Thanks for taking part,

Pascoe

The other aspect of all this that puzzles me the most: conservative theory of community paints a picture of an organic process. You could no more centrally direct a resurgence in this ‘BS’ that you could magic a fully developed English forest ecosystem into existence. Putnam’s work seems to support this: Italy’s levels of social capital seem to have been determined many centuries before. All the main determinants of the benefits of social capital have something to do with network processes over time – most importantly, how long you stay in one spot and put down roots, and how far you commute.

To really flog the metaphor: you could potentially plant new saplings, but if the soil and conditions [available capital/jobs/economy] are rubbish, it obviously won’t achieve anything but many dead trees.

At least there’s a discussion to be had – more than can be said for Thatcher. That said, looking at the actual actions of this government, I can’t help but think it’s all an utter distraction from them turning out to be, shock, good ol’ fashioned Nasty Tories. I particularly like their tenuous relationship with basic logic on things like tuition fees: putting them up will put off poorer students, you say? Nonsense! The basic laws of supply and demand don’t apply any more, we’ve outlawed them!

Aaaaah waffle waffle…