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Every individual in the aggregate known as a society recognises some tension between dwelling within a larger social matrix and the need for
some personal privacy. Genuine public interest is not just the aggregation of private interests. The default interaction with our neighbours
is cordial but distant , with recent sporting events or the weather to hand for any brief conversational requirements. What then of that elusive
myth of past community , where conflict was defused by ever-open doors to mutually-caring neighbours ? Misanthropes might prefer
to call up a cast of nosy parkers and prying busybodies. Prompted by a rash of celebrity rags-to-riches memoirs evoking back street childhoods
through a romantic , ghost-written haze , shared and sharing communities have recently been evoked by politicians as the best (that is , least
costly) means of controlling urban anomie and anti-social behaviour. The grocer’s daughter infamously informed us that that was no such
thing as society , there were only individuals. Thatcher’s inanities can generally be left to waft away on the currents of Westminster’s
stale air but this moth-eaten howler merits correction.
Potted judgements and off-the-cuff opinions are characteristics of inebriation or a closed mind. A minute’s thought leads to the conclusion
that everything is a collective of lesser things. Each living thing is a community of cells ; some are involved in executive activity up aloft
while others toil in the depths of the digestive tract. Conglomerates of unsleeping organs man the pumps and respiratory systems , as transport
unions keep all the arterial routes gurgling with traffic flows. Like ant heaps and termite mounds , our bodies house a myriad collective of
necessary activities , each contributing to the general welfare. Cells themselves are made up of component parts , not least their DNA. In paperback
and on T.V. screen , some biologists have conjectured that the welfare of a species (not necessarily the well-being of its individuals) is synonymous
with propagating the Selfish Gene. Thus subservient to a larger purpose , we while away our brief spans with or without a shoulder to the wheel of
the genetic imperative. In the inorganic world also , there are nothing but societies , from the mysterious interactions of subatomic wave/
particles to the gravitational family of astronomical bodies within each solar system.
Voices on the political right are the loudest in proclaiming the claims of an individual , with those higher up the economic ladder being singled
out for preference. The radical Left pressed for the greater good of the social whole and it was they who promoted a state of affairs which was
better (for those on the lower economic rungs) than almost all of what had preceded it. Eventually we were informed that the welfare system it
entailed had become unsustainable. Politicians all now subscribe to a “third way” of policy making : by an alchemical process
of alembic distillation , what was good for the few (promotion of their personal profit) became auspicious for all in the crucible of
unflagging economic growth. As this fantasy disappeared into the black holes of those imprudent bankers' pockets , we awaited confessions of error
from The City and about-turns in political strategy. Alas , what transpired were huge state bailouts for investment banks “too big to fail
”. Here , apparently , was a public debt declared to be as sustainable as any illegal and expensive foreign war our governors decided
to embark on. Should we care to challenge the prevailing economic orthodoxy , we’re told (in the tones of a mediaeval priest advising his
flock) that these are matters beyond our uninitiated understanding , matters best left to “the experts”. Nevertheless , hypocritical
usage of the hollow term socially inclusive is a poor substitute for the former commitment to trade unions , a nationalised power supply ,
public transport networks , and a well-funded Health Service.
The moral squalor peddled by current administrations in England and America is the end result of decades during which the market was “entrusted
” with tasks previously handled by more enlightened government : healthcare , pensions , low-income housing , education , social services.
These responsibilities were cynically subverted or ignored , as rampant materialism and individualism paved the way for a steep decline in the idea of
social co-operation. Then came the arrival of blustering incompetents posing as leaders of state. Men bloated with self-regard , surrounded by flunkies
and toadies , walking indictments of a “democratic” system through which elections and referendums are intended to convey power to the
socially-distanced people at large.
Wig.
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Archive
Virtual rambler #1 – Posturing, 9th March 2010
Virtual rambler #2 – Managerialism, 17th March 2010
Virtual rambler #3 – Nostalgia, 27th March 2010
Virtual rambler #4 – The Alpha Male, 13th April 2010
Virtual rambler #5 – General Elections, 3rd May 2010
Virtual rambler #6 – The Leisure Industry, 15th May 2010
Virtual rambler #7 – Guide to The World Cup, 15th June 2010
Virtual rambler #8 – Human Nature, 12th July 2010
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