Wycombe's local paper is running a story on the possibility of the LibDems disappearing so, with reference to the structure of political ideas, I have explained on my blog why the practical questions are more important. Tim has explained that the origins of the Big Society lie with Burke (quite right too!) and that the theme runs through Churchill to today.
I am left wondering, "Do ideas matter?"
The Labour Party apparently thinks so: I have lost count of the number of times they have denounced the Government as "ideological". We have even been called "pre-Keynesian neo-liberal ideologues" in the course of a speech.
Famously, Mrs Thatcher banged on the table a copy of Hayek's Constitution of Liberty with the words "This is what we believe!" It's rather ironic that Hayek's postscript to that book was titled, "Why I Am Not a Conservative".
I have been an aerospace and software engineer and engineers are quintessentially pragmatic. However, in aerospace engineering, action uninformed by good ideas is positively dangerous. Software itself comprises ideas in action; trying to write good software without highly developed ideas is futile. In either field, I would not tolerate engineers who acted without thinking first. Indeed, I once had to fire someone for just that: he was a liability in his own right, a burden on his colleagues, and he would not respond to coaching.
It seems to me that ideas matter, if one wants to succeed, and it seems I am not alone. From the Foreword to our manifesto:
What is that change? Some promise solutions from on high – but real change comes from collective endeavour. So we offer a new approach: a change not just from one set of politicians to another; from one set of policies to another. It is a change from one political philosophy to another. From the idea that the role of the state is to direct society and micro-manage public services, to the idea that the role of the state is to strengthen society and make public services serve the people who use them. In a simple phrase, the change we offer is from Big Government to Big Society.
When I reflect on these dark years of New Labour, I see as complete an implementation of the ideas of Gramsci, Foucault and Althusser as one of sound mind could dread. "Pre-Keynesian neo-liberal ideologues"? It's a bit rich, coming from hypocritical neo-Marxist demagogues.
The idea of the Big Society has a rich, pragmatic heritage. For me, it is about altruistic individuals in positive relationships. Some of those relationships will be charitable, some personal and some commercial. All are social, because society is the cooperative action of individuals, not the coercive power of the State.
It's certainly time for change and that change is a shift to pragmatic ideas based on the dynamic, spontaneous reality of human life. That is the change this Coalition offers.
What we need is good ideas in action.
