Numbers
Many of my political and social observations come from a lot of background reading, and looking at statistics.
Farming
There are a couple of things which farmers have been complaining a lot about of late. They are the rising prices of fuel and nitrates.
While a lot of them are also moaning about the prices they are getting for what they are selling to the supermarkets.
All of which leaves me thinking that we might soon be finding organic crops becoming much cheaper to grow than that which is produced by intensive chemical spraying.
Statistical Pointers To Better Understanding.
Of course some problems which prevent our better understanding of the world come from other factors.
Take for example the main form of colour blindness which is Red / Green.
While 1 in 12 men suffer from colour blindness, only 1 in 200 women do so.
Then there are the 1 in 7 of the adult population which are to a greater of lesser extent functionally illiterate.
So a lot more thought needs to be given as to how to improve public signs and how they are written.
Not understanding the numbers
It is also no use complaining about falling standards of scientific understanding, while the lever of adult numeracy is so very high.
Just take a look at the following reports-
Almost half of the UK lacks basic financial literacy
and
One-in-three adults in England and Northern Ireland cannot work out the correct change from a shopping trip, according to new research from UCL Institute of Education (IOE) and University of Cambridge.
No Receipt – No Record – No Ability to keep an eye on financial issues
Of course it does not help individuals to budget their spending, if they throw away or never pick up their receipts for their purchases, ( a trend which seems to be increasing ). This means they can not see their pattern of spending over the year.
Then comes the question of inflation, low wages, low salary increases, and pensions which are so low that many older individuals are living in dire poverty.
Thus aside from the number of food banks increasing, we also have a situation in which many individuals are asking whether they should turn on their heating during winter, or eat that day.
The same can be said of politicians and planners who are incapable of looking at any long term effects of current public spending or the effects it will have.
Eat or Freeze
Is it any wonder that many of us think that living in Brexitland equates to living within a shambolic and dystopian version of a Neo-fascist Kafkaland.