The New Year party dust has settled.
People have returned to work and credit card bills are dropping on doormats all over the world.
The reality of living has dawned, after a long party season, where many have struggled to just buy necessities.
Recent figures released have stated that the rich have got richer and the poor poorer, with the severest erosion of the middle classes ever witnessed.
Profits announced by corporations defy any understanding of mathematics.
I read the other day, that Bill Gates earns more profit on his investments, than himself and Melinda can insert into their foundation.
Bill has not actually worked in 14 years.
All this as many workers, already working overtime, are having to apply for welfare and charity to keep their families out of extreme penury.
I do not understand this form of economics and am not ashamed to say so…I really do not understand!
Here at Bealtaine I have lit the stove, on a grey, wet and windy day in early January.
As the fire roared up under a spitting kettle, my thoughts turned to those who rely solely on fossil fuel or electricity for warmth.
Escalating costs for fuel is now prohibiting many from keeping a warm home.
Governments have failed, to put in place any substantial remedial action, that may help alleviate the burden of fuel costs.
There have been small measures, like attic insulation offered to those on minimum income…little indeed as the energy costs spiral.
The cost of wind-generated energy must be very small indeed, compared to say, Nuclear.
I say this because I witness the one man in a white van, who services the Wind Turbines on the mountain opposite Bealtaine Cottage.
He attends to these as and when they need attention…not on a daily basis, by any means.
I imagine the maintenance costs, say, compared to power stations, are very minimal!
So where does the escalating costs of that electricity, generated by those turbines, actually go?
There appears to be a lot of money in the world, with but a few holding the purse-strings…and that makes no sense at all!
We are surrounded by solutions to the most grievous and pressing poverty.
We are surrounded by wealth, held tightly by the few.
