It's time to drag our failing financiers and technocrats into the 21st century

One thing about the big (cuts) society - it has generated much more press about the community sector than ever before - normally charities, community groups, local government, all of that, is a news free zone

Increasingly we have analysis flying around - from Newsnight, the Today Programme, even TV news. Most of it is naff and wrong headed because the media is incredibly lazy in its research and when it is not recycling news from others it sensationalises and trivilises. But for now, the voluntary and community sector is news worthy if only because Dave Cameron has made it so and by extension, because the banking crisis has made it so

Got no money for social programmes? Who you gonna call on? Those mugs who don't have proper jobs in the City or Town Hall - no brainer for aspiring govts in a bit of hole

But of course the distaste for the voluntary and community sector inevitably comes out as witness this article by Chris Blackhurst in last weeks Evening Standard

It is especially instructive in spelling out the following:

A contempt of people who volunteer. A disparagement of all things charitable. A privileging of money, the pursuit thereof, as a superior way of being. A desire to see government thrash the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) into shape and a belief that the VCS must change and become more like the private sector

The following comes to mind by way of rebuttal

There is a reason why the VCS isn't all about money - its because there is already a private sector to do that. Along with the state and the market most people feel we need something else that exists outside of these things - we can't all be bureaucrats or money men and we might come to vlaue community as a good in itself? Likewise following the casino capitalism of recent years and MPs expenses are we really wanting to invoke the brilliance of finance as the way for our charities to go? Inviting crack dealers to trade outside the school gate might have a fractionally better social outcome

So why the presumption that charities be dragged into the 21st century? Well some people are just used to giving orders and some charities are used to following them. Its actually quite rare for many charity heads to have independent thought processes, so embedded in the reflex to follow the money hence the rebranding now underway aka the big society preferred contractor beauty contest

Blackhurst talks about the word 'profit' but seems not to notice the world of social entreprise or the changes that have already taken place in the VCS.

The real point is that most of the VCS is a small group with no money and the kind of support they need is non judgemental encouragement bespoke to their own agenda not something fresh from MBA land. The thing about volunteers and community groups is that they vote with their feet so its time our failing financiers, politicans, technocrats and shoot-from-the-hip columnists got real and stopped talking down to the millions of people who dedicate their lives to helping one another without expoectation of reward, cash or otherwise