the big society. or is it?

We're in Cambridge today and tomorrow, having lectures on Social Policy. I'll be honest, I've really struggled today and am worried about tomorrow. At the start, we were asked what we thought of the big society. I said I thought it was a good theory, but in practice, a cop-out on the side of the government.

I love the ideology, and think that as a Christian, it's a project I can really get behind. However, the paradoxes created in actuality seem to make it all unworkable. We ended up having a 'spirited debate' about how it might play out - tax incentives to rich people to put more money into charity and the society (like America), making sure there is proper, accessible support for those in need, and stamping down on freeloaders.

It brought me back to a conversation I had a few days ago about Stuart: A Life Backwards. And how the system doesn't always work, and how we actually fail many people in need.

 I know it's a hard read. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea. But every time I read the book, or watch the tv adaptation, it reminds me how important it is that we face the hard realities in our society. I'm so glad that I got to give the book away last year with World Book Night. Because if we don't acknowledge the difficult stuff, we're screwed. We might already be screwed (is this the end of the supremacy of Western Civilisation, like the Roman Empire before us?), but for now, we still have a fighting chance. Let's face up to it, buy into the ideology, and use it as an opportunity to get the Church back to where it should be - the centre of our community.

On another side, we wandered into town at lunchtime to check out the sales. On the way, we took this photo in homage to Stuart:

This is me and my PFBF outside King's College. Five of us are now sitting in her lounge eating supper and making our way through a big bottle of vodka. Best medicine for the depressing lecture we had today. And for everybody laughing at me when I walked into the lecture this morning. Apparently I looked like a movie star with sunglasses and a hair flick (I had no idea. I'm such an idiot). Then A tramped in after me, like skanky normality. Loves it!