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Feedback
on the lunchtime with Antonia Swinson hot on the heels of
the publication of her book "Root of All Evil? How
to make Spiritual Values count":
Here
first is a quote from Libby Purves's review of the book
in The Times:
[This
new book is]… "a refreshingly eccentric tome by
the Scottish financial journalist, Trollope expert and occasional
novelist, Antonia Swinson. It is called Root of all Evil?
and purports to be a Christian analysis of how money influences
every aspect of our lives, how it has got disgracefully
out of hand, and should be whipped back into line with our
real ethical and personal values. Mr Blair should immediately
recruit Swinson to his new faith-and-policy review group,
if he has the bottle.
"Unbelievers
may be infuriated by her casual references to God, but should
persevere: Swinson is no sanctimonious God-botherer or parlour
leftie. She is a hard-nosed, canny financial specialist
with a hearty contempt for the sector's cant, dishonesty,
incompetence and what she dubs the "preventative incantation"
that makes too many of her colleagues join in with fund
managers and finance houses to bleat about the inevitable
long-term wonderfulness of stock market investments.
"Swinson is probably not right about everything. A
hail of well-reasoned contumely will fall on her from churches,
banks, classical economists and the stock market trades.
But there is a surprising amount of fun and hope to be got
from thinking differently, especially in this summer season
when we devote borrowed thousands to kidding ourselves that
we love the simple life."
50 of
us sat down to the wonderful fare that the Roxburghe can
provide when you want a light lunch of freshly made soup,
sandwiches, tea/coffee and biscuits. Antonia was in her
usual scintillating, sparkling form. Her book, nicknamed
ROAE? for short, is unputdownable, and more provocative
than her winsome presentation to us on the day may have
suggested - see the above review. Another critic has called
her Chapter 5: 'God made the Land for the people' "dynamite"!
Antonia
touched on her own childhood memories of money, her own
getting caught up in the whirlwind of career, overtime and
debt and her coming to realise at the end of one working
day in London that something had to change…. But read
her candid, personal account in ROAE?
Antonia
has emerged from a most varied career - actress to financial
journalist - to be able now to reflect on who really profits
from our being in debt (with "credit" cards, you
understand), also on what actually a sensible work-life
balance can be (some employers one notices just take you
for all the work you will give!). She spoke on how rich
we can all be in other "currencies" than money,
introducing us to the concept of "social capital"
- and we all have it, some may even be social capital millionaires!
Indeed, Iain Archibald of OASIS, she suggested, is our local
social capital bank manager! - a reference to OASIS' community
building work and the value to all of its ever-growing network
of people in the offices of Edinburgh's West End.
If you
would like an A5 leaflet on the book and a £1 off
voucher, please email us at OASIS
and we shall be happy to oblige.
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