Cbbies and the big society:

Scene: Two ragged and economy puppets stand in front of a cardboard image of parliament; the first puppet is called Symon and the other Paul

Paul: I don’t understand what the big society is?”

Symon: “well it is an idea that a society, “whatever this means” can only be worthwhile as long as it provides service to its members and that in the overly romanticised past there was no need for the state”

Paul: “Boo! Hiss, down with the state!”

Symon: coughs. “As I was saying, that the state & market single handily replaced this idea, community provisions were replaced with state centric organisation and by multinational companies which destroyed the communal bonds upon which social provision rested”.

Paul: “Why did people sit by anD do nothing, why did they not fight for their communities?”

Symon: “some did, but the state is mighty and the economy is even mightier and man is weak, some men renounced the old faith of community and God for money; others for the dream of social advancement and other still where simply swept aside by the crazy lust of the state. The old order was severely injured and the old loyalties which held society together weakened and sometimes broke”.
Paul: “so how will the big society help, is it not too late?”

Symon: “societies are far more naturally stable and ran then clever people like to think and they are and where never a product of a centrally driven statist project; societies are by their very nature organic and spontaneous things; indeed there glory lies in their natural origins and the love people naturally feel for them and it is due to this love that they offer additional services”.

Paul: “Well that seems like a good basis to run – you know love”.
Symon: “yes; love, mercy, community loyalty and a spirit of collective need are all good things, trouble is there often severely lacking epically in poor areas and those who do use these services are subjected to community judgment. I am all for encouraging and simplifying community participation but unless you are willing to reinforce the social and religious order that under pinned the classical solicits of the past you get a mongrel half helpless neutered version; Unable to provide services to all without the heavy hand of the state mutilating community freedoms and without poorer areas receiving less services”.

Paul: “the why are they doing it?”

Symon: “well sometimes when we see no resolution to our issues we seek salvation in the past. The state has failed us, the market has failed us and though community might be slightly better than both it will fail us. Politicians have been brought up with a collective delusion; that there is a perfect system but there is not. People are incompetent and are systems fail because of it. The state it power mad, the market is prone to destructive fads and the community relies on discrimination .

Paul: “So what can we do”.

Symon: “We can continue in pragmatic faith; try small corrections and live and work on a small scale. We can work hard in are communities to make them the best we can, bring people to God and the hope and order a faithful life brings about and we can renounce the ideals of utopia and ideology”.