26 January
Dear Antony Higginbotham,
I hope this finds you well, especially in these challenging times. It seems we are on the brink of several crisis's simultaneously that threaten turmoil and chaos not seen since the first half of the 20th Century. As important and pressing as those are, there is something else I wish to write to you about. Something that has crept up on us for years, but has become all the more apparent in the last couple.
As the title says, the slowly growing issue is State Addiction. This is the notion that the State is the all encompassing solution to everyone and all things. Any issue we face in our day to day lives seems to being pinned to a wanting for the State to step in and make all well again. It is rather curious that this has come about when people in general think of the government as being slow, bumbling, and somewhat incompetent - that is no reflection on any governing party, it hasn't changed regardless of who was in power. But whenever there is a scandal, or a misjustice, people are quick to shout Regulation! The Government must...
I of course needn't tell you that the State is far from being the best solution to the countries issues, and certainly not the issues of individuals. But we have grown a strange dependency, and what's more, subsequent ruling governments have been complicit in cementing this trend. The regular tummy tickling to inject favour into the polls has meant we have forgotten about individual self reliance and turn to the State for everything. We have become addicted.
What I have described so far has been the case for many years, and it wasn't necessarily a hugely pressing problem - until now. The Pandemic meant we had State intervention not seen since the war. This was of course necessary in such a national emergency, and has meant that our economy emerging out of lockdowns has not melted down, and is in fact doing rather well considering. Although I must note, that there seems to be an element of overheating as inflation is rocketing, since the Covid loans and support seemed to inject artificial liquidity into the economy.
But over the last two years, people have become reliant on the State, having it micromanaged their lives just recently. What we are seeing now is people looking expectantly to the State. I fear they'll be disappointed.
We are loosing the purpose of the State and what it is suppose to do. I am afraid our government today is playing into this Statist phase to score easy points, but if we are not careful, it will go wrong, very wrong.
During the 1970's, Britain was highly Statist and we saw how that went - Britain, the sick man of Europe! Thatcher in the 80's administered the much needed medicine to ween the populous off the State, and we have thrived as a result. The turnaround in fortunes for the UK was miraculous, and continued well through the 90's and 2000's. The 2008 Financial Crisis drove the neo-liberal miracle into the ditch, and we have struggled to get it going again since.
Brexit was suppose to be the way the the nation to get off the congested bureaucratic B-road of the EU, and onto the economic motorway where we can be more nimble and have much more room to manoeuvre. We have however moved onto that motorway with the clapped out old Rolls-Royce of a Civil Service, that desperately needs a service, with all the baggage of an over inflated State.
It is time for a new model. We need to arch back somewhat to the small state Thatcherite Conservatism that once was, updated for our modern world - unhinged globalisation has caused its own set of problems. And to reverse the dependency the people have grown to have on the State. You can't tax your way to prosperity, that can only be done by the hard work of the people, and it's the state's job to facilitate that. So yes, let's go Victorian in building infrastructure, but also lets get the scissors out to cut away all that red tape and idiocy that has tangled British business and people for so long, and instil that old sense that charity starts at home. The government can open doors, but individuals still must walk through it by themselves.
Dale Joseph Ferrier
Dale Joseph Ferrier