Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Guffwatch

I like Sophie Elmhirst’s attitude:

First, society is "broken". Then it's "big". Then, there "is such a thing as society, it's just not the same thing as the state". So is society big and broken? Shouldn't we mend it before we make it big? Or will it only be fixed once it's big? And if society is broken, but not the same as the state, does that mean the state isn't broken? So why don't we stick with the state? Why do you want us - society (are we society? I'm not sure any more) - to do everything if we're so bust and malfunctioning? Apparently under the Tories there are going to be "community organisers" to build the "big society". I hope they know how to fix giant abstract things whose meaning changes all the time.

Her splendid Election Guffwatch service also advises Gordon Brown not to mix his metaphors.

Personally, I was delighted to see the Tories finally give some detail in their manifesto launch. For weeks, I’ve been seeing this ‘vote for change’ slogan and wondering exactly what change they were proposing. Finally, we have the answer, and I think you’ll agree that it’s a radical and quite unexpected idea:


(Although, to be fair, it is impressive that the manifesto itself is going to make things better, without them actually having to get into government and do stuff.)

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