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Healing the Hurts of Capitalism From Isolation to Connection How do we break old habits and routines that stop us making progress? In organising politically, how do we escape ways of doing things that are either self-defeating or out of date? Those involved in radical politics frequently put their heads in their hands in despair as old habits die hard – too often they are as destructive as ever. Or attempts to break the mould seem as eccentric and counter-productive as the patterns they would replace. It seems that we are on rails, travelling to a destination that has already been determined. How to escape? Let’s open the book and see what Micheline and Alan suggest … Ken Loach – Film maker Micheline Mason is an artist, writer and activist. For over forty-five years she was part of an international organisation of people who developed a simple but profound way to help each other to recover from past emotional injuries. In this community she helped develop the theory and became a teacher of the method, exchanging attention with thousands of people in many different countries. In her ‘retirement’ she has chosen to share what she learnt with as many people as possible with a view to empowering them to continue the work themselves. She lives in London. |
Reviews...
Thoughtful and Different
Healing the Hurts of Capitalism offers an interesting explanation of why the capitalist system remains the status quo and why attempts to change it result in failure. Rather than dwelling on economics and politics it tackles the downside of capitalism from the standpoint of our own psychological distress ‘patterns’. Patterns are entrenched behaviour patterns which result from past hurts and they dictate our responses to the world around us and to our own relationships and situations in ways that are less than appropriate or helpful. ‘Patterns’ such as the pursuit of excessive wealth, compulsive shopping to make us feel better, addictions, fearing people different from ourselves, competitiveness, feelings of isolation and powerlessness are bad for us as individuals but en masse they prevent our own growth and the growth of civilisation into something more humane, more sustainable, more cooperative and more equal. A good and interesting read and very accessible unlike many books on the subject.
Susan Harris - Great Read
Wow what a brilliant book and it is written in very accessible way. It has a new approach using a diverse group of peoples personal experiences and thinking to illustrate the impact of Capatalism in their lives.. This makes it a a wonderful alternative to the academic explanations. It brings clarity to the complexities and mechanics of the present system and offers ways to support each other to build a better society.
Stefan Szczelkun
Many of us who have experienced peer counselling, or perhaps have been through a process of recovery from addictions or trauma with the intensive use of professional counselling, have a political insight into the way that the forces that hold our class system together are embedded in us from an early age. The political landscape is founded on feelings of superiority and inferiority that don’t seem to be accessible to rational analysis or challenge.
There are many thousands of people scattered through the population that have acquired these insights over the last 30 or 40 years but communicating them to the rest of the world has not happened. Part of the difficulty may have been that the knowledge gained through live and emotionally charged interaction does not translate into words on a page or screen. The clever thing that the authors of ‘Healing the Hurts of Capitalism’ have done is to base their book on transcriptions from a series of listening workshops in which the participants respond to questions about their experiences in relation to capitalism. The many quotations from these workshops give the reader an stronger idea of the process that is being proposed. In fact the book ends with a chapter on how to set up a successful listening group.
The idea is to infuse grass roots politics with a process of communication that could liberate us from the stultifying effects of the everyday oppressions we have been subject to and that have limited our power. Its an ambitious book that is written in very accessible language. I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to find a more caring form of political practice.
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Books by Micheline Mason... An Ordinary Baby Healing The Hurts of Capitalism The Phenomenon of the Human Distress Pattern |
Retraces the footsteps of St Columbanus of Bangor, a modern pilgrimage.
Barry Sloan
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Why would a Northern Irish Protestant, raised in a staunchly loyalist community, hitchhike through Catholic Europe on the trail of medieval celtic monks? Why is the seaside town of Bangor in Northern Ireland largely responsible for Europe becoming a Christian continent? What role did an Ulsterman play in the creation of the European Union, and what can be done today to break down walls and bring people together? Who was Columbanus of Bangor and why are present-day librarians from all over the world indebted to him? Why does God not like zebras, has Murphy's Law anything to do with chaos theory, and why are the Germans the reason Ireland had to wait 1,900 years to get decent, straight roads? |
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Answers to all these questions can be found within these pages, the story of the European travels of sixth-century saint, Columbanus - and of a twenty-first century sinner, the book’s author. Weaving history, politics, theology, and personal narrative together in a humorous and readable way, Sloan tells the fascinating story of Columbanus and his legacy in uniting Europe. Profound moments of reflection and insight are punctuated by hilarious episodes: of breakfast with Vikings, of an attack by monster bees - and lunch with a talking horse! When the Saints go Marching is funny, thought-provoking, informative, inspiring and challenging - and all without being preachy. |
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In Search of an Author
Lex Thomas
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Buy from YouCaxton £12.50 (+2 postage)
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Visit the Artist's website |
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The Farmer, The Coal merchant, The Baker
Liz Barclay
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Buy on Amazon |
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The stories of breeders Henk Nijhof and Johan Venderbosch and trainers Roeli Bril and Jan Oortveld, men she knew, or knew of, during her youth in Gelderland, give a wonderful impression, not only of how life was, but also how life changed.
Starting with the breeding lines of Totilas and Valegro as the prime examples of the Dutch breeding success, the book, with Liz’s younger years as the common thread, gives owners of a Dutch sport horse anywhere in the world the chance to connect the breeding papers of their warmblood to this heartwarming tale of some brave Gelderland horsemen, who dared to stick their neck out, never shy of taking a little risk. |
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Wolverhampton Historical Society
Button Gwinnett
We are currently working on a biography of Button Gwinnett by his descendant, Colin Gwinnett Sharp. Gwinnett was a signatory to the Declaration of Independence and his signature is now the most sought after in the United States.
Colin will be speaking to the Wolverhampton Historical Society, at the Old School, 73 Dudley Road, on 16 September at 14.30 pm, Wolverhampton being Gwinnett’s place of origin.
The talk will, among other things, examine the dubious means by which Gwinnett rose to become one of the largest landowners in the State of Georgia and leader of the Populist Party, before placing his signature on the Declaration of Independence and becoming successively Speaker, Commander-in-Chief and President of Georgia. He died an untimely death in a duel.
Songs in the Key of Death
Seamus Carron
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The subject is MURDER. The players include the Metropolitan Police, the FBI, a satirical journalist and a professional musician. In the background a mysterious hidden manipulator pulls the strings of the establishment. More of a ‘why done it?’ than a ‘who done it?’ the story reveals a twisted thread of music, riddles and missing girls. A trail of smoke & mirrors leading toward an end game that questions: is anyone safe, will justice be done, can law and order prevail? This compelling book paints a rich and unusual reflection of the characters & events, their unfolding meanings filled with irony & satire. |
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R Gilbert - A Pacy Thriller - 30th August 2016
An entertaining and pacy thriller from a first-time author with obvious talent as a storyteller.
Sadly the novel is published posthumously meaning that this is the only glimpse readers will get into the mind and imagination of someone who clearly had a gift for writing and story development. Recommended.
D A Grieve
Not the genre of book I would normally read (ie murder mysteries) but I am glad I picked it up.
It is a big book that keeps you engrossed from the first page right through to the last.
A true 'Hard to put down' book .
Book advertising
Kath Hirani’s moving account of her trans-racial life, treated in fictional form in Not Quite the Full Chapati, has found unlikely endorsement on the back of the buses of the Island of Jersey. In addition there is a video which is now on LCD screens at the airport by the baggage conveyor belts.
Was it Yesterday
A. M. Bown
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and Kindle Buy from YouCaxton £11.99 (+ £2 postage) |
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Times Literary Supplement
“No synopsis of the movements and adventures of that battery could give an adequate impression of the scope of the book and quotation will do it less than justice. In style it is simple, light yet adequate; the humour is never forced and the ever present sense of tragedy is never unduly emphasized”.