Blog nation: it's the economy, clearly

I went to the Liberal Conspiracy blog nation event today which was, generally, very excellent and my commendations to Sunny for putting it all together. Frankly I could have done with a few less Lib Dems trying to justify their shoddy government and their shoddy budget, but that aside very good.

I missed most of what sounded like a very useful discussion on abortion rights under the Tories but one of the interesting themes that came up that I didn't miss was about how to most effectively oppose the budget cuts, as bloggers.

As always with Liberal Conspiracy there was a bit too much of a focus on 'framing' and 'narrative' for my tastes, but I'm not criticising that - it's just I find that kind of language a little bit alienating. Anyway, just to riff on the theme for a moment it seems to me that there was a kind of soul searching about whether we should be presenting things in a far more emotive way, which could be accessed by more people. Someone characterised this as a left-wing Daily Mail style.

Of course the Daily Mail tells lies and goes out of its way to be controversial for paper sales, both of which are the hallmarks of political bankruptcy and, more importantly, make it particularly ineffective at speaking to the middle ground. You really do have to be a gullible, reactionary fuck to believe everything you read in the Mail and there's no value in copying that method if we're hoping to win over those not already within our ranks.

More interestingly some people were talking about using anecdotal "stories" that help personalise the cuts and demonstrate the effect they have on people's lives. I think there is value in that, but it can only go so far. The problem is that both the Lib Dems and the Conservatives are happy to admit that cuts are painful and cause hardship - this is not contested. What is contested is whether the cuts are necessary. That's economics, not story telling - which may help illustrate your point, but it cannot be the point your making.

What we need to articulate in a more accessible form is the case against cuts, which is broadly a debate between the economics of Hayek and Keynes, certainly in the mainstream of the debate. However, in 'our' camp we have three different approaches to this question. First we have the approach that the cuts are too deep, too soon, but deficit reduction along these lines is inevitable. These people want to slow the cuts, and ensure they don't hit critical services.

Second we have those who oppose cuts as a deficit reduction measure on the basis that we can use equality and growth to combat the crisis. Savage cuts will wreak the economy, at a time when we should be investing, boosting jobs and raising extra funds from progressive taxation and schemes like the Robin Hood tax. These people argue that cuts full stop are bad for the economy, that laying people off as the dole queues grow is a recipe for a vicious cycle of decline.

Lastly we have anti-capitalists. This group steals arguments from the other two but essentially places the blame for the crisis on the economic framework itself and seeks to challenge that in a more fundamental way. Splenetic venting about bankers and fat cats is part of that, but it actually goes far further. The crisis was not caused by Leaman Brothers or Freddie Mac but the priorities of a system where profits come before people, and the millions come second to the millionaires.

Actually many people are mix of the three, but I think the categories stand.

How to find a unified voice then? Well it's not as tricky as it sounds as long as you don't expect everyone to sing from the same hymn sheet all of the time.

As of right now there are probably hundreds of campaign groups set up, formally or informally, up and down the country to defend local communities against specific cuts. All these groups will be alliances and, on the whole, they are an embryonic eco-system of resistance. Bloggers can be part of linking those campaigns, putting them in touch with each other and creating a more conscious movement against the cuts.

Those campaigns will be providing the arguments on the human cost of the cuts, these are useful for us all to remind us what we are fighting for. What that network of citizen journalists and campaigners should be doing is providing a digestible economic alternative that shows not just why cutting public services in dangerous and painful, but also why it is the wrong economic strategy. They can also provide resources, some fun some serious and weighty, that are useful campaigning tools that can be used and adapted across the country.

To my mind this approach needs to be supporting those resistance campaigns from the bottom up, rather than attempting to create a national army of clone campaigns under the auspices of a central command. I don't think that will work and it's not necessary because those community groups are already springing up 'organically'.

The left Keynsians and the anti-capitalists (I hope you forgive the crude generalisations there) can actually unite pretty easily on this and the wet left who think cuts are being managed poorly will find it harder to fit into that framework than they will when they become involved in the local campaigns to defend specific services. We can't play to the lowest common denominator so they'll just have to catch up.