Words of the Decade

The Herald published an extra review of the decade today, continues tomorrow, I couldn't find it on their web site.

They offer three words which define, they claim, the past decade.

Terror - I've had an idea on terror and the so-called war against terror in Afghanistan. In stead of sending Marines and Paratroopers, why not send the Medical Crops and offer free medical care to the poor, and send the Catering Crops and feed the hungry, send the Royal Engineers and let's build hospitals, schools, roads, water treatment plants, sewage works. We won't win this war with guns, we need to win it with generosity and love.

Celebrity - Sad but true, people today want to be a celebrity. They used to want to be singers, film or TV stars, sports people - someone who does something and becomes well known, perhaps famous for doing something. Are we not all weary of those 'I want to be a celebrity will someone please notice me in this jungle' shows? We need to change expectations and ambitions away from notoriety for doing nothing into recognition for doing something.

Meltdown - as the Herald puts it, 'From dot-com bubble to credit crunch'. We all love to accuse the bankers of greed, and yes they were greedy. But, their greed fed off our greed and in turn fueled our greed in a cycle of ... sin. It is time to call our Adam Smith economics for what it really is, sin. Our whole economic system depends upon the greed and selfishness of consumers who always want more. The evil of this system is seen in the casual way millions of our sisters and brothers are condemned to the most abject poverty - to serve our greed! The last thing we need is to get this evil system working again, we need a new system, an economics of contentment, sufficiency, generosity, sharing.

I wonder what will change over the next ten years?