Elizabeth has become a fan of the new prime minister and was extolling her virtues after bingo. “A more equal society, I like the sound of that.”
“Really?” Charlie was in there in a flash, “And where do you think she’s going to find the savings to pay for it?”
Cecil is unusually on Charlie’s wavelength, but he replies: “From us – the bus passes, TV licences, index-linked pensions, blimey, there’s a whole industry devoted to giving us goodies.”
By the end of the conversation there was an uncomfortable consensus that we were indeed an unwelcome factor in social inequity. It is a view which has of late been gathering public subscription, with some heavyweights using inflammatory language about our being “the gravy train brigade”. There is real danger here and it has to be taken seriously.
The case against us crumblies is that we occupy space, property and, crucially, hospital beds and NHS resources disproportionately while enjoying benefits to which we are not entitled, through favourable treatment from successive governments. Our response to date has been to plead that we have contributed throughout our working lives and are therefore entitled to these benefits.
And we have a strong case. We have made a massive difference. It was the product of our working lives that generated an explosion of economic growth, accompanied by a major redistribution of wealth and with it an enlightened social contract.
It was our generation that got its hands dirty at the sharp end in poor neighbourhoods. That is where social justice has been engineered through a real investment in social capital, with excluded people taking ownership, with buddies, mentors, citizen advocacy, parent partnerships, credit unions, key workers, outreach, mediation services, citizens’ advice bureaux and multi-agency working.
In the wider world, the hungry are getting seeds, the thirsty wells, the naked sewing machines, the imprisoned advocates, the poor fair trade, disabled people a more level playing field. All these initiatives have been the instruments of empowerment, of giving a parochial hand up in place of the patriarchal handout. That is all the work of our generation. They were our initiatives.
And more. It is also our generation whose youthful activity pioneered remedial action for an abused planet, which dragged us out of the gender dark ages, which started to make cracks in the glass ceiling, which began the process of cultural diversity. We are the generations that brought ages of deference to an end and have enabled today’s generations to hold the director class to account.
And we are still at work. Without the crumbly generation’s engagement, the social cloth would disintegrate. The vast majority of charities, voluntary agencies, community initiatives, fetes and clubs, youth and disability groups would simply cease to operate without our input. The same holds true of the care services, which can only manage their workload because grandparents look after great grandparents and grandchildren, and elderly partners attend their ailing, failing relatives. Finally, the small charities, the Rotaries, the Lions, the golf and bowls clubs, which tirelessly raise funds for good causes, all depend on a crumbly membership.
By all means, include us in a programme of redistribution, but unless it is done judiciously – and graciously – there is a real risk the social fabric will unravel and our humane society collapse.
