Without the state

Talk to the world...

- well one or two people anyway!

In two to three weeks time I shall be moving house. As a consequence there wil inevitably be a hiatus (yes another one) as I unpack, find the PC, persuade someone to provide a broadband connection that works etc. To fil that gap I have asked a few friends (on and off line) for guest posts but I'm happy to consider more.

So, dear reader - if you have something you want to say and have never had the chance to say it then send me an e-mail with your post in the body of the message. No attachments please. The header should read Panchromatica Guest Post. Send the e-mail to guest[at]panchromatica.co.uk.

I leave the subject and length up to you, but I would prefer something that bears on the topics I write about -  which still leaves you a lot of scope.

I don't guarantee to use everything and I reserve the right to edit or otherwise make changes where I think appropriate. I will make it clear if changes have been made and what they are if that happens.

I need your submissions in the next ten days to be of use while I am moving, although anything arriving later may still be used since I am quite interested in the idea of a regular guest spot - whether by one person or many.

Topics I would particularly like to see covered.

• UK and European politics from unconventional perspectives (right or left) No racism or abuse please.
• A humanist perspective on current affairs
• Social Enterprise, community activism
• Practical ideas for reducing the size and power of the state
• Ideas on how the objectives of the planning system - attractive and liveable towns, efficient transport system etc - might be delivered in a such a minimal state.

I look forward to hearing from you

Working with Consultants – a good practice guide

I have written this brief guide to help community and voluntary organisations considering the employment of a consultant. It has been written based on experience on both sides of the fence—as a senior officer in local government responsible for running numerous consultancy contracts and as a self employed consultant. The guide is not intended to deal with employment of builders or similar contractors.

Brief outline of contents follows:

Preliminaries
What is the project?
Why are you considering use of consultants?
Project Brief
Identification of consultants
Selection of consultants

The full document – still only two pages can be downloaded (in Acrobat .pdf) format from here

Let me know if you find it useful.

This document is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licence.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/

Don Lusher dies

From BBC NEWS

British jazz musician Don Lusher has died at the age of 82.

The jazz and big band trombonist - best known for leading the Ted Heath Jazz Band - passed away on Wednesday afternoon, his wife said.

In a career spanning more than 60 years, he played with a number of groups and was twice president of the British Trombone Society.

Lusher was honoured in the 2002 New Year's Honours list with an OBE for services to the music industry.

Be the change you wish to see...

I'm not especially optimistic that Compass will make much of a difference since so far as I can see all the likely replacements for Blair have the same centralist and statist view of the world - and probably Compass too. We need an Old Labour - but the Old Labour of the Rochdale Pioneers, of Mutual Aid, - not state capitalism.

Oen letter to Tony Blair from Neal Lawson of Compass.

But this fixation with economic efficiency and globalisation is not just losing New Labour middle England votes but core Labour support too. The BNP are eating up the votes of a white working class made even more anxious by the tides of globalisation you show no desire to manage. What is the point of political leadership if it is not about dealing with the forces that help and hinder people's lives? Your New Labour was a closed conspiracy of a few very clever individuals who in the glum shadow cast by Thatcherism seized a traumatised and disorientated party without breaking with the central tenants of that neo-liberal hegemony.

You talk in your article about "the myth of betrayal." And here I agree with you. Blaming leaders for what they do or don't do is pointless because it is disempowering. Leaders tend to have a habit of letting people down because of overblown expectations of what they can achieve. We can only betray ourselves by failing to build the ideas and organisation that gets the most out of leaders but which enables people to take control of their world the only way they can - by doing it together.

In this sense it doesn't matter so much what you, me or even your successor thinks. What matters most is what Labour members and supports think and do, what the trade unions think and do and what progressives outside of Labour's shrinking ranks think and do. That is why Compass uses the Ghandi credo "be the change you wish to see in the world."

It seems clear that for Lawson at least, the way forward is stil a strong central state.

People are crying out for modern politics based on progressive values. This was the wave that swept you into office and it's still rolling - but it's David Cameron who wants to ride it now - not you. That's a great shame. Because Cameron won't will the means of an active state that works in the interests of society - while you seem happy to will the means of an active state that works excessively in the interests of the economy.

EDIT: I have just discovered this pamphlet, written in part by Neal Lawson which at first blush seems to contradict my judgement above. I haven't had time to read it, but the extract below gives me cause for concern - largely because in isolation at least it seems pretty empty of content. Perhaps when I read the pamphlet in full I will change my mind. If you have read it and have views please comment.

Equality should remain fundamental to the left but only within the wider and more ambitious project to redefine freedom as the inspirational value of socialism. To achieve such a lofty aim it is necessary to provide a critique of the neo-liberal view of freedom and make the case for a new kind of politics that embraces society’s ambivalence about freedom and security. This, in turn, demands the re-unification of the liberal and socialist traditions.

 

On religion...

I can assure you that no kingdom has ever had as many civil wars as the kingdom of Christ.

Montesquieu

Respect?

Flag Burning

The only "respectable" way to dispose of a worn or soiled flag is to give it a ceremonial and dignified retirement, preferably by burning it.  Ironically, the American Legion and Boy Scouts burn thousands of flags every year in respectful retirement ceremonies.  The only difference between their actions, and the actions of a long-haired hippie protestor are the thoughts in the minds of the two.  Do you want to live in a country that arrests people for "anti-American thoughts?"

See also: The Fourth Of July Is For Burning Things

Plus ca change?

Apropos the previous post

“The people here have a lot of extraordinary opinions,” Mr Brown snapped. “I was amazed last night in the bar to hear the freedom with which they were criticizing the Government. They don’t realise what would happen to them in Germany if they talked like that.”

“But isn’t that just what we’re fighting for?”

“I don’t follow you.”

“To prevent any of us realizing what would happen to us in Germany if we opened our mouths a bit wide.”

“There is a war on, you know, Mr Macintosh.”

Whisky Galore, Compton Mackenzie (1949)

We imagined a most terrible enemy,

...then, in a time of great fear, modeled ourselves on that creature. It's almost literary in its tragedy.