Spectemur Agendo

For many years this two word Latin motto was emblazoned on my breast pocket as part of the badge of my school uniform. A brown blazer for lower school and a black blazer for sixth formers, not that that piece of information has any relevance. I knew, as part of the school’s indoctrination on the history of said establishment, that the motto meant ‘Let us be judged by our actions’. And there that piece of information rested, never knowingly affecting my life or attitudes in any way

It comes originally from Book XIII of Ovid's Metamorphoses where it is attributed to the hero Ajax:
"Denique (quid verbis opus est?) spectemur agendo!"
which most literal translations render as
"Finally (what is the use of words?) let us be seen together in action!"

Why some fifty years after sporting that motto on my school blazer I should keep recalling those words is a mystery to me, as are most happenings in my life these days. Seeing more and more acquaintances shuffle off the mortal coil perhaps highlights for me the truth behind the words Spectemur Agendo because the majority of use are so judged. The actions that we make, whether large or small, good or bad, significant or trivial are the things whereby our family, friends, enemies, employers and society in general will judge the validity of our life. When they weigh up the black stones and the white stones of my life I hope that a couple of good actions will rest in peoples minds and affectionate smiles appear on their faces.

But what saddens me is the fact that there are strata’s of our society for whom that motto would be an anathema. Do politicians really consider those words other than on an election day when they require your support? If they did perhaps we would not have seen the shameful abuse of the parliamentary expenses system followed by, in many cases, a dumbfounded disbelief that they had ever done any wrong. Then party political witch hunts ensue, fortunes are spent reinvigorating an already flawed system with another system which some will manipulate for their own advantage.

An whilst H.M Treasury has decided that all those in receipt of a local Government Pension should receive no increase for the forthcoming year, still the bankers pay each other excessively for, in many cases, failure. My local Authority Pensions Department when informing me of the situation seemed to justify the position by reminding me that my state pension had increased by 2.5% from April 2010 which, in fact, is an exageration of the truth as only the basic state pension increased by that much, any addition parts of the pension which I had earned and paid for remained at the previous years level. Effectively therefore I received approximately 1.5% increase in State Pension which in itself will probably be written off by fluctuations in exchange rates between the euro and pound over the coming year.

Lloyds TSB Bank have also decided that the bank’s pensioners will receive no increase for the forthcoming year simply because some index figure hidden deep into the pension scheme regulations failed to achieve the required target, yet their Chief Executive, Eric Daniels, who led them into the position of needing the U.K. tax payer to bail them out continues to receive a remuneration of some £1,121,000 per annum, the Group Financial Director some £1.7 million and the group Wholesale Director over £1.8 million. They also have short and long-term incentive schemes that include annual bonuses of up to 200% of basic salary, with the exception of Daniels, who can boost his salary with a 225% bonus payout.

So if 'Spectemur Agendo' is the judging criteria then my only response can be Mene, mene, tekel upharsin - Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting