November 2011

We Don't Need No Edukashion

Pink Floyd once famously sang "We don't need no education":

After reading today's Guardian's Q+A with David Cameron, I'm fast becoming convinced that he's as thick as another brick in the wall.

It would be an interesting albeit time-wasting exercise to analyse all his responses, so I'm going to focus on just one of the questions, from the film director Mike Leigh:

What is your moral justification for the state not providing free further education for everybody, and for the principle of student loans? And I do want to hear your moral reasoning: not any economic, political or historic excuses.

"I think there is a strong moral case for this, which is the evidence that going to university brings a benefit to that individual person over the course of the rest of their life. Therefore, I think it is morally right that they make a contribution to the cost of that course, which is what our fees policy does. And I think it would be morally wrong to ask the taxpayer to bear all of the burden of that cost, not least because there are many taxpayers who don't go to university who don't have that benefit."

Last year, Channel 4's Factcheck asked "do graduates earn 100,000 more than non-graduates?"

The answer is yes, over their working lives they earn £100,000 (net of tax, or £120,000 gross) more than non-grads.

OK, so that means they're paying £20,000 more income tax over their life than non-grads. Not including their extra National Insurance contributions (from them and their employers). They're also paying VAT on all taxable purchases made with that extra £100,000 income, that's another £10,000, say, bringing the tax differential up to around £30,000. The article cites a typical student debt of £25,000 to pay off with that extra income. But the extra tax they pay already pays for their education!

Back to Cameron:

"going to university brings a benefit to that individual person over the course of the rest of their life"

...

"I think it would be morally wrong to ask the taxpayer to bear all of the burden of that cost, not least because there are many taxpayers who don't go to university who don't have that benefit"

Note what he does not say. He doesn't even hint that their education might be of value to society, that we all win from educating our children. Presumably doctors, nurses, engineers, scientists, teachers, lawyers, judges, etc are of zero value to society, and don't deserve to earn more than the non-educated. Unlike his chums the banksters and businessmen, who are entitled to every penny they can grab, with bonus points if some of their wealth comes from tax-avoidance and government bailouts.

It would appear that he, like his infamous predecessor Margaret Thatcher, is convinced that there is no such thing as society.

It's difficult to feel anything but contempt for him and his arrogant attitudes, policies, and government.

Enraptored

It was a lovely day on Tuesday. Unseasonably warm, like the rest of November's been.

So I went a-strolling in the Malvern Hills, up to the top of British Camp (huff puff).

Returning to the car park along one of the lower paths, I heard an unsual bird call from above. A kind of "meeyug", sound, but as one syllable, not two. Having never heard that call in my life, I looked up, and saw a magnificient raptor flying above. It would fly 100 feet or so above the ground, then fold in its wings and dive, calling out as it did so, pulling short about 30 feet above the ground. It then flew back up, repeating the sequence, several times. That flight behaviour is, I discovered later, known as stooping.

Now here's the problem. It was too big to be a Peregrine Falcon (and had wrong wing shape), and it wasn't a behaviour I'd normally have associated with Buzzards, nor did the call match the Buzzard's normal pi-oo bi-syllabic call. After listening to numerous sound clips of raptors, it was more like the sound of a Golden Eagle, but there aren't any in the wild in these parts. It wasn't trailing any tethers, so was unlikely to be an escaped-from-captivity Golden Eagle. But Golden Eagles do the stooping thing too, like Peregrines.

Back to Google, and I found a clue. Buzzards, in their spring courtship rituals, do that sort of dance to impress prospective partners. I haven't found any examples of their courtship calls, but I can imagine them being different from their normal call, which I have heard many times.

So, was it a Buzzard, confused by the mild weather and thinking it was Spring, trying to impress the ladies with its Golden Eagle impersonations?

Whatever it was, it was a totally enrapturing experience, so beautiful to witness.

Next time I go walking in the hills, I'll take my camera.