Well Darlings,
If you scan through the
recent news headlines, you
could easily become
depressed. Wars and civil
disturbances are raging in
many parts of the world,
with other huge areas
battling unrelenting freak
weather conditions, while at
home in the UK massive pay
rises and bonuses for many
of our big bosses are
seeing the rich-poor divide
continue to widen, and
despite its screening efforts,
our health service reports
cases of breast cancer are
increasing alarmingly. And
as if that wasn't enough bad
news, we now hear that in
the bastion of all things
cultural, Liverpool, any
hopes of David Cameron's
'Big Society' have hit the dirt
with a resounding bang.
From those that
volunteered, four local
authorities were chosen to
take part in Big Society pilot
schemes, with the aim of
giving community groups
and volunteers more control
over the local budgets and
services. Picked were:
Liverpool, the Eden Valley in
Cumbria, Windsor and
Maidenhead in Berkshire,
and Sutton and Cheam in
south-west London. A Big
Society Bank, with assets of
£400 million drawn on
dormant bank and building
society accounts, was set up
to help them achieve
David's dream society -
however all does not
appear to be going well.
The way I see it, one man's
dream is many other men's
nightmare! For decades now
councils have striven to take
over and control everything
they could possibly get their
hands on, in an ever-
expanding authoritarian
society. It is what has seen
our councils grow at an
alarming rate, and cost us
an absolute fortune. The
vast 'army' of controllers we
now possess will not give
up their powers (and jobs)
easily. They will fight tooth
and nail to defend their
powerful positions, telling us
they are vital, and we can
expect a lot of muck-
spreading.
In an age when headlines
seem to mean everything, I
have a fear that David
Cameron may not achieve
his Big Society. People are
already shrinking away from
the idea in huge numbers.
Bombarded daily in the
press by job-loss fearing
councils' screams, the public
see and hear of only the
cuts being made, and do
not realise the lack of local
initiative being shown,
where in many cases, for a
fraction of the costs
involved, the affected
services might be
maintained and sometimes
improved.
David's idea of a Big Society
has created a stand-off
where, like so often with the
unions when they have a
grievance, it is the public
that gets hurt. He may need
to think again, and while
what he might come up with
could prove costly in the
short-term, I believe it
would still be worthwhile. If
something like crack teams
with red tape-cutting powers
could be employed to tour
the country, becoming
involved with local
communities and helping
them in setting up workable
schemes, the freedoms the
people would regain and
enjoy would overshadow
any cost imaginable, and
pay off in the longer term.
For decades ordinary
people, and small
businesses, have been
choked by an ever-
tightening noose of red tape
and unnecessary regulation,
as local authorities have
taken control over just
about everything. Cut that
away and we really could
have the community centres
we need and deserve. For a
fraction of the price we pay
today, we could cater for
the old and young, house
the libraries, post offices, tea
rooms, social, OAP, and
youth clubs, and everything
else the people might want,
in many cases all under one
cost-saving roof, and all run
by local people, community
people who really
understand the local needs.
It would take time to rebuild
our communities, but Homo
sapiens is a sociable beast
(it is the one asset we had
over Neanderthal man, and
it saved us from extinction!),
so eventually it would
happen. Do we really need
whole government
departments overseeing
everyone, with untold paid
staff ticking boxes on forms
in offices with expensive
lighting and heating bills,
just to ensure old Bert gets
to his day centre when he,
or his carer, only has to ask
Fred to pick him up? People
look after each other in a
community, in the
overwhelming majority they
care about each other
(unlike today!), so old Bill's
needs would never be
forgotten. I grew up in such
a society, and believe me: I
know it was far better than
the box-ticking, regulatory,
unlistening and uncaring, at
arm's length one we suffer
now.
Admitting society has taken
a wrong turn is hard for
some people, especially
those in unnecessary but
self-important jobs. They will
tell you we shouldn't go
back, it could never be the
same, and that is probably
true. Things are rarely the
same the second time
around, particularly for the
people who remember the
first time, but they could still
be a whole lot better than
what we have now, and I
can't think of a better
starting point from which to
strive for improvement.
Only as individuals with
responsibilities can we ever
truly hope to improve
society, and our lot. It
cannot be done by authority
imposing its will on what it
considers its minions - that
is simply the cart leading the
horse; it is the will of the
people that should matter
the most. It may be hard to
accept, but when harnessed
like that (with apologies to
Acts 9:5) the people will
always kick against the
pricks!
The Bitch!
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