The Idler

Country Diary 89

WHAT FOUL WEATHER. The rain has been pouring to the extent that our little stream is overflowing, and this morning I had to carry the children through a deep puddle to get to the school bus. The wind has been blowing and together these two elemental forces have been making a mockery of my carefully laid plans as far as wood storage goes. I have three or four neat piles of logs in the yard. I stopped piling up logs in the wood barn, because they seemed to sit there and refuse to dry out. I’ve learned now – the hard way – that log merchants never deliver properly seasoned wood. They will all tell you it is dry, but it never is. That at least is a good rule to live by: if you are occasionally lucky and he delivers wood that is ready to burn, then you can consider that to be a bonus. But in general, the wood is not properly dried out. Last winter we had plenty of logs, but when put in the fire, they sat there and smouldered in desultory fashion. The smouldering would be OK if they actually gave off some heat. But these smouldering logs seemed to have the reverse effect: they positively sucked warmth out of the room. (more…)

Boycott the Banks

Rather than whingeing about the banks, and vainly hoping that these conscience-free leopards will change their spots, or that one day some magical change of policy will alter a deeply ingrained culture, it makes more practical sense simply to withdraw all your money from them and find alternative money stores or banking systems. Or move your overdraft! We moan that the government bails out failing banks, but then we continue to bail them out by continuing to use their services. We need instead to cast them out into the wilderness by having nothing to do with them.

In my own case, three years ago I quit First Direct and joined the Cooperative Bank, which operates on completely different principles to the big five, and is, by the way, extremely efficient. It also has an ethical policy. I am now going to move the Idler’s bank account from Lloyds to the Cooperative.

At the same time, if you do have any extra money, then it makes sense to withdraw it immediately from any sort of capitalist institution (ie bank, pension fund, ISA etc etc) and instead buy silver and gold, or old books, or anything beautiful, with it. In other words, find something that will keep its value, rather than be subject to the chaos of the free market.

Other alternatives are credit unions, which offer their members savings and loans. The Credit Unions also, for example, offer Child Trust Funds that do not invest in shares. Then there is the People’s Internet bank Zopa, which brings together individuals who will lend to each other.

It may also be worth looking at the Islamic banking sector, since that is less volatile and prey to top people’s greed than the UK systems. Islamic banks have been particularly successful in Malaysia, as they have far more restrictions on the types of investment they carry out, and have developed systems of banking which do not involve, for example, usury. I don’t have any personal experience of Islamic banks, but here is the website for the Islamic Bank of Britain, which may make interesting reading.

We simply need to withdraw our support for the old banks, those diseased institutions, and go elsewhere. TH

New Deals on Merriment and Wisdom

We have put together five “variety packs” of Idler related materials in the shop. They offer nice discounts on buying the items separately, and could perhaps make a good present for a friend who has recently lost his or her job, or would like to quit it. There’s also a pack for new parents. We hope anyway that they will provide comfort and inspiration in equal measure. All packs are gift-wrapped in pink-striped paper bags with a hand-printed Idler snail. We can also send out a hand-printed card for the recipient with any message you like (please give instructions in the “comments” box). They all come with a “Don’t Twitter” letterpress bookmark, made by Christian Brett.

Offer One: Cheerful Redundancy Pack
Hope and ideas for a friend who has just lost his or her job
* How To Be Idle, signed
* The Book of Idle Pleasures
* Snail t-shirt, red on black
Price: £29.99 (save £4.99!)

Offer Two: Revolutionary Idler Pack
Wisdom and merriment for the anti-capitalist in your life
* How To Be Free, signed paperback
* We Want Everyone, pamphlet. Attack on Facebook by Tom Hodgkinson, signed, numbered, Letterpress cover
• Work Kills t-shirt, white on black
Price: £24.99 (save £4!)

Offer Three: Advanced Revolutionary Idler Pack
Fine food for thought
* Idler 42: Smash the System
* Snail t-shirt in black and red
Price: £29.99 (save £4!)

Offer Four: Harried Parent Pack
For friends with small chilldren or who are expecting babies
* The Idle Parent, signed hardback first edition
* The Book of Idle Pleasures
* Do Less t-shirt, red on black
Price: £34.99 (save £5.90!)

Offer Five: Everything Idler Pack
• Gift subscription
• How To Be Idle, signed
• How To Be Free, signed
• Snail t-shirt
• Work Kills t-shirt
Price: £72.99 (save £10.99!)

Shakespeare Had No Blackberry…

And Aristotle managed without an i-Phone. I wrote this piece, about the idea of having a technological Sabbath, for The Ecologist.

The same piece also ran in the Guardian (complete with typo in the headline), and is appended with some amusingly moronic comments, presumably from “American Idiots”, to steal a phrase from Green Day. TH

The Road to Self Management

Thanks to Matthew De Abaitua for alerting us to this excellent interview with Situationist philosopher Raoul Vaneigem, where Vaneigem talks about the need to produce our own energy and food and services as a way of escaping from the stranglehold of state and multi-national corporation.