Political Slogans

Without slogans some politicians would be speechless. The catchphrase presently doing the rounds in the UK and America is ‘small government’. Like all such rallying cries its precise meaning is unclear, so allowing a range of interpretations. When I suggested to one of its users that the mess Britain is in resulted from ‘small government’ in financial services and other fields, he replied ‘I take it that you mean regulation.’

Well, yes, I regard regulation as an important function of government. It is surely the government’s job to legislate, either to regulate activity, or to enable it. Certainly, one can imagine regulation operating in some areas without government involvement, but there are many activities that need to be regulated by disinterested parties, and that often means by government. Absence of the government from these activities leaves a vacuum that is invariably filled by those with a vested interest in what is and is not regulated. We find government regulation replaced by direction from self-serving cartels, or industry associations working to diminish competition. I recall that price rings were common in the fifties, Continue reading “Political Slogans”

Themed photo competition – the first week of 2011

Just a thought. I have been browsing and have seen that the BBC website is doing a themed photo competition and as we have several photographers on this site I thought maybe a theme per week might inspire over here too?

Only one picture per contributor per week posted as a comment in this thread, using the instructions which Bearsy has added on the Main Page Menu Bar.

The theme: Sunlight and Clouds. Closing date Sunday 9th @ midnight.

Val, maybe you could be the first judge? Pretty please.