Mark Tiddy
Website of Mark Tiddy | Musician, Christian, Youth Worker

I’ve been holding off posting about cuts and protests for a week or so because I’m well aware that my political knowledge is pretty small. My knowledge of the cuts is based entirely on a variety of news articles and features on shows such as BBC’s Breakfast however perhaps this doesn’t put me in such a bad position to blog a few thoughts because I’m probably coming from a similar position to thousands.

The Cuts

If I’m honest whilst the idea of cuts is never good I think they had to happen. As a country we’re in a lot of debt because of a variety of reasons (including bailing out banks) and whilst Labour tried to get the economy going again I’m not sure they addressed the debt.

The coalition however are dealing with the debts (note: I don’t like the idea of the ConDems anymore than the next person) and to give them credit the benefits system did need an overhaul and I can’t disagree with them for cutting some funding in other areas.

However I fail to understand why they are not taxing the big banks more…after all it’s the banks fault for a lot of our problems and some of them are still handing out stupid bonuses….even more stupid when you consider that no-one in the banks did a good job…they made losses!

The second fault in the cuts is the increase in student fees which seems to me to be a discouragement for anyone going to university because of the sheer amount of debt students could incur…a 3 year degree could set someone back £27,000 just for course fees! Other than borrowing money the only other option is for parents to be loaded…seems like a rich getting richer, poor getting poorer scenario.

The biggest problem with the student cuts is it seems to completely contradict what was one of the Lib Dems key policies. I’ve read leaflets and heard Nick Clegg say that they want to abolish student fees so this whole thing is ridiculous.

Leading nicely onto…

The Protests

As I jogged away at the gym Sky news showed me pictures of people damaging and smashing up Millbank tower in London along with a statement from the NUS describing those being violent as ‘rogue protesters’ (seriously…how could they tell?) and also some scenes of the more peaceful protests during the day.

Whilst I completely agree with protests and think it was entirely appropriate for students to protest especially when they have been so badly lied to by the Lib Dems however the second violence was involved even by a few I think any effectiveness of the protests was ended.

Surely when a protest has involved smashing up a building or two then for a government to react by changing their mind is (in my opinion) an absolute no no…had it been a peaceful protest by all then perhaps changes should have happened.

It was good however to see the Leeds students on the news last night dancing around in Nick Clegg masks in protest!

Final Thoughts…

I think it’s absolutely necessary to make cuts however letting banks off and charging students is silly and people should be protesting but they should be protesting in peaceful manners.

Perhaps one of the bands that have disappointed me the most in the last few years is Good Charlotte.

Their album ‘The Young & The Hopeless’ was introduced to me when I was 16 by a friend in a youth group and as an album I love it and I still listen to it even to this day.

Since then their efforts have been unusual to be polite and whilst the follow-ups ‘The Chronicles of Life and Death’ and ‘Good Morning Revival’ have some good songs on they’ve never had that feel good pop-punk feel that ‘The Young and the Hopeless’ had.

However I hadn’t given up on them and so when they put their newest album Cardiology on their Myspace page I listened…I went to HMV.com and I ordered it.

Upon arrival Cardiology played 3 times consecutively in our living room before making it into my car (and onto my iPhone) and I have to say my love of Good Charlotte has been restored.

Cardiology has a more grown up feel than ‘The Young & The Hopeless’ but has that energetic pop-punk feel their last albums have lacked. ‘Counting the days’ and ‘Like it’s her birthday’ have that bounce than makes you reach for the repeat button and there’s even a few more serious numbers there too.

One of the things that I’ve always liked (and been puzzled about) with Good Charlotte are their references to faith. Joel and Benji Madden have always thanks God in quite wordy fashions on their artwork suggesting it’s more to them than ‘the done thing’ and lyrics on all their albums have suggested otherwise and the concluding song of Cardiology tells a similar story with these lyrics;

That’s when I feel that God is all around me.

And I don’t know where to begin, to say I’m sorry for my sins,

So I collapse into your open arms, I’m sorry it took me so long,

Out here, for me to find my way back home. I didn’t have a reason,

For when I stopped believing, But I needed you to know -

That I’m right where I belong.

Now I see everything clearly, In the rearview, That you were right beside me.

So long ago, my voice of reason, It disappeared, along with my convictions -And now I know where it begins,

Accept forgiveness for my sins, And I collapse into your open arms

All in all Cardiology is a fantastic pop-punk album both with light hearted and more serious sides but most importantly it’s energetic and has that Good Charlotte feel that made me love the band to start with.

Last night Channel 4 aired the programme ‘Dispatches: Fasion’s Dirty Secret’ (which you can watch here). During the programme a couple of undercover reporters investigated how fashion in this country is being made in sweatshops.

One reporter took a job at a manufacturer in Leicester where he was paid £2.5o an hour, made to work with unsafe equipment and wasn’t asked for any documents. During the reporters’ few months there he made clothes for Peacocks, C & A (Europe), New Look and BHS.

Whilst it is shocking that there are such places in this country the thing that shocked me the most was the blame shifting that the companies, when confronted seemed to do. Much like Nestle in Parorama’s chocolate programme or Primark (also Panorama) the blame was shifted to subcontractors who apparently weren’t meant to further subcontract.

The beauty of Fairtrade for chocolate, coffee and other Fairtrade products is that they have traceability which means the chocolate that arrives can be traced right back to the farm that originated…this means there is corporate responsibility and that those dealing with Fairtrade can’t just wave their arms and say ‘we didn’t know it was happening’.

I can’t help but feel that the reactions of New Look, Peacocks and Arcadia were nothing but corporate crap. Of course an investigation will be launched but will they really monitor things better as a result? Probably not.

It seems to me that for ethical clothing there’s a few options…

Number 1: Shop with companies who are ethical. Labour Behind the Label detail which high street brands are ethical and are a fantastic resource. Alongside that sites such as People Tree and Wombat offer ethical fashion (although at higher prices that Primark or New Look). Finally newly launched Fair Squared (click here to visit) offer a range of Fairtrade Products and plan to expand into the clothing business but currently only stock Fairtrade Converse-Style shoes…mine are on the way! (Their Fairtrade rice is cheap too!)

Number 2: The same way Fairtrade is an independent monitoring system for food produce and some fashion a similar label could be set up for clothing conditions…for companies to sign up and display the ‘badge of honour’ they must adhere to strict, independently checked practices.

Number 3: The Government should do something! The dispatches programme finished by suggesting that the government could make companies responsible for their supply chain…I’m sure that if you were to threaten companies with fines for irresponsible practices in their supply chain they’d soon enough monitor it properly.

Anyway just a few thoughts…comments always appreciated.

This morning just before breakfast there was a knock on the door. I opened it and standing on our doorstep/the street was a nicely dressed couple. The lady, who was clutching a red leather clad bible greeted me by saying ‘We’ve just come to share the good news of the gospel’.

She then asked me what I thought would happen at the end of the world to which I responded ‘I think Jesus will return and there will be a new heaven and a new earth’…I also informed her that I was a youth worker for the local church.

She then told me that it’s nice that there will be somewhere with no evil eventually, bid me good day and went on to knock at my next door neighbours…who I knew were out!

I’ve blogged before on where I stand with street preachers and lovely as this lady was (although I don’t really know if she was a Christian of JW!) I’m not convinced it’s relevant and here lies the problem…for many people Christianity is irrelevant. (I sometimes include myself in that category).

I’ve been to a few things on emerging church…I’ve chatted with people about cafe church and pub church…I’ve seen young people take part in social action projects and all these things are great but the church as a whole is stuck!

If you’re not a Christian entering into a church can be a scary prospect…you have to know when to stand and sit, you have to try and work out what phrases such as ‘blood of the lamb’ actually mean and in all of this you have to follow the leader.

Don’t get me wrong…there is a place for sermons but we’re still preaching sermons on lost sheep…Jesus talked about lost sheep because he was surrounded by shepherds who related to it…I have never lost a sheep (although I fully accept that I’m only 24 and still have lots of time to find myself in a sheep-losing situation).

In Acts Paul walks into Athens (from memory) and wanders around and spots a statue labeled ‘to an unknown god’ and so when he gets up to preach later he doesn’t share a story about sheep or a lost coin he tells them who this unknown god actually is….and tells them about Jesus in a way which is relevant!

So what does this look like in the 21st century?

The key thing for our gospel message today is that people are relational. We are in constant contact with people. We check in, we post status’ and we comment on people’s activities on Facebook, we send instant tweets and photos on Twitter, we sign in on 4square, we may even be old school enough to update our myspace!

Our communication is instant and works both ways…there’s even lectures that have twitter feeds running in the background.

This is where cafe church and pub church are such good ideas…because they’re relational…it’s the same with social action…it’s about meeting people’s physical & emotional needs as well as spiritual.

I’ll finish this post with a story that one of my uni lecturers told us;

In the story a young, enthusiastic Christian approaches a tower block with his bible in hand ready to convert some people. The first door he goes to is opened by a woman, cigarette in mouth, grubby baby in the other…he starts his rehearsed talk ‘I’ve come to tell you about the good news of Jes….’ and the door is slammed in his face.

Feeling disgruntled and upset he sits down outside and begins to cry…then suddenly an idea comes to him. So he gets up, goes to the local shop and buys a packet of cigarettes and a pack of nappies. He goes back to the lady’s house, knocks on the door again and simply says ‘I’ve come to help you’.

That afternoon he changes the baby, helps tidy and smokes (having never smoked in his life) and it’s when he turns to leave that the lady says ‘Why have you done this?’ and he tells her about Jesus.

We need a church that’s relevant to people…I’m not convinced that church as we know it really works anymore for those outside the Christian bubble and I certainly don’t believe it’s right to mold them into our church mold.

It’s amazing what thoughts a Saturday morning door knocker can have!

During our short stay in Great Yarmouth last week I had the opportunity to catch up with Steve over lunch. Both me and Steve share an interest for what companies are up to and ethical issues and so naturally this was part of our discussion over lunch.

Since then and along with some conversations with Jo I’ve been thinking a lot more about ethical dilemmas…for example here’s an easy one;

Nestle Produce a Fairtrade KitKat…Should I buy it?

The answer is quite obviously no. Whilst it’s very nice of Nestle to agree to pay a small proportion of their farmers properly there is still child labour involved in the rest of their chocolate and their irresponsible baby milk advertising in the third world still makes them the most boycotted company in the world. (Read more about Nestle here)

However the Nestle dilemma isn’t what I wanted to blog about!

Dilemma 1: Local Supplies vs Local Produce

Ever since going supermarketless for lent earlier this year we’ve purchased all of our fruit and veg from a small, independently run farm shop half a mile from our house and from an ethical perspective this puts money back into the local economy rather than some rich businessmen. On a practice perspective we spend far less than we would if we went to a supermarket by getting the fruit and veg locally…add into the mix that it keeps far better and shopping locally is truly fantastic all round…however the farm shop doesn’t just source local produce but bring in a whole variety so occasionally have apples from New Zealand.

The ethical dilemma is this: Is it better to buy locally but with added airmiles (in the case of these apples) or better to buy supermarket french ones?

Dilemma 2: Tesco & ethical clothing?

As readers will know I boycott Tesco for a whole host of reasons including the way they bully councils and suppliers and even the way their business is run as a whole. However I have been informed that all of Tesco’s clothing is now completely ethical…sourced from a company that is renowned for having no flaws.

So the ethical dilemma is this: Is it better to buy ethically produced clothing from Tesco and in doing so put money towards the awful market practices and attitude of Tesco?

Anyway that’s just one thing I’ve been pondering…thoughts? Should airmiles and pollution be a priority above shopping locally? Does a companies shocking attitudes get canceled out when they support ethical issues in a tiny aspect of their business?

Comments???

You CAN make a difference!

Whilst it may seem like my dilemmas show that it’s very difficult to live ethically there are lots of simple things that do make a difference…buying Fairtrade chocolate, coffee, tea, sugar and other produce changes lives…it provides schooling and supports communities. So share your comments and buy Fairtrade!