The solution....to what?

i have been thinking about my usual stupid questions and I think they boil down to

What is..(x) ..the solution to?

For instance in asking the question Why tax? I am surmising that once a society gets to a certain size it grows a state and then the problem that tax aims to solve is how to fund in a fair and equitable way the activities that are best done collectively.

Take another example - what are courts the solution to? Off the cuff i would say that are there to dispense justice. But they presume a legal code not just a moral code. As in the legislature of a parliamentary democracy we expect the judiciary to be representative.Juries do that.Magistrates do that in the UK too. But what about the role of 'the expert' - should judging cases and arguing cases be left to the legal profession? If the problem is - understanding the legislation and the precedents in case law then we will have more experts. If we see courts as representing the community in the process of delivering justice we will fight to at least keep what there is that reflects accountability.


I like to think of society in the way that Heraclitus does - namely that flux is the root of material existence of which human societies are one of the more complex forms Then if a form - eg courts - are unchanging it is worth going back to the basic questions  - what need is being addressed /what problem is it an attempted solution - to free us up to consider alternatives that reflect the present context.

Please share your thoughts about institutions that are ripe for reform?

Best wishes

Andrew

Immigration Policy - Pride and gratitude

First assumption - that a system of control is necessary. Imagine wearing no clothes. No not in a lubricious way - think of having to regulate your body temperature without the use of clothes. You could do it if you had access to shelter and fire but it would not be efficient. similarly, without the protections of border controls and an immigration policy - it may be possible but you would pass the problems to other parts of the state - housing,education,health providers.

So..what would a policy look like ideally?

.As you know if you read my blog I am keen to critique policies that are ideologically driven and go back to first principles.
Just to declare an interest .. my grandparents were Eastern European immigrants - fleeing from the pogroms that affected Jewish communities at various times before the rise of the Third Reich.

Firstly, the humanitarian principle must be unequivocal - the asylum system should assume that the majority of asylum seekers are not out to game the system rather than the reverse as the UK system at present does.

Secondly, free trade principles - including the free movement of labour - remind us that we are better together than apart. Be this complementing skills shortages or bringing cultural diversity.As a foodie growing up in the 60's I am delighted that I can now  source fresh basil or baklava or lemon grass.

Thirdly, a constitution may be needed to set out principles of citizenship - so that it is explicit what membership of a state entails in terms of rights and responsibilities.I would include the expectation that the host lingua franca is learnt by immigrants.

In conclusion, thinking about my heritage - I am still uneasy about my relationship to being English.My parents communicated deference in the face of anglo saxon anti semitism. In turn I
struggle with my internalised anti semitism - my parents changed their name to a British sounding name - and so my identity as a Jewish person  I can render invisible (my rugby teacher at school was surprised after 5 years that I was Jewish.). Of course I am grateful this country gave my forbears shelter - I am saying though that in addition to a better immigration system it can take generations
before immigrants can both be grateful and proud of who they are.