12/06/2012
There is a certain amount of excitement amongst the groupuscules over an
IEA Report by Chris Snowdon, on government lobbying. In particular, the role of green charities is explored, with the likes of
Bishop Hill referring to "The Green 10", which Snowdon highlights.
For my own part, I find it rather ironic to be in receipt of e-mails directing me to the Bishop Hill blog, telling me how important Snowdon's report is. I muse that, if the issue is so important, why the same people (and Bishop Hill) took no notice when I raised it
back in 2008, having first written on it in
July 2007.
One also wonders why, since this subject is now deemed so important, why so few of the current commentators took any notice of the
Policy Network paper, published in March 2010, on which
we then reported - also ignored by Snowdon.
We might thus be forgiven for wondering why concern and "importance" were such narrowly focused things, noting the limited breadth of Snowdon's own report, which would have benefited from the overview provided by earlier work, and especially the Policy Network paper.
More importantly, in a complex area where we are all fighting well-funded and dangerous enemies, I sometimes wonder why so many writers believe that it is a good idea to waste resources on reinventing the wheel, or indulging on the ego trip of colonising a tiny corner of the blogosphere, in order to dominate some minuscule dung heap from which to crow.
The blogosphere can be a magnifier, compensating for our lack of numbers and resources. But, to be effective, it must be used as a network, with multiple cross links, different people building on each others' work, the net effect being greater than the sum of the parts and the audience larger than any of us could achieve individually.
If we retreat to our own little corners and build our own private little dunghills anew, then our collective power is diminished. That is the point I am making - the only point I seek to make. Our enemies understand it, but the British blogosphere seems to have trouble coming to terms with the idea.
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