This week’s letter to my friend in Ohio covers an emotion that does us no good at all.
Dear Don,
This week, I’d welcome your views on three news items, each of which are linked to the same theme.
The first is close to my heart: the Edinburgh International Book Festival. At the end of last week, the Festival was forced to end its partnership with its major sponsor, an investment fund called Baillie Gifford. Baillie Gifford’s portfolio is huge – a quarter of a trillion pounds. They invest 11% in renewable energy development, and somewhere between 2.5% and 5% in oil and gas. And it’s that latter figure that’s the problem, because that’s still £5 billion. It’s a lot of money, although of course many other organisations, including the UK government, invest much, much more.
Over the last 12 months, a group called Fossil Free Books has launched a campaign to stop arts festivals accepting money from Baillie Gifford, threatening boycotts, demonstrations and disruption. The EIBF had little choice but to break their Baillie Gifford links; the safety of writers and audiences had to be paramount.
Fossil Free Books are a little shadowy. We know which writers support their actions – they signed an open letter – but exactly who started the whole thing up is unclear. There’s nothing on the group’s website. But the group trades on threat and hate, that’s for sure.
The second news item is much closer to your home: Donald Trump’s conviction. From over here, there’s absolutely no question that Trump is a villain, a nasty bully and sex-pest who seems to appeal to the basest features of American society. I find it ironic that he claims to have a soaring IQ (highly doubtful). There will surely be a strong correlation between support for him and educational attainment: the more educated you are, the less likely you are to back him. But Trump trades on hate as well. And I’m convinced that the appeal to the disenchanted groups in US society lies in these venomous diatribes – when Trump lashes out, countless millions are lashing out at their own lives with him. Hate is a powerful tool. People unite in hate.
The final piece of news was the recent death of the US PGA tour golfer Grayson Murray. Murray was no failure – he won a tour event in January – but clearly life just became too much for him. A number of golfers have spoken of the need to listen to others, to be kinder and to temper natural competitiveness with common humanity. The Scottish golfer Bob McIntyre, who’s new to the tour and been struggling with homesickness, has spoken of the need to be kinder to himself, too, and he already feels the benefit.
Hate does no good to anyone, least of all the person bottling up hate in themselves. It eats away inside like strong acid (sometimes literally if you have a stomach ulcer), and everyone around you feels that hate, too – even the people you like. On the other hand, making people feel good with a good deed – helping someone carry something, having a friendly chat, even a genuine smile in passing – makes you feel good, too.
So the moral is, try to be nice to others, even if it’s only to be nice to yourself as well.
Till the next time,
Gordon
Tales from the Heart of the City 