the price of everything

Farewell (maybe) Millwall Football Club. The New Den at least.

Is it fair to say we live in a time when too many people know the price of everything but the value of nothing? When leaders are seemingly very concerned about their legacy, but have discarded any notion that something lasting and of value may not be directly connected to how much money they accumulate and what nepotism bought, at any cost, can then buy their offspring, whatever their qualification? We apparently should disregard lessons from history, except the one that teaches 'it wasn't really worth it' - history written, or re-written if need be, not by 'losers' (SAD!). Looking back shows only the regret of those that sacrificed, for family, country and ideals (please...), dead as the rich hedonist in the grand grave on the other side of the grass which won't be dug up by the council, and the lesson becomes not that you can't take it with you but that even in death, we shall not be 'all equal now'. Don't you think those losers would do things differently given the chance? Let's assume the best people have the most money - ignoring the evidence of what we see happening around us now, and of course any from history - and that everyone has an equal chance. This of course makes it easier to blame people I want to and accept the super-rich deserve all my fortune and we can sleep easier at night and not feel any guilt. That means those losers should have had a good time instead of being so sad!

Elsewhere in SE16 you can find the legacy of the Salters. You can view the death of their daughter, and the subsequent sadness that hung over the rest of their lives, as a lesson against idealism. You can see it as heroic, a sacrifice that means their lives will be remembered far beyond what most will, and certainly for greater reasons. There may be a middle way - be smart with your money, but do something good for others too, maybe? Is that so much to ask? 'Wise as serpents but harmless as doves', I seem to remember, the saying making even more sense as I've lapsed away from old RC, and the goal of so many new megachurches (like Hillsong, next to The Den) now becomes even clearer.  I think it's what most of us want to do - work for our passions, family, friends then community, and - especially at this time of year - maybe even for those less fortunate. Tesco collecting for those in need at the moment and the giving trolley often is full.

But we're apparently dealing with people blinded by greed. Myopic in their short-term view and only satisfied, if they ever are, by whatever next comes into view that they can take. They do whatever it takes to grab more -  who can trust people who claim to be advancing a project for the good of a community, when it hinges on removing what everyone knows is a central part of it? The same people, interests in so many of these regeneration projects, will tell you they are improving areas as they understand, unlike everyone else. They don't want people to have to live in such conditions - so chuck the people they are 'helping' out of the area against their wishes, and sell the land off cheap. The land, and homes on it, undervalued. Disregarded. Worse that that, probably. But as long as those making deals get what they want, guess it would seem like a good price to them.

What is the answer? If you can't beat them join them, obviously - or, a case of mass Stockholm Syndrome. People have a remarkable, again short-sighted, way of twisting things to put themselves in the right. Obviously me too, right here probably. On Twitter, there are arguments like 'it's about time the area was gentrified' and 'I worked hard for this'. This assumes that people who don't have as much somehow don't or didn't work hard, and, assuredly, that is not always the case. Many people worked extremely hard and sacrificed so much, only now to be threatened with what they have being taken away. People who are not of a certain class are not all just benefit cheat anti-social drug dealers (but have in fact done much to fight criminal behaviour, being often more affected by it). Nor are they people who, because they get a take-away in work clothes, deserve to be looked down on, jeered by a newly arrived local artist for apparently looking like they have no GCSE. Again, maybe it is easier to think that's the case, and pretend to be working-class to hide the self-loathing emptiness of knowing you don't actually want to get your hands dirty so will never feel achievement (probably). And yes, to avoid reverse generalisations and prejudice, of course no everyone middle-class is a snob, and having money doesn't immediately equal bad. If an area is improved, benefitting all those who have brought it to this time,  of course that's good. Just be careful what is wished for. If gentrification means less choice of places to go, less culture and just a few big shops, is that improvement? It's like turkeys voting for Christmas sometimes. Unfortunately local cafes and artists don't always fare so well when the next stage of gentrification works through - they're just the unwitting painters and decorators, cleaning up the workspace before the super-rich move in. Great to see more artists, but can't ignore the other side of the coin. We're all in this together. Have a look at New Bermondsey, who's protesting  the changes and who V22 (even them), buying properties there, have been revealed and named with in papers. And the gap between the bankers and the middle is bigger, in every way, than middle to bottom. There is some objective reason to think, you know, mad insatiable greed is a dead end. Not anti-capitalism, just anti-unfair, sociopathic, never-enough capitalism.

So here's the hope - maybe we have reached the dead end. Too much social cleansing has gone on for it to carry on like this. The conflicted interests and 'issues' coming up, the inevitable results of it all, meaning it can't be covered up any more, may mean we finally get away from the mad land grab going on. Hopefully The Den won't go without a fight, but even if it does the legacy it leaves behind, of showing up the grip of local council and developer partnership deals and their detrimental effect on communities, may be a help to people fighting on and in the end worth more than anything else.

Maybe the area, all of us, will benefit? It will all turn out great.

Now sod it, make sure to enjoy the holidays. 

Merry Christmas!