There are two grave economic fallacies doing the rounds at the moment. They have been in play for as long as monetarism has been a word, but are now gaining a firmer and more worrying foothold than ever before. The first is that “there is no money” and the second that “there is no work”. If the recent bailout of the banks proved anything is that there is always money when you need it; and any local council, charity organisation or volunteer group will tell you that there is always work that needs to be done, sometimes desperately so. The real fact of the matter is that there is loads of work, but no one willing to pay for it.

Enter the solution: the Big Society. It all sounds great, individuals taking on more responsibility for community work in their own areas: we all become more empowered, the necessary jobs get done quicker and for less money. But power without money is an unpredictable and dangerous beast. I have no doubt that there are enough compassionate and enthusiastic people out there willing to give up their time to make their local environment a healthier, better place to live in and with no reward to themselves, but if Big Society isn’t funded properly, these willing volunteers are left without the means to complete tasks efficiently. Who will pay for premises, for training, for materials, and for the due processes of safe recruitment to occur?

A cynical mind might see in the Big Society a new return to slave labour. In defence, you might argue that slavery is only slavery if it is coerced, but good people who are not prepared to sit around and see their neighbourhoods go into moral and structural decline are effectively being coerced into action just as much as any Egyptian pyramid builder with a whip on his back. Add to this the current plans to give unemployed people placements, work without pay, to prepare them for “the real world of work”, and we see a disturbing trend forming.

The right wing mantra has always been “bosses get the highest possible profits, workers the lowest possible pay” and some will detect the perfect consummation of this economic doctrine in the Big Society. If we can get ordinary people to do those nasty jobs without pay that no self-respecting entrepreneur would ever want to invest in, the net result is lower public service costs which conveniently leaves more money for tax cuts for those in high paid employment. There is always money and there is always work. The question is are we happy to see the real work of society being done for nothing by good people, while corporate bosses continue to fleece the treasury? This is exploitation good and proper.

By: Milton Johanides

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