We no longer need to elect the people who will make laws for us. The latest, greatest idea from Gordon Brown is to have Citizens' Juries to make policy. 'Dave' Cameron has decided that the solution is to invite celebrities like Zac Goldsmith to perform essentially the same function. The common theme is that parties no longer stand for any coherent philosophy.
I can understand that this is appealing to the electorate. Politicians have been avoiding ideology for a long time now. Gordon Brown has never recovered from mentioning Post Neoclassical endogenous growth theory in a speech. With good sense the British have always been a nation of anti-intellectuals. Samuel Johnson is celebrated for supposedly demolishing the the solipsism of Bishop Berkeley by kicking a kerbstone.
There is a particular distrust of economics, the science labelled as 'dismal' by Carlyle. Central bankers usually hit the headlines when things go slightly wrong, as when Northern Rock had problems paying its depositors recently. I fact the management of the economy in western countries is exemplary.
My fear is that as politics increasingly becomes a branch of marketing, we will end up being governed by estate agents. This will not be an improvement. Believe me: I'm an estate agent.
