How ‘Socratic’ is the debate?

Doctor Bettany Hughes is a clever lady and so it was interesting watching her ‘bump’ into the power of the Socratic process whilst chatting to a Greek writer in an Athenian café. I don’t know whether you watched her three television programmes on the great thinkers but if you did then hopefully, like me, will have been pushed out of your comfort zone! That Athenian café conversation may make you want to debate with friends over a cup of coffee.

Doctor Hughes has tracked the lives of The Buddha, Socrates and Confucius. All three lived so many years ago at about the same time. That fact is curious in itself. The dominance of their thinking is still so very powerful today. Two comments during the programme on Socrates made me think quite deeply. The first was about the need never to be thoughtless and the second was about how little we know!

Oh yes, there is also one more important point. Never drink hemlock!

For most of us the name Socrates is associated with ancient Greece and the birth of democracy. Churchill (the politician rather than the nodding dog!) reportedly said that democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been used from time to time.

I suspect that we all believe that we have some control over the political landscape and not so long ago many of us joined the May 2015 queues at polling stations. Sadly quite a few of us didn’t and that has to be a worry. Of course the fact that worries me doesn’t mean that it worries you!

My understanding of the democratic process is that we elect fellow citizens to represent us in the various places of powers. They become the decision makers on our behalf and hopefully those decisions represent the will of the community that elected them. You might want to think about that.

I have little doubt that most of us are aware of the changes happening daily on the English Riviera. Sometimes those changes raise an eyebrow and from time to time may trigger an emotional tingle. That tingle may be of pleasure because what is happening brings joy. Of course the tingle may be a feeling of being somewhat uneasy and less than happy.

Paignton’s Matthew Clark wrote about the Torbay Retail and Tourism Business Improvement District in last week’s Herald Express and worried, it seemed to me, about the democratic process.  Do you have a business related to tourism or retail in Torbay? If you do then how much do you know about it (the BID) and what do your local elected councillors think about it? How ‘Socratic’ is the debate?

Coincidentally I bumped into another local councillor unexpectedly the other evening. My family had given me a voucher for an evening meal at the Harbour Kitchen and so I hopped on a bus with my wife for the short trip to Torquay’s busy harbour. I love the upstairs front seat because the views across Torbay can be stunning. Also sitting on a front seat was former mayor and now local councillor Nick Bye. Nick is a clever man with a brilliant sense of humour and hopefully he enjoyed the short journey as much as we did. His update on what is happening politically gave me hope since there appears at last to be a little unity.

The fact that Nick Bye was on a local bus was for me significant because you may remember me waxing lyrical recently about Kevin Foster MP also using local busses. I see the local bus service as the life blood of a community and it is a worry that so many services seem to be disappearing. Sadly those that suffer when that happens tend to be people who can become too easily isolated. That is something perhaps to debate with your local councillor.

Whilst debating issues with your elected representatives you might also ask what is happening to Oldway Mansion. Sadly it seems to me to be a little like my own house in that it is deteriorating without the money to support the upkeep! We were promised a bright new future for it a few years ago but little seems to be happening. The gardens however have been tended and look beautiful including this iconic palm (pictured) which will bring a smile to our elected mayor Gordon Oliver’s face. 

Keep the smile!

from my column in the Herald Express 1st September