We discard the Classics at our peril

JOHN Gordon (Yorkshire Post, January 12) misunderstands the impact of Christianity and the Greek and Roman classics on European society.

These did not produce the governing classes: they were there from before the dawn of history. Christianity has always encouraged the governing classes to act responsibly and care for those less fortunate than themselves. Greece and Rome gave us art, literature, politics, science, medicine, drama, philosophy, architecture etc. which are the foundations of modern western civilisation.

Yes, life was hard in Victorian England. However, Christianity teaches that all people are equal in the sight of God, and the basis of the Classics is that all people are equal in the sight of the law. The product of these two influences produced the great reform movements among the educated classes which improved living and working conditions, and eventually gave us our democracy.

The best Greek literature was written for the Athenian democracy. It is true that for centuries the governing classes only applied the privileges of freedom and democracy to themselves and their “peers”, and it was a long time before they had the courage of their convictions and gave the people the vote. However, the inspiration for this change came from the Greek classics.

Teaching the Classics is not a matter of bringing back the past: they are our heritage. Classics graduates know that the best Greek and Roman literature was written at times when the old pagan religions were losing credibility and influence, with a consequent breakdown of morality and responsibility in society – particularly in public life. So the Greeks and the Romans tried to find a rational basis for ethics and good behaviour, which did not depend on religious sanctions or taboos.

So, in many ways there are great similarities between the problems faced by Greece and Rome in the classical periods and those which face the world today.

For this reason the study of Greece and Rome is probably more relevant to the modern world now than ever before. We discard the Classics at our peril.

Fines for failure

From: Paul Emsley, Hellifield.

SO, who is responsible for the £31bn Government wastage from the public purse? The Minister for the department? The chief civil servant running the department? Or, the Prime Minister on whose watch, the expenditure was sanctioned?

The two new aircraft carriers being built in Scotland are down to Gordon Brown; the Fire and Emergency Services new control scheme was on John Prescott’s watch; the IT system for the HMRC was Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling; the IT system failure for single payments to farmers from the RPA for set-aside land was under Lord Rucker (no intentional pun implied) and Margaret Beckett.

I am not suggesting that Conservative governments don’t waste money, but under collective responsibility for the current deficit, this would suggest that the last Labour government were not managing their expenditure.

If this money is recovered from those responsible it would pay for the proposed HS2 project, without increasing the current account deficit; enabling more worthy HMG expenditure to be maintained.

The truth is, that the individual responsible won’t admit it. They will get kicked upstairs to the House of Lords and those of us in proper jobs will foot the bill. And they say bankers are corrupt.

Although I wouldn’t suggest that such financial mis-management immediately warrants the scaffold; I do think that the levying of a proportionate fine would act as an effective deterrent for others in the future.

Thought too much of

From: James Anthony Bulmer, Peel Street, Horbury, Wakefield.

AS a young man working in the engineering industry, I was approached by the then departmental manager and asked to look at a component used on dust extraction units manufactured in the factory. The idea of this exercise was to think of a different design. This I did.

My design was approved, however being a staff member, there was no reward.

Several of these components were made, fitted and put into use and proved successful. At that time these were made as a welded fabrication.

A few months later a new man was hired by the company to modernise production. One of his first tasks was to spend £30,000 – and this was 40 years ago – buying a punching machine to punch out the component I had designed. He got the credits for my design.

My father, who had worked at the same company at that time, remarked in his Yorkshire accent: “Them as spends most brass gets best thought on.”

I am now seeing this in the cities in West Yorkshire, where money is being spent on modernisation as if there was no tomorrow, and this is when the country supposedly is almost broke.

The councillors are rewarded with good salaries, better pensions and, in some instances, get “Royal” recognition with letters behind names for spending someone else’s brass.

A little like football managers?