And should we put the rubbish out before we go to bed?


I have had a long running obsession with wanting things (unspecified actions/ activities and produce) to be tidy. This would seem utterly ironic for someone that cannot get it together to clean the house or even empty my computer trash can but something very appropriate for someone working in public policy and seeing all the waste and lack of joinedupness" involved in the delivery (or not) of essential societal services.

I have thought that we could flow chart all topics and show the interconnectedness of life the universe and everything (now check Douglas Adams and Fritjof Capra in equal doses). I still think this is a worthwhile activity but now think it might be a nice exercise which solves some problems and creates some new ones.

Movie Break: This you tube film shows Mr Capra discussing how different systems interact and describes a sustainable system for the future):

So what am i driving at? You can't make the world into an ordered structure in which all things are planned and working as you would hope. It is cockup and not conspiracy and there is likely to be no way round this. At the moment. Life is way to complicated and to think one could work it all out and then at the end of the week provide your boss with a report that says "well on Monday if we do this and then do that then we are all going to be just dandy".

But then maybe not. Perhaps we are developing the skills/ maturity/ necessity/ technology/ knowledge/ interconnectedness by which we can develop a more wholisitc and integrated approach to life. The question then becomes more one of " what is it that we require in order to make it such that a connected or systems approach can be viable?" Perhaps the conditions include:

• Break down of civil society (look at the news for Greece today)
• Break down of our fundamental management systems (look at the news on our economic systems today)
• Break down of delivery of interrelated policies (look at the BBC news on how to manage the display of tobacco in consideration of its addictive drug nature)
• Break down of the environment (look at BBC news on EU climate deadlock

Far from all of this being depressing i would suggest that it is a catalyst and lovely bringing together of factors that enables us to make subtle and worthwhile improvement. I am refraining from saying "making things different" as i feel that the aim should be to improve the quality of our existence and not to change that existence. In a nit picky way i think that change will come naturally from choosing to make things better. Perhaps i will elucidate on this in a further post?

Music Break: A Mountain of One - Ride (live version)

You would not believe the amount of love we have for this band. Often described as sounding like Santana and Fleetwood Mac had they found a real stash of sweeties, i think this band usher in a new era. Not sure what era they usher in but hey... They have had a number of 12"s out and have a CD that came out last year. New stuff is promised in 2009. Early 2009. So they say.






Have fun :-)

What is this blog about?



I hope it to be a thought provoking and interesting place. I will add posts on a regular(ish) basis on everything from politics and philosophy through to philosophy and politics :-) All of this will be smattered with stories, video and music.

Have fun