Mason - don't be too hard on us bureaucrats! My and my colleagues' work is
directly responsible for getting young people into apprenticeships, and I
don't think that's a bad thing. Mind you, I'm not too happy with the folk at
the Inland Revenue......
One area that's scarcely been touched on is the camaraderie that binds
miners together - friendship, loyalty, sharing the dangers, looking out for
each other because lives literally depend on it, and the spirit of the
communities on the surface. For all the dirt, danger and death, there is
often an almost magical sense of pride in what they're doing. I'm a product
of three generations of South Yorkshire coalminers, with a branch of the
family in South Wales. My cousin in S. Wales was crushed in a roadway roof
fall eight years ago, and so badly maimed that he now walks with two sticks
and bitterly describes himself as "useless below the waist", which is no
fate for a strapping fit and handsome lad in his thirties. At the time, he
swore he would never go down a pit again and regularly berated me for my
interest in mine exploration and conservation. Earlier this year, he
confided that he now badly misses the spirit of comradeship and would give
anything for the chance to be a faceworker again. He spends most of his time
these days wandering round small pits in S. Wales just for the opportunity
to talk to miners and see the coal coming out. As to the communities, a tour
round South Yorks and North Derbyshire will quickly reveal how many good
things have been lost. I'm not saying that all miners are angels, but the
strength of the community spirit which we have largely lost now gave
ordinary working people a sense of belonging, purpose and "family".
John
----- Original Message -----
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, May 12, 2000 4:47 PM
Subject: Re: RE: Miners health, the early modern view - another view
> I too have been a bureaucrat. I am not particularly proud of swilling at
> the public trough with the other bureaucrats. I often wonder if
bureaucracy
> breeds anything but more bureaucracy. It seems that every bureaucrat I
meet
> is more involved with keeping his job, expanding his department and
growing
> his authority than providing for the common good.
>
> While early day mining was dangerous, coal from Wales and tin and copper
from
> Cornwall were the raw materials for the bronze age, the industrial age and
> the electrical age. Minerals are the basic materials for our
civilization.
> We can do nothing without them.
>
> We should be celebrating what mining has given us and recognizing the
> progress we have made since we fell out of the trees. Running down the
> industry and its practitioners in the present and past will not make our
> lives better. Understanding its problems and recognizing the solutions
> that have been gained by labor, government and management will provide
even
> better solutions.
>
> Some people apparently think, mining is a design by the devil for the
> destruction of mankind. That somehow we can stop all mining and the
world
> would be a better place. Well, its an economic enterprise, if you don't
> like mining, try living without its products. If we can't make any money,
> we'll quit.
>
> It is good to see this thread take on active discussions without flaming
and
> I am sorry if some of you feel flamed in my effort to bring about a lively
> discussion by taking an adversarial view.
>
> Mason Coggin
>
>
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