Stupidly I'd not not clicked that the Big Society could easily be used to dress up cost-cutting initiatives
Probably unintentionally completely intentionally, it favours the richer rather than the poorer...
'Big Society' is Tory spin on an old idea of Regionalism (some say localism too). It's a step further on the neo-liberal path set by governments over the last 20 years or so...But theres also a socio-political element to this.
Big Society = You're on your fucking own, JackSo I'm expected to hold down a full time job which I pay taxes on, then run the buses/bin collections/street cleanliness when I get home? Are they having a laugh?
Quote from: shark on February 03, 2011, 01:07:53 pmStupidly I'd not not clicked that the Big Society could easily be used to dress up cost-cutting initiatives It's not being used for that, that's all it's ever been.
If these unspecified 'Big Society' philanthropist-volunteers are so bloody philanthropical, I've got one question for them:Why have they have been inactive up until now? Why do they need to be summoned by Cameron to pop into existence?
It's also an insult to all the charitable/volunteer work that is already being done which is now under a lot more pressure thanks to these scything cuts.
At the moment I give Cameron the benefit of the doubt. I think he's a misguided......
.......Another interpretation is that he's really Tory old school, in the make the rich richer scheme of things
Many cyclist have a keen interest in recycling and energy efficiency, so I am hopeful that they will be enthusiastic about the scheme. We have started an Opt-Out Donor Card scheme whereby only carriers of the Opt-Out cards will have their bodies and bikes removed from the holes that they fall into - the cost of these cards will be set at £3,500 to cover administrative charges and removal costs
That it be funny if it wasn't true.
Sheffield city council seem to have a Big Soc plan regarding the large potholes found along most of the roads around here.The plan is to let the holes get deep enough and then fill them with the bodies and broken bikes of the city's cyclists. This cunning plan has a minimal carbon footprint - the materials will transport themselves to where they are needed without using any fossil fuels.Quote from: Paul ScrivenMany cyclist have a keen interest in recycling and energy efficiency, so I am hopeful that they will be enthusiastic about the scheme. We have started an Opt-Out Donor Card scheme whereby only carriers of the Opt-Out cards will have their bodies and bikes removed from the holes that they fall into - the cost of these cards will be set at £3,500 to cover administrative charges and removal costs
Quote from: tomtom on February 04, 2011, 04:08:09 pmAt the moment I give Cameron the benefit of the doubt. I think he's a misguided...... I don't -on either count. He's conning the gullible, and he knows it. It's a preposterous idea: that we'll cut left, right and centre but you won't suffer because the spirit of the blitz will descend like some holy spirit and we'll all start pulling together so altruistically the cuts will actually be good for you.Like all preposterous lies, the more preposterous, the more credible to the gullible.Quote from: tomtom on February 04, 2011, 04:08:09 pm.......Another interpretation is that he's really Tory old school, in the make the rich richer scheme of thingsThis is his background, his schooling, but not the One Nation patrician party of old, but the nasty arriviste Thatcherite enemy within ideology. And in a sop to kinder times, some philanthropical gobbledegook to mask the reality.The view is cut for the good of the economy, and if some suffer, tough, it's for the greater good and they should get on their bike (but shhh.. this 2011 )I don't doubt for a minute he'd love it to work, it'd get him out of a jam, keep the LibDems and the natives onside, so it's worth a punt. But it's still a fiction, don't be taken in.
I was trying to think of a way to get The Sheffield Star to take up the story - but they're currently running a massive front page headline that says "PERVERT !" and shows a picture of a lollipop man - you can't compete with that sort of sensationalism.
Even the vaguely-pro-Cameron Economist recommend he ditch the BS BS:http://www.economist.com/node/18114475