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News Comment
a personal view from Erithacus
28th November 2009
Share prices fell heavily on Thursday and on Friday morning over financial concerns in
Dubai. The earlier announcement that Dubai had debts of more than $80
billion sent stock markets worldwide plunging, and some analysts estimate that
the true figure is nearly twice that. The state-owned conglomerate Dubai
World, a major property developer that led Dubai's expansion and known for the
remarkable palm tree-shaped island developments, confirmed that it was currently
unable to repay debts of over $56 billion and asked creditors to wait while
restructuring is worked out. Banking shares across the world were hit by
the announcements, with serious concern for the financial position of many of
Dubai's creditors as well as loans direct from banks.
The FTSE 100 index in London finished at 5247.26, recovering a little
on Friday afternoon from the low of just a few points above the 5100
level. Despite the concerns about Dubai, market analysts point out that
even after such a major upset to financial confidence, the FTSE 100 remains over
1000 points higher than it was a year ago and nearly 2000 points higher than its
lows of March this year.
_______________________________________________
As Thanksgiving gets
underway in the USA this weekend, it seems appropriate to pause for a moment and
give a little thought to the various breaks and festivals we celebrate.
For once, I am not complaining. We all need a break and an excuse to do
something different from our usual routine. We might all, perhaps, benefit
by listening to a Sikh I heard being asked why he was apparently going to
celebrate Christmas when, clearly, it had nothing to do with his religion.
"That's the great thing about Sikhs," he said happily. "Any
excuse for a party."
So, as the darker days of winter are now upon us and as the weather has turned
particularly wet and windy over the last two weeks, should we take his
advice? It is not as if we were short of "excuses".
Christmas, which many complain is over-commercialised and has "lost its
real meaning" is, of course, our biggest celebration of the year.
Combined with New Year, for many it is a break of at least a week. Should
we all be making the effort to return it to its true Christian meaning, a
celebration of the birth of Christ?
I think not. The religious significance of Christmas is important, and
certainly we must never forget that. Whatever your beliefs, Christmas
represents the beginning of the religion that (arguably) has influenced the
world and the way we live more than any other. It is, however, even more
than that. The only reason that Christmas is celebrated when it is, on
25th December, is that this was a time when a mid-winter festivals were already
taking place throughout Europe long before the birth of Christianity. We
need the break. We need the light, the sparkle, the time to forget the
cold, dark days of winter and to eat, drink and, if not to be merry then at
least to take the time to realise there is more to our lives than our usual
daily routine.
Winter festivals are not just a remembrance of particular events. They
meet a deep need in all of us. We let off fireworks on 5th November (or
thereabouts!) not really because of Guy Fawkes (an event that deeply mystifies
our American friends who can't understand why we insist on celebrating someone
who tried to blow up our Parliament) but because we have a deep need to mark the
transition from summer and autumn into winter, to brighten the long, dark
evenings, and to drive away the shadowy spirits of winter depression.
It is very simple. Our Sikh friend summed it up quite nicely:
"Any excuse for a party."
28th November 2009
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