Thriving economy vs economic deprivation
Two surveys, two pictures of Scotland鈥檚 economy - in its broadest sense.
One notes that Scotland鈥檚 manufactured exports are continuing their slow recovery. We are, it seems, contriving to sell goods, particularly drink and metals, to the world in greater quantities.
The other? A report from Barnardo鈥檚 depicting Scotland as close to the bottom of an international league table of child poverty.
As noted in other comparable studies, we score highly for education - but fall behind on relative poverty overall and issues like low birth weight and the prevalence of teenage pregnancy.
Are the two linked - or disparate? If the executive succeed in their ambition to improve Scotland鈥檚 historically low economic growth rate, will there be a matching improvement in the figures exposed by the Barnardo鈥檚 report?
Or will poor social cohesion continue to exist alongside relative economic well-being? Does Scotland鈥檚 record on child poverty also owe much to low self-esteem and social breakdown: the 鈥渂roken society鈥 identified by some commentators?
It is at least arguable that it is only with the resources provided by a thriving economy that we can tackle the elementary economic deprivation endured by many.
But perhaps it is also arguable that we need more than money alone. We need a collective sense of disquiet, of shame at the poverty among us: and a collective will to reverse the concomitant feeling of alienation.
I'm 
Comments
We may score highly on education but I do not believe we score highly on all those educated; there is an underclass in our education system, not because we aim too low, because we aim too high. This very underclass are low or non earners and as such we exacerbate the situation of poverty you describe; what we need to achieve is increased earning capacity for this group and that can only be achieved by increasing their skill base.
Educators insist that all schoolchildren, irrespective of ability be educated equally, this is where the nonsense begins; school children are not equal and as such those who struggle academically struggle more so when educated under the guidelines of purely academic curricula.
We need to tailor our education system to education levels which can be realistically achieved by all grades of pupils; no I do not mean the 11 plus, but no matter how often or how long those educators rant you still will not make a silk purse out of a sow鈥檚 ear.
Children are not allowed to fail, hence re-sit after re-sit is arranged and those pupils who do not pass receive marks for course work completed whether or not they comprehend the subject; the logic being that failure stigmatises and traumatises the pupils who do not achieve.
Nevertheless we proffer these individuals to the job market and are surprised they cannot find or keep employment; if these children were taught skills relevant to their ability and these skills were tailored for industry we would reduce this underclass and hence reduce poverty.
For someone around as long as you Brian, you miss the obvious so easily - or is it you don't want to go there ? Poverty is an inevitable result of political systems where capitalism is the main ingredient. No matter how much some try for the mixed economy and so redistribute wealth, the haves will always hold on as much as possible to what they regard as theirs and cede as little as possible to the have nots. History keeps telling us that.
This kind of discussion thread inevitably ends up defining a line below which poverty exists and above which income differentials are somehow OK. Your blog, Brian, would have offered more interest if you had put forward a more precise view on how we will know when we have ended the 'elementary economic deprivation' you refer to.
Removal of the human indignity of poverty will only be realised if we adopt radical political solutions. Brian and too many others just want to achieve a level of poverty which makes them, as part of the haves, less uncomfortable about their position on the greasy pole of society.
Despite their best efforts, and a stream of almost identical "policy statements" and "closing the opportunity gap" announcements, McConnell's executive failed in the one area they talked about so much.
The 6 Closing the Opportunity Gap objectives were/are:
Increase sustainable employment - the jobs are out there, but there is a minority who are unable/unwilling to work, who the Exec have not helped.
Target young people - NEET, etc are as bad or worse than before.
Reduce Financial Exclusion - personal debt is high and credit unions, etc get no support.
Regenerate Neighbourhoods - some successes, but still too many "bad" areas in too many places.
Public Health - smoking ban good, other than that, I wouldn't believe this was an objective.
Rural Communities - read "people and place" and Scottish Enterprise's targets and you'll see the priorities - Glasgow, Lanarkshires, Renfrewshires, Ayrshires and Edinburgh - the "city regions" agenda (west coast in particular) is the focus, not rural communities, which are becoming more remote and more deprived.
In truth, the support is not there for Employability, Public Health or Rural Communities, despite everything they published, Jack's legacy is neds, strong business and foreign investment, not a bad legacy for the Conservatives, but a sad story for a Labour government.
Poverty is inevitable unless we have an economy in which GDP is shared equally among all and where the accumulation of wealth is made illegal. GDP will then decrease and we will all become poorer as those who would put in additional effort for personal gain decline to do so for others or move abroad. The migration south of many of Scotland's best young people shows what happens when opportunities for self- improvement are absent. There are no grounds for thinking that as religion plays a smaller and smaller part in our lives we will as a society be any more inclined to be charitable.
Poverty can therefore only be tackled by ensuring that everyone has the wherewithal to compete and that strong economic and social pressures came to bear when individuals opt out. A fair taxation system provides social capital and a safety net but should not provide alternative lifestyles. The poverty we have is shameful but it is society's approach to its resolution which has made it so. How much poverty arises from the absence of parents, the bringing up of children by children and the chaotic lifestyles of some of the long term unemployed. How much also arises from an upbringing which demonstrates how survival without work is possible. Until we have a set of values which we all recognise and which are supported by economic and social sanctions this problem will not be solved. "Inclusion" is something of a myth, we all act as individuals or as family units, it is our upbringing which tells us how to behave towards others and by their responses our sense of being a part of the group is reinforced. Societies have always rejected those who do not play by the rules.
In work or any other pursuits in life, if you are embarking on some venture you seek to try and emulate what is appropriate for you. Unlike success stories such as Norway, Sweden, Ireland, Denmark and Finland, etc, Scotland does not have the capacity to plan its economy, London does it for us.
If the economy is over heating in London, interest rates are raised for the UK, this is despite Scotland under performing and requiring investment. The renovation and reinvigoration of London has been going on for twenty years, Scotland gets the crumbs from the table. The theory being this is that the UK will be bypassed if London can not compete with Tokyo, New York and Paris, etc. Fine for London, but not good for Scotland.
In sum, if Scotland does not control its own economy, it will continue to have a second class economy. Relying on others to do what is right for you is a strategy doomed to failure. They will spend your money on things you do not want, e.g. nuclear weapons, illegal wars and domes.
The age old myth that Scotland has one of the best education systems in the world needs to be laid to rest. This may have been true 80 years ago, but is fantasy today 2007. Teachers were de-professionalised in the 1980's by Younger, Rifkin and Forsyth, unfortunately no one told the teachers. Teachers need to be valued, by society, parents and children. This will not happen with out money and a change in culture so that everyone values education.
Poverty is a shame that Labour and Conservative parties are content to live with. A visit to any of the big schemes in our big cities is a salutary experience. The despair is palpable. We should all be ashamed. The longevity gap between the rich and poor in Glasgow is a scandal. This scandal needs to be publicised through out the EU, only then will a serious attempt to reverse this growing gap be taken.
Unless you control your own economy and determine your priorities for public spending, you will get second best and dependency. Second best results in a cycle of poor education, poverty, despair and so on. That Scotland does no control its own economy is nobody else鈥檚 faults, it is a Scottish problem and will only be solved by Scottish solutions.
Angie McKay
We talk continually about economic deprivation and poverty as though it were solely about the redistribution of wealth and the creation of policies. Not so.
Deprivation and poverty about people: people who have never seen positive examples of others holding down a regular job; people who are sold a dream of interest-free credit without being shown the reality; people who seek help and support for their problems only to find that services are not available or that they are not eligible to receive them.
Invest in people, not policies.
Invest in life skills not education.
Any way you could check this out Brian?
Is Alex Salmonds way of making Scotland a *thriving economy* by taking wages from the very place he wants nothing to do with,ie,the London Parliament?. If he realy wants to be Scotlands First Minister then surely it would be better to be paid by Holyrood than by the English establishment. Oh!, maybe of course there`s more money to be made by being in the pay of the people you want away from!!
It's mainly due to an economic imbalance caused by political weakness.
In effect this Govt has handed over control of economic policy and particularly industrial strategy to the City and it's member institutions. It probably hoped - as I'm sure Thatcher did before it - that in doing this the City would use its new found freedom to at least in part support industry and real economic growth.
We now know of course that this has not been the case and that actually the City and its members took this as an opportunity to expand it's own sector and act in an extraordinarily introverted fashion.
Today the growth of financial services and more importantly it's influence on Govt - particularly the Treasury - is tending to drive policy.
Hence, the really quite remarkable comments from Alistair Darling this week to the Financial Times when he said " 鈥淚 do not believe in economic patriotism. I think it is nonsense. Economic patriotism is protectionism and there is no other name for it.鈥
Our competitors - all of whom do believe in economic patriotism - will doubtless be laughing their socks off.
I remember reading in the 1970's that Scotland was the most Communist country in Western Europe and I don't think much has changed. The Scots don't expect to have to do anything for themselves. As for the SNP leader taking money from Westminster he 's no different from any other Scots MP.
To scottow.
In the 70`s it was the great numbers that were really labour supporters that caused the myth that Scotland was communist.Thankfully we`re now neither commie nor labour, only prob now is we seem to be SNP.Having said that, in regards to "The Scots don`t expect to have to do anything for themselves", did the Scots not vote out the political parties that take their orders from everywhere except the country that they are supposed to represent?.
Alex and his cronies better make sure they have listened to the Scots or they, like the commies and labour[not forgetting the tories]will be condemed tohistory as well. Come on the Lib-Dem, no more Lib-Lab as that was a bit of a lib-con!!
Dick (8),
Well spotted, well sadi.
Slainte
ed
If my memory serves me well it was Lumphinnans village in Fife that was at the heart of Communism in Scotland, it was and is still referred to today by older members of the community as 鈥楲ittle Moscow鈥.
This 鈥榓ffiliation鈥 to the Communist Party in this and surrounding villages which were predominately mining communities, arose from the general strike of 1926.
I would not be surprised if Scotland itself was referred to as the most Communist country in Western Europe as the media of that time was as it remains today, even in its twentieth century enhanced form, mostly campaigners on behalf of the wealthy and of the establishment.
Post 2# makes the bizzare link between capitalism and poverty.
I would suggest that the writer of that post takes a look at socialist or even religious states, they would find that their levels of poverty are much much worse, it is a ridiculous argument to say that capitalism is the cause for poverty.
the author asks for more distribution of wealth, well if we did not have capitalism where will this wealth come from?.
The Scottish public should not be frightened of improving it's lifestyle, nor should it allow itself to be dictated to by people stuck in a 1950's communist time-warp.
If we look at the state of the so called 'socialist workers paradises' we can see how awful socialism has been to the citizens, perhaps the poster should ask other Eastern Europeans if they prefer their living standards now or those under the old communist block?.
Peter in post 1# has it exactly right, we need to increase peoples skill-base, and that can only come from giving them the right life tools, the most important tool being a proper education, which is tailored to the individual abilities of the child.
FYI the prudent "capitalist" countries:
Country: Public spending as % GDP - % GDP growth 2006
Sweden: 57.1 - 3.5
Denmark: 53.8 - 2.7
Finland: 50.6 - 3.3
UK: 45.4 - 2.4
Source: OECD
Government debt 2006
Country: Government gross financial liabilities as % of nominal GDP
Sweden: 60.9
Finland: 54.9
UK: 51.2
Germany: 71.4
France: 77.5
Italy: 126.8
Japan: 160.5
Slainte
ed
10#
totally agree
There's no point in sending 'less academically gifted' (for want of a better phrase) off to university to do 'media studies' degrees. Or in forcing them to stay on at school. My nephew in Australia, with the help of his parents and school, has arranged an apprenticeship for himself. As a result, he can leave school early, with the proviso that if he gives up on the apprenticeship, he goes back to school. Why can't we do something that sensible here? Why try to persuade a boy who's good with cars, for example, that he should be going to uni? Get him trained up to do what he's good at, and he will be in the lucky position of being trained and PAID to do something he loves!
With the news that Morgan Stanley are going to create 600 new jobs in Glasgow, doesn't suggest that money will flood out of Scotland if we gain independence.
Jobs like these won't save Scotland's economy, we need more R & D, venture capital, manufacturing and other top level jobs, but it's an excellent start!
Well done the SNP!
Doggie McCoquodale
One must remember the need for, in our society, the need for uneducated workers to provide services the educated/well off require. It is an inevitibility.
The uneducated workers then tend to recieve lower pay for their less valued positions. It is also inevitable that price is allocated to a position by subjectivity. It is a necessity for poverty to exist in order for their to be aspirations and therfore greater productivty; culminating in economic growth.
Arming the section of population who are unlikely to become Brain of Britain with skills tailored to their intellectual capability is a way in which poverty can be lessened and would allow the economy to strenghten- ergo, bring back grammar schools!!!
lord jack mcconnel high commissionare? of malawi(g** help them )/lord watson/sir henary mcliesh
no wonder labour, is not held in high esteem
wendy has her work cut out to get this lot back into shape
i think *wee* eck will have a ball
I couldn't agree more with those who say people should be trained/educated in what they are able to do as supposed to what politicians want them to do.
Many people are unsuited to studying at University and so should be trained in a skill/ trade that will get them into employment. It will also increase the value of the degree to whose who get them, which will in turn make degree holders also more competative in the job market. As a recruitment agent. I see too many young people applying to me for jobs that i cannot possibly give them because they do not have the right skills or even discipline required when working (somthing that an apprentiship scheme would instill).
In regards to economic growth, this can be achieved in many ways, i.e lowering taxes to encourage those who work that working harder doesn't mean being hammered by more tax.
This would also encourage foreign investment, which leads to jobs etc
As well for an improvement in lifestyle for those work.