Benefit Street, Brighton.

           Mrs. Simpson's Regency Journal.                                     September 20, 1831.                                               The Vile Slum in Brighton   After I had writ in my journal the last time, it did strike me, of a sudden, that whosoever doth read these pages after me, might not be abiding in Brighton and may not know of our Dark Heart. For such it be: a-pulsing away right in the middle of our town and not even suspicioned  by most gentlefolk. Or not considered to be a suitable subject of conversation by those who do know of it. ‘Tis the area known as Pimlico. Though it was already a blot and a shame upon this town by the time we moved here from Tunbridge Wells, folk say it came quickly about, once people had to le...

I expect it would sound suspiciously like conspiracist nonsense to link the current climate in America to the education system? Yet, deconstructed from  an historical perspective, it becomes an inevitable outcome. Because from the beginning of civilisation, education has always been a jealously guarded tool by which and through which, the elite rule. In our culture, it led  to the marginalisation of women, the power of the Church, both absolute monarchy and democracy, and a rigid class system. Because of our violent nature, we ruled through, and gained power by, violent means. Thus, keeping the lower sectors in complete ignorance ensured a steady supply of human cannon fodder; not merely quiescent but, when prompted, actually eager to make the ultimate sacrifice.  Universal education would lead to a questioning of this ancient system. It also led to various reforms and the eventual demand for education to be made the Right, enforced by law, of ...

The sounds of tweetering in the dovecotes for once drowned out the maniacal screeches of the seagulls to-day, as Britonians and Hove Actuallys waited for the local council - The Brighton and Hove City Council - to hand down its budget. Oh, it'll be debated and argued about for weeks to come so I shan't bother with what's in the budget.  What both delights and dismays are what isn't in the budget - for which everyone living on Benefits Street, Brighton, also gives 'umble thanks. What DIDN'T go in was the inhumane idea of adding to the current paucity of public facilities by cutting out even more. Obviously made by people who are never more than a few minut es away from their cars - and home. But rousingly cheered by anyone who has ever got caught short walking home through Brighton and Hove to get to the other side...before you even get to the road home. It can be agonizing; and accounts for the pungent smells that assail one from various walls, garden...

BENEFITS STREET: - BRIGHTON. I've been getting good mileage out of my angst for the past couple of years. But it's time now to put it to one side and start talking out. It's not that I need to be heard because I have tidings of great joy or or nuggets of invaluable wisdom to impart. Nor because I have devised a plan to save the world; or discovered a wonder-herb that will cure all the ills of humans everywhere. Neither do I have any proselytising zeal. But I can communicate. I have, by now, lost just about everything I ever had in life – my possessions, my future, my dignity. But one thing I still haven't lost is the ability to communicate. In times BB (Before Brighton) I used this ability on behalf of the battered, the marginalised, the homeless, the mentally unstable. Because I knew that all the talks I gave, and the things I wrote, were reaching out to touch people. I was getting somewhere. Yet, once I became part of the proble...