At the Editorial Intelligence ‘ Thought for the Day’ session yesterday, David Willets MP and John Kampfner, CEO, Index on Censorship, provided plenty of food for thought about the relationship between citizens and the state.
Willetts’ new book, ‘The Pinch’, looks at the legacy of the baby boomers – who benefitted from generous pension schemes and economic prosperity, but have left a legacy that is no way near as generous to those generations coming up behind. Yet, research shows that people are more likely to modify their behaviour if they recognise themselves as guardians for future citizens.
Kampfner’s thoughts, which are also set out in a new book, ‘Freedom for sale’, describe how a rising middle class actually produces a type of voter apathy, where citizens are happy to not rock the boat, and in exchange for certain rights, will accept some intrusions by the state – such as the surveillance society.
In the run up to a general election, these are interesting thoughts indeed. Will a new administration redress the imbalances that the baby boomer generation arguably created? Will a rising middle class really let the government get away with more? Or will the shaking of the status quo brought about by the worst recession since the war reinvigorate citizens, and a new administration, to turn things around?
The Savvy Citizens campaign from BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, will be covering the topic of citizenship for six weeks from 1st March. Discussions on the topic will be channelled through the site http://savvycitizens@bcs.org and Twitter @SavvyCitizens, and can also be found on Facebook and LinkedIn. It will be interesting to see what the public will want to discuss concerning the relationship of the citizen and the state. Will the concerns of the authors come through?