CAMERON’S BIG IDEA – THE BIG SOCIETY

In 2010 newly-elected PM David Cameron made a speech saying that society and community cohesion would be much improved if more people were to do volunteer work.  His lofty idealism was scoffed at even by his own supporters whilst the Left claimed it was an attempt to get people to do for free what “should be done” by paid govt/council employees.

 

If the mere suggestion that citizens should DO SOMETHING for their country or community for NO FINANCIAL REWARD is a vote-loser, then nothing more clearly highlights what is wrong with our electorate – our sense of community – and our governmental system.

Such an idea could work in a small and homogenous country like Iceland, but certainly not in an over-populated and increasingly politically polarised country of 70 million-ish.    Research shows that people in “diverse” societies volunteer less often and tend to mistrust strangers more – contradicting the lies that have been forced down our throats about the alleged “enriching” benefits of racial diversity,

  Did anyone, aside from the far-left, ever really believe otherwise?  

 “One of the problems with involving only a few people – volunteers – is that such people tend to be better-educated, have more money, and many are retirees who have more time on their hands in the first place.   Leftists will accuse them of being rich “elitists” who don’t need the money and the money they are not getting should go to the unemployed..!”

And, having cleaned-up and tidied the filthy stream or overgrown litter-strewn grassy bank, whats to stop the same sort of people who messed it up in the first place dumping their rubbish there again?    And, if one of the volunteers is unlucky enough to catch the polluters in the act and have words with them – he will be cursed and threatened and risk being physically assaulted

Cameron’s “Big Society” is a pipe-dream because our cities and larger towns are TOO BIG and TOO DIVERSE and, within such places, a  genuine “society” – a collaborative community – does not and CANNOT ever exist….

What is needed is not a handful of retired volunteers with “time on their hands”, but everyone mucking-in like boy-scouts during bob-a-job week.

But how in these mercenary times can such a happy state of affairs be achieved?  Unless people are forced to do public work, as under Communism – the idea that everyone will happily rally around and donate their time to the community is naïve, because COMMUNITY IS A TOTALLY NON-EXISTENT CONCEPT in OB-Cities..!

OASIS CITIES would be “Big Societies” by default..!

Cameron’s “Big Society” is a natural for OA-City due to – 1) compact size – 2) relatively small population – 3) compatible citizenry – 4) community work could be a condition of residency.

Community Assistance Pledge (CAP)

If the charter of OA-City*1 stipulates that each adult citizen commit to 20 days CAP per year and OA-city*2 made no such condition, which would you choose to live in?  One’s first reaction would be to assume that No*2 would be the more popular choice because who, aside from retirees with time on their hands, would happily want to do unpaid work?   Whichever one attracted the most applicants, OA-City *1 would get a lot of essential work performed by its citizens and this would be reflected in lower community charges, etc.  Citizens willing to work together for the common good would develop into a much more cohesive society.   So I believe CAP charters will spread as the benefits become apparent.   Cities without a CAP will have to compete against those that do and thus CAP charter OA-Cities will be more attractive due to their better social services and community cohesion.  

Its important to re-iterate that nobody will ever be FORCED to donate their labour – some OA-Cities will have a CAP charter whilst others won’t.  People will be given a free choice – they can take it, or they can leave it..!   There will be no penalties for leaving it, but there will be many benefits for taking it..!

“CAP” will be a WIN-WIN as the city/community will be able to call on citizens to perform certain duties, but citizens will benefit due to better community facilities and lower taxes, charges, etc.  It will also enable people to meet fellow communitarians they otherwise may never have met and make new friends.

Community Assistance could be a lot of FUN..!