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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: What 'Love your enemy' means

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: What 'Love your enemy' means
This week's Thought proposes four key routes towards 'Loving your enemy', including a gradual transition from national to international law. This would mean justice not being constrained by national borders, so we could look forward to a system of international civil law enforcement replacing reliance on military force to resolve criminal outbreaks — it would also help us to resolve the challenges of climate change. Another element is restorative justice: Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu showed the world that such a system can provide a pathway to peace in the most challenging of circumstances. These initiatives, based on an understanding of unconditional love and an equitable sharing of resources, can provide a way forward from our current woes. Background music: 'Everything Has a Beginning' by Joel Cummins. Image source: United Nations

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: Frozen tax thresholds lose votes

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: Frozen tax thresholds lose votes
There's a rising crescendo of concern over HM Treasury's decision to leave tax thresholds frozen at current levels until 2028. At a time of high inflation, it particularly bears down on low- and middle-income earners, and itself keeps inflation higher for longer. Several suggestions have been made for alternative ways to sort out the public finances, not least in these Share Radio commentaries, but there's no indication of any willingness to sit down and talk: like an ostrich, heads are firmly in the sand. Background music 'The Nexus Riddim' by Konrad OldMoney

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: Unbridled Revenge is not the answer

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: Unbridled Revenge is not the answer
Unbridled revenge just leads to an escalation of the cycle of violence: in a world which possesses such an arsenal for mass destruction, we have to learn how to deal with national insecurity in ways which promote rather than destroy international harmony. In this episode of Share Radio's Thought for the Week, we set out realistic routes by which this can be achieved. Background music: 'Sarabande' by Joel Cummins

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: Curate's Egg

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: Curate's Egg
As the Party Conference season draws to a close, we check out last week's rather lacklustre Conservative event and add some thoughts to Sunak's agenda for education. Meanwhile, for those more focused on how to invest and still meet the net zero targets, don't miss the Sustain:Social Investing Conference on Saturday 21st October! https://sustain.social Background music: 'Communicator' by Reed Mathis

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: Parenting Under Pressure

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: Parenting Under Pressure
The scars borne by the younger generation reflect parents under pressure: from relationship breakdown, the demands of work, migration, the cost of living. So we must look intelligently at the journey towards adulthood, responding particularly to the call for reason, and underpin it with the firm foundation of unconditional love. Background music: 'Generations Away' by Unicorn Heads

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: Cummings' Unintended Legacy

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: Cummings' Unintended Legacy
After the December 2019 election, Dominic Cummings brought HM Treasury under the heel of No. 10. Little did he realise that in 2023 the financiers would be running the whole show. Rishi Sunak, financier par excellence, thinks he is making long-term decisions for a brighter future. Not everyone agrees: but then a week is a long time in politics — or finance, come to that. Background music: 'Something Is Wrong' by Sir Cubworth Image source: BBC

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, U-PHARSIN

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, U-PHARSIN
Here is our 'writing on the wall': the clearest evidence yet that sea temperatures are undermining the Antarctic. Let's not turn a blind eye and follow the mistakes which destroyed the Libyan city of Derna, whose leaders failed to heed their warnings. The total area of missing sea-ice at the height of the southern hemisphere winter is five times the area of the United Kingdom: no-one can justify denial of global warming in the face of this clear evidence. The catastrophic flooding of Derna should therefore be a wake-up call for us all — don't let climate change get out of control. Background music: 'Ether Oar' by The Whole Other Image source: BBC

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: How do the young become entrepreneurs without financial education?

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: How do the young become entrepreneurs without financial education?
Last week Jerome Mayhew MP drew attention to the dire state of financial education in the UK: a recent survey for Parliament suggested that 62% of young people had no recollection of being taught about finance in school. But how can it be given proper recognition among teaching staff when there's no Financial Awareness GCSE? Meanwhile King's College Entrepreneurship Lab has launched an inaugural essay competition for Year 12 and 13 students, designed to encourage UK Sixth Form students to pursue entrepreneurial aspirations and to understand better how to launch an enterprise. Great idea — let's give it the oxygen of publicity! Background music: 'The Plan's Working' by Cooper Cannell.

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: The Need for Fresh Expressions

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: The Need for Fresh Expressions
While Pope Francis looks east to Mongolia, bringing praise for their religious freedom and forward-looking encouragement, The Times reports general confusion among Church of England clergy — meanwhile our fast-changing and often lost and lonely society has a real need for the unconditional love offered by the Christian faith. This calls for Fresh Expressions from the Church of England — an initiative introduced by Rt. Revd. Steven Croft, now Bishop of Oxford:, but currently only 18% of the Church's clergy support its expansion. If only the Anglican Church would learn more from theologian Richard Hooker’s 3-legged stool of Scripture, Tradition and Reason: but in practice its ‘Tradition’ leg is about ten times higher than that of ‘Reason’. Background Music: 'Requiem In Cello' by Hanu Dixit

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: The Black Hole of Economics

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: The Black Hole of Economics
Enjoy this entertaining romp through capitalist economics from the demise of feudalism to Thomas Picketty’s book ‘Capital in the 21st Century’, but a careful search for any mention of inter-generational rebalancing will leave you disappointed. Welcome to the Black Hole of Economics, the elusive feature which keeps us from integrating free enterprise and individual empowerment with fair provision of opportunity for each new generation to enable them to achieve their potential in adult life. Background music: 'Generations Away' by Unicorn Heads Order 'Capitalism - A Graphic Guide' here: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/capitalism-a-graphic-guide-dan-cryan/1475839?ean=9781785785146

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