I’m going to use a brief example from Buddhism to point out what the focus must be with local politics.
In zen Buddhism, there is one practice, and that is to understand the truth from personal experience. The practice is done by meditating. Breathe in and out, counting to ten, and then start again.
Breathe in. Breathe out. One. Breathe in. Breathe out. Two. Breathe in. Breathe out. Three. Breathe in. Breathe out. Four. Breathe in. Breathe out. Five. Breathe in. Breathe out. Six. Breathe in. Breathe out. Seven. Breathe in. Breathe out. Eight. Breathe in. Breathe out. Nine. Breathe in. Breathe out. Ten.
That’s it.
Breathe in and out, ten times, and then start again.
That’s the intention. When something stops us, we start again, but we notice what stopped us from the intention we set for ourselves.
What stops is a distraction.
What is getting in the way of breathing in and out and starting again?
The breathing is life. The distractions are the illusion of life. We don’t ignore them. We see them. But we come back to the practice because that’s how we drop suffering.
That is how we do the Buddhist part and that is how we do everything.
In local government, it’s the same thing; we see who benefits from whose money. And then, we look again.
Where does the money come from?
Where does it go?
Who ensures it got there?
Cui bono? Who benefits?
Everything else is a distraction. But we don’t ignore distractions. We see them.
So let’s look at one incredible distraction at cabinet this week. Cabinet member for finance and deputy mayor, Craig Cheney, read out the following statement in relation to public forum about the Western Harbour Advisory Group: “the NIMBYs who love to roll around on Twitter will never contribute anything other than their negativity.”
This seems clearly designed to provoke a reaction and distract us from asking: Cui bono?
These are the rodeo clowns out to distract us from noticing who benefits. The rodeo clowns are really useful in politics; they ensure that the interests of capital stay out of sight. Politics is but the shadow of the economy, to quote Dewey.
So we go back to the basics:
Unelected business men decided to transform Bristol to their liking for their benefit. Rodeo clowns like Rees seem to be there to ensure this happens.
The rest is a distraction.
At the core of what is happening is “housing opportunities of middle-class people are expanded while those of the working-class pass people are restricted” (Slater, 2021). The new housing gets the benefit of the views and the green space; the residents of Hotwells and surrounding areas lose theirs but get more traffic, noise and pollution.
What we need to consider is: development ‘for whom, against whom, and who decides?’ (Slater)
The Rodeo Clowns have told us that the people and their representatives don’t get to decide.
This gives us the first set of answers to our questions:
Where does the money come from? (the public)
Where does it go? (to a scheme decided on by Business West?)
Who ensures it gets there? (Business West and the Labour administration in Bristol)
That’s the lesson from Zen Bristol politics; watch out for the clowns.
No Surprise Joanna just like Liverpool