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Friday 31 October 2014

Why measure wellbeing?

"It has long been argued that the progress of the country should not be measured by looking just at growth in GDP. For a full picture of how a country is doing we need to look at wider measures of economic and social progress, including the impact on the environment." [fracking, for example ? ]

"Developing better measures of well-being and progress is a common international goal. At the 2007 OECD World Forum a declaration was issued calling for the production of high-quality facts-based information that can be used by all of society to form a shared view of national well-being and its evolution over time. This was followed at the European level by the European Commission communication on Beyond GDP. The international well-being agenda also gained momentum following the landmark report in 2009 from the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress."

"Within the UK, there is a commitment to developing wider measures of well-being so that government policies can be more tailored to the things that matter."
 
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/user-guidance/well-being/index.html

So, as economies are being run down, there has to be another indicator to compare one part of the world with another. GDP will not do. For the managers of the global systems, they will be interested in compliant populations, fit young people, perhaps - that is, anything which gives a particular population an edge, or usefulness over others, to the giant corporations.

Looking for a `full picture of how a country is doing` - `high-quality facts-based information`, as this is called - is for the governing class, not society as a whole -  who are no better off for having a wellbeing index assigned to them. On the contrary, the price people will pay for this is to be subjected to constant surveillance and harassment. Vulnerabilities like old-age, disability or the `wrong attitude` will be ranked low in the pecking order. There are already indications that the Westminster government has no tolerance for these vulnerabilities:

The elderly are seen as a drain on the NHS and now we have the Liverpool Care Pathway and assisted suicide. The disabled are declared `fit for work` and those with the `wrong attitude` are going to be dealt with by `extremism disruption orders.`


Scotland`s commitment to wellbeing

Here we have Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) and Getting it Right for Every Citizen. It begins early - pre-birth - with the SHANARRI wellbeing indicators, and the named person, who will collate the `high-quality facts based information`  There is no opt-out or appeals process when early interventions are `tailored to the things that matter` - to the government. Children will be studied as they `evolve` over time.

The Scottish government has not been open with the public and that is very concerning in itself.  GIRFEC has been sneaked into legislation as a child protection issue. It is nothing of the kind - it is part of the global surveillance agenda  -  and will do more harm than good.

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