The Pound and the Euro

It seems that today the British Pound has just about reached parity with the Euro... and is still pretty weak against the US Dollar. Given that I've spent 3 out of the last 5 weeks either in the Euro-zone or the USA this means that I've spent more money than I would have done this time last year and am pretty pissed at the die-hard little-Englanders who continue to prevent Britain from moving forward in the world.

I was, however, heartened to read an article at the BBC News website that speaks of a town in Sweden who are to become a "Euro-City" despite their country's refusal to join the Euro (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7798060.stm) and wondered how long it might be before the rest of Sweden, Denmark and Britain see sense.

Clearly this is not the right time for Britain to join the Euro, the exchange rate is currently so bad that it would make little sense (except for other Europeans) but in my mind the case for joining is as strong as ever. As our banks still collect the loose change from our accounts every time we use a debit card to buy from our Euro-zone neighbours (either on-line or in-country) and as visitors to the UK (often in transit) don't spend their loose change because it's the wrong currency we, both personally and a nation, continue to suffer.

If we had joined the Euro in the first wave, back in 2002, I have no doubt we would have been better off today. The British Pound was a strong currency in it's own right, such as the German Mark was, and joining the Euro at that stage would have fixed a good, solid rate between us and our largest trading partners helping our industry plan years in advance without having to account for currency fluctuations. The strength of the Pound would have also added to the strength of the new currency... strength in numbers you might say, or united we stand. In any case, if Britain was now part of the Euro then the weakness against the US Dollar might not be quite as bad for us, in fact we may have even added to the strength of the Euro since it's inception.

But no, we had to stick with the Pound. And now we have foreign companies either moving out of the UK or not bothering in the first place; we have businesses going to the wall (granted, some because they weren't particularly good in the first place); we have less money in our pockets to spend at those businesses that are still in business and their prices will rise given many of their products are imported from the Euro-zone!

I'll leave this entry with a quote from a Swede who would be happy to drop his country's own currency and it's much the same as my opinion:

"I'm a very proud Swede and none of my identity or pride is in the Swedish crown. It's in other, more important, stuff."

The Athiest dilema of Christmas

Anybody who's read my previous postings will know I have a number of very strongly held beliefs, mainly following the lines that individuals have the right to hold whatever beliefs they wish (so long as they don't force them down the throats of others!) and the right to live in any manner they wish (so long as they do no harm to others). As well as being a staunch supporter of full democracy in Britain (in the form of a republic and not a monarchy), the European Union (on the basis that the little-England mentality is killing this country) and the metric system (on the basis that a single, logical and global system of measurement is better than a hotch-potch of systems currently in use in Britain) I am also an athiest.

This raises a number of issues for me at this time of year. From my viewpoint Christmas is supposed to be a religions festival where Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus... and I'm sure that any "proper" Christians reading this blog will have no problems agreeing with me. However, and I'm sure those same "proper" Christians will agree with me here too, Christmas has become much bigger than that in the western world. Like many other rituals it has become nothing more than a major money-making event. Just look through the calendar and you'll see that every opertunity from Valentines Day to Mothering Sunday have been hijacked for the purposes of making money. To this day I fail to see what the Easter Bunny has to do with the resurection of Christ or what a fat man with a beard and a red suit has to do with his birth! But in any case, the real issue is that it seems that every arm of the commercial world is automatically geared up to ram home the idea of cards and presents to everybody at this time of year and it's got to the point where it doesn't matter if you're religious or not... or even what religion you are. Pressure is greater than ever to conform with the "Western-Christian" ethos that "thou must give cards and presents on December 25th".

Hence comes my dilema. Over recent years I've become more vocal in my beliefs. I am lucky that my best friend is of the same belief and so we have a simple agreement... Birthdays are fine, but Christmas is a non-event so we do not exchange cards or gifts. We've been like that since our teens and 20+ years later nothing has changed. This is not the case for others though. Family is always an issue; those aunts who were ever faithful in your childhood years sending itchy jumpers, socks and in later years the first of your collection of smellies still send the annual card and happily commence to tell all and sundry how "selfish and ungateful" you are if you don't respond appropriately. Work collegues and friends are a similar issue and it's amazing how people seem to get upset if they're left off your Christmas Card List, the fact you don't actually have a list is a mere irrelivance. The real problem is having children... as hard as you might try to avoid the festivities at this time of year it's near impossible to avoid having to partake if you have offspring and here's the rub, as hard as one might try to instill your child with the sense of chosing their own beliefs, the peer (and commercial) pressure to participate in Xmas is so great to be almost unavoidable.

So, what does an Athiest do at this time of year? Does he shun the outside world? Does he explain to friends and relatives that, as a non-Christian, that he does not celebrate the birth of Christ and hence does not want presents, cards, or any other special treatment on that day? Well, believe me, it's impossible. My girlfriend still insists that I will be receiving a gift on Dec 25 from her and her mother... and woe betied me if reciprocal gifts are not forthcoming. My 11 year old son will thankfully be with his mother on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean this year but he will still expect many expensive items on his return. The worst thing of all was discovering last night that, against my wishes, I now have a Christmas Tree in my living room (although it's only about 20cm high). I've been told by my other half that I'm lucky that she hasn't got her decorations out of storage! I'm also told that I WILL be having "dinner" on Christmas day.

Interestingly, the best example of how much of a farce the whole thing is came from a recent trip to the USA, the country that now "officially" refers to the period as "The Holiday Season", much to the dismay of the ever-present and powerful Christian portion of that great country. I managed to get cheap tickets to a show in Florida called "The Arabian Knights", this is a show given by performers and horses in an Arabian style and I was quietly amused at the fact that the show is changed during December to include a "Christmas" theme whereby the main characters are seperated during Christmas because the husband is away at war. The fact that the Arabs, being muslim, don't celebrate Christmas, seems to be completely lost on the performers AND the audience!

Like the Jews, Muslims and other religions, all I ask is to be excluded from this Christian festival... I do feel however that even followers of these other religious beliefs must themselves feel under more and more pressure, particularly in Britain and North America, to take some part in what in my mind has become nothing more than an annual marketing event.