Britain is needed in the world. There is a lot to do to make the world a better place for all. Making it so should be our national passion.
It is good that the major British political parties are committed to raise to 0.7% the percentage of our national income that we devote to overseas aid.
However, there is more to do to make the world a better place. The job involves politics, diplomacy, economics and using our voice in the world’s forums.
Since World War II we’ve retreated into ourselves as a nation and lost confidence. We have let our horizons draw in. The world is poorer for lack of our influence.
But we are in a difficult situation from which to expand our interests. We are in debt. Our economy is insecure. We lack a sense of national purpose.We don’t feel ourselves to be a team committed to a great endeavour. As a result, the successful amongst us seek mainly their own advancement rather than wanting to devote their lives to the “Common Good” ie the good of our society and world society as a whole rather than one’s own personal advancement and that of one’s close family. We have become bogged down in social problems with big economic and human costs that sap our strength and happiness.
We need a purpose as a nation. That purpose should be to understand the world, its affairs and its people and to promote good, fair relationships in the world.
It sounds obvious. Many would say that that is what we are doing anyway. To some extent they are right but we are muddled about it and we will need to have a clearer philosophical basis for our shared life and clearer aims if we are to inspire our young people and those on the fringes of our society to follow our example and make something of lasting worth out of our shared life and work.
There is a big interesting world out there and there are many ways in which we can gain the insights we need in order to know what we should be doing in it and how to stand for what is good.
This website covers lots of issues … indeed almost all the issues that matter to human society. You could legitimately say that to get anywhere I need to limit my interests to a small number of objectives. I am reluctant to do so. All these things matter and all are transformed by looking at them with this refreshed vision.
So I would be very grateful if you could find time to ponder the issues I touch on and see whether you may be able to contribute your wisdom, time and effort to some aspect of this endeavour. For instance, you may know about one or more of the domestic topics or some country or global issue where there are justice issues to be addressed. Could you guide me about what is right to stand for in each, even if your opinion differs from the one I express? You may represent some expert body or some action group on an issue. Even if you are no expert there may be some issue or some country that you would be prepared to learn about and to take action over. I will be glad to hear from you.
Kind regards.
Dick Rodgers dick@rodgers.org.uk
I describe my worldview more fully in About us