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HEALING NATIONS SAYS: |
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IN THE NEWS |
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| 06.09.08 | Hundreds of secondary schools across Britain are wondering if they are still on a government hit list. Last year they failed to reach the government's minimum target of 30 per cent of pupils gaining five or more GCSEs, including English and maths. However, as an example one head teacher has still not heard from the government as to whether they have now been take off the hit list. The head teacher says: “We have moved from a failing school to being above the national average. But we have not heard from anybody what this means. Nobody has confirmed whether or not we will remain in the National Challenge... If the National Challenge brings me a string of advisers, I don't want anything to do with it. If they give me cash to hire more English and maths teachers so I can reduce class sizes, then I'll have it. Ben Slade, principal of Manor Community College in Cambridge, is also unsure of his school's current status. “There has been no communication with schools apart from a folder with cartoons on the front and a letter from Ed Balls saying we have got to come together to make schools better. Nowhere in any of this information is there anything to say that if you do well you will be taken off (the hit list). We have been offered no extra money, nothing has come to us and they don't even know how much money is available, everyone is poking around in the dark waiting for the next announcement from the Government.” |
As our alternative, Healing Nations says that this is yet another example of the deficiencies of centralization. It can be bad enough when local authorities with their bureaucracy are controlling schools, but when central government is in charge everything becomes too remote, too slow and cumbersome, whilst a real sense of control and involvement at the operative level is made next to impossible. We must find a way to free our schools, and make them properly answerable to their local communities. The model already exists with independent schools. The issue is not money; it is where responsibility lies, where control lies, where involvement lies. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 27.06.08 | The head of the Local Government Association has said that private companies should be allowed to run state schools. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that what private companies should be doing--although preferably it should be private charitable trusts--is running schools that are not in the state system. The state system should be allowed to whither on the vine. We need independent schools where those schools are run by their own staff, heads and governors and are subject to the choices of their local parents. Then and only then will there be true vitality and truly responsive schools. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 27.06.08 | Children as young as five will be identified as being at risk of becoming criminals or troublemakers under government plans to tackle offending and disorder on the streets. Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, called for a huge expansion of state intervention in family life as a way of preventing young people from problem families drifting into antisocial behaviour and crime. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that this is so typical of government's knee jerk reaction to our present day social problems. The real problem is that our modern families are so often divorced from the communities in which they live. The government's reaction to that is to intervene and provid,e in what will always be a very heavy handed way, a sort of social policing. What the government should be doing is finding ways to reestablish the much needed connection between families and their communities. This is not government's business. If it is, then we really do have problems. Healing shows the way. Healing repairs connections between individuals and families and the communities in which they live. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 09.06.08 | Britain has been condemned as a bleak place for children, where thousands are needlessly criminalised for misdemeanors and where the gap between the education and health of the rich and poor is growing. the four children's Commissioners for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern ireland have issued a report for the United Nations condemning the punitive youth justice system and the vilification of teenagers as yobs. The commissioners say that Britain is breaching the Children's Rights Convention in several areas. The report accuses the media of consistently portraying young people as thugs or yobs. Research found that in 2005 71% of all media stories about young people were negative and that one third of articles mentioning young people were about crime. 'The government must urgently address the widely held intolerance of children in public spaces,' the report says. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that the major cause of problems with regards to young people is a consequence of too much government and not enough 'society'. We do not properly operate as communities and as a consequence young people are often left adrift of adults, separate from them. Government, be it national or local, is too cumbersome to deal with the issue. We must recreate communities if we are going to breathe healing back into our neighbourhoods. With regards to the role of the media, as our alternative, Healing Nations says that by invariably concentrating on the negative, our media too often becomes part of the problem. It is too easy to gain a very gloomy view of our nation and indeed of the entire world by absorbing the preponderance of negative stories about our nation and about the world. The media has a real responsibility here, and they are failing us. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 11.05.08 | It is reported that Britain is in the grip of an unprecedented crime wave among teenage girls. Home Office statistics show that offences committed by girls aged between 10 and 17 soared by 25% over a three year period. Crimes committed by boys fell slightly over the same period. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that we will never solve such issues so long as we take conventional approaches that concentrate on structures and legislation. our young people feel disenchanted, alienated and even disenfranchised because neither they nor their parents have real control over their lives. One of the most effective ways to ensure ill health is to lose control over one's own life. This is true in terms of our physical bodies and is also true in terms of the body politic. we must heal our communities by giving control to our communities. people need to feel that they belong and that they have influence and a say. this is true of adults and is also true of young people. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 30.04.08 | Despite large rises in fees, demand for independent schools hits a five year high. There are now over half a million children being taught in Britain's independent schools. This is despite a fall in the number of English children of school age. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that state run schools will never be able to compete with independent schools until state schools cease to be state run. Healing Nations says that we should be looking at independent (private) education as the model for how all our children are educated, not as a sort of anomaly. There should be more tax breaks not fewer. There could be educational vouchers. The way forward is not to strangle private schools until they cease to exist, nor will we be able to make state schools truly competitive with independent schools so long as state schools ar4e state run. We should be working to have more and more children educated privately and fewer and fewer educated by the bureaucratic and essentially ossified state. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 21.04.08 | Family doctors are being invited to petition the Government in order to halt or delay plans to build a new generation of polyclinics across the country. Conservative leader David Cameron sees this as 'another example of the Government's mistaken, top-down reform to the NHS. Ministers claim that polyclinics, placing family doctors alongside other services such as diagnostic testing, minor surgery, physiotherapy, pharmacy or dentistry, will offer patients more convenience and choice. The Conservatives claim that as many as 1,700 surgeries in England would have to close as a consequence of this policy. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that it should not be central government that decides such issues. No local community will feel ownership for how the NHS is organised in their area until they actually decide for themselves how it is organised. If we are to have vibrant communities, then those communities must have control over their own services. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 19.04.08 | With concerns in Britain regarding immigration, there has been a clear indication that immigration has not brought about any real increase in crime. The Economist, in an article reviewing the latest data wrote the following: 'Either way, immigration means that the police needs more money, like any other public service. This should not be a problem: because they tend to be employed, east Europeans pay their way in taxes. Maddeningly, however, some towns do not get the money they need because Britain's centralized government sucks up most tax revenues and doesn't always distribute them fairly.' | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that this highlights a fundamental problem with how we are organised in Britain. Everything is far too centralised. Government is remote. Resources do not end up where they should be because central government is not sensitive enough to local needs. This is all part of the problem, in that we have socially and politically neutered ourselves. Only when our communities regain genuine responsibility for their own localities will we get proper and effective and responsive government. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 04.04.08 | It is reported that Gordon Brown, Britain's prime minister, is set to overrule the advice of the Government's drug advisory body and upgrade cannabis to a Class B drug, carrying tougher penalties for its possession. A senior whitehall official said: "Whatever the scientific evaluation is, it is the government's duty to decide what signal classification sends." | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that our anti-narcotic legislation must be reviewed. We suffer more from the side effects of that legislation than we do from the actual effects of the drugs. Our prisons are swamped with people who are only there because of that legislation. A huge percentage of petty crimes in the UK and indeed in other western countries is due to addicts trying to find the money to pay for their drugs. Criminalisation ups the price of such drugs. The whole illegal trade in drugs, including the creation of failed states and turf wars on our streets, not to mention the incentive to sell to children, is a consequence of that legislation. We must rethink this. Politics in our western nations must understand this. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 03.04.08 | Images of Britain's new coins have been unveiled. Most of the coins bear only part of an image, which added together complete the image. The £1 coin features the complete picture. Andrew Stafford, chief executive of the Royal Mint, said that the designs were contemporary but retained "the gravitas and reference to history required for the UK's coins". | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that it recognises that these coins are interesting and that the design is clever, but it would make the following two points: 1. The complete image contains symbols for England, Scotland and Ireland, but not for Wales. This is important and tragic. It is also ironic considering that the Royal Mint is in Wales and the designer of the coins lives in Wales. 2. The immediate impression these coins give is of incompleteness. Even when lying together they look jangled and confused. Healing Nations says that these coins might embody our nation's feelings about itself; uncomfortable in its own skin, confused, incomplete, unsure of what it stands for. How a country feels about itself is vital. Looking at these coins, Healing Nations would suggest that we are not feeling good about ourselves at all. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 31.03.08 | A by-election in Redwell West last Thursday has produced an interesting result. The Conservatives were in first place, but ahead of both Labour and the Liberal Democrats was the British national party (BNP) candidate. At Yapton, a week before, the BNP had come third, just seven votes behind the Liberal Democrats. Two weeks before that the BNP again came third. it is now considered a serious possibility that the BNP can do well in next May's elections for the Greater London Assembly. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that it must come as no surprise to anyone if political parties like the BNP do well in local elections. Such parties might gain by concentrating on local issues. They will undoubtedly do well as a consequence of the general sense of disaffection felt by almost everyone with regards to their own localities. Once again, we are reaping what we should not have sown: the neutering and sidelining of our local communities and neighbourhoods. Until we all feel involved, we will all feel disaffected. It is not politics that we need; it is ownership of our own neighbourhoods. That will require us taking on all the trials and tribulations of greater responsibility, but the rewards will be immeasurable. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 31.03.08 | It has been reported in Britain that as many as twenty-seven village pubs are closing every week. This comes on top of the news that many local post offices are due to be closed within the next twelve months. The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) calculates that at least another 1,000 pubs will close before the end of this year. Mr Hilary Benn, Rural Affairs Minister, said: "The rural pub is more than just a business, it is the heart of the rural community." Many publicans are blaming the availability of cheap alcohol at nearby supermarkets. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that it agrees with Conservative leader David Cameron when he said: "if you want to keep your local pub you have to use it." However, Healing Nations will go further in saying that this applies to every aspect of our local communities, be they rural or urban. For local communities to even exist, they have to be 'used'. This comes back to the fundamental point, which is that we must re-empower local communities. They cannot function artificially. They must have a reason for existing, and that reason will only be generated when they are re-empowered with a genuine need to make decisions together and work together. When the inhabitants of local communities or neighbourhoods have no reason to work together, they will not know each other. If they do not know each other, then the local shop, post office or pub can be as 'strange' a place as can the local supermarket. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 31.03.08 | In Britain a poll carried out by BUPA shows that 80% of respondents blame hospital managers for superbug infections. Only 1% blame doctors. The BUPA survey was based on 1001 adults who were interviewed online between 25th March and 27th March. The survey shows that infection is a major concern of patients. When choosing a hospital, respondents replied that MRSA rates were just as important to them as the reputations of the consultants treating them. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that it is not surprising that patients blame managers for these problems. Because patients, as members of their local communities, have no sense of ownership of their local hospitals, it is to be expected that they will see the people who run their hospitals as being responsible and culpable. Only when communities feel real ownership of their hospitals will these problems be properly dealt with and will their be a proper sense of responsibility. Healing Nations under 'Share' says: "can we not see that the graffiti, the yobbishness, the vandalism, the distrust, the alienation, the apathy, the outrage, the at times terrifying violence is a sign of all that we have got wrong in terms of how we organise ourselves as we go about our self-centred, consumer orientated, disempowered existence, as we politically neuter ourselves, as we spiritually die?" Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 29.03.08 | In the United States Margaret Spellings, the secretary of education, announced a pilot reform to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Up to ten states would be allowed to target their resources at the most needy schools, rather than at the vast number of schools that actually require improvement. Some observers have welcomed this, but there is certainly comment that this reform merely highlights the lack of action in this vital area. Above all the many considerations there is general agreement that there is a need for far greater accountability. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that the best way to achieve accountability is to take the actual provision of education away from the state--be it central or local--and allow everyone to purchase private schooling. The ultimate arbiter of how schools function should be the governors of each school and they must be directly answerable by some mechanism or other to the parents. The ideal model is the independent school model whereby the school and its governors have to ensure that they are good enough to hold onto their parents and indeed to attract new parents. Richard Dell's article in 'The Daily Telegraph' (28th May 2003) addressed exactly that point, by showing how independent schools can be created that do not need to charge fees, or that would only need to charge minimal fees. To read this article please click on the following link: education Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 29.03.08 | Britain has been rated as the world's seventh most stable country. Nonetheless, constitutional reform is in the air. On 25th March Jack Straw, the justice secretary, announced the draft Constitutional Renewal Bill. Its main purpose is to make parliament stronger. Such reforms do not resonate greatly with the British public, but there are certainly issues with regards to how the public views parliament and parliamentarians. Trust in politicians is low, and around 40% of the electorate abstained at the last two elections. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that we certainly need reform but any reforms should primarily aim to devolve power down to a local level. There is undoubtedly a role for central government, but until individual voters feel that they can make a difference in their neighbourhoods and indeed that their votes will make a difference, disaffection will continue. Parliament has tried for too long to micromanage society, and that means our neighbourhoods.Iit must stop, and ownership must be given back. Healing Nations says that the present situation contravenes the issue of 'share' with regards to achieving healthy communities and nations. We have allowed to be set up vast and ponderous, gigantic and ineffectual structures in place of the dynamism of life. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 29.03.08 | Senior British police officers have said that the great rise in the number of teenagers being killed on the streets of London constitutes the next biggest threat to the capital after terrorism. 11 teenagers have been killed in the capital so far this year. 26 were killed last year--16 as a result of knives, 9 in gun incidents and 1 cause of death not yet being confirmed. Detective Chief Superintendent Barry Norman, head of the Met's Violent Crime Command believes a contributing factor is that 10-year-olds regard 14-year-olds involved in gangs as role models. Mr Norman said: "We can put all of our intelligence-gathering skills and covert operations into fighting serious youth crime but it will not be enough. We need to invest far more in education, dysfunctional families and peer pressure." | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that what we really have to invest in is our dysfunctional neighbourhoods. There is no doubt that education, dysfunctional families and peer pressure are vital issues to be addressed. But we need to understand that these youngsters are growing up in neighbourhoods that do not function. Neighbours have almost nothing to do with each other because everything is organized from local or central government. We have neutered ourselves as members of our communities. This situation needs to be reversed. We need to get back to a situation where we actually have to know our neighbours and interact with our neighbours and work things out with our neighbours. Then and only then will these marginalised youngsters not be growing up in a vacuum. Healing Nations says this: 'Do not ask what sort of disaffected and potentially violent youngsters our neighbourhood has; ask instead what sort of neighbourhood are we to have such disaffected and potentially violent youngsters?' Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 27.03.08 | The British government has announced that successful schools will have to take a share of disruptive pupils to prevent them from monopolising the best-behaved children. Sir Alan Steer, the head teacher of a specialist school and author of the report, said: "I didn't feel we should have a situation where a school has a perverse incentive to exclude, knowing it would not have to accept a child with difficulties. We didn't want a situation where schools were exporting without accepting their responsibility to import where they could. Sir Alan said that the rules should also apply to oversubscribed and faith schools. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that once again the British government is looking to enforce centralized control on its schools. It never seems to realise that this is the best way to make individual schools feel disaffected. Schools and local communities should decide on the make-up of its pupils and staff. There is a definite role for government in terms of ensuring that there is adequate provision for all pupils, but it should not be disenfranchising the decision makers within individual schools. Disruptive pupils need to be cared for outside of the mainstream, or they need to earn their place in the best schools. If they are merely shoe-horned into successful schools there is the possibility that they will continue with their disruptive behaviour, damaging the education and childhood of a great number of children. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 20.03.08 | Ill health costs the British economy more than £100 billion a year. This is greater than the entire cost of the British National Health Service and is equivalent to the gross domestic product of Portugal. it appears that the larger the organization, the larger the absenteeism through sickness. The average annual sickness figures for any one worker are as follows: one-person enterprise 2.5 days; self-employed 2.8 days; micro-enterprise (2-9 workers) 3.2 days; small enterprise (10-49 workers) 4.6 days; medium sized enterprise (50-249 workers) 5.6 days; large enterprise (250+ workers 7.4 days. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that this clear pattern tells us something fundamental about the consequences of how we organise ourselves. The larger the organization, the less likely we are to feel properly committed to it. Largeness can so often mean disaffection. It is, therefore, no wonder that we feel no real commitment to our neighbourhoods when everything is organized and controlled from the centre. Massive public organizations run things, and we feel cogs within those organizations. Only when we get genuine local autonomy and responsibility will we feel involved, will we feel committed and intriguingly will we feel better about ourselves and our neighbours. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 20.03.08 | The tragic disappearance of Madeleine McCann, and the extraordinary media interest in that disappearance, has led to a national British newspaper accepting that it reported libelous information without any real evidence. That newspaper has settled out of court and has paid over to the Madeleine McCann charity a six figure sum of money. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that this is a classic example of so much that is wrong with our media. We recognize that an independent media is vital to a properly functioning democracy. However, what we have in Britain is a situation in which too many newspapers are too often careless with the truth as they pursue a headline and a story that they believe will sell their paper. Part of Britain's 'malaise' or 'sickness' is that we are continually being fed stories that have us believing that things are wrong. Our media operates as a sort of conscience of the nation, yet is too often seen as disreputable and even sleazy itself. It is our media that is so often sleazy and outrageous, and yet it is that very media which too readily accuses everyone else of the same fault. Our media does highlight genuine problems. But our media never recognizes that it is in fact very much part of the problem. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 22.01.08 | It is reported that schools in the UK are being shut at the rate of one a day. Evidently in the past five years hundreds of schools in rural areas have been axed. On average over six schools a week have been closed since 2002. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that this is is a typical example of our headlong plunge into centralisation. It is too often assumed that bigger schools and bigger hospitals will achieve economies of scale and will thereby provide better service for less money. How wrong our government and local authorities are. Running a successful hospital or school is not like running a successful factory. The output is not merely mechanical. There is such an element of service involved, such a personal aspect that is vital if meaningful educational and meaningful care are to be achieved, that we can only have successful schools and hospitals if they function at a human scale. Education, for example, is not just about putting in information. It is about the development of the complete person. Only when the pupils are truly known and truly feel part of their school communities, in other words only when schools are small again, regardless of so-called efficiency losses, will that be achieved. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 01.02.08 | Alastair Campbell decries the media's obsession with the troubled Britney Spears. He ends his article as follows: 'I've just googled "Britney Spears and suicide". 532,000. It's sick. She's sick. But perhaps the phenomenon is beyond healing.' | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that regardless of whether Alastair Campbell has himself been guilty of generating media stories that were obsessed with the trivial and scurrilous, he is no doubt right this time. Healing Nations says that although the media is the first to highlight problems in our society, it never seems to understand that it itself is partly responsible for our problems. The media too often generates an atmosphere of fear and negativity. How it portrays our modern society is itself part of our society's sickness. no individual could possibly survive such negativity and hyper-criticism. By creating an atmosphere of mistrust and cynicism, our media has created a dreadful national psychology that affects us in everything we do. Even down to our national sports teams, that negativity plays its part. Our media has ensured that we cannot have true self-belief in ourselves as a nation. It then tries to apportion the blame and thereby creates even more negativity. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 26.01.08 | The Economist reported on the following good news about our world: In the world as a whole 135 million people escaped dire poverty between 1999 and 2004. Poverty alleviation has gone hand in hand with improvements in basic services. For example, the number of those without clean water has been nearly halved since 1990. In 2007 UNICEF reported that for the first time in modern history fewer than 10 million children were dying each year before the age of five. Three-quarters of people aged 15-25 were literate in 1975; now the rate is nearly nine-tenths. With concerns a few years ago of over-population, we now see that in the world as a whole fertility has fallen from 4.8 to 2.6 in a generation (25 years). The world economic balance is tilting from rich industrialized countries to emerging markets. Global wealth is being spread around. There has even been a decline in the number of wars, and in deaths from violence and genocide. The number of conflicts (both international and civil) fell from over 50 at the start of the 1990s to just over 30 in 2005. There are of course trouble areas and there is undoubtedly a lot to be done, but as the Economist said, the sense of impending doom that so many people, especially politicians and members of the media, feel is not actually born out by the facts. There is actually a great deal that the world can feel good about. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that how we feel about ourselves and our world is fundamental to how our world actually does. Under 'Hope' Healing Nations says: 'Does no-one recognise the seductive, yet corrosive power of this persistent and smug negativity? Think of what it would do to the individual psyche. Such constant and blistering attacks would lead every one of us into cardboard city. Any nation, allowing itself to be so attacked will inevitably descend into the rain-sodden arches of history.' Our politicians and members of our media have to shift away from their knee jerk criticism of how our world is. Only when we feel good about ourselves and about our neighbourhoods and about our world will we feel properly motivated to make it even better. It is too easy to assume that all is doom and gloom and that there is therefore no point in trying to change anything. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 22.01.08 | It is reported that across Britain lives are being lost because nurses pay is determined at a national level. This has resulted in hospitals in more prosperous areas, where the cost of housing and other services are expensive, are finding it difficult to recruit their full quota of nurses.As a consequence, some hospitals are short staffed, and a patient thereby has more chance of surviving in less prosperous areas where hospitals are fully manned. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that this is is another example of national centralization seeming to be a good idea but actually getting in the way of properly serving our people. Although everyone dislikes the idea of a postcode lottery when it comes to our health services, by default that is exactly what we are getting. We can only square this circle by localizing decision-making right down to the community level. Only when communities (not local authorities) make the decisions regarding their local services will we have efficient and responsive and appropriate services. We will also then achieve the holy grail of service provision, namely a sense of ownership with regards to how local communities feel about their local schools and hospitals etc. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 21.01.08 | Anti-bullying campaigners and teaching unions have condemned a new video game that glorifies the carrying out of assaults on fellow pupils and teachers. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that this is only one example of how we are getting things wrong. As individuals we could never survive if everything we considered about ourselves was violent and negative. Self-criticism and indeed the criticism of others is vital to our general well-being. But such criticism has to be tempered by positive input if we are to remain balanced and are to grow. We all understand this, yet we fail to acknowledge the corrosive effect that our media has upon the psychic well-being of our communities and nations as a whole. Violent TV programmes and films, overly pessimistic news bulletins, the glorification of getting rich without working, along with the glorification of empty glamour, seeps into our collective psyche and damages us. The media is the first to complain when there is violence. Yet the media never owns up to its own responsibility. The days of the honest and responsible cop have gone. The cops on TV and in our films are these days invariably aggressive and loud mouthed. Our heroes are invariably brutal and amoral at best. There are of course honourable exceptions to this. BUT WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT SO LONG AS OUR MEDIA CHURNS OUT PROGAMMES AND FILMS AND GAMES THAT GLAMOURISE VIOLENCE AND SHALLOW GLAMOUR AND AN AMORAL AT BEST VIEW OF THE WORLD, THEN WE WILL REAP THE WHIRLWIND. The individual psyche could not survive an environment that is aggressive and negative and amoral. The collective psyche is no different. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 21.01.08 | Violent youth crime, it is reported, is up by a third in only three years. The number of under-18s cautioned or convicted for violent offences has risen from under 18,000 to over 24,000. These figures relate to youngsters aged 10 to 17. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that we really do have to look at what Tony Blair said before he was prime minister. He talked of 'being tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime'. Healing Nations is clear that crime and criminals must be brought to book. There must be proper penalties that can act as a deterrent. However, Healing Nations also says that we have never properly addressed the causes of crime, especially crimes committed by young people. In medicine, the orthodox doctor asks: 'what sort of symptom does this person have?' The alternative practitioner asks: 'what sort of person is it to have these symptoms?' When it comes to politics, we must switch the question around in the same way. So instead of always asking: 'what sort of violent young criminals does our neighbourhood or country have?', we should ask instead: 'what sort of neighbourhood or country are we to have such violent young criminals?' To ask this very different question puts the onus right back on ourselves. We cannot expect young people to invariably grow up as fun and responsible young people if we offer them a society that they see as grasping, fractured and uncaring. So long as we are divorced from each other in society we will generate problems with our young people. This new question must be asked. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 16.01.08 | Britain's private schools have been told that they must look to their charitable status. If they are to keep the charitable tax break they at present enjoy and which is worth close to £100 million a year, then they must demonstrate that they exist for the wider public benefit. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that this is looking at things the wrong way round. The assumption is that private schooling is somehow undesirable. It also ignores the huge amount of money that private schools save the Exchequer by educating hundreds of thousands of pupils who would otherwise require state funding in state schools. It needs to be remembered that the parents of children at private schools are already paying taxes for education, but are receiving no direct benefit. Much more importantly, however, Healing Nations says that we should be looking at independent (private) education as the model for how all our children are educated, not as a sort of anomaly. There should be more tax breaks not fewer. There could be educational vouchers. The way forward is not to strangle private schools until they cease to exist, thereby ensuring that all children are educated by the state, but instead we should be working to have more and more children educated privately and fewer and fewer educated by the bureaucratic and essentially ossified state. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 14.01.08 | Britain's new Education and Skills Bill, due to be debated in parliament today, contains a clause which will ban teachers from "unduly promoting any particular options" for study. In other words, teachers across the country will be banned from encouraging their pupils to pursue a particular course such as A levels as opposed to the government's new vocational diploma qualifications. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that this one clause alone sums up everything that is wrong with the way we expect or allow government to operate. There is this continual need on government's part to micromanage, and we so often allow this to happen. The day when a government accepts that it cannot and indeed should not try to influence every single aspect of our lives will be a remarkable day for British politics. The day when a government actually rejoices in that fact will be the day when we know that we are back on the road to creating a properly vibrant society, and thereby properly vibrant communities. This is the alternative way. Anyone who has taught children will know that every child is unique and that every moment of their lives is unique. The best teaching comes from the heart, comes from the moment, comes from the knowledge and understanding of the unique child. It is this sort of clause, that micromanages how a teacher should respond to his or her pupil, that destroys teaching, makes teaching less attractive, and that ultimately robs us of the skills and talents and flair that any country needs in its classrooms. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 12.01.08 | The death of Sir Edmund Hillary has been reported around the world. A remarkable, very human and very modest man who achieved great things has passed away. Sir Edmund, along with Sherpa Tenzing, was the first to climb Everest. He devoted much of his later years to Nepal, the country from which that first successful ascent of the world's highest mountain was made. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that the death of Sir Edmund reminds us of what we have lost. He climbed Everest in an age when people were prepared to believe in themselves and their communities and their countries. Healing Nations also says that the 1950s were also a time of austerity and a still rigid class structure. Those had to go. We have moved on in many glorious and exciting ways. But in the process we have lost the ability to be positive about our social environment. The cynicism and negativity that has slowly crept into us is debilitating and dangerous. No individual could survive such corrosiveness with regards to themselves. Nations, national politics and communities are no less in danger. We have to treasure the vital progress we have made. But we also need to look into our hearts and ask ourselves where we have also gone wrong. We need to wake up to what we have done. Sir Edmund Hillary was an extraordinary role model. Could we claim the same, as an example, for the majority of our top sports stars? In the 1950s people were prepared to believe in each other, and in their communities and in their nations. They were also prepared to aspire to high standards of behaviour. Could we claim the same for ourselves? Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 12.01.08 | New medicines for cancer, which the British National Health Service is not using, are causing a major problem for the service. As patients, via the internet, become increasingly aware of these drugs, they are asking to be given them on the National Health. When refused, because of cost, they are asking if they can pay for those particular drugs themselves. They are again refused because the National Health Service does not want to create a two tier system. Instead those patients are required to either 'make do' with the medicines that are currently available on the National Health Service, or to go entirely private at tremendous cost to themselves. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that the National Health Service's desire to keep its services equal for all is entirely understandable. However, Healing Nations also says that this giant of an organization needs to be completely reformed. It is too large and unwieldy. It is spending huge amounts of money on its top heavy administration. It needs to be decentralized in terms of its decision making processes and also in terms of its funding. A great idea and ideal that was put into place in 1948, and has all but dominated British politics ever since, was modelled on the organizations that succeeded so well in the war. Armies have to be commanded from the centre. Health services should not be. Hospitals and local health services need autonomy. Decisions are always better understood when they are made by people we can see and can relate to. The time has to come when Britain must accept that it has to be radical about its long cherished health service if that health service is actually to survive. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 12.01.08 | There has been a large increase in the number of women in our prisons. In 1970 one in 40 prisoners was a woman. Today it is one in 18. At least 30% have been convicted of drug offences. 38% use drugs on a regular basis. A crackdown on nuisance crime is partly responsible for this rise. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that nuisance crime does have to be dealt with. But a high percentage of petty theft is the result of drug addicts seeking the money to pay for their next fix. It is vital that we look at our drugs laws. By creating artificial barriers to the import of drugs, even though Healing Nations is against the use of drugs, we create a situation in which addicts are forced to operate outside the law. We spend huge amounts of money policing our drugs laws, and huge amounts of money keeping people locked up who are in our prisons for possession or petty dealing. Just as with the administration of medicines, there are side effects to all policies. Everyone in politics needs to understand that. We are suffering far too much from the unintended side effects or consequences of our drugs laws. We must rethink this. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 10.01.08 | New GCSE league tables indicate that 639 state secondary schools will miss their minimum target, and could be threatened with closure as failing schools. It is calculated that at least half a million pupils are attending these threatened schools. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that we will continue to have failing schools and far too many pupils who are failed by the very system that should be helping them, so long as the British educational system is centralized, bureaucratic and rule-driven; so lon g as it is run from within politics and by politicians. The ultimate arbiter of how schools function should be the governors of each school and they must be directly answerable by some mechanism or other to the parents. The ideal model is the independent school model whereby the school and its governors have to ensure that they are good enough to hold onto their parents and indeed to attract new parents. Richard Dell's article in 'The Daily Telegraph' (May 2003) addressed exactly that point, by showing how independent schools can be created that do not need to charge fees, or that would only need to charge minimal fees. To read this article please click on the following link: education Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 09.01.08 | It is expected that Britain's government is about to reclassify cannabis as a Class B drug. This will mean that anyone found in possession of cannabis could face a five year jail term. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that our anti-narcotic legislation must be reviewed. We suffer more from the side effects of that legislation than we do from the actual effects of the drugs. Our prisons are swamped with people who are only there because of that legislation. A huge percentage of petty crimes in the UK and indeed in other western countries is due to addicts trying to find the money to pay for their drugs. Criminalisation ups the price of such drugs. The whole illegal trade in drugs, including the creation of failed states and turf wars on our streets, not to mention the incentive to sell to children, is a consequence of that legislation. We must rethink this. Politics in our western nations must understand this. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 08.01.08 | The report by Sir John Tooke which was ordered last year following the situation in which thousands of highly qualified junior doctors were left without training posts recommends that the British government be stripped of control of postgraduate medical training. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that the appointment of junior doctors should never have been taken from the hospitals that were actually going to employ these doctors. We had the absurd situation of hospitals never having met the doctors who were going to work for and with them. It is impossible to build a vibrant and effective team if there is not that building of ownership that occurs in the interview process. The British National Health Service is the third largest employer in the world (largest if one takes account of the size of respective populations). Centralizing appointments only plays to the National Health Service's weakness, namely its unwieldy size. This National Health Service of ours dominates British politics. It should not. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 06.01.08 | It is reported that a British government £45 billion plan to rebuild Britain's schools is being hijacked by councils 'intent on social engineering'. Some successful, but relatively small schools, along with some small selective schools are in danger of being closed so that all schools in a borough can be a standard large size. it would appear that faith schools are also in danger of being swallowed up. | As our alternative, Healing Nations will always oppose the closure of good schools. It especially opposes the creation of a standard norm for schools. A sense of ownership and pride is only possible when schools have their own characteristics and idiosyncrasies. It is vital that the British education system avoids creating a factory system of education. Schools need to be personal and need to operate on a human scale. One of the great strengths of Britain's independent schools is its variety. Schools and pupils can be matched and both can feel pride in the other. Standardization, as with overly prescriptive curricula and targets, destroys the very heart of teaching and learning. Britain's maintained sector, indeed everyone in British politics, needs to learn from this. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 05.01.08 | The British government is backing a new scheme to regulate alternative medicine. This will include such popular therapies as aromatherapy, reflexology, massage, nutrition, shiatsu, reiki naturopathy, yoga, cranial osteopathy, homoeopathy and the Alexander and Bowen techniques. The new Natural Healthcare Council is backed by the Prince of Wales and will be modelled on the General Medical Council. | As our alternative, Healing Nations welcomes this move. We believe that alternative medicines and therapies must be integrated with orthodox medicine, and that we all have the right to expect the highest standards from our alternative / complementary practitioners. At the same time, we look forward to orthodox medical practitioners integrating more with alternative therapies. We would also hope that all branches of medicine, alternative and orthodox do not become bogged down in too many bureaucratic procedures. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 03.01.08 | A marked increase in the number of schools in Britain with more than 1500 pupils has been blamed for a decline in classroom discipline and poor academic achievement. This is based upon research by the charity Human Scale Education. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says this problem in Britain's schools parallels the problem we have right across our modern western societies. We do indeed need a human scale to our schools. Pupils need to be known and need to feel that they are known. Schools must not be machines. They must be nurturing communities of endeavour and fun. That is only possible when pupils and staff are not dwarfed by the sheer scale of the institutions and their bureaucracies within which they work. Never ask: 'what sort of bad behaviour does our school have?' Ask instead: 'what sort of school, are we to have such bad behaviour?' Are we prepared in our western political systems, and especially in British politics to ask that new question? Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 02.01.08 | British householders face an above inflation increase in their council tax bills. This has been announced by Sir Simon Milton, chairman of the Local Government Association. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says local authorities are receiving low grant settlements from the government. We need to change the way that Britain's local authorities are dominated by government finance and edicts. Politically, local authorities have been neutered and sidelined by national government. If local authorities were given complete control of their budgets they could then answer to their own electorates. Local government would be revitalized, elections would matter, and decisions that are truly responsive to the local situation could be made. Time to change the way British politics operates. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 17.12.07 | BRITISH NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE. (NHS) Government backs plans to abolish small independent surgeries for general practitioners (GPs), creating instead super-surgeries serving up to 20,000 patients. | 1. As our alternative, Healing Nations says there must be services to which we can relate, to which we can feel we have ownership. Part of our problem is that we just feel like numbers. In terms of our health, these proposals could have us feeling like mere pieces of meat, mere presenters of symptoms. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. 2. As our alternative, Healing Nations says to give us a sense of ownership it should not be central government that is forever deciding how our services should be structured. This should be decided at a local level. British politics needs to change. Politicians need to change. The entire political system needs to change. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 08.12.03 | Glaxo chief Allen Roses has said that most prescription drugs do not work on most people who take them. . The worldwide vive-president of genetics at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said fewer than half of the patients prescribed some of the most expensive drugs actually derived any benefit from them. This comment came just days after it was revealed that the British National Health Service (NHS) has seen its drugs bill soar by nearly 50% in three years. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that as well as learning about the fact that so many prescription drugs do not work, we also need to understand that within the social political arena a very high percentage of government initiatives and laws also do not work. Not only do they not work, they invariably have non-intended consequences. in other words there are invariably side effects. 'First do no harm. ' Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 18.05.97 | Other classically trained doctors also accept Weil's spiel, although his high-profile evangelism grates. “Integrative medicine (Weil's term for complementary medicine) may be the flavour of the month in the United States , but we've been doing it here in Southampton for a long time,” said Dr George Lewith of the Centre for the Study of Complementary Medicine… The first chair in complementary medicine was recently established at Exeter University , where each year 200 doctors learn acupuncture. Exeter 's research unit has found evidence that garlic can reduce high cholesterol levels, homeopathy can relieve asthma and that manipulation (osteopathy and chiropractic) does help lower back pain |
As our alternative, Healing Nations says that in the same way as medicine is learning from the lexicon of alternative medicine and healing, so must government. Only when the heart centre is allowed to be part of the decision making process will we be able to be ourselves and will we be able to heal our society and our communities and indeed our country. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 16.05.97 | An ant-obesity pill can cause “soft stools”, (a medical euphemism for the runs, and “oily facial spotting”, a phenomenon better known to Britons as zits. Of greater concern is its finding that the pill decreases the body's absorption of vitamins D and E, as well as of beta-carotene. |
As our alternative, Healing Nations says that this is a very good example of side effects in medicines. We need to be wary of these, as also we need to be wary of side effects in our social and political legislative programmes. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 02.05.97 | All the most popular hay fever pills that do not cause drowsiness are potentially dangerous, according to data from 17 countries about the side effects. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that this is a very good example of side effects in medicines. We need to be wary of these, as also we need to be wary of side effects in our social and political legislative programmes. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 05.02.96 | Reviewing alternative medicine a British newspaper wrote: 'The banning of alternative medicine from the lexicon of general practice was made absolute by the setting up of the National Health Service. The committees charged with financing the NHS needed to know what medicine could be deemed mainstream, and therefore eligible for funding, and what was fringe and best left to the private sector.' | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that the creation of the monolithic National Health Service (NHS) parallels the creation of the all but monolithic state. The accretion of power at the centre of government has continued apace right through the twentieth century. Only when it is reversed will we start to emerge as ourselves. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 05.02.96 | The national newspaper also wrote: 'With the demise of the NHS monolith, attitudes are changing. Doctors who can control their own budgets are more open to innovation and to the traditions of other countries. Eastern medicine used only to excite scepticism: acupuncture was associated with nail beds and holy men, herbal medicine with folklore, while yoga was regarded as offering little that relaxation and regular exercise could not also supply. All now command respect.' | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that in the same way as medicine is learning from the lexicon of alternative medicine and healing, so must government. Only when the heart centre is allowed to be part of the decision making process will we be able to be ourselves and will we be able to heal our society and our communities and indeed our country. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 16.05.95 | For at least a decade, the nation's dietary guardians have been preaching the damage fat can do. Blamed for the Western world's greatest killer, heart disease, fat has been given a starring role in the demonology of diet... Yet no long-term trial of reducing total and saturated fats for the primary prevention of coronary heart disease has even been conducted… Professor Oliver recently told a conference in New York just how inadequate the evidence is. Reducing fat does not appear to have any worthwhile effect on death rates… So instead of cutting fat and cholesterol we ought to try harder to prevent the oxidation of LDL. But let's be sure of the facts before we start: another dietary wrong-turn and the public might begin to notice | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that this is a very good example of side effects in medicines. We need to be wary of these, as also we need to be wary of side effects in our social and political legislative programmes. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 03.08.90 | The aim during those lectures is not to teach therapeutics—the application of remedies for specific diseases. That, says Dr Taylor Reilly, may be on the cards in the future. “If the experiment develops successfully that will come up as an issue. Right now the university has been brave enough to undertake this experiment,” he said. Instead the emphasis will be on the philosophical understanding of well-being and disease, the exploration of the phenomena of self-healing and the question of when these holistic approaches are appropriate and when they are not |
As our alternative, Healing Nations says that we must at last come to the time when our entire nations must embark upon self-healing and embrace holistic approaches to how we organise ourselves. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 05.06.88 | Five British people have died and nearly 1,000 are known to have suffered side-effects while taking a new anti-depressant drug. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that this is a very good example of side effects in medicines. We need to be wary of these, as also we need to be wary of side effects in our social and political legislative programmes. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 28.05.88 | In the most dramatic health warning to be issued for any product, the United States Food and Drug Administration has ordered the maker of (an anti-acne drug) …to print a photograph of a deformed baby on its label in order to deter its use by pregnant women. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that this is a very good example of side effects in medicines. We need to be wary of these, as also we need to be wary of side effects in our social and political legislative programmes. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 07.05.88 | The deaths of 616 people in Britain in the past two years have been attributed by the Government's Committee on Safety of Medicines to adverse reactions to prescribed drugs. In addition, doctors reported 15,191 other adverse drug reactions in 1986 and an even higher number, 16,151, last year. |
As our alternative, Healing Nations says that this is a very good example of side effects in medicines. We need to be wary of these, as also we need to be wary of side effects in our social and political legislative programmes. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 25.10.87 | Anti-arthritis drugs taken by up to 5m people in Britain may be slowly destroying the joints of patients they are supposed to help, eventually turning them into chronic invalids when they might otherwise have recovered. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that this is a very good example of side effects in medicines. We need to be wary of these, as also we need to be wary of side effects in our social and political legislative programmes. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 10.08.87 | The Government's Committee on the Safety of Medicines has said that (a proprietary over-the-counter analgesic) …has been implicated in the deaths of three asthmatics. | As our alternative, Healing Nations says that this is a very good example of side effects in medicines. We need to be wary of these, as also we need to be wary of side effects in our social and political legislative programmes. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
| 25.07.87 | The Prince of Wales yesterday reaffirmed his support for complementary medicine when he opened Britain 's first doctor's surgery run jointly by the National Health Service and the church. The surgery, in the crypt of St Marylebone parish church, central London , combines orthodox and alternative medicines such as acupuncture and spiritual healing. “It is crazy to throw the baby out with the bath water,” the Prince said. “What we are doing is bringing the baby back |
As our alternative, Healing Nations says that in the same way as medicine is learning from the lexicon of alternative medicine and healing, so must government. Only when the heart centre is allowed to be part of the decision making process will we be able to be ourselves and will we be able to heal our society and our communities and indeed our country. Healing Nations. The philosophy and language of healing and alternative medicine transferred into the social / political arena: transforming politics and communities and how our nations function. |
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