Quotation Station - Frank Dupuis

"The contrasts to be observed between the effects of the depression in Africa and England were striking enough to arouse my curiosity. In Africa the collapse of export markets meant bankruptcy to many planters and some traders and had aroused discontent among native producers but no African was either destitute or even badly in want. The `unemployment problem` simply did not exist.

To find in England, where people were suppposed to be so much richer and wiser than `natives`, multitudes depending upon public assistance even for food, and begging for hard work as if it were a charity to be dispensed by the generous, was startling. It impressed me as unnatural although my English friends, to whom it was customary, did not regard it so. They were satisfied that all differences between England and Africa could be explained by industrialisation. But they could not tell me how.

I thought they condemned in advance any suggestion that a more primitive society might have some lesson to teach them. Was not the black man a poor brother in need of their help and guidance ? As I knew that the black man was just the same as other people and quite capable of providing for himself, I was less disposed to accept assurances which others seemed to pass without question."

Frank Dupuis - A Planter`s Story, in `Land and Liberty` magazine, 1957 

Frank Dupuis spent nearly twenty years in Africa. He may originally have gone there on military service, but at some point he took up agricultural pursuits, returning to England in 1931.

He found the answers to his questions in W R Lester`s Unemployment and the Land and as a result became involved in a group called the United Commmittee for the Taxation of Land Values, contributing to their periodical Land and Liberty regularly.

For the moment we will simply note that the United Committee was a body that drew inspiration from the works of American philosopher Henry George and was not an organisation that can be easily classified as being either left or right wing. It still exists today, under the name the Henry George Foundation.

The quote above is interesting in many ways and I suspect different people will take different things from it. I am quite happy for that to be the case and have no intention of  interposing my own thoughts and interpretations.

Quotation Station ; Jim Al-Khalili

"As a physicist, I have sent much of my life pondering the nature of reality, the laws of physics and the origin of the Universe, and so I have developed a strong rationalist, scientific, evidence-based outlook on life.

 Understanding that I only exist because of a wonderful cosmic accident means I truly appreciate just how lucky we all are to exist at all, and so we should make the most of our time on earth and not waste this brief opportunity to shine as brightly as the stars that created the atoms we are all made of .

That for me is what defines Humanism.".

Jim Al-Khalili

Footnote
For more from Jim, see Nick Osmond-  `Another Humanist - "Believing in God is Fine by Me" says Jim Al-Khalili` - posted at http://bookshelvesandbrownale.blogspot.com on 11 April 2013.

Updates ; Fiji

The Minority Rights Group has published a new report, Fiji ; The Challenges and Opportunities and Diversity.

The report comes at a time when Amnesty International and Labour Start are expressing concerns about the situation in Fiji.

The MRG report is "based on evidence drawn from exclusive interviews across the diversity of Fiji`s ethnic groups and aims "to provide insight into the underlying causes and consequences of ethnic tensions in Fiji."

  Links ;

http://www.minorityrights.org/11850/reports/fiji-the-challenges-and-opportunities-of-diversity.html

http://www.minorityrights.org/643/publications/publications.html

An Update

I`ll be back posting on this blog again very soon, but until then, keep up with me at http://bookshelvesandbrownale.blogspot.com and http://hoonaloon.blogspot.com

Thanks

Another Aid Controversy

The vexed question of overseas aid raises it`s head yet again in a recent article by an anonymous representative of Ethiopia`s Oromo people* ;

The writer refers to Ethiopia`s FDRE Proclamation 621/2009, which he/she acknowledges was "intended to impose superior regulation of charities", but goes on to argue that in practise it has meant that "party leaders decide who should receive...emergency support" .

The article goes on to say that in many cases "the authorities decide who should die."

Admirers of Ethiopia`s current regime often present it as a kind of synthesis of old-style state-centralist economy with western individualism and initiative. I can actually see where they`re coming from with that, though I doubt that in practice the "best of both worlds" approach is actually what is happening on the ground.

Leaving that aside, the article does raise questions about how NGO aid agenices can be made accountable. While many would question whether self-regulation and intitatives like The Sphere Project are really a long-term solution, it`s unclear how any form of independent scrutiny is ever to be achieved.

These are big questions with no easy answers and I don`t pretend to have any special wisdom. Hopefully, I`ll be able to return to the subject in due course.

*http://www.minorityvoices.org/news.php/en/1381/ethiopiauk-oromo-rally-in-london

Quotation Station - Richard Pankhurst

"Life is nothing without enthusiasms."

Richard Pankhurst (Richard Marsden Pankhurst)

Pretty much my whole knowledge of the Pankhursts is derived from Barbara Castle`s book Sylvia and Christabel Pankhurst, which I`ve owned for about twenty years and only read twice, so I can`t claim to be an authority on the subject.

The Pankhursts are chiefly associated in the public mind with the Suffragette movement, of course. On wider issues, their endless idealogical twistings and turnings can make unintentionally humorous reading.

Richard M Pankhurst began his political life as a Conservative, went on to become a radical Liberal and eventually began to associate himself with socialist causes of his day such as the Fabian Society and the Independent Labour Party. His wife Emmeline joined her husband in his campaigning for the Independent Labour Party but ended her days a Conservative.

Of their three daughters, Adela was a founding member of the Australian Communist Party but like her mother eventually moved to the right. Christabel evetually became a Second Adventist and disowned her Suffragette past, whilst Sylvia was at one point so far to the left she thought Lenin too moderate.

In fairness to Sylvia, in her post-Communist period she continued to apply herself tirelessly and indeed selflessly to a variety of causes, in some ways anticipating later developments in progressive thinking, for instance in her involvement with Africa. Her son, the younger Richard (Richard Keir Pethick Pankhurst) lives in Ethiopia and is a well-respected author/historian.

Perhaps for Sylvia another of Richard M Pankhurst`s sayings is also relevant ;  "Every struggling cause shall be ours."

More Hoonaloons For Webdubs

Having been relatively high-minded for the last couple of postings, I still have to make a living !

Here are a couple of recent additions to our stock that may be of interest ;

 

 

At 5394 in our listings is Alex La Guma`s A Walk in the Night and Other Stories, with an introduction by Nahem Yousaf.

 

Prior to leaving South Africa in 1966, La Guma (1925 - 1985) had been active in anti-apartheid causes and the labour movement, as had his father before him, and was among the defendants at the so-called Treason Trial. He pursued his career as a writer whilst in exile, as well as continuing an involvement in the social/political issues of his homeland.

 

 

 

 

At 5399 is Ian Dewhirst`s The Story of a Nobody ; A Working Class Life 1880 - 1939

 

Dewhirst has written a number of books about Yorkshire in general and Keighley in particular. 

 

 Taking as his starting point an old school photograph showing a nine-year old Arthur Illingworth - an ordinary man, the `nobody` of the title - and his friends, Dewhirst has told the story of Arthur and the times through which he lived, including World War One and the Depression of the `30s.

 

 

I`ve only picked out a couple of titles here. Our monthly online newsletter can be found at  http://hoonaloon.blogspot.com , and further details of a couple of other titles can be found at http://thesextonblakeblog.blogspot.com and http://bookshelvesandbrownale.blogspot.com .

 

To view our entire stock, click here ;  http://www.abebooks.co.uk/Hoonaloon-Books-Derbyshire/53404521/sf .

 

Thanks for your interest,

 

 

Nick