Wilt Portfolio
OK – the Big Society. A subject which Wilt has watched from afar as an intellectual observer – yes Wilt has a brain and has a brain scan on disc to prove it. Needless to say the brain scan disc is of a larger than normal size 
Well, perhaps not – a few years ago on a Masonic outing abroad with a dozen other blokes he experienced not one but in fact two “unexplained” seizures in one day resulting in him collapsing to the floor unconscious, one time in full formal black bow tie attire. The nice hospital people took blood tests, a full brain scan and heart monitoring – on the plus side he had neither experienced a heart attack, stroke and nothing in the toxicology tests indicated causation. Urban myth (even today) suggests Wilt was over energetic in his celebrations with drinking brothers of the lodge. In actual fact, it was most likely simple exhaustion and lack of sleep – ok that foreign beer may not have helped.
Wilt Portfolio
Less positive was the potentially 12 month ban from driving (automatic if one has a seizure) – it is compulsory to notify the DVLA if you suffer a seizure, although many do not out of either ignorance or simple deceit. Wilt took the option to notify, on advice from the medics, and six months later (not the full potential 12 months) was back on the road driving again. If you play fair with the likes of the DVLA, they will deal you a fair hand.
However, I digress – back to Big Society. However do I digress? Being responsible and taking responsibility is in fact a part of the commitment that citizens have to their community. Let us imagine that Wilt did not follow medical advice and not notify the DVLA, and then went on to drive and collapse at the wheel only to kill or severely injure some other motorist or pedestrian. Would that have been reasonable? No, of course not – sacrificing his car usage was not easy but Wilt did it, out of a sense of duty and responsibility. Business suffered as a consequence and public transport, whilst reasonable, took up an inordinate amount of time – if you do not believe me, try it yourself. For Gawd sake I had to walk to the pub (as distinct from just walking back from the pub with Salty Dog guiding me).
Wilt Portfolio
David Cameron, on the Big Society subject, obviously overlooked this simple example of selfless commitment – we however forgive him, as the example given is just a facile example of a much larger picture of the State and its duties to its citizens.
Earlier this month Guido gave, I think, the best reminder of what Thatcher (no such thing as society) actually meant in this article: http://order-order.com/2011/02/08/big-society-v-big-government/
He quotes the lady:
“I think we’ve been through a period where too many people have been given to understand that if they have a problem, it’s the government’s job to cope with it. ‘I have a problem, I’ll get a grant.’ ‘I’m homeless, the government must house me.’ They’re casting their problem on society. And, you know, there is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first. It’s our duty to look after ourselves and then, also to look after our neighbour.”
The interlocker concept between the Big Society and No Society is not lost on either Guido or Cameron, nor indeed Wilt after having researched what the hell the concept means – there is no doubt the launch of this Big Society idea was a major missed opportunity.
Wilt Portfolio
In addition to Big Society and No Society add the following: Social Exclusion. That latter term was (and remains) a thoroughbred concept of New Labour – it is in fact not that different from Big Society as each in their different ways conceptualise that from citizenship emanates a commitment to local community, the nation and to Society.
On the whole ‘communities’ look after their own. Countless thousands of unpaid and committed volunteers toil daily, and not just Monday to Friday office hours, to ensure that the community they serve and gain benefit from survives. They would shy away from the limelight and simply see it as a duty and repayment of the benefits they gain in knowing their family and neighbours are well and valued. It is simple, really it is, honest.
Albeit Wilt lives out in the ‘sticks’ he regularly delivers the newspaper, a few groceries and has a chat with others in the local community, he sees this as rather normal and, well, what he hopes others might just do for him in the future – you give as might care to be given to.
Wilt Portfolio
What then of the voluntary agencies, such as the NSPCC? What exactly do they do? In the case of the NSPCC, very little, we think. They have very highly paid executives on mind boggling salaries. The worst of it however is this – they rely upon Government subsidies in the form of grants and fees to survive.
It seems to Wilt an odd position where a voluntary agency, any voluntary agency, requires a grant or subsidy or fee to continue work. It is an anathema and utterly curious notion that a VOLUNTARY agency can only survive as such – surely, in Big Society terms, an agency providing voluntary services will succeed or not on its merits to the community – they are either valued or not and effective or not, or they simply become an agent of Government like some other Quango or private contractor.
What is the difference between a private contractor and a voluntary agency, both of whom are paid to fulfil a contract? One major difference is that a business pays tax and a voluntary agency does not – voluntary agencies have huge tax concessions and do not pay VAT.
And what do the NSPCC achieve – you tell me? Is this a level playing field?
Wilt Portfolio
Dear reader, look upon the NSPCC and it’s like simply as a business by another set of rules.
The Big Society must not become the Big rip off – the community can run their own affairs very well, thank you, without overpaid local government executives, over-estimated and fraudulent voluntary agencies with equally overpaid executives.
If the community needs a local ‘non-job’ officer, Wilt can find several prospective volunteers down at the pub – they might regret it after the hangover has worn off!
Wilt
