Simply Smith

the rioters who caused mayhem in London a few weeks ago when they demonstrated "against Capitalism" are planning another, larger, event for November 30, this year.

It has been timed to coincide with a World trade Conference in Seattle that begins on that day. I have to say that, while scanning through the newspapers recently, there do seem to be overwhelming arguments to suggest that "Capitalism", as currently being exhibited, is benefiting the few rather than the many.

Consider, some insurance company bosses are being investigated for ripping off home owners; staff at a publicly floated John Lewis Partnership are set for a windfall of £100K each; but low interest rates are making personal pensions (for the self-employed and those not in a company pension scheme) and hard-earned life-savings a joke that few retired people are laughing at.

This list is by no means endless and the incidence of the few being enriched at the expense of the many appears to be increasing.

However, rather than demonstrate "against Capitalism" for I fear that Capitalism is currently, and will remain, in the ascendancy, I might suggest that these folk demonstrate for "Social Capitalism", where the profit motive can be used to fuel programmes that give the less well off access to high quality health care and education.

On the one hand the National Health Service is stretched almost to breaking point: only those with dire needs being attended to quickly.

Add to this the chronic under-funding of public education (particularly in Bradford) and one exposes a recipe for catastrophic failure in society.

On the other hand there are those in the fortunate position of having access to both private health care and private education.

I do not begrudge these folk their good fortune. Indeed, many of them have achieved this position through hard work and good planning. The health and education of the entire nation rests on these two essential services providing the best possible value to those who need it.

It should be possible to balance some of the patent inequality demonstrated by the public and private sectors.

When all is considered the health and education of the whole nation must be both a responsibility and a right of all concerned.

The country is wealthy, there is no doubt of this. However, the creation of this wealth has nothing to do with natural mineral resources, it is all down to the creativity and productivity of you, me and all those around us.

If we are healthy and well educated the possibility of retaining that wealth has got to be increased.

Some sort of redistribution of excessive capital must be a good thing. It cannot be beyond the wit of Government (provided it has the will, of course) to devise a fair way of achieving this.

I say to these demonstrators, tell folk on November 30, what you are for rather than what you are against.

I've always suspected that it's always best to be positive about things.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.