature and likelihood of death can be delayed by pushing the palliative and ceremonial element of death onto others less directly involved and one might say thereby abrogating a balancing cardinal responsibility of being alive.

Although specialism in the organisation of death duties has made it more manageable, the choice of how or when is usually not within ones control. With the application of medical assistance which can delay a departure and the subsequent funeral and disposing of a deceased remains, there are times when the ability to prolong a life is not helpful and simply complicates the passing. Such resistance against dying although understandable may not be one of choice for the departing soul, in which case direct action is needed to intercede and bypass the rectitude of social constraints. Currently intercession could be by the use of legal assistance, i.e. the withdrawing of medical support after protracted consultation, DNR, or assisted suicide which carries some risk for those associated with carrying it out. There is another alternative.

There have in the west been great strides in challenging the variety of diseases that have afflicted wo/man, diseases that have been the cause of early deaths for millions. Deaths caused by poor hygiene and what might be now considered simple affliction that are now curable with modern medication offering an extension of life. With the ability to extend life that has improved over the past 100 years and increasingly the very high dependency of medial intervention, death for many is delayed; this is of particular importance within the young up too and in breeding age. There is a thought that with such intervention the natural health strength of western population is much weaker and will be therefore more susceptible to mutating diseases as predacious culling of the past generation has not taken place in the west over recent time.

With the beginning of gene modification and gene therapy is will be possible to treat many diseases that currently afflict humans but it will come at a cost and not all will be able to afford it. There is little doubt that for the foreseeable future that health care will be under server restraint in cost terms and although many would wish to have access to the best treatments that money can buy; it will not be possible to meet such expectations. Choices will have to be made and that choice will in the first instance be made by the rich, they will have the financial resource to afford costly medical treatment to avoid a presupposed early death. May others will have to seek the best economic option available that will be paid for from the public purse, many will be disappointed with not getting the best and most expensive aid seeing it as deigned right and limiting their life so condemning them to what might be seen as an ‘early’ death.

In all case the problem is that the affluent west, those countries that provide a decent health care system, citizens are increasingly demanding higher expectation from their health care system far beyond its ability to fund and do not wish to face the prospect of dying.

Given the plethora of doom laden films, lack of self control, greed and the growing environmental issue, these impacts and disenchantment or discontent that some people of the west have developed for the ‘good society’ might explain why some things are going of the rails. The sense that there is a degree of dissatisfaction or despondence in the benefits of social integration and the wealth, that has been accumulated compared with 2/3rd of the world population in degrees of poverty; may be a self defeating psychological attribute that seems to yearn for something to happen that both shakes the foundation of the society and provide change. The apparent weakening off the social structures, the raise in selfishness, lack of humanity values, ephemeral moral moderation, obliteration of social niceties and a lack of self discipline etc may give rise to a sense of additional foreboding to compound with the increase in destructive, violent, vulgar games and attitudes that have been pushed onto the media and computer ‘gaming world’. There is a weak consensus that a nihilism type of movement is taking place that is slowly degrading many elements of social structure and that this may be the cause of an eventual catastrophic carnage.

Change does seem to be required, to inject constructive appreciating values back into civil order but there is no reason why such change should be peaceful or initially pain free. With such destructive idealism in the general populace it may be conceivable that such thoughts bring about or even creates destruction. At a time of great stress it is likely that the desire to have change will bring into being the means for a massive shock to the systems that supports a civilisation, to reconstitute it into new foundations driven into existence by something like a maybe war, a pandemic or environment disaster!

If one considers just the recent financial credit crises and its constructed causes, it could bring to mind a proposition by sociologist Émile Durkheim and his idea of ‘anomie’, a term used to describe an emerging state of social deregulation, were the rules and expectations of peoples behaviour towards each other were dissolving. It is an idea that does not relate to an individuals state of mind but to the content of social structures in which individual are not guided by common self controls or morals but pursue selfish ends. His argument was that anomie became prevalent when the adjoining society undergoes change in its economic status, good or bad and particularly were there is major differences between ideology, theory, or values generally perceived as beneficial and what is really attainable in life.
For example a person with anomie may struggle to attain the good benefits of society like a high or decent standard of living commensurate with the ideological common good but would not be able to obtain such benefits lawfully due to structural limitation in the society no matter how hard they worked and may then be corralled into displaying abnormal conduct not conducive to the perceived common good

Given the weight of current bad news in the social system, from the credit crunch, recession, economies under pressure, conflicts, environmental issues and the actual harm caused by these event; may it just be the tipping point that will bring into being a manmade civil anomie or an event such as the, up to now, over played predicted global pandemic?. This is leaving aside the guaranteed affect of the looming energy crunch with non energy holder uniquely exposed. Is it too far fetch to think that with the current propagated financial fiasco which has had such profound effect on the authenticity of the economy of the west that an unexpected collapse of civil structure caused by a the likes of cultural pandemic, will follow?

If such an event were to occur, death would be on a scale not experience in generations and the Angel of death will be extraordinarily busy.

The Angel of Death or Grim Reaper as it is known in western terms or psychopomps by varieties of different names in other cultures is thought of as a creation of fanciful convenience. It has increasingly been associated with all souls night – 31st October Halloween and with the turn of the new years on the 31st December; all of comparatively recent development but its essence probably predates written history and carries with it the conviction of belief as an elemental force and its job is to guide the sprit of the deceased onwards.

Although depicted in a number of forms from animal representation to skeletal being disguised with cloak and the scythe of time, it is treated with some comedy or fear. It may be wrapped in comedy to hide the uncomfortable nature of its meaning and fear because of its unknown quality. Perhaps it should be feared as it hides the unknown but it could also be seen as providing a service whether one believes in an afterlife or not.

The Angel of Death, if asked to do so can help a dying process but it must be done without guile, or selfishness with good intent as in gods will with the willingess of the departing spirit. There is a thought that in asking the Angel of Death to consider departing assistance without the consent of the one afflicted or with ‘hidden’ ulterior motive, could risk rebound repercussions. Although it might be that the Angel of Death is often just taken to be associated with the task of progressing a death, generally on an individual or sometimes a block basis, its tasks is perhaps also to oversee the transition of civilisations. To clear out used up modes of unacceptable social behaviour and ineffective reproduction that does not have the ability to defeat diseases or adapt to new social integrations and it makes way for a new paradigm structures of civilisation.

Giving due attention to the process of dying no matter how it is done should be with a recognition that it is an unavoidable consequence of life and all life exist on death. If one has the choice, how much better to have the Angel of Death on your side at a time of need, to help ease a passage, perhaps when your time has come?




© Renot 2008
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Reality check for MP's?

On top of the recent tax steal that Gordon Brown tried to push through, with his 10p tax take on the poor, the big retrospective VED tax increase on vehicle, the sudden rise in fuel and foods cost; the government and its fiscal policy are in some difficulty. For the foreseeable near future, the need to increase tax to pay for the governments spending policies and to redress the light lax hand on the regulations that controls the economy which has given rise to the current credit crises, will all need some careful manipulation. With this unfolding of the so called government of “prudence”, it is time that MP’s of the labour party and any new incomer had a reality check for what has come to pass.

The credit crunch is having a dramatic effect on the general publics spending pattern upon which the government has relied on so much in order to keep the economy boosted over the past ten years. But with the squeeze now being felt on disposable incomes the spending tap has been turned off and it is having a spectacular effect on the fiscal assumption that the treasury made under the dictatorial control of G Brown and latterly contentiously by A. Darling, who is having to reclaim the “prudence” tag.

It does seem to many people that the government has lost all sense of contact with the populace and has treated them with some fiscal contempt. While there is no doubt that taxes have risen over the past decade to pay for public expenditure, it has been by hidden means like pushing debt into the future via PFI projects, indirect tax such as taxes on insurance, air tickets, increased local authority rates, general duty taxation and not by direct income tax. Yet it has over the past twenty five years at the same time allowed the tax burden to fall more heavily on the poor and become lighter on the rich with city excesses of pay for the ‘captain of industry’ and bonus out stripping general pay rises. It has also propagated the illusion over the past decade that the growth in the economy was sustainable and ingrained in productive activity, unfortunately ignoring the rapid expansion in the use of banks lax loaning largess feeding borrowing and consumer debt. It is this explosion of loans and borrowing to spend that more than anything else has supported the UK boom period, done without the knowledge of where the sustainable asset generation was to come from. Many people being no wiser went for the strategy of living for today and borrowing on tomorrow, which assumed conditions will be the same as yesterday and OK.

It is now abundantly clear that the government has missed managed the economy. It has been far too lenient with the rich, far too lax with banks; too insular with “the city” spent too much tax money, not taxed enough and not controlled borrowings.

With the general presumption and expectation fostered by past successive governments, that tax take can be driven lower, there is insufficient scope to continue to afford the spending regime so far undertaken nor is there enough reserve to bale out the markets debt. Government spending plans will be slashed; taxes and international borrowing will have to increase. It will be politically suicidal for the government to increase direct taxation leading up to an election year of 2009; however it has to ‘do something’ and to some extent the stupid idea of raising revenue with the proposed rise of the retrospective VED on top of other fuel and food price increases will not be a smart move.




Although the damage being caused by the “credit crises” is building up to a recession that might slow increase cost down, the pressure on some element of the world economy is for inflation to feed into the consumer markets and drive cost up.
With the ‘cost of living’ increasing the government will wants to control the potential raise in inflation and it is in the process of attempting to drive down people’s expectation in wage demands. This current inflationary pressure has not been caused by wage demands, this has been the usual excuse but by the governments (EU/USA) own inept credit expansion blindness, damaging energy and environmental policies in supporting bio fuel feed stock developments that has consequently diverted normal food crop production to bio fuel; so allowing the market to hype the cost of food and oil. The government has also not focused on the energy utilities to invest in delivery and stock systems allowing them instead to play the market with a JIT attitude to energy demands and not insist on them providing an extended energy buffer. This has resulted in the substantial sudden rise in consumer energy cost which has also not been helped with stealth carbon taxes on these products and the subsequent current jump in fuel cost feeding through all other consumables.

In transport terms, just with fuel cost increasing by 33% this pushes the cost of travelling by car up to the extent that it is having an effect on car use itself but more importantly on the use of disposable income. Consumers are making a deliberate choice forced on them to use the car more economically (which is serendipitous coincidentally what government transport policy is about) but the pain of having to do so is making general product consumerism disappear. At the same time consumers are asking serious question of the government on how and why this sudden reversal of fortune has come about, with this in mind they are in no mood to accept government platitudes on wage restrain or tax demands from whatever source.

As an example of the cost implication for an individual, assume that the average person does just 5000 miles a year with a consumption of 30 mpg to get too work, the cost to a working person is currently about £833. If the average Joe’s wage is £24K, that works out to 3% of their income being utilised. Now take the new VED; a normal family car that is hit with a doubling of car tax from say £210 to £420 equates to another 1% of income or in some case a week’s wage. Throw in increases in gas, electric, food, rates, and any stealth tax, one may be looking at a sudden loss of income that amounts to at least >4%. Is it little wonder that the mass of ordinary working people are going to feel financial pain when the pressure is to make them pay for the mistakes of economy miss management by restricting wage demands below an inflation rate? It may seem just now those that caused the initial problem, having made a financial killing, walk away pain free.

All MP are being paid something more that an average wage and have had access to expenses that more than cushion them from the sudden shock of squeezed financial resources. They may therefore have overlooked that the majority of people on or below an average wage do not have spare resources to absorb that sudden rise in the cost of living. Naturally these low paid people will be expecting and demanding wages to rise to help offset these increased cost, much to the government distaste. The prevailing impression is that MP’s have taken their eyes of the ball; they have allowed themselves to be cocooned in the political financial bolster that they themselves enjoy. They have been absorbed in the Iraq debate, the tenuous ‘war on terror’, the infighting over Blair and Brown, and with political party self interest, have not been astute enough to question the shape or direction of the British economy that relied on consumer borrowings, lack of savings, city and bank exploitation and the wildly divergent incomes between the rich and debatable poor. This disengagement of knowing what is going on with their constituent has been shown up in their lack of scrutiny over the tax relief pension rip off, the 5p pension rise, the 10p tax, carbon tax, carbon credits give away, energy stealth taxes, a useless FSA, the run on Northern Rock (now a public bank), capital market bale outs and the deliberate unaffordable credit expansion all to be topped of with more taxes like the proposed increases in VED.

There can be no doubt that the government is in a no win situation and may press on with revenue raising schemes to hide its past mistakes. It may even consider raising VAT, seeing the existing financial chaos as a good way of justifying the rise but it will cost it. The new aids to help the housing market with the mortgage and stamp duty relief for first time buyers are pointless pitifully schemes. Equally of little use is the call for a wind fall tax on utilities that have made great unearned profits from the higher fuel cost. Far better to give them a choice, as they all operate as effective monopolies they should be controlled more by strategic policy applications which demands that they invest the excessive unearned profits or have it sequestrated. Energy like water is too important to be left entirely in the insatiable hands of private concerns, so greater control is required perhaps limiting their dividend payout and bonuses from profits to the average of the past normal trading two year.

With utilities the excess gained from price fluctuation should be put aside for immediate new energy conservation, storage and new capacity facilities ring fenced and audited for use within a time scale or then face sequestration. It is not in monopolies interest to provide cheaper products or fuel; consider OPEC, they want to maintain a sudden higher golden egg price of $100+ a barrel for oil without killing the goose and have no interest in helping the west avoid a depression. Market forces rules OK, is stupid.

It is unlikely that many Labour MP’s have the ability to now reconnect with their constituents to any useful measure. Nor are they going to be able to hold the cabinet to task or want to be seen to be fracturing the party government leading up to an election year when their own seats will depend on a show of suspicious unity. So the sheep will bleat away to the election abattoir.

Salvation is possible but it will need a committed vision. If they can just pull their noses out of the trough long enough to see and hear what is going on in ordinary areas and come out with radical pressure to shape a proper labour party, not the pale blue new labour that has wasted 10 years of good fortune; there may be a future for them. It is not difficult to pick on the issue that could form the basis of radical new policies, having the vision and drive is the thing.
See The Big Conversation. 11th August.

As banks continue to pull back on credit within the housing market and general credit made tighter, there will be a marked slow down in the economy. This is nothing new, it has been reported else where and is assumed to be a problem that will “work its way through the system” to create a new stabilised economy. This may be true, what is not being said is that this new lower level of economic activity will be excluding considerable more people and impacting the consumer spending that will be available for industrial commercial sectors. Due to the lack of personal liquidity, a reinforcing downward spiral is potentially probable.

The government would want the UK voters to now believe that the current financial difficulties are a world problem, ‘we are all suffering’ from the sudden rise in oil, the credit sub prime collapse, the bank lending restrictions and the increase cost of basic like foods and energy. This argument of special pleading is rubbish, the cost increases are true and it is no comfort for the population to hear that the problem is a world problem, which it is not. Analysis with hind sight will show that for some time the politicians have been asleep on the job, they have not asked question of or taken notice of the muted siren calls of the past two decades that the economics of the “market place” have gone off the rails. There has been a morally criminal disregard of the excesses that have been prevalent in driving the economy into the current situation. A situation that now is to be paid for by the least able i.e. the many on average wages.

The sole responsibility for the current financial problems should be laid squarely onto the heads of the MP’s in government, its sycophantic weak policies for ‘the market’ and banks. Having the taxpayer to pay for the failure of economic prudence that now requires so much state funding to cover the miscreant financial manipulation and deception, and place at risk all of ordinary savers funds as banks reach cash shortfalls, reeks with the stench of systemic corruption.

In time the economy may stabilise but it will be at a much lower level personally for some and the UK economy as a whole and this at a time when the greatest uncontrollable threat has the power to destabilise the whole basis of the UK’s ‘fundamentals’. With the lack of own produced energy, decimated manufacturing and little scope for economic expansion in the UK, it is declining into a second rate country. As in the past it is on the point of being virtual bust, it will get into hock and will again go begging to the IMF! If the MP’s cannot understand the contempt that the public have for them in not representing their constituent, if they cannot feel embarrassed with the gravy train nor stop being acquiescent in injudicious government or too weak to get a grip on good financial controls or new socialist policy direction; then its time for them to all to go.

© Renot 2008
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