Are We As Bloodthirsty As The Aztecs?

I was told off by a member of the Reform Party the other night

I was telling him why I hadn't joined the party. I had some differences of opinion with it. I told him how I didn't believe that Jersey society was polarised into Haves and Have-nots. I believe that Jersey society is engineered to turn Haves into Have-Mores but stealing from the Have-Nots. I believe that we don't have poverty in Jersey. We have created poverty by preying on the vulnerable. We have  created an underprivileged underclass that is denied, disinherited, dispossessed and deprived of being full members of our society. I believe that this is a cancer of the soul and if it isn't cut out, it will end up killing us all because a society that seeks to excludes some members for the benefit of the others ends up excluding everyone. We all become expendable.

After I finished telling him this, he told me off. He said

"Phil. You're not making this clear. You need to use these exact words to get this message across"

Well, maybe he has a point. I have used those exact words many times in the last 10 years but I haven't used them during this campaign - mainly because I've said them so many times before. Maybe I've been unintentionally pussyfooting around the issue. I thought that just by telling you of the terrible things I've learned that you would be equally horrified and find it equally unacceptable. "Surely", I thought, "everyone wants to live in a more humane society"

But here's the point where I really differ from the Reform Party and which confounds my critics. I don't believe that a more humane society should cost more. I believe that it should costs less. Our cold, callous society isn't just costing us our humanity, it's costing us money as well. If you only care about money, then you should want a more humane society because it will cost you less tax.

Let me give you an example to illustrate. This has to be the saddest indictment of our present government. Recently, a standing member of the States admitted that he paid a consultant £13,000 to listen to the public and he thought that it was money well spent. The government paid someone to listen to the public. If we had a more humane government in a more human society, we wouldn't have needed to pay that money and it could've been spent elsewhere.

Now, a more humane socety costing less shouldn't surprise us. Architects have known for over a decade that building with nature rather than fighting against her actually both reduces building costs and running costs. Business people learned the same thing back in 2006 with the "E2 Initiative"

So I'd like to leave you with a simple question:

Which would you prefer to live in - an expensive and uncaring system that will grind you under its wheels should you ever stumble; or a cheap and compassionate system that will offer you a hand up?

Choose carefully.

Because if you choose an expensive and uncaring system, it will only be a matter of time before it turns upon you and those you love in its instatiable hunger for human sacrifice.