Five good posts - 3 comments

Five posts I've enjoyed and found useful over the past few days, in approximate order of posting (no money has changed hands)...

Andrew West on Wearing a Star Trek communicator badge at work:

[...] We can apply the same rules to religion as we would to hobbies. When working for somebody else there's a reasonable level of politeness, up to the point at which you put your own ideas ahead of the job you're being paid to do. It's only because crosses and veils fall under the banner of religion that this even makes the papers. As so often, religion gets elevated above the level of private hobby, and it's bad for everybody.

Don Paskini on Careerism:

[...] Since it is mostly a matter of accident and local culture about whether people end up on the 'left' or the 'right' of the Party, it is deeply counterproductive to make personalised attacks which assume the worst about people's motivations. Calling off the search for 'traitors' or 'careerists', and putting that time to persuading people to support our aims and our ideas for how to achieve those, is the key to getting a left wing Labour government.

Shuggy pips a handful of good posts on the Lancet report, among a sea of horrible, gloating ones:

[...] if the basis for criticising a political action is that has increased civilian deaths as a result of overthrowing a state, no matter how bad it might have been - there is absolutely no credible reason for supporting the 'resistance', since their very existence and actions are inimical to the establishment of a functioning state of any kind. Its character should be enough to make one recoil at the idea it somehow represents a progressive future for Iraq but beyond this, surely even the notion that it represents one thing, that it represents a coherent force capable of bringing order to Iraq, will be dismissed by everyone apart from children and adults in denial?

Do read the whole thing though.

Owen Barder on The impact of Foreign Direct Investment in developing countries:

[...] concludes that for FDI to have a beneficial impact, it is important to increase absorption capacity, by increasing human capital accumulation, increasing and improving transport infrastructure, improving market access for poor countries to increase trading opportunities, and facilitating trade between developing countries. [...]

Politics for People's Councillors are great, so are co-ops, highlights the potential conflict between democracy and accountability.

Now we in the Co-operative Party like councillors, we really do. We especially like the several hundred Labour Co-operative councillors who work hard to represent their communities and make difficult decisions on their behalf.

[...] But as models for our public services that trust people, respond to local need and are run for the long-term good of communities, co-operatives are often ideal.

I don't mean to underestimate the usefulness of local councillors, but devolution from "the centre" does not end there. We need to find a way through which individuals - who don't have 1100 votes behind them - and voluntary organisations are able to play a part in their communities, under their own steam. Very often, however, proposals to boost community organisations are condemned by Labour bloggers as undemocratic, usually complete with a reference to Tony Blair not "understanding" local government (by which is meant the existing structure of local government).

To me, this attitude risks replacing one form of centralism with another, stifling the ability of individuals to take ownership of their communities, albeit with a coherent vision and organisation provided by councillors.