As far as I know I have never met Dr Simon Duffy, the Director of The Centre for Welfare Reform. I have a feeling I would enjoy doing so.
What I can say is that he has written an amazing blog under the above title, which I came across via a tweet (and I can't find who by now: sorry) yesterday. I strongly recommend reading it as a whole.
It is also full of some really good one liners, such as:
The ideal of citizenship lies submerged in our basic obligation to take care of the stranger even when they do not seem a citizen
and
A community that defines itself by its existing members and which jealously guards its boundaries will become sterile and incapable of valuing even its own members
or
Imagine a person free of all duties and you imagine someone who is utterly disconnected. The structure of our duties describes the framework within which the good life is lived.
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Let’s see…there’s your good self, Howard Reed, Ivan Horrocks, Jolyon Maugham, and now this chap Simon Duffy..at this rate you’ll all be starting a new movement or even a political party that thousands upon thousands of professional people, with a lot of relevant experience of the real world (and much more intelligent than the average politico), would join in an instant!!!
Right now I’m not managing more than 3 hours awake at a time
So give me a bit of time as yet
Just read it, Richard. Yet again, another hat tip for pointing it out (and to whoever alerted you to it). I certainly hope at least Ed and some others in the Labour Party read it – and better still, use it. It might compensate for some of the guff they hear from their secondees from our friends PWC and the like.
On a different point, the op must certainly have taken it out of you, but I note you’re blogging (and tweeting – I only know that from your sidebar) a fair bit again, so take it easy.
PhilJoMar, I’m privileged to see my name allied with the likes of Howard, Jolyon and Simon (and Richard, of course). But many thanks anyway. That’s made my day 🙂
Great stuff – the only suggestion I’d make to Simon is that it would be better if the Centre for Welfare Reform were called the Centre for Social Security Reform as ‘welfare’ is Tory terminology and reinforces right-wing stereotypes. But an excellent blogpost regardless of this minor point.
@Howard: Spot on; the echo chamber of Tory lingua “Welfare” is recited flawlessly and monotonously by Cameron and Co. The Office of Budget Responsibility in its new “Welfare Trends Reports” embraces a great deal under the expression ‘Welfare’, including Education (really). http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/wordpress/docs/Welfare_trends_report_2014_dn2B.pdf
Richard, thanks for this – a real find.
Reading the Blog entry you directed us to, I couldn’t help feeling that the conclusion based on Simone Weil’s observation that:
“Rights only exist because duties exist. As Simone Weil puts it:The notion of obligation comes before that of rights, which is subordinate and relative to the former. A right is not effectual by itself, but only in relation to the obligation to which it corresponds”
is the philosophical equivalent – announced in Governor Carney’s recent epiphany – that loans create deposits = something deeply counter-intuitive, but clearly correct.
Quantum Mechanics, which is composed almost exclusively of counter-intuitive propositions that have largely been scientifically validated, must be seeping back into philosophy and economics – thank goodness.
Andrew
Those are much like my sentiments on reading that
Really powerful stuff
Richard
Of course-Tony Blais banged on about rights/responsibilities- it turned out to be tosh and cant in his case and (quelle surprise) only applicable to those without power!
Andrew. Having spent a little more time on Simon Duffy’s web site I noticed that he’s quiet a fan of Simone Weil (who I have to admit I don’t think I’d heard of before). Take this, for example:
‘Our project is named The Need for Roots in honour of one of the greatest, but also most marginalised, thinkers of the 20th century, Simone Weil. Her book, The Need for Roots, was also subtitled Prelude to a Declaration of Duties Towards Mankind. Here, as a guide to the economic and political regeneration of France after the Second World War, she explores the moral and practical foundations for a society that was capable of respecting all its members.’
Something (someone) else to add to my ever growing reading list!
A read some of her work some time ago
But like you say, this now requires more attention
Ivan, thanks for this. Simone Weil is deeply impressive, especially given the circumstances of her death in 1943, aged only 34, of tuberculosis, allegedly caused by, but certainly exacerbated by, malnutrition as a result of her refusal to eat any more food than she believed soldiers and POW’s were receiving. She’s that extraordinary phenomenon, a Jewish Catholic Socialist. One book I can recommend, having read it several times, is “Towards a Liberal Catholicism – Psychology and Four Women”, by Peter C. Morea of Middlesex University (SCM Press, 2000, London – ISBN 0-334-02802-7).The 4 women are Catherine of Siena, Julian of Norwich, Therese of Lisieux and Simone Weil. Well worth the read.
Another for my reading list…..
Boris Johnson has a citizen’s dilemma – he refuses to pay US tax bill. Mr Johnson born in New York holds a US passport as well as a British one.
“All US citizens, including those with dual citizenship, are legally obliged to file a tax return and liable to pay US taxes, wherever they are living, even if the income is earned abroad.” http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/nov/20/boris-johnson-us-tax-bill
This hit me especially hard:
A community exists on an island – all the members of this community are citizens. They acknowledge their equal status as citizens and take seriously their duties as citizens and have regard for each other’s rights. One day a man is washed ashore on the island. He is clearly a foreigner, he has lost his home and all his possessions. He cannot even speak the native tongue. Is this man a citizen?
Did Dr Duffy visit Jersey recently?
Much to agree with here but could I also put a word in for Prof Paul Spicker of Aberdeen University and a bit o a welfare guru himself (although he is far more modest than I portray him). His 2000 book ‘The Welfare State: a general theory is full of sensible ideas that I believe are commensurate with the excellent blog you refer to above. I’d heartily recommend it.
Much to agree with here but could I also put a word in for Prof Paul Spicker of Aberdeen University and a bit o a welfare guru himself (although he is far more modest than I portray him). His 2000 book ‘The Welfare State: a general theory’ is full of sensible ideas that I believe are commensurate with the excellent blog you refer to above. I’d heartily recommend it.