19th March 2011, 09:33 AM
Kel
I remember a consultation a number of years ago when a local authority was making cuts, it asked something like ?which do you value most??
1, The Community archaeologist
2, Two crossing guards at the local school
3, Street lighting on that dangerous street
I am sure these wernt the exact points but you get the idea. Guess what ? community archaeology wasn?t that important!!
It is always possible to frame the argument that way, but where do you stop?
1, Fire fighters
2, Primary care nurses
3, Teachers
Well actually the civil society I pay my taxes for will provide Fire Fighters, Primary Care Nurses AND Teachers, if you can?t organise it that way we will vote for someone who will. . .
similarly
The civil society I pay my taxes for can provide lollipop men, meals on wheel AND environmental protection and I would like other options please, such as not upgrading nuclear weapons, eliminating large corporations tax avoidance ect.
I know its not that easy but we can?t fall for that simplistic utilitarian ranking approach, its designed to divide and conquer and I suspect we will be getting a lot of that across the board soon.
I remember a consultation a number of years ago when a local authority was making cuts, it asked something like ?which do you value most??
1, The Community archaeologist
2, Two crossing guards at the local school
3, Street lighting on that dangerous street
I am sure these wernt the exact points but you get the idea. Guess what ? community archaeology wasn?t that important!!
It is always possible to frame the argument that way, but where do you stop?
1, Fire fighters
2, Primary care nurses
3, Teachers
Well actually the civil society I pay my taxes for will provide Fire Fighters, Primary Care Nurses AND Teachers, if you can?t organise it that way we will vote for someone who will. . .
similarly
The civil society I pay my taxes for can provide lollipop men, meals on wheel AND environmental protection and I would like other options please, such as not upgrading nuclear weapons, eliminating large corporations tax avoidance ect.
I know its not that easy but we can?t fall for that simplistic utilitarian ranking approach, its designed to divide and conquer and I suspect we will be getting a lot of that across the board soon.