This is a slightly
revised version of a post from the end of 2010.
How much progress has been made?
In the 1950’s when
motoring became possible for all buying new cars in the face of o the contemporary
credit restrictions was very difficult.
Consequently many bought cars that were old. Often an ancient heap was the only choice a
student of the period might be able to afford.
Mine, a 1934 Austin 7, had a worn
clutch, shiny tyre treads, brakes that might or might not work, unreliable
steering and gears that were not synchromesh.
This meant as well as all the other operations you had to “double
declutch” on every gear change.
The lights also were
prone to fail so I kept a couple of cycle lamps and wire to fix them to the
front whenever needed. The MOT tests
introduced in the 1960’s brought this age of the freedom of the road to an end
with a clamour of complaint.
There were a number of
similar vehicles in the area, some better, some worse but in our innocence we
called them “accidents waiting to happen”.
For many we did not have to wait long.
I sold mine when reliable transport was needed and I “invested” in a
Vespa 125 Scooter. It was much more
restricted but at least functional.
Looking around our
public services, systems of government, legislation and all the procedures and
guidelines, I see again a great many accidents waiting to happen and it seems
that most of them are happening at once.
Whatever you may think
about The Coalition or the policies or personalities of those at the head and
their performance it is difficult not to believe that they are on a loser. Given the nature of the political class we
are afflicted with it is possible that their personal interests and ambitions
will ensure that we are all the losers
There are too many major
problems and unpleasant consequences in train for them, or anyone, to cope with. In many areas of government the mess is so
bad that possibly it can never be fixed short of revolution or total disaster.
It has been coming a
long while largely because key decisions that should have been made in the last
fifty years never were. There are too
many to list here, make your own, but if on the back of an envelope make it an
A3 one. The reality has been that when a hullaballoo starts over financing or
expansion governments have thrown money in the direction of the loudest noises.
I have argued before
that it is possible to have situations where “There is no right decision” only
a choice between inconvenient or unpleasant alternatives. It would be possible to go into a long and
intricate debate about the history of the present crisis.and how one generation
has benefited at the cost of another.
It will not be any use
and in fact would simply obscure what the problems of the immediate present are
never mind those of the several possible futures that we might or perhaps not
enjoy. The latter seems the more likely.
During the financial
troubles at the turn of the 1830’s in 1831 Benjamin Fitt of the Priory Farm,
Selborne, Hampshire (see Gilbert White “The Natural History of Selborne) issued
summons against the President and Fellows of Magdalen College of Oxford to have
them gaoled at Winchester over issues concerning leases and rents.
This was a period of
serious disturbances and in some places a breakdown of law and order for a
time. The year before Fitt's family connections and their friends had burned
down their local workhouse. Some were
hanged but the larger number, including a Warne, were transported to
Australia.
So will Captain Swing
ride again?
Three years now into
the Coalition it is not getting any better.
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