An insight into bloggers and their bitter little battles

My sister is reading Immortality by Milan Kundera and Peter Kussi and came across this passage:

Don’t tell me that two men who deeply disagree with each other can still like each other; that’s a fairy tale. Perhaps they would like each other if they kept their opinions to themselves or if they only discussed them in a joking way and thus played down their significance…But once a quarrel breaks out, it’s too late. Not because they believe so firmly in the opinions they defend, but because they can’t stand not to be right. Look at those two. After all, their dispute won’t change anything, it will lead to no decision, it will not influence the course of events in the slightest, it is quite sterile and unnecessary, confined to the cafeteria and its stale air, soon gone when the cleaning lady opens the windows. And yet, observe the rapt attention of the small audience round the table! Everyone is quiet, listening intently, they even forget to sip their coffee. The two rivals now care only about one thing: which of them will be recognized by the opinion of this small audience as the possessor of the truth, for to be proved wrong means for each of them the same thing as losing his honour. Or losing a piece of his own self. The opinion they advocate is itself not all that important to them. But because once they have made this opinion an attribute of their self, attacking it is like stabbing a part of their body.

It strikes me that it casts a piercing light onto the bitterness with which many bloggers and those who leave comments on websites fight their corners. Very quickly so-called debates descend into slanging matches as one or both parties become more interested in “winning” or slapping the other down harder then they (think they) have been slapped.

In the process the valuable exchange of ideas and the thought that we all might benefit from a healthy debate is lost.

My Best Bits for self-indulgent narcissism

The bloggosphere’s favourite Dr. Who fan, Alex Wilcox, has come up with an interesting idea, which is that each of us “read back through the last year on your own blog and pick out your favourite pieces you’ve written” so that these can then be considered by the judges of the Best Blog Posting category of the Lib Dem Blog Awards.

Of course, I doubt that any of my posts have a chance of winning. Even if there was a prize for the longest posting, Alex would have it sown up (this and every year). But it does allow one to take a trip down intellectual-memory lane, and indulge in a degree of narcissism indulgent by even blogging standards.

It also surprises one (well, me anyway) how long ago the last Autumn Conference was. To think that ten months ago there was a leadership contest in full flood.

A good place to start, perhaps? It certainly highlights one problem, which is that rather than a sole posting I have a series of themes. I wrote six articles on the leadership contest, of which my favourite highlighted the depressing lack of a real debate in the contest.

I also wrote two contiguous articles on how choice in education is a vital tool in providing a decent education for young people, part of a long-running theme that dates from before September 2007.

And then there were three one-off articles about significant current issues, namely our party’s illiberal and knee-jerk opposition to GM crops, a better and more liberal approach to road transport that may have especial relevance with our new transport policy paper up for discussion, and a critique of politicians self-serving approach to state funding of political parties.

I expect nothing less than ten prizes, each of which will be paid in cash to the Swiss bank account of my choice.

Or failing that, a free glass of wine while I watch Alix pick up a prize.

The hopefully-welcome return of Liberal Polemic

To (belatedly) celebrate the new version of Lib Dem Blogs, and also because I've actually got something to write about, I've decided to take Liberal Polemic out of it's Summer hibernation and post something. Consequently, I've re-opened it to access. It's just a shame that there isn't a new version of Blogger too!

For those of you (singular) who were missing the wit and wisdom (or, more accurately, the long economic monologues) therein, I must caution you that I cannot promise the daily updating that was previously my routine.

But I'll try to add something whenever I can.

In the meantime, enjoy. Or failing that, pretend.

Over-regulating the smallest of businesses

As most fellow bloggers will agree, blogging does not pay the rent. Man cannot live off Ad Sense alone (a few of the blog-illuminati aside), and like most of us I have a day job. I try to keep it away from this site, however, lest my bosses take umbrage.

However, as a policy analyst in a business that is receiving increasing attention from the Government, I do come across some excellent examples of how government undermines small business.

Take today’s story. Childminders – as you may know – are self-employed individuals that care in their own homes for other people’s children. They are regulated by Ofsted and are usually allowed to care for up to six children under 8 at any time. They are the ultimate small business: one estimate found that barely half turn a profit. The Government is keen to promote childcare in general, both because it enables (particularly lone-) parents to return to work and because good quality childcare can help boost the cognitive and behavioural performance of children from poor backgrounds.

Yet childminders are constantly being strangled by petty regulations. A childminder contacted my employer today to complain that her local council had decided to start charging her to remove her household rubbish because she was conducting a business out of her premises. They were only aware of her existence because she contacted them to ask for a larger wheelie-bin. Many large domestic households do this, but this particular council likes to check why a larger bin is needed. When they discovered that she cares for a handful of other people’s children for profit in her household, they deemed her a business and are threatening to charge her accordingly.

This is an execrable example of over-regulation. Though she does conduct business in her house, it is still a domestic premises. It has not been re-designated for planning purposes; she is not VAT registered; and the waste she is producing is no greater (or qualitatively different) from what would be produced if she had a large family. Yet short-sighted bureaucrats are prepared to hit her with unnecessary and costly extra fees because their rigid rules pay no attention either to the specifics of her case or to the broader objectives of national or even local government.

This is not an isolated example. Other childminders have been told they have to meet the same kitchen standards as commercial premises, even though they are only preparing meals for a handful of children, much as my mother did for twenty years without Government interference. One can imagine the above council also requiring those of us selling items on eBay to pay commercial rates for refuse collection too – all those jiffy bags clearly put us in the same category as Primark and the cement works!

Small business in Britain is being increasingly squeezed by well-meaning but ill-conceived regulation. This focus on the little things is damaging important, over-arching objectives: competitiveness; child welfare; liberty. It stems from the unwillingness of those in authority to trust individuals to do what is in their best interests, which is generally what is in everyone’s best interests – a bad business would be a bankrupt business very quickly. Instead of letting individuals make these judgements, Government seeks to judge for them, but because they cannot be everywhere at once they must do so with blanket edicts that undermine the greatest asset in our society: the enormous amount of information that is distributed among individuals.

This is hard to change; Governments of all stripes struggle against the temptation to meddle in our affairs. Se be glad you’re not making a profit out of your blog. If you were, the bureaucrats would be after you!