Actually the same book makes a really valid point about power in western democracy - that it's being eroded in the traditional sense. As political parties all seem to merge into one another, as more and more people choose not to vote because all the politicians seem to stand for the same thing these days, and more importantly as big business has increasingly clout over government, the individual voter has less direct power over the actions of the government.

Giles Bolton's argument though is that the power hasn't disappeared, its just shifted - and in fact we probably now have more power as consumers than we did as voters. Businesses by nature want us to like them and to buy their products/services. So if we've got the balls and the motivation to let them know with our pounds what we do and don't like, we can have a bigger effect on everything from trade laws to trade unions to air miles.

The thing is I write this now, but will I always be able to walk past the new Tesco's that's about to open on North Street in Southville when I want something they sell but the other little businesses on the road don't? Or if it's throwing it down with rain? With me I think it's very much a case of out of sight out of mind. If I can't see it or it doesn't impact on me directly, I struggle to keep the momentum going. Is there a way we can have a more direct contact with the impact of what we buy? Or is that also just pandering to our own sense of needing a product or result from our custom?

Apparently there are more doctors from Sierra Leone working in Chicago than there are doctors from Sierra Leone working in Sierra Leone.

"Aid and other Dirty Business" - Giles Bolton: frightening stuff!

Hmm. I've just re-read the post from last night and it sounds really pretentious. I think I know what I meant to say, but didn't! Anyway, here's the link to the article...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/sep/20/fiction1
although annoyingly, I can't seem to find the speech itself.

I wish I'd read more of David Foster Wallace. The speech he gave to a graduating class in Ohio was almost a relief. I met a friend in London last week, and we were talking about the sense that so many people these days (especially those in their 20s), seem to be floundering. Foster Wallace's point (it seems to me) is that part of the problem is what we believe in - or don't - these days. If we choose to believe in power, or money (or the power of money), then that will consume us. The reality and the route to survival and contentment is much more mundane...

Why is it that everyone I speak to seems to come out in hives at the idea of Boris Johnson being mayor of London, yet it's now looking increasingly likely that he's going to win? I know I don't live in the big smoke and am therefore probably out of touch with the mayoral contest, but surely there are better ways of punishing the Labour government without voting in Boris?

And worse, how can a 42% turn out be classed as high? It seems that choosing to vote has become less and less popular over the last twenty years, but that can't be healthy - when did we become so apathetic?