This one’s been stewing for a while.  I consider myself solidly left-wing and when the tories are ahead in the polls I can normally be relied on to jump back into line and vote Labour. 

Last election-time, I voted for the lib-dems. I was cross about the lack of competence over much of the Iraq conflict and while I was prepared to believe that the whole WMD decision was made on good faith, it was still an almighty cock-up. And the conservative party had no chance of winning – so classic protest vote I guess.

But David Cameron’s ahead in the polls and the economy’s gone south – and I’m feeling solidly back in line.  I actually have no problem with Gordon Brown – and I’m suspicious of evangelism and popularity-cult politics. 

So my vote’s in the bag? Nope. The government messed up.

On the day that Tom Watson was publicising the Digital Britain paper, with much better promotion of Open Source and effectively, open practices – all great stuff and much to be positive about – Jack Straw announced that the government had refused to release the minutes of the cabinet Iraq debates. Compounding the errors of the past – utter contempt for open and accountable government – an absolute disgrace and utterly depressing.  People mess up, it happens – but they should admit mistakes, be open, be accountable. If the government won’t do it, bankers won’t do it… 

So shop steward days firmly over – where to go? Looks like the lib-dems again – but they’d make it easier for me if they somehow got Vince Cable to step up as leader.

A few bits and pieces caught my attention this weekend.

The first was a brief report: ‘The World’s Happiest Countries‘, an article in Business Week based on research from the University of Leicester.  Bahamas do well, and the idea of being in the Bahamas at the moment certainly make me happy. The UK came in ~40, which given the weather doesn’t seem too bad – which is in itself no doubt a typically British response and perhaps accounts for no top 20.  Congratulations to Denmark, who came top.

Happiness is a curious thing – the tiniest things make Sam (3yo) happy and big gestures/presents/ can often fall flat, which is a great lesson to learn at any time. Someone’s attention/companionship (whether reading a story or play),  the ability to be silly and a little freedom all seem to help.  Oh and Ben 10.

So, I took the trouble to find the research (or at least what I hope is the research)  on the Leicester University site and read:

Political interest in happiness has not diminished in modern times.  A recent survey (Easton, 2006) found that 81% of the UK population agreed that the Government’s primary objective should be the creation of happiness not wealth.  Earlier this year David Cameron, HM Leader of the Opposition, put happiness firmly on the political agenda by arguing that “It’s time we admitted that there’s more to life than money, and it’s time we focused not just on GDP, but on GWB – general well-being” (BBC, 2006).

Happiness and wealth mentioned in the same sentence. Having looked at the top 12 happy states, time to look at a list of the highest GDP per capita. Are the names on the lists  the same?

Not identical, but some of the names near the top look familiar. 9 of the top 12 happy states are in the top 20 of this particular wealth list. But plenty of wealthy countries are missing from the happy top 12 – the US, UK and Japan. None are at the bottom of the list, but why not as high as the Scandinavian countries?  Taxing fairly so that everyone has a chance and that all have a good standard of living maybe the answer. I know that some people may take the piss with the welfare system in any country, but I’d rather take that hit and keep believing in the idea of a better whole and that generally people, in my country, are generally good, honest and hard-working and deserve to catch a break when things get tough. Taxes, or at least PAYE taxes, are too low (other taxes are too vague and simply not clear or fair enough – one for a later post). Consider this:

Achieving the right balance is probably what most sets the country apart, suggests VisitDenmark’s Kiilerich. Happiness in most Nordic societies, all of which ranked high on both studies’ lists of happiest countries, hinges on an ineffable combination of economic strength and social programs. Denmark’s approach relies on high taxes and aggressive redistribution of wealth—anathema to many free-market Americans—which results in a broad range of social services like health care, retirement pensions, and quality public schools. Yet remarkably, the country has managed to make this model work without crushing economic growth or incentives to succeed. “Denmark has a head and a heart,” Kiilerich says.
from http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/aug2008/gb20080820_005351.htm

and then this guy from on CNBC:

 
Bail out the system/experts that messed up but not the people that took their advice? I should add that this guy was right royally kippered by Jon Stewart – see http://tumblr.hmobius.com/post/84649719/jon-stewart-destroys-cnbc (thanks to @hmobius on twitter for the clip) and that there are gobshites in every country.

And it’s all highly subjective and maybe the questions were wrong. And perhaps it’s just how beautiful the countries are, with some good weather and a provision that you need leisure and peace to be able to enjoy it. But given the rich list then let’s hear it for Bhutan – that must be some country.

And I did say I was a wishy-washy liberal

(Looks like the other bits and pieces from the weekend will have to wait for another post).