Us and Them - again

A showery morning, and the usual running route is occupied by frisky Highland cattle, so we continue up the loch-side, past the place where a local farmer has blocked access to the shore to stop the tinkers from camping.

Travelling people are proving to be a challenging  test to the ethical values of rooted communities across Europe. In the Czech Republic there have been violent clashes between Roma incomers and neo-Nazi groups (ref). In England, the attempted eviction of the Dale Farm residents has been more bureaucratic (ref), although the right-wing press have been keeping up such a barrage of self-righteous outrage that the potential for similar racist clashes is probably not far below the surface (ref).

Michael White, writing in the Guardian (ref), makes the interesting point that such nomads are an important remnant of what used to be the norm in human society, and as such should be protected.

Of course, our current laws and values are based on a different, more static norm than those of the travellers, so tensions and transgressions are unavoidable.  But, transgressions and tensions are not the real issue here. Many motorists break the law on a daily basis, and the recent transgressions of bankers and pension fund managers have been exposed many times – but none of these people face eviction or violence in the same way.