There is “huge frustration” among charities that David Cameron’s Big Society idea is being neglected, a spokesman for charity bosses has said.
If the “Big Society” has fallen at the hurdle and merely awaits the bolt between the eyes, that is a good thing, not a bad one. Y’see, the idea was one of top down central planning – the state telling us to get involved. Indeed, the whole concept was one based upon something that is none of the state’s business – much like most of the politicians’ initiatives these days. If people want to volunteer time, money or both, then they will. Although, it has to be said, that while the state takes money from us and divvies it up to third sector parasites without so much as a by your leave to the unwilling donors, reluctance to do so is hardly an earth shattering revelation.
Sir Stephen Bubb said the concept, which was central to the Conservatives’ 2010 general election campaign, appeared to be “going nowhere”.
Jolly good. Less nagging, hectoring and nudging is to be welcomed. If charities provide a service that people feel strongly about, then there will be willing donors. If they do not, then they stand to fail and that is only right and proper. Not least that these days charities are popping up all over the place to “raise awareness” of some obscure illness, genetic condition or rampant stupidity on someone’s part. Charities that are not needed and better off failing. Certainly they deserve no public (i.e. yours and mine) money to keep them and their over remunerated chief executives in the style to which they have become accustomed. And I haven’t even started on the political organisations such as ASH, CASH and alcohol concern – blatant fake charities that steal our money to lobby government to interfere in our lifestyle choices. Then there’s the likes of Oxfam propping up the culture of dependency in the third world – having failed to make any significant difference following decades of pouring money into Africa and still expecting us to respond to images of starving children. No, sorry; enough. Aid doesn’t work. Trade does. Oxfam will never get a penny from me. Indeed, at the moment, I have imposed an embargo on all charitable giving. This will continue while the third sector continues to sponge off the taxpayer.
And as for Cameron’s Big Society – this has been exposed for the cynical flim-flam that it always was.
Well said!
I was in the UK for Xmas and was amazed at the amount of begging on the TV now – all accompanied by pictures of dying this or starving that… 😡
I’m amazed that more people don’t complain about the (sometimes quite disturbing) images pasted across the screen in the middle of their favourite prog…
This is what desensitises people. Not violent tv shows or video games, but charitable adverts.
For the most part, I don’t see them as I record all the television we want to watch and skip the ads. So it is only rarely I see the begging for Africa stuff.
I was never asked if I wanted to be a part of their big society, the answer would have been a resounding ‘no’ had they bothered to do so. It should be my choice where any cash I give to charity goes, not the states, not now, not ever.
Indeed. And the more they bang on about it, the more entrenched my position becomes.
Ah, but QM, the Big Society isn’t about getting you to donate more money to charities. Oh no, no, no. That’s much too easy, and, perhaps more importantly, leaves you with less to spend on things that the Government can then tax and get their cut from.
It’s about getting you to give your time and your labour – for free – so they don’t have to fork out paying people to do all those worthy but “unprofitable” jobs (remember, it’s the Tories we’re talking about here – and I despise both sides equally, incidentally), like visiting elderly people, or running youth clubs, or clearing the snow off pavements, or picking up litter etc. Because the more of us they get to do all those “community” jobs, the fewer people they will have to employ (and, of course, pay) to do them. It’s cuts by the back door, if you like.
It would, of course, also have the useful side-effect of making people who are already busy to the point of being run off their feet even more busy – and thus with even less time to spend in subversive activities like meeting in pubs and clubs or with friends at home, chatting, exchanging opinions and information, debating and so on. Can’t have the peasants getting together like that, now, can we?
The “Big Society” is intended to shrink the state. That is, the bits of the state dedicated to assisting you if you are sick, out of work, etc; not cutting the numbers of secret policemen at GCHQ listening to your private electronic communications. Of course it is “top down”. What else could it be? The idea is to replace elements of state provision with volunteers and charity. But by its very nature, charity is capricious and inconsistent. That’s sort of the point of it. It can’t replace public services. If these conservative wallies truly believe in the Big Society, let them replace GCHQ and their ministerial armed guards with unpaid volunteers.
“Oxfam will never get a penny from me.”
Oh yes they will – courtesy of HMRC.
“I have imposed an embargo on all charitable giving.” Please don’t, there are some real charities left. Try the RNLI. They may be the only one, though.
Well, yes, that was rather taken for granted…