New Year Resolutions
Here are my New Year’s resolutions. 1-9 are within my control, more or less. 10 depends on some other people.
By the end of 2011 I intend/hope to have:
1) Resolved some outstanding intellectual incoherencies around a) the current limits vs. the desirability of social democracy; b) leftwing small statism in the context of the necessary shorter term defence of the welfare state; c) libertarianism vs. using social and economic power to take liberties; d) how the best bits of Modern Monetary theory might be adapted to the socialist cause.
2) Published two books – one about politics and one about cricket;
3) Read the whole Habermas’ Theory of Communicative Action;
4) Set up a social enterprise which picks the bones out of the dismantling of the NHS;
5) Had measurable influence in the third sector world over the roll-out of Social Impact Bonds in the context of the Coalition’s commissioning plans, if they proceed as planned;
6) Become a street pastor;
7) Got back to my fighting weight, done some regular cricket umpiring and and started flute lessons;
8) Written a paper on internal Labour party democracy reform which actually gets read;
9) Completed my tax returns without having to stay up all night to meet the deadline;
10) Been a small part of a big movement which brings down the government.
10 sounds quite interesting, I’ll have to join you for that one. Also, with given my current work interests so does number 4 and 5 – hope they’re all completed and happy new year
I reckon a fair chunk of one is a lost cause – but on number two, I’m with you.
For the rest, my New Year’s Resolution is to learn how to be less witheringly dismissive.
No.3 seems a bit ambitious to me.
1b, very important.
Number 8 renders quite curiously on my browser as a bizarrely yellow-sunglassed smiley face. Given the resolution in question, I’m not sure if this is a good or bad omen. I’d really love to read your suggestions and would hope that they would get the attention I’m sure they’d deserve. Just can’t convince myself they would. All the signs seem to point to a reconstruction of the top-down approach that – in part – led to this pendulum swing of political re-engineering which is the Coalition government. The focus on PMQ behaviours and parliamentary point-scoring really rather depresses me I’m afraid. Can’t see an organised and constructive way forward for British politics that doesn’t involve a degenerating extra-parliamentary activity. And this seems to be a procedural cul-de-sac we’ve allowed ourselves to be driven in to that we’re going to find it very difficult to back out of.