Big Society

In this era of austerity, where budget cuts are likely to mean the pentimation of most public services, the Big Society is a fantastic, parallel idea to build, well, a Big Society. Whatever that means. It’s not a building, it’s not even an organisation, but a society made of people: the same people that actually live in society at the moment, just Bigger. Perhaps the actual people will be bigger, but perhaps not, as people are quite often told that on average they are already too big, and really need to be smaller. So everyone will be smaller, but also Bigger at the same time. No-one really knows how this will happen, except people will volunteer for things, like running a stall at the annual school fete. In a way which most people already do in say, Witney, where Dave has his constituency. But not in Moss Side or North Shields, where people prefer to sell mysterious and expensive white powders rather than mom’s apple pie. And probably always will, however Big society becomes in Witney.

Teenagers will also be able to sign up for non-compulsory compulsory national service. This doesn’t involve joining the army and learning how to defend the Falklands, but it will significantly lower the average age of Oxfam employees. Which is fantastic and wonderful for Society. Society will be Bigger, as all teenagers will be doing something useful in their summer holidays. Except for the ones who don’t sign up for it.

But most of all it has to be said that ‘the Big Society isn’t just a cover for huge budget cuts.’

Of course it isn’t.