WHY CAN'T OUR GOVERNMENT FIX THINGS?
If we want to Be Better Citizens, we need to stop waiting for our government to act. They are overwhelmed by day-to-day issues, bullied by the press, and fearful of doing anything that might damage their prospects at the next election. Some problems are simply beyond them, beyond the democratic system we have evolved.
Our once-wealthy country no longer is, and many of the things we have taken for granted are no longer viable. Our system of party politics and first-past-the-post elections produces short-term thinking, and combined with our diminishing affluence and global problems like immigration, it is nearly impossible for a government to make the unpopular decisions that are required, and, eventually inevitable. Just look at the internal dissent the current Labour government has created in attempting to deal with our expanding (and unsustainable) welfare spending. To get elected, they tied their hands on tax and with so little room to manoeuvre, they have collided with themselves.
We have a choice, we can continue to complain and vote once every 5 years for more of the same, or we could change the game.
THIS IS OUR COUNTRY
LET'S TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
We need a way to make important, difficult decisions democratically, and our government cannot do this for us. So, how do we find a way to compromise and to move forward where there is obviously no 'right answer'? Whatever path we, as citizens, decide to follow is not 'right', it's simply the best we can do at this time with the facts available to us. Citizens' assemblies, when done well, are as close to the democratic ideals as it is possible to get in a country of 70 million people.
Citizens' assemblies bring together representative samples of people and present them with all of the facts about a given situation. They provide the time and structure for these facts to be carefully considered. Deliberation is the word used. For now, take the leap of faith and believe me (and then read the research and evidence, which you can find links to on this site), and take as an example the way the Irish government dealt with the need to change their law on abortion. If their government had taken any position on this contentious issue, the press and vocal minorities for and against would have rallied and faced off in an emotional battle. Instead, their assembly of 99 citizens and a chairperson listened to over 200 hours of evidence and created a proposal for the new law. Read How A Citizens' Assembly Helped To Break Years Of Political Deadlock.
Trust us
We are asking our government to trust us, the citizens of the UK. If we can demonstrate our ability to self-organise and to consider some of the issues facing society, carefully, with sufficient time and resources, and to propose how we deal with them, we believe our government should enact the considered will of the people. Why would they not if the UK truly is a democracy?
Our first campaign is to persuade government to allow us to deal with an issue that has proved too toxic for any politician to deal with for decades. The current law costs us a staggering amount of money and ruined lives each year and the majority of people in this country believe it is not fit for purpose. But the politicians - of any stripe - dare not address the issue. Read more:
MISUSE OF DRUGS ACT 1971
It's taken us half a century to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that prohibition doesn't work.
Surely, it's time to move on ...
The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 is too toxic for any government to revise in anything but trivial ways; typically just adding ever more exotic chemicals to a farcical list of 'scheduled' substances. Every government reviews it, the committee finds that the act is unfit for purpose and needs to be revised, and then the government kicks it into the long grass. Meanwhile, this act, that fails in almost every respect to do what it purports to do, costs us, annually, about £20 Billion in direct costs, another £4-5 billion in related costs, thousands of unnecessary deaths and accounts for about 1 in 7 of our prison population.
Millions of people in the UK take illegal drugs. In most cities you can call or message and have them delivered to you in the street within minutes. The police have effectively decriminalised the possession of many drugs. If the underlying basis of a law is flawed, eventually, people disrespect both it and the institutions that continue to support it in the face of all the evidence. That is where we are with the MDA.
Most recently, the 2023 Home Affairs Committee set out the core basis of the Act:
Under the 1971 Act, controlled drugs are placed within a class—Class A, B and C—based on their perceived harms. The class within which a drug is placed will determine the extent of the criminal penalties attached to offences committed under the 1971 Act (for example, possession of a controlled drug). The greater the harm, the higher the classification, with Class A attracting the greatest restrictions and most severe criminal penalties.
Sounds reasonable?
Try our Drug Harm Quiz
CITIZENS' ASSEMBLY ON THE MISUSE OF DRUGS ACT
We will hold a UK Citizens' Assembly to answer the question:
What should a Misuse Of Drugs Act fit for the next 50 years look like?
We will crowd-fund the assembly, which will cost circa £1 million, but before that there is one crucial step.
UK governments love citizens' assemblies; they give the appearance of democracy, of consulting 'the people' ... and they do, but with no intention of listening to or acting on their recommendations. We will not waste your time or money on this project until the government undertakes to hold a free vote in parliament or a public referendum on the assembly's recommendations.
We are under no illusion that anyone in government is listening to us, so we will start by enlisting the help of journalists and the parts of the media with a social conscience or the understanding that this campaign will 'have legs' and is worth backing. If we make enough noise the government will eventually have to listen, and in doing so they will finally get this monkey off their backs, and ours.
If fiction is your 'thing', how about a series of novels where the protagonists try to build a better world. 50% of the royalties go to Be Better Citizens and to funding our goal of embedding citizens' assemblies in our democracy.
