What am I trying to do here ?

So … what am I going to try and write about ? Well, there are a number of different topic areas.

UK Politics

I’m probably not going to get into the minutiae of political wheeling and dealing. But I get annoyed when a politician makes an announcement that makes a wonderful soundbite but – when you check out the fine print – actually has no real substance.

And I’ll try and include areas where civil servants (and other officials) make rules to try to achieve one thing, but end up completely missing the point …

Science

I like science, I really do. It’s generally a good process for learning. And there are a lot of scientists who are nice people.

But I feel there’s a real reluctance for academics to express an opinion on any topic outside their specialist field (there are valuable exceptions). Particularly when it comes to assessing how specific developments could impact in our market-based society.

I also think that many things in our universe (and on our planet) are far more complex and inter-related than we can understand at the moment. But, of course, we don’t know what we don’t know …

Markets and People

We like to think that “the markets” will resolve any imbalances. But those markets function purely at a monetary level. Often to the detriment of people.

Companies are only valued by the markets if they grow. But if that growth involves using the earth’s resources to sell people things they don’t actually need, then isn’t this working against the interests of future generations ?

Similarly, governments will court large organisations, apparently not realising that those organisations have no loyalty, no morality, other than to their own balance sheets. If those organisations can move production to another country and pay less tax then they won’t hesitate, regardless of the social cost.

There is a value in markets, but I believe there needs to be a way of making them truly accountable.

I don’t claim exclusivity or originality on these thoughts. I’m not in any special “loops”. I’ll link to sources where I can. I’m not undertaking lots of research. You are, of course, free to accept or reject as much as you want.