Tax Research UK » Aspiration doesn’t do it for me, but care definitely does
The word aspiration does not do it for me. I have already explained that I do, of course, aspire to many thing, but in current political debate the word aspiration appears far too often to mean the gratification of the desire to consume for it to have any acceptable political connotation that I would wish to share. That has not, however, stopped it becoming part of the current centre ground debate in British politics. That is because, I have no doubt, this debate is playing to the personal consumption agenda.
That then leaves a question. What is the word around which those who do not put personal consumption as their highest goal wish to coalesce in debate? I have given some thought to this issue, and the need for that one chosen word to convey a sufficient message within itself to communicate both what people feel and what an organisation that might use it, even as its organisational title, might stand for. The word I have so far settled on is ‘care’.
Source: Tax Research UK » Aspiration doesn’t do it for me, but care definitely does
Spot on. Aspiration is fine eg to get a better job, a nice house, meals out, but on it’s own it is meaningless. When that job is lost, or the money is not there for the NHS or the waiting list get longer for the operation, it becomes hollow. We should care about all in society and do our best to ensure no one is left behind. This means tax accordingly. There should be no race to the bottom with welfare cuts, NHS reorganisation and financial crisis, ATOS, etc, etc, etc., and now five more years! Hurray!
It seems to me that”care” is a great word but it isn’t quite big enough to compete with “aspiration”. It should be but it doesn’t encompass the enormity of what is required. I agree that there is a large degree of selfishness in “aspiration”, but “care” doesn’t reflect the amount of selflessness required to win the argument against the years of “self first” that have come from the Tories.
A far better word to use for those that want to see inequality reduced in society I would suggest is “decency”.
The “me, my, mine” culture that is promoted by the Tories is as far from a decent society as is the person that supports the greed culture. This needs to be the theme of any Labour campaign and efforts need to be made to attack all of the Tories promotion of greed. Deep down the majority of the population dislike the greed favoured by the Tories and this is an area that could be exploited by Labour.
It’s not so much aspiration as what we aspire to. Why do so many girls/young women aspire to be nothing more than the wife of a footballer? Have you seen the state of them? Young men would like to be the footballers, obviously, but they know early on that needs talent. We’re surrounded by shiny things and expensive distractions – bread and circuses… – that we all are supposed to aspire to own; youngsters want shiny, blingy trinkets and the famous lifestyle, older people want that new house, the second house in the country or somewhere warm. It’s all consumption and the media is to blame to some degree. Consumption and debt keep people acquiescent and blindly striding along the hamster wheel of endless work and spending.
Why does nobody aspire to work less? Does anybody actually ask themselves if their consumption makes them happy? It has been shown that any good effects of retail therapy are only fleeting anyway, people are literally working their lives away for brief glimpses of happiness. working hours we can’t have back for things we don’t need bought with money that doesn’t really exist.
Cheerful, huh? And the political class feeds off it.
I think care is a good start. Care for others, for yourself, for the community and the environment and especially care for the children.
Perhaps it needs to extend to compassion, empathy and kindness and lack of judgementalism. So often many comments are snide and judgemental and very self satisfied. Much of this is the result of the clever divide and rule where the murdoch press all blames immigrants or the poor or the vulnerable so the real culprits get away with the tax-dodging and the fraud and insider trading.