Sunday 29 January 2023
Green
The waiter glanced in with the disgusted look of the man who serves intoxicants for the man who takes too much of them. He nodded his head shortly at the order from each individual, and went.
Stephen Crane - Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1893)
As we all know, it is sometimes worth taking a look at things from another perspective. I’m willing to have a go at that, but it will have to be fictional. I’ll imagine a fictional member of the civil service named Green who has an important bureaucratic role in formulating and steering Net Zero targets.
In this imaginary scenario, Green stands at his office window sipping coffee while gazing at a demonstration in the street below. A scruffy group of climate activists is pressing for more urgent action to save the planet. Waving poorly made placards too. Green doesn’t think much of poorly made placards - they lower the tone of the entire policy.
“Why can’t they cobble together some decent placards?” mutters Green.
He moves away from the window. There are more important matters demanding his attention, although those activists have undoubtedly achieved their desired media attention. The BBC cameras were there from what Green saw.
Green is neither scientist nor engineer, but he knows there are uncertainties in what he is doing. Yet he chooses to view Net Zero in the rosy light of a noble cause. Apart from anything else, it is politic to do so. The policy is written on the proverbial tablets of stone and Green has told his subordinates many times that obstacles are there to be overcome.
It has become more noisy in the street outside, so Green glances through his window again. The protesters are shouting and a person with purple hair appears to be throwing paint at a shop window. Green supports the cause - of course he does. Yet he wishes the fringes could be more genteel.
He has to prepare another story for the media concerning the latest Net Zero discussions and really cannot afford to linger by the window. In a sense, he is preparing more intoxicants for the protesters outside. Green smiles that that thought, but cannot suppress another frisson of disgust at the ease with which some people allow themselves to become morally intoxicated.
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2 comments:
Later that day, Green is summoned to a departmental meeting in which his boss, Darke-Fewcher, reviews the progress of the Net Zero policy and offers a few guidelines for assessing its impact upon the public.
"Now take, for example, todays, er...today's show of enthusiasm by our supporters in the street. Now, I think I detected among some of you a faint air of disappointment, or even embarrassment, that such noble aims as ours could be prosecuted by such apparently destructive means. But consider how the public react to such displays, compared to how they react to the traditional techniques used by Governmental Departments to advise and, ah, influence behaviour.
"These zealous people are seen, thanks to the mass media, by millions of viewers. They make the public think that something important is going on, that they had better pay attention and act now, because a dire crisis is brewing. If protesters are making such a commotion, then the problem must be real, right?
"Then, when our more moderate proposals for room temperatures, heat pumps, electric cars, and social credit ratings are mooted, the general public are only too glad to accept them. That's why our co-ordinated approach allows these demonstrations without fear of effective police action. And why, of course, we have agents provocateurs among these enthusiasts, so as to maintain momentum. Which brings me on to a new role for you, Green, which we have been discussing. A small personal danger allowance, vegan lunch vouchers, government issue "crustie" clothing, and a chance to get some fresh air...
Sam - ha ha - very good. Maybe civil servants should gain some work experience with the M25 blockers.
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