When inertia is the biggest risk

13 Sept 2011

On Sunday afternoon I said goodbye to the Small Nations Festival. (www.smallnations.co.uk) It’s not the first time but I really cannot imagine a situation in which it won’t be the last. There were at least 6 people there I had never seen before;  much of what was said I could not hear, and I no longer care who is involved.  Apart from the hearing, these are actually  positives.  I had made a resolution not to speak, but did so only to say that the reason for my resolution (not to speak) was that I believed the most important thing for the festival now was to change.  It’s good that new people are coming in. It may be frustrating that so many of the new ideas cropping up are things we’ve tried before, but that doesn’t mean that they couldn’t work in a different environment. The last two years following the old pattern but with a much reduced budget have not worked and the deficit has increased.

The message that “business as usual” is actually the most risky strategy is a difficult one for many people to take on board. We see this most acutely in the majority view on climate change. Our way of life is based on modifications to things we’ve been doing for centuries; it has the weight of history behind it – why change when a few more modifications could put us back on track?

Last week we visited the only old school friend I have kept in regular touch with. He's having a hard time. Half a lifetime of prevarication has left him with no proper provision for retirement and a mortgage. He looked after both his parents during their last days but was shocked to find that his mother had changed her will in his sister's favour leaving him with half what he expected and not enough to pay off the mortgage. The recession has reduced his income to the extent that he is losing hundreds of pounds a month so his legacy is being eaten away. 

It's a mess and calls for a properly thought out strategy for getting out of it, but my friend is hampered by grief, anger and, worst of all, indecision. I tried to persuade him that a possibly risky way of making money was less risky than doing nothing. I offered all the help and advice I could think of but it doesn't seem to have had any impact. I am really worried for him.