The Week UK - 14.03.2020

27

UniversityofMammon

TotheFinancialTimes

ItistimefortheFinancial

Timestoturnawayfromthe

obsessionwithmoneyasa

markerofhumanwell-being

thatisimplicitinAndrew

Jack’sreport“University

degreeboostsincomeby

£1 00 ,0 00 ”.

Universitieswerenotset

uptomakepeoplerich.They

weresetuptoimprovelife.

Tokeepinculcatingour

schoolstudentswiththeidea

thattheyshouldfocusonhow

tomaximisetheirincomeisa

mistakeforthemandforthe

socialgood.Ihearthismistake

put intowordsandquestions

everytimeIgiveanOpen

Daylecturetohighschool

students.AsIwritethis,

moreover,ourmajorglobal

problemsarerisingworld

temperaturesandthe threat

fromaninternationalvirus.

Itisprobablethat bothwere

fosteredbythe pursuit

of money.

Yousay that economics

andmedicaldegreesearnthe

biggestfinancial return.For

the record, UKdata from the

well-beingteamattheOffice

for NationalStatistics,which

collects thereallyimportant

information onoursociety,

revealthat,forexample,

florists,playworkers,pilots

andfitnessinstructorsall

havesubstantially higherlife

satisfactionthaneconomists.

AndrewJ.Oswald,professor

of economicsandbehavioural

science, University ofWarwick

Crossing boundaries

To The Times

ViewersoftheBBCseries

Noughts+Crosses(see page

33 )might besurprised to

learn thatAfrican powerin

Britain is not entirely fictional.

According to theRoman

historian DioCassius, our

now-forgotten African

emperor, SeptimiusSeverus

(193-211 AD),evenwent so

farastodecree genocidefor

rebellious Britsliving north

of Hadrian’sWall.Hetoldhis

soldiers: “Let no oneescape

sheerdest ruction...not even

the babein thewomb.”

Severus died in York before

theorder couldbecarried

out. WhenIofferedadvice to

MichaelGove in thewriting

of thenational curriculum

for historyIfailed to persuade

himtoincludeSeverusas

aspecifictopicforstudy.

ChrisMcGovern,chairman,

CampaignforRealEducation,

Heathfield,EastSussex

TheUK:lessismore?

ToTheEconomist

AunitedIrelandandan

independentScotlandwould

helpEngland,withWales,

findthatroleintheworld

which[postwarUSsecretary

ofstate]DeanAcheson

observedwehavebeen

seekingsincethelossof

empire.Shockedandreduced

insizewewould(hopefully)

acceptthatwewerenolonger

able to punchabove our

weight.Asmaller country,

but still with lots ofeconomic

heft, wecouldfocus on

domestic needs. Being a

Holland is rather attractive.

Roger Stapleton, Poole, Dorset

Polluting pets

To The Daily Telegraph

It has been establishedthat

domestic pets areannually

responsible for 64 million

tonnes of CO 2 emissions

worldwide and for 20% of the

world’sconsumptionofmeat.

Amedium-sized dog is as

harmfultothe environment as

amedium-sizedSUV,and cats

kill 300 million wild creatures

in Britain each year. Yet Chris

Packhamisworriedabout

electrictrains.

Whyarepetownersnot

requiredtopayan

env ironmentaltax?

PaulTrewick,Bishop’s

Waltham,Hampshire

Thepolicevs.CyrilSmith

ToTheSpectator

Thesuggestioninyour

editorialthatLancashire

Constabulary“tookno

action”afterinvestigating

CyrilSmithforchildsex

offencesin 1969 givesa

slightlyfalseimpression.

Infact,afteranexhaustive

investigation,in 1970

Lancashire Constabulary

recommended that Smithbe

prosecuted. Butbecauseof

Smith’s status,they felt

obliged to seekthe view of

the DPP, who overruledthe

recommendation

afteracursory

consideration of

an 80-page dossier

of evidence:

adecision that

Cyril Smithseems

to have known

aboutinadvance.

While thepolice

can be criticised

for failingsin other

cases,theydeserve

somecreditfor

wantingto

prosecuteSmithfivedecades

ago.LordSteelhasjustifiably

beencastigatedforhisfailure

in 1979 toconsiderwhether

Smithwasafitpersonto

remaininpubliclife.This

shouldnotobscurethefact

thatthroughouttheSmith

saga,therewereotherswho

triedtodotherightthing.

RichardScorer,solicitorfor

complainantsagainstCyril

SmithinIICSA,Slaterand

GordonLawyers,Manchester

Medievalrealism

ToTheDailyTelegraph

JanetDaleyrightlydecries

society’sincreasingirrationality

aboutsuchmattersasclimate

protection.Butinhertalkof

the“apocalyptichelplessness”

oftheMiddleAges,she

perpetuatestheconventional

andfalseassumptionthat

medievalpeople,being

religious,wereirrational.

I’mnoexpert,butthe

evidencesuggeststhatmost

medievalpeopleresponded

rationallytooutbreaksofthe

plague,forexample,given

theirextremelylimited

understandingofpathology.

Indeed,thesecularelite

retreatedtothecountryside,

whichwasrationalifnot

noble.Admittedly,in

certainregionssomepeople

blamedandattackedJews,

whogenerallyfaredbetter

thanothersduringthe

plague,thankstothe

superiorhygieneoftheir

quarters.Butin 134 8,

duringthefirstgreatoutbreak,

ClementVIissuedtwopapal

bullsdenouncingthis

scapegoatingasnonsensical.

Meanwhile,clergymen

seem to have continued their

pastoral work, probably

dyingatasomewhathigher

ratethanthepeasants.

Peter Day-Milne,Sherborne,

Dorset

14 March 2020 THE WEEK

LETTERS

Pick of the week’s correspondence

©ZACHARY KANIN/THE NEW YORKER/CARTOON BANK

“Go on, sweetie–show Aunt Catherine

how fulfilling you are”

●Letters have been edited

Exchange of theweek

Don’t kiss me, Kate

TotheFinancialTimes

YourMadridcorrespondentwritesthatthereseemstobe

apushforthetraditionalgreetingwithkissestobecurtailed

(“FaithfulinSpainfacepressuretostopkissing”).Perhaps

theworldcouldnowadoptthe“namaste”,themostelegant,

respectfulandspiritual,nottomentionultra-hygienic,

greetingthatexists.

SunilDamodar,US

ToTheDailyTelegraph

Mylatefather,aproudYorkshireman,wouldgreethis

friendswithaslightnodofthehead,followedbythewords:

“Howdo.”Perhapsitwouldbeprudenttoadoptthisduring

thecurrentcoronavirusoutbreak.

JaneDavidson,Balderton,Nottinghamshire

ToTheGuardian

Yourarticleasking“Arehugs,kissesandhandshakesOK”

remindedmeofoneintheYorkshirePostof6July1918,in

whichadoctorrecommended“thetemporaryabolitionof

thepernicioushabitofkissing”,dueto “aflood ofsentiment

letloosebytheWar”.Hewenton:“Inurgentcases,where

abolition wouldbeahardship,asmallbookofkissing

couponscouldbeallowed,providedproperprecautions

weretaken.”

MartinKnight, Hovingham, NorthYorkshire