Domestic Efficacy

          Mealtimes at our home had settled into an unadventurous routine of repetitive menus – again! We felt trapped in a cycle of reproducing familiar recipes just because it is easier than trying new ones and, by so doing, that we were narrowing our life experiences instead of expanding them. So, in a burst of enthusiasm for adventurous diversification, we decided to reboot our diet. I suggested we start by taking the spices out of the cupboard (out of sight, out of mind) and placing them on display next to the hob to encourage their use and inspire new ideas. However, the plan fell apart when, seeing our newly acquired spice rack on display, we concluded that it looked and felt messy, reminiscent of student accommodation, and that we were happier with our previously uncluttered theme, which we apply not just to visual aesthetics, but to life in general.

          So, with the now redundant spice rack destined for the charity shop and our resolve to vary the menu having suffered a setback, it seems to me there is a wider issue to address. By not wanting the kitchen (or any other room, for that matter) to look untidy, are we being too restrictive? Are we on course for an inevitable funnelling down of ideas, thoughts and activities? Will we end up refining our lifestyle to the point where change is shunned, habits become entrenched and creativity becomes impossibly stifled? I wouldn’t say that I lie awake worrying about all this, but I don’t want to end up with a mind that has closed its door to novelty for the sake of convenience. I do aspire to leave the door ajar.

          So, should I be leading a leading a messier life as, it is said, creative people characteristically do? Would it be a good idea to cultivate an untidy workstation, a disorganised household, chaotic admin and erratic personal relationships? Cliché has it that these are prerequisites for freeing the imagination from locked-in behavioural patterns that constrict the association of ideas and reduce the likelihood of any serendipitous spark. It’s an enticing stereotype but I don’t know of any statistical proof to support it.

          Besides, habitual behaviour has its benefits. Knowing precisely where to find your socks, outfit and breakfast stuff helps to streamline your activities. Routines help you save time and make the most of the day, enabling you to stick to the tight schedule you drew up in your head, or jotted on post-its. It’s efficient, in the same way that just-in-time manufacturing is. Surely one benefit of this is that you can free up space for experimentation and creative activity by efficiently taking care of all the other stuff. Unless, that is, you are the kind of person who bothers more about the other stuff than what the other stuff serves.

          Recently, while taking an habitual short-cut through a department store, I was accosted by a Japanese lady who offered me a sample from her newly established, in-store sushi bar. I saw it as an opportunity to rekindle a long extinct familiarity with Japanese cuisine and it fitted well with my resolution. She proffered a choice of sushi and I asked what they were. I could not follow her answers, as her accent was heavy and the ingredients were not all identifiable, but I chose one and enjoyed it anyway. “Delicious,” I said and looked around for a napkin for my sticky fingers (no chopsticks had been made available). There were none, so I dipped my fingers into what I assumed was a finger bowl – a black dish next to the sushi. The lady looked horrified as she said, in words that I did understand – “That soy sauce!”

          This business of diversifying is not without hazard.

The Long Game

          The number of Chinese people in town has been increasing noticeably and here is why: the University’s Chinese student business has been growing at a rate of 30% year-on-year since 2012-13. Many of the students attend mandatory English courses prior to admission, so they are here during the summer as well. My barber is delighted to be benefitting from the extra business (his shop is surrounded by university buildings). He also told me that one of his clients, a teacher on their English course, has a theory that all those polite, uncomplaining Chinese students are long-term sleeper agents. Their mission is not to absorb western culture but to undermine it and hasten the eventual dominion of China.

          I am inclined to give some credence to this. The teacher’s evidence is anecdotal, but it is backed up elsewhere: Chinese expansionism is evident in the Belt and Road initiative, the acquisition of foreign assets world-wide and the protectionist slant of China’s monetary and economic policies. Furthermore, President Xi Jinping has hinted that because of its 5,000-year-old culture, China deserves to have more influence in world affairs. I don’t mean to sound alarmist, but the signs are ominous. I have lived in ‘China Town’ long enough to realise that it should really have been called ‘Hong Kong Town’: the difference has recently come home to roost as news reports show us the westernised Hong Kongers resisting the repressive control of Beijing. How long will it be before we see that same culture-clash outside the Kwok Man restaurant on St. James Street?

          But it is not just China’s ambitions I worry about. The other contender for world domination, the USA, is just as dangerous. It may have a familiar, western face but its record of wreaking international havoc to further its own economic and military interests is far from friendly and is unrivalled since the British Empire’s own. Surely, its ambitions have become more transparent since its avuncular, public-facing mask has been discarded to reveal the amoral, brash reality of its populist nationalism.

          Which brings me to my fears for “the Mother of Democracy”, aka Britain/UK/England, currently under attack, not from abroad, but from within. Our Prime Minister holds office by default because of a constitution that turns out not to be as democratic as was supposed. The complex arguments over whether sovereignty lies with the people or with parliament rage, while actual power has been seized by a cadre that is hell-bent on a course of action that has not been endorsed by a majority in the electorate. We seem surprised to realise that smug complacency is no defence against the onslaughts of would-be tyrants.

          These events have brought into focus the weaknesses of our constitution and, combined with the need to modernise a party-political system that has not kept pace with changes brought about by de-industrialisation and demographic shifts over the years, demand action if we are to ensure the survival of consensual democracy. One suggestion is to extend the use of citizens’ assemblies to deliberate on issues that politicians are reluctant to tackle for fear of alienating their constituents. If this were to happen, it might become apparent to everyone that the nation’s long-term interests are not best served by a parliament whose focus is inevitably short-term i.e. from one election campaign to the next. It might even become obvious that leaving the European Union, far from strengthening our hand in international trade, will render Britain as small fry waiting to be gobbled up by the incumbent bullies, America and China, both of whom have deep pockets and are playing the long game.

          P.S. Having finished writing this piece, I sat down for lunch, looked out of the window and saw that a bi-lingual street sign has been fixed to the wall of the building opposite. It wasn’t there at breakfast. For all I know, it says “Property of the People’s Republic of China”.

Subtly Saving the Planet

          Extinction Rebellion (XR) occupied a street in central Manchester for four days last week. My partner and her best mate were deeply involved in the organising and implementation of the proceedings, while I played only a supporting role, a pot-carrier, literally, in that I helped to put together the temporary street garden by transporting some of the potted plants to site in the campervan.

          It’s not that I am unsympathetic to the cause: on the contrary, I agree wholeheartedly that action is needed now to save the planet from eco-disaster. And I concur with JS Mill’s argument that a person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury. But there are different forms of action and people have diverse temperaments so, when it comes to the various ways in which influence can be brought to bear on authority, it is perhaps  more effective for each of us to utilise our particular talents. Evidently, I am not comfortable with group activities, committee meetings, communal singing and such. I prefer to act independently. However, having said that, I was so moved by the marching drummers who led the way to the occupation site at the ‘taking of the streets’ (I now appreciate why drummers led soldiers into battle in days of yore) that I am considering applying to join them – as long as the practice sessions are not too onerous. Music is a chink in my emotional armour.

          Any organisation wishing to reach out to a maximum audience has to take careful account of how its image or message is perceived and XR is aware of this. Some have commented that its logo, for example, is sinister and that the tone of its communication can sometimes sound too shrill for waverers. Certainly, there is an element of proselytising and a residual image of the crusty eco-warrior-cum-hippie that might put off some potential sympathisers and here there are opportunities for me to be effective.

          One afternoon, I strolled around the XR encampment in order to gauge how things were going. There were reports of one or two ranting dissenters, angry about the disruption, but, on the whole, the atmosphere was jolly, relaxed and positive. Parents had brought their children along to the family-activity marquees, while musicians performed on the portable stage and the police presence was palpably sympathetic. I bumped into an old friend and we retired, as we often do, to the terrace of a bar nearby for a beer where, after a while, I got into conversation with a couple of middle-aged women sitting next to us. One of them asked me if I knew what the “festival” was about. Therein lay a clue as to the potential pitfalls of careless terminology. I wanted to inform her but was unsure whether to use words like protest, demonstration or occupation so, in order not to alienate her, I fudged the vocabulary  and explained that they were ordinary citizens showing their concern for the environment. I was amazed that, even with the Amazon on fire, the Barrier Reef dying, deluges, droughts and hurricanes afflicting huge parts of the planet, this woman seemed unaware that there was actually a problem. Of course, in Cheshire, at least for the time being, there isn’t one, but she did show a glimmer of understanding when I mentioned children and grandchildren.

          And so I rest my case. I was not manning the barricades but did exercise a quantum of soft influence at a watering hole for the well-to-do. Oh, and I am currently doing a lot of online research into the availability of electric-powered campervans.