Introduction

I have always resisted blogging because I hate the look of my words in print. Any public declarations I make sound far too definitive given my level of ignorance on most matters. In any case, as soon as they are made, they inevitably sound wrong. I don't like the thought of blogging for the same reason I don't like the thought of getting a tattoo. Within days it will inevitably start to appear both dated and misguided. Also it's hard not to end up looking like a bit of a twat.

And I don't want to be someone who wants to have their voice heard. Many such people are idiots. Not all of them, granted, but most.

So I end up not talking. Which is also not ideal.

Firstly, it leaves the spaces of the internet free to be filled by those people who do want to have their voice heard. Sometimes these people know even less than me, which is alarming.

Also, there are a lot of concerning things happening today that need to be discussed, sensibly. I am not expecting anyone to listen to what I am saying. Many people are saying it much more eloquently and knowledgeably, and, apart from anything else, I have no following to speak of in any medium whatsoever. I am whispering from a distance into a vast, deafening, chaotic morass of voices.

If I am being honest, then the reason I have never written publicly, in any forum, is not that I fear that no-one will read what I have written, but that they might. As long as thoughts remain private, they are safe. Once they become public, they can be critiqued, taken apart, ridiculed.

So I'll call this blog, for want of a better name, Public Sector Thoughts. Firstly, this might help me focus my thoughts around the role of the public sector in today's society, an area in which I have at least some understanding. But the second meaning is also valuable. As thoughts enter a public domain, they have to go through a process of consideration, organisation and articulation. If thoughts become considered, organised, and coherently articulated, then they surely stand a better chance of invoking some form of action, if necessary.

Besides, if, in the future, someone (maybe myself) points accusingly to some of the things that were going on during my lifetime, then at the very least, in theory, I can send them a link to this.

I am going to attempt to publish something at least once a month over the coming year. Despite what I have said above, I remain quite a private person, and so I'm unlikely to publicise any of these posts. I believe it will be automatically posted on my Google+ page, but this is, I suppose, roughly akin to keeping it private.