Rather than having a “Minister for Loneliness“, how about not having one? How about the state just maintains basic order, fills in a few street potholes & then minds its own frigging business? The state is not your friend
– Perry de Havilland
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Samizdata quote of the dayJanuary 17th, 2018 |
 27 comments to Samizdata quote of the day |
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What is this minister meant to be doing? And how much of our money will she be spending whilst she does it?
Someone on Guido’s site came up with some daft idea about the government helping old people to live together so they’re not lonely. Now I am thinking about all the ways the government makes old people lonely, and how it might help by just getting out of the way. Things like:
– stamp duty punishes them for moving closer to their families
– transferring wealth to family is punished, so any attempts to e.g. all move into a bigger house, sell one house and all live off the proceeds, and so on, will be taxed in various ways (is it income or capital gains if my parents sell their house and give me the money?)
– one person working in a family is taxed more for the same income than multiple people working, so giving up work to look after an elderly relative is expensive
– any number of taxes that make employing other people to take care of relatives more expensive
…I am sure I must have missed a lot of other, similar things that mainly add friction to people freely improving their families’ lives.
“Minister of Loneliness” sound like a Minister charged with producing loneliness.
But, since ministers usually produce the opposite of their name (eg. minister of Labor), maybe it will work this time.
I have found….
It’s to my benifit to see to the local cemetary.
1. “Broken Windows”…(need I go on?)
2. The $200 expense for “experts” to repair a broken headstone, for “the town”, costs ME $40, and a half hour labor.
3. That I assume this “onus”, buys me (well, SOME) “political” clout “ear time” among my immediate neighbors, at Town Meetin’, weather they’re brainwashed, communist sympathizer dupe, rent-seeking parasite, feminist illegal alien invader xenophile, Dunning- Kreuger, Gell Mann, Bell Curve median, tax evader, spouse beating,Munchausen-by-proxy child poisoners,…. or if they agree with me!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV2ViNJFZC8
As I have remarked before, almost 20 years, when the touchy terminology was in its infancy, we were asked in a circular what we were doing to promote ‘social exclusion’. Alas, I was not permitted to answer that we were stocking up on yellow stars… The humour deficiency of the modern puritans was less obvious then than now.
Looks to me as if it is more about keeping Jo Cox’s name before the public than any concern for people. Murdered by every wicked leaver etc etc.
As if the useless scum of the state could solve loneliness–other by Jezza confiscating your home and billeting migrants on you soviet style.
In related news, the Minister for Ennui, the Minister for Regret, and the privately-run Center for Acute Sexual Dissatisfaction have announced a pooling of resources to establish a Joint Strike Force to bring social resources to bear on the problems of Young Women With Cats In Place of Human Relationships, a large but under-served social cohort.
There’s a ready made theme song for this government, No limit by 2 Unlimited, ‘No, no,.. no, no,.. no, no, no no,… no, no, no, no, there’s no limit.‘ and on it goes ‘No, no limits, we’ll reach for the sky, no valley too deep, no mountain too high.‘. The ebbing of the State, like the effluent from a burst sewer, seeping into every corner of life.
Whilst ‘our’ hospitals flounder as predictably as a Labour politician explaining where all the money comes from, the Conservative Party acts as if the State can solve any problem, spend any amount of money, answer to any call. There is simply no belief in this government, other than in government, Mussolini will be smiling as he dangles his bottom over a demon’s hot poker tonight, knowing that Mrs May has vindicated him.
That is about right Mr Ecks.
Perry wants a limited government – but we have an elite taught the ideas of Jeremy Bentham, that government must have a department to cover everything that can promote happiness (Bentham thought that should be 13 – but there are far more now). A doctrine that goes back to Sir Francis Bacon and before him, perhaps, to Thomas Cromwell (kinsman of the later Oliver Cromwell and one time Earl of Essex).
Even in the ancient world Plato taught that the state should control just about everything – to promote happiness, and Aristotle was lot closer to Plato than many Aristotelians would care to admit (on rereading the “Politics” a few years ago I was struck by the totalitarian assumptions in it that every aspect of life was the concern of the state – no wonder the Romans conquered the late Greeks).
Perhaps tyranny and insanity (such as a “Minister for Loneliness”) is the natural condition of humanity. But, like Perry, I hope NOT.
Perry you ever seen the paintings of the Old Whig “Kit Kat” (naught to do with sweets – they were mutton pies) Club? You would fit in well to that group – and that, at least from me, is high praise.
Craptastic. I am flashing back to a Dr. Who episode, before I stopped watching, where they had a “happiness patrol”.
And I can assure you that those potholes still won’t be repaired.
bobby b owes me a new keyboard.
I couldn’t help but read bobby b’s post in the style of the late, great, Ronnie Barker.
Something that I find infuriating are radio ads for something called ‘Change For Life’ which constantly hector me to change my life by sucking every last drop of joy out of it. Interestingly there is no way to leave comments on their website.
In reply to Rob Fisher: if you start down that road, we’ll end up debating the LVT, and we don’t want to go there! But i’ll ask a relevant question: if a granny wants to let her mansion and move in with other old people (not necessarily sharing kitchen+bathroom), how is she penalized by the current system?
It seems to me that the current system is designed to make it easier for seniors to stay in place, which is the same as saying that it penalizes people who decide to move.
Sure it is. It’s our benevolent Big Brother, right?
Ayn Rand liked the term laissez faire, meaning ‘leave (me) alone’.
Hmmm…I suggest something different. How does one say “Just leave me the fuck alone, already!” in French?
Finding all the lonely people and using the force of government to harrass them into being “social”.
“It’s for the best!”
Yeah. This line is just odd: “The Commission on Loneliness was first set up by Ms Cox, who was killed before the EU referendum.” IS that how we reckon time as a journalist? Before the EU referendum, and after the referendum?
The Eleanor Rigby Memorial Commission.
I seem to remember an inconsequential Minister being appointed Minister of Sport and Drought back in 1976 (what the two have in common I have no idea).
He did a blinding job though! One week after his appointment, it pissed down 🙂
For some reason, I am reminded of a scene from a Monty Python film:
CLANK-Bring out yer lonely! CLANK-Bring out yer lonely!
MAN CARRYING OLD WOMAN-Here’s one!
OLD WOMAN-I’m NOT lonely!
MAN-Yes you are .. here’s your ninepence
etc.
Snorri Godhi: “if a granny wants to let her mansion and move in with other old people (not necessarily sharing kitchen+bathroom), how is she penalized by the current system?”
I imagine you pay income tax on the rent. I did some digging yesterday and there are loads of article about things like “my mother wants to move in/give me her house/sell her house/etc” and there are various exemptions but the intricacy and detail of it all is exhausting. There is at least some cost to just understanding the rules.
Stonyground: “Something that I find infuriating are radio ads for something called ‘Change For Life’” — I caught some TV cop documentary last night and there was a woman whose teenage daughter was an alcoholic. Somehow we get from there to the NHS hectoring us over drinking two glasses of wine on a Friday night. There’s no sense of scale and moderation to these things. A separate blog post about this is needed, I think…
Also:
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy,
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport,
Education, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,
International Development,
Health and Social Care.
I’m sure there are others.
“something called ‘Change For Life’ which constantly hector me to change my life by sucking every last drop of joy out of it.”
Don’t get me started. Mind you, there is some joy to be had in throwing stuff at the TV. Or yelling “Oh, fuck off!” in the cinema. (Yes, I did. Got a small, but gratifying, ripple of applause, too.)
“… using the force of government to harrass them into being ‘social’.”
Like the Nazis. I make no apologies for invoking Godwin. As I often find myself saying about the Holyrood mob, if they don’t like being compared to Nazis, they should stop acting like Nazis.
“I couldn’t help but read bobby b’s post in the style of the late, great, Ronnie Barker.”
😀
That’s my big complaint about socialized medicine. When your health care is coming out of budget, you become a cost that must be minimized. It’s an incentive for all sorts of intrusions into your personal life (and your person) to make sure the state isn’t paying more than it thinks it ought to pay for your upkeep.
What happens if you are unhappy and lonely? Can you sue the Minister?
One of the problems with this change for life crap is that the world just doesn’t work the way that they would have us believe. I am the eldest of three brothers. My brothers smoke* and drink and do very little exercise. I, on the other hand, Do more exercise, don’t smoke and drink only in moderation. I am the one with type 2 diabetes and it now appears that I may have a heart condition.
*I think one of them might have given it up now, not sure.
Being able to bequeath property by will is a powerful deterrent to loneliness.