Cynicism

Following on from one of my earlier blogs, our class had a little discussion on two documents the Government has published recently. (New Industry, New Jobs and Investing in a low carbon Britain)

I said before that I was surprised the potential shift in fundamental Government philosophy wasn't given more coverage (at least that I was aware of) and I guess it seems you need a bit more experience in reading publications in this age of spin. The declaration of "new activism" is arguably little more than a new name for what goes on already and a publicly acceptable phrase for the supportive measures of traditional electricity generation. Governments have deliberately intervened before (via regulations, obligations, R&D funding, subsidies etc.) and will always do so, the latest case being support of coal (next blog I feel).

I can't say I like the idea of being a cynic by default, but I guess it's sort of a natural reaction to the apparent culture of political language nowadays that is high on promotion and low on substance. I mean we are all biased to some degree about everything, so it's entirely understandable the possibility (especially in a like-minded group like say, a masters class) that you might focus disproportionately upon the 'negative' actions of a certain group, while unaware of the constraints and demands they have faced or ignoring the good things they've done. It doesn't necessarily mean you're wrong of course, but there's this nagging doubt in your mind that you could be, because you can't prove things right, only wrong. That openness and flexibility is important when neutrality is required, like in Government, but has the downside of possibly appearing to lack conviction or taking relatively longer to form decisions.

Anyway, I'm rambling, it's getting late and I have two presentations and a research proposal for the end of next week, might seem a long time away but I know it isn't really.