Behaving Badly in Sark

When I was young, I used to read boys comics, and then when I'd read all those (anyone remember TV Comic, Countdown, Century 21, Look and Learn, or Look-In? (and any books I had), desperate for the printed page, I used to read my sister's comics as well!

One of the recurring stories in her comics concerned a girl who had lost her parents (in different versions of the story, there were a variety of reasons, but the same basic plot), and who ended up being placed with a cheerful smiley family. As soon as the care worker had left, the benevolent smiles disappeared, and the foster parents turned into slave-driving sadists, but whenever this was threatened with exposure, the mask was put back on, and the beaming smiles were once more in evidence. Until, one day, the mask slipped, and the real people behind the mask appeared for others to see. They were found out!

I was thinking about this plot line when I was reading this (of many) stories about Sark, and what has just happened in the wake of the elections.

http://www.thisisguernsey.com/2008/12/12/the-man-who-pulled-the-plug-on-sark/

SARK Estate manager Kevin Delaney took the decision to end the Barclay brothers' multi-million pound investment in the island and lay off more than 100 workers. The decision plunged the island into chaos last night. Mr Delaney's move to make them redundant with immediate effect followed yesterday's historic election result, which did not go the way the billionaire Brecqhou backers had hoped. Only two of their nine preferred candidates were successful. The man who represented the brothers' involvement in the island slammed the poll as 'a cartel'. 'Deals were done behind closed doors that were executed with military precision. It was block voting on a breathtaking scale of which I have never seen in my life.' He added: 'I strongly suspect that the establishment did not expect to give us the bloody nose they did. I think they wanted to keep the money coming in but to have a strong element of control over us.' Despite attempting to salvage something from the 'debacle' by meeting with the island's main policymakers on the General Purpose and Advisory Committee, Mr Delaney said no reasonable offer had been made.

I've been reading various stories about Sark in the news, and what strikes me is that the Barclay brothers behaved, in my opinion, like spoilt children who couldn't get their own way. Why else suddenly - after the result of an election - pull out of Island business and close down their investments? It seems clear, to paraphrase Mr Delaney, that they wanted to keep a strong element of control over Sark, and thought that they could buy votes with their investments.

I think their intentions to "modernise" Sark were certainly in part benevolent, but it was the benevolence of the aristocratic landlord, the philanthropic despot, bringing a culture of dependency, where the workers would be expected to doff their caps at the lord of the manor, who is always so good to them.

The sheer capriciousness of their action is staggering. Suddenly, at a whim, closing down their businesses overnight, with no thought for those people turned out of work just before Christmas. It was not that the businesses in Sark were failing, it was simply that the Barclays decided to pull out and go. It was an action of selfishness, of thoughtlessness, of the bullies who cannot bear to be thwarted. The smiling masks slipped, and the real faces were not pleasant. The phrase "the unacceptable face of capitalism" certainly springs to mind.

I was reading some of Bishop Tom Wright on the need for good government, and he notes that Paul, in Romans, argues for government as a force for keeping order in society, because without that, there will be "the tyranny of the unofficially powerful, the bullies and the rich". Without that, and allowing for the fact that government may have its own failings, "the bullies and the burglars have it all their own way, and the weak and helpless suffer most". This seem most apposite as a comment on what has been happening in Sark; despite the span of millennia, the bullies are still around today, and will do all they can to take a mean spirited revenge if they don't get their own way.

Let us hope that Sark can rebuild its economy, and other people will come into Sark with their business, those not wanting to play "Mr Big" in the same manner, and the Barclays return to being recluses, having inflicted considerable damage and deprivation on those who would not let them win their game.

Links:
God and Caesar: Then and Now
http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_God_Caesar.pdf

Paul and Caesar: A New Reading of Romans
http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Paul_Caesar_Romans.htm