Public honours - to what end?

Quote

“Honour sinks where commerce long prevails.”  Oliver Goldsmith, writer and poet (1730-74)

News

The system of awarding public honours in the United Kingdom has been under scrutiny this week following the decision to strip (Sir) Fred Goodwin of his knighthood.  Under his leadership, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) was propelled from a provincial lender to, briefly in 2008, the largest company in the world with assets 1.4 times larger than the UK economy, before the state had to intervene to prevent the bank from collapsing.  In 2004 the Labour government recommended this electrician’s son-turned global financier for a knighthood for services to banking. 

However, following the £45 billion taxpayer rescue of RBS, Fred Goodwin has been viewed in a different light – as one of the perpetrators of the credit crunch and global financial crisis.  The controlling management style and ruthless cost-cutting methods of ‘Fred the Shred’ made him unpopular with employees.  More recently, the media have sought to make him a scapegoat to blame for the looming recession.

Whatever the ethics of stripping someone of a public honour, (when that person has not been convicted of a criminal offence – normally the main reason for such decisions), the honours system is currently in the spotlight.  There are typically three types of recipient: ‘establishment figures’, such as senior civil servants, politicians and royal aides; second, lesser known people who have made an exemplary contribution to society, and lastly, those whose achievements in sport, business or the arts have enriched the nation in diverse ways. 

The honours system may arguably pursue two different goals.  The first is to recognise and reward those who have consistently served or inspired others, motivated by duty, compassion or bravery in a spirit of self-sacrifice (and this group can include both the famous and the unknown).  The second echoes the old ways of political patronage, and is used by the governing elite to reward the loyalty and support of the wealthy and powerful. 

Although there is an appropriate time to honour those who govern or lead well, honouring the powerful is more likely to increase the relational distance between the elite and the rest of society, which can easily turn sour.  But a system based on commending the good and the brave is likely to build a more relational society.

Read on…

A thoughtful Cambridge Paper by David McIlroy looks at how contemporary society views honour and shame generally, and contrasts this with a Biblical and relational approach to the subject.  Read it here.

Walk the talk

To seek honour is not wrong in itself – it all depends on whom you seek it from and to what end.  Whose attention are you seeking, and why?  Let’s aim for the honour that comes from serving others selflessly.

The last word

From the Bible, Luke 16 verse 15: “Then he said to [the Pharisees], ‘You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts. What this world honours is detestable in the sight of God.’ ”

Romans 13 verse 7: “Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honour, then honour.”