As we, here in Britain, face unprecedented cuts in public sector spending, both on a national and local level with budgets being cut in health, education, defense, the arts and pretty much every department there has never been a more crucial time for people to develop a sense of community and the attitude that we must look after each other. We have seen of late an attempt by the coalition government to trigger this response by creating "The Big Society" but personally I am disinclined to engage with this project for a number of reasons. I feel that attemptng to drive people from the top into acting in a society focused manner is a non starter primarily because it smacks of passing the buck, particularly when the people at the top doing the directing are mistrusted by the populous in general. We have, for a while now, been in a position where our political leaders are seen as at best ill-advised and at worst corrupt, and this is not a strong enough position to encourage people to help out.
The only way to really engage people in community action is to lead by example. If you look at the community projects that have enjoyed a measure of success, such as on the estates of Tower Hamlets and deprived areas of Birmingham and Manchester we see time and time again that it is someone within the community in question, generally not someone who is initially seen as a "leader" but who carries that mantle well, but someone who is a driving force, leading from the front by consitent example, creating a buzz within the community with their energy and enthusiasm, often in the face of strong opposition and apathy.
These movements are almost invariably bottom up, grass-roots movements, formed out of a sense of desperation and a knowledge that things can be made better and driven by the strength of character of someone who has successfully struggled through life. By trying to turn this process on its head I feel that the government runs the risk of alienating and dis-enfranchising the very people that it needs to better support and work with. In the main, these people at grass roots level find their strength in independence and in a can-do attitude that is seriously limited by outside interference. Far better for our dear leader to understand this and to get out and about into the communities that are most in need of help, and not for photo opportunities but to actually engage and interact with those who are at the sharp end of the cuts that are coming. This will involve talking to people properly, and talking to real people rather than a selected handful of supporters picked by the local political party. Unscripted, unrehearsed, uncontrolled interaction with the voters.....question is, does Mr Cameron have the cojones to actually take this step, without entourage, without media and with little chance of praise or thanks. Or are we just going to get more of the same until we are forced to take action ourselves, thereby allowing him to take the credit for a system that has worked in spite of rather than because of his big society idea?
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