I am going to a model railway show today. It's a niche interest. I've had it since I was a teenager. Few think it cool, even if Rod Stewart and Jools Holland have done their bit to put the record straight in recent years. But frankly, I don't much care. There are days when the best way to stop thinking about political economy is to try to work out how to design and make the part I need to make a model work as I want. When I'm struggling with that I forget everything else.
That is partly why I go to shows. At this one I will know enough people to be sure I will be having some good conversation with people who share my eccentricity. No doubt I will come away with new ideas.
Equally certain is the fact that I won't be able to make all of them work. I am not a terribly good modeller despite many years of practice. That is one of the other appeals of the hobby. It does not matter if I get things right or wrong. Doing it as best I can is good enough. No one (excepting my younger son, who is vastly more talented at model building than me) is judging.
So why mention this? Because there is a political economy dimension to all this. The show is evidence of the massive under-utilised talent in our economy. It is run by volunteers, whilst many of the most interesting products for sale will be created and made by decidedly part-time hobby business people, who sell their wares because they have found ways to solve problems other people might enjoy.
My point is that much of what is best about this show will happen because people are using abilities that, I suspect, are largely unrecognised in their working lives. They are doing something for little or no reward because it is simply worth doing. And what is more, they do it incredibly well.
The whole show does in that case pretty much shatter the myth of neoliberalism, which presumes that if something is not done for money then it is not worth doing at all.
All over the country, day in and day out, the evidence that this is not true stares us in the face. The economy, our lives, and our wellbeing often depend on that being true. But a tiny minority for whom only money matters have come to dominate economic thinking.
I have often reflected on why that has happened. Partly it is because economists do not reflect society. Tim Harford had an article on this in the FT this week. Economists are too wealthy and too male to be representative.
Partly it is because economists are taught to think like this and realise that their success is dependent upon doing so.
And maybe economists don't go out enough. They don't do what Danny Blanchflower champions, which is the economics of walking around.
That's what I will be doing today. In between working out what bits I need for the next model (or two) I plan to make.
I say two deliberately. There is a joke between modellers about how many projects you need on the go at a time. The answer is always one more than you have got, because you're probably stuck waiting for inspiration on most of them. Isn't that also a bit like the rest of life?
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Couldn’t agree more with your post.
Any interest in railways had to be repressed anyway as Thatcher came along with her ‘great car economy’ and look where that’s got us now.
My rail enthusiasm has taken in modelling every now and then but my interests biggest gift was the social levelling it did for me as a boy – I was introduced to doctors, architects, economist, civil servants, directors from all over the country – the sort of people a working class boy would not normally hang out with.
And another thing – looking at BR network maps, rover tickets, going to places and bunking sheds in remote areas taught me more about geography than any school.
It also taught me what was happening to our country in the late 1970’s/early 1980’s and opened my eyes to its huge variance in the quality of environment and life.
I remember going through Brixton by mistake after the riots to get to a southern region motive power depot called Stewarts Lane – it was like being in a war zone.
The other thing about railways in Britain was about how political they had become – a real eye opener.
Ditto to a brat deal of that
Excellent show too
nothing wrong in having a hobby Richard, enjoy.
Look also at the open source world. People like me, just enjoy programming, getting a computer to do something cool, and then sharing the code with anyone.
Linux started out as this, and is now one of the most used server operating systems worldwide, and essentially free as in speech and beer.
You could make similar observations about the multitude of small groups of musicians, both amateur and professional, who get together regularly, and sing, play the whole gamut of musical instruments giving much joy and pleasure to the participants, and sometimes, but not always, even to audiences.
There will be no register of how many groups like this exist, but there are at least a dozen in my home town. They are a lifeline to many, and depend on unpaid organisers. The BBC’s plan to scrap the BBC Singers was overturned by thousands of signatures from people who recognised the value of their excellent and professional musicianship, to which, as amateurs, we all aspire.
Enjoy your eccentricity RIchard. Life is much poorer without it.
I wholly agree re music
And many other arts
An excellent point about all the unused, wasted talent in today’s Britain.
The much underrated Harold Wilson held as a core belief that the road to a successful society was to have everybody working at something close to their full potential.
Hence his great legacy, the Open University, now too hard to access for many
Paul,
Harold Wilson’s time is coming (has already come?) round.
I remember the ineffably appalling Brian Walden (for me, the definition of sllime!), boasting of his membership of the WMG = “Wilson Must Go”, and the jibes such as “If there are two things I hate about Harold Wilson, it’s his face”!
But I choose to mention two things about Wilson. The first is something I’ve long known about him, namely that he declared: “The Labour Party is a moral crusade, or it is nothing!”, a statement which could, IMO, neither be applied to Starmer’s (Faux-)Labour Party, nor one SKS himself appears either to acknowledge or recognise.
The second one I only learned earlier this year, via the wonderful Cliff Jones (the Socialist younger brother of the Lib-Dem Trevor Jones, nicknamed “,Jones the Vote,”, because he led the Lib-Dems to win, and so lead, Liverpool City Council – an achievement that would now be the equivalent of walking on water!
The astounding point Cliff Jones made was that Harold Wilson was a civil servant during WW2, and was seconded to help Beveridge write his famous Report.
Most of the research, and much of the text, was Wilson’s, implying an acute awareness of both politics and society, that more than fitted him to be Prime Minister.
Indeed, I suspect very few of the post-WW2 PM’s could match Wilson on this score. Certainly not the buffoons we’ve had since 2010,
Prior to 2010, probably only Dr Gordon Brown, and Harold Macmillan (with his WW1 military experience, and WW2 Ministerial experience, and perhaps Attlee, on the same grounds, especially re the Simon Report), but more definitely the tragic Edward Heath, in whose favour in this discussion is the following.
He served with Willy Brandt on the Brandt Report Commission, and got so annoyed at the dithering about, that he took over, and so the Brandt Report was largely completed under Heath’s editorship, making it effectively the Heath Report.
I call him “the tragic Edward Heath”, because all that talent, and even vision, was hijacked by the narrowness of those Heath appointed to power, not least his disastrous appointment of Anthony Barber to replace Iain McLeod as Chancellor, on McLeod’s unexpected death, a few weeks into Heath’s Premiership.
McLeod was undoubtedly one of the cleverest and most abie politicians of the post-WW2 intake, and his death, IMO, holed Heath’s administration below the waterline
Thanks Andrew
Wilson had vision, and principles
They matter
Thank you, this offers some very interesting perspectives & information. Excellent. Heath goes up in my estimation.
& a propos model raliways – the ex’s brother is/was a master (German) jeweller – I was awestruk by his ability in the area of model railways implemented in a large basement under his house. The precision was interesting.
Mine is more approximation
But it works
I can build them well enough. I don’t do things out of boxes.
Were Starmer and his currently mis-named (Labour? They’re not at all interested in workers) Party prepared to adopt Wilson’s “Crusade” mantra (and mean it) I suspect they’d be unstoppable.
Woke up to unexpected inspiration from Ballina, Co Mayo, where President Joe Biden gave his final address of his visit to Ireland. Hope, courage, potential and genuine empathy. To have been one of the many young people in the crowd last night. Full speech linked includes an emotional ‘warm up’ from the city mayor and short, well judged, welcome from the Taoiseach. A reminder of a political and cultural tone lost in the UK over the last thirteen years.
https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1MYxNgqbwvLKw
Saw the speech
A great riposte to all those who say he has lost it
Clearly not true
Norwich? If so I will hope to bump into you.
I thought I was stewarding a bunch of fellow anoraks, so I am delighted to hear I am shattering the myth of neoliberalism at the same time.
Sorry – Peterborough
I had an eccentric ‘uncle’ with the same bent – really exciting for kids to go up to his attic . And another eccentric Welsh friend – now with the railway in the sky.
‘Walking around’ is indeed great economics.
Richard
The peerless modelling and filming of Mr Mouldy Raspberry will provide all the inspiration you seek…
https://youtu.be/Ju8EP8sG6Uk
All best wishes
Steve F
Very nice
I do narrow gauge
I have just come back from trip with the family on the Vale of Rheidol Railway
Admittedly not volunteer run but the overwhelming feeling I got from the staff was that they were enjoying themselves
Having got back to our caravan middle son was watching something on the Bristol Bravazon and I said that I had worked with one of its flight engineers. His comment was how do you meet these people and the answer is railways and heritage ships
Fun railway
I went up on the footplate in 2019
I prefer the Talyllyn, but all of them have their attractions.
In the 1980s my father told me of his counterparts in a company in the Netherlands who, during the winter, were all given money to go and do some sort of learning activity at night school. It could be anything at all – pottery, psychology, Portuguese, Pilates . But it was not optional.
It has always stuck in my mind as a very good investment by the company in the continued growth and development of their workforce.
Night school classes are much harder to find now
Richard,
Following a conversation yesterday I’d written the following.
People are squiggly shaped – all slightly different – with their own strengths and weaknesses – a bit like the pieces of a jigsaw.
But if you let them be themselves – find their place – how they best fit in with others – they can build a strong coherent picture.
However if you try to remove the squiggles – make them all fit into the same shaped holes – you end up with an incoherent jumble.
Maybe there is a message here about those who want power, whether in a commercial organisation or government. Those whose squiggles mean that they seek power usually want to make people fit into the same shaped holes so all they create is disfunction. The trouble with allowing power seekers to have power is that it is not a recipe for collective well-being nor high productivity.
If you want the best picture you need to recognise the potential of your squiggly people to create a coherent and productive whole if they are given the flexibility and devolved power to find their place in it. An argument for proportional representation among other things?
I like your argument
Enjoy the day Richard.
You can also read Tim Hartford’s articles for free on his website by the way. The one you mention above isn’t live yet on his website but there are plenty of other interesting ones to read in the meantime.
https://timharford.com/2022/11/how-to-tax-a-guide-for-governments/
Thanks
My father is still modelling railways to a high degree of skill in his mid 80’s. Keeps his mind and his fingers agile. Funnels his artistic abilities and all his self taught electronics and engineering. He was a policeman. Great hobby. He even had articles published back in the 70’s and 80’s as he’s a good writer too.
I agree
I have had friends in the hobby into their 90s
I probably brought down the average age yesterday
I don’t care
This really resonated with me Richard. The abilities you mention that are largely unrecognised in people’s working lives, come through in the interactions I have with people I encounter on a daily basis. I also talk quite a bit about “do a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life”. The word of work requires a complete rethink.
We need so much more of what we think ‘is not cool’. As an example, my husband was impacted by Thatcher’s decision to close down apprenticeship schemes in the 1980s. He was midway through his car mechanic apprenticeship, which terminated overnight, and he spent the remainder of his working life in manual jobs; forestry, gardening, conservation and retail. He’s nearing the end of his career as a cleaner in facilities services, with very few qualifications to show for it.
Now, in terms of interests, he taught me how to service my old 1980’s car, he introduced me to Air Shows (he loves planes), where I became a big fan of the red arrows, he has two nitro model cars that he built, he’s built a model boat and he taught himself to build computers in the 1990’s. We also enjoy model trains and trucks. All of this is motivated by fun and fulfilling activities.
I hope you had a lovely day with great conversations!
Thanks for sharing
Is that a tautology? the people who abolished slavery were not representative of the whole pop. but it did not stop them doing the Good. Economics is not a science but a belief system and unverifiable. Cf Keynes v. Supply siders
RM :”My point is that much of what is best about this show will happen because people are using abilities that, I suspect, are largely unrecognised in their working lives. They are doing something for little or no reward because it is simply worth doing. And what is more, they do it incredibly well.”
I wonder if this inclines you to UBI rather than the JG ?
Yes
As I will make clear this week, the logic of the JG is built in very dodgy foundations
A nice interest to balance the other serious business.
Narrow gauge; does that mean around the garden? Do you build the locomotives? Are they steam driven? Any photos?
My retired neighbour has a superb oo-gauge set up with multiple tracks and modelled environment, but he also shares ownership in a diesel loco and helps run a enthusiasts 4′ 8 1/2″ gauge railway. I have visited the former, but not yet the latter.
Best wishes
I do both 009 and SM32
Both indoors
And no live steam. I tried it. Not for me.
Model railways. train-spotting and bird watching..i agree everyone needs hobbies but these are pretty weird..
Weird?
I think you”ll fund they are incredibly common
As was playing music, which I have little time for these days
What do you have against doing normal things?
But for the record, I have never been a trainspotter