Driving back from Dover a few weeks ago I counted 37 police enforcement cameras and I doubt if I counted them all. I suspect they stood out so dramatically because I was on my way back from France where I don’t remember seeing a single one. The closer we got to the centre of London the more oppressive it felt, from every angle it seemed as if there was someone watching us.

There is fairly substantial evidence to suggest that speed cameras do work to improve road safety and for sure the UK has a much better road safety record than France, but what have we sacrificed to achieve this? At one level the answer to this question is simple, we sacrificed our sense of liberty and freedom; big brother really is watching us. Looking just a little deeper and it is not difficult to see that speed cameras and CCTV are just one very outward symbol of a much deeper malaise.

Why do we need all these regulations and controls? It’s simple, it is because we are more motivated by our own self-interest than the interests of others or of the country. I think most people would agree that it is a good thing for people to slow down in built up areas but without regulation people wouldn’t, or at least not on the days when they are in a hurry. So we’re stuck with it. Think about this though, when you’re driving around these days which is more likely to be going through your mind? A) I can’t speed because if I do I will get caught by a camera B) I want to contribute to a safe and functional society so I will moderate my speed in accordance with accepted expert judgement about what is appropriate for the area I’m in. I haven’t tested this out but I would be prepared to place a fairly large bet on A) being the most popular answer by far in the UK. The problem is that it is the very existence of the controls is training us into the mindset of answer A). This sinister little feedback loop means it is the controls that have started to cause the need for the controls, consequently we get more controls, which presumably will lead to more controls, which I suppose is why there are 37 cameras on the road from Dover to London.

If you need any more convincing of this phenomena, then just think about the pattern of driving you see in between cameras – yep, we speed up. Our mindset has become totally governed by what is or is not controlled and in the process we have entirely forgotten to give a single thought to what we want for our society and each other. But it is clearly not the controls that cause the controls in the first place – that is simply a consequence of a downward spiral once the whole process gets going. The real issue is the absence of something which I believe to be important for countries and businesses alike – a vision and leadership which is exciting and meaningful to people. I think it is the lack of vision which is at the heart of Britain’s multiple social issues – does anybody know what we in Britain are collectively working towards? I haven’t met anyone recently who has an answer to that question and I don’t think it is very surprising. You’re unlikely to find any answers in our constitution since we don’t really have one (the British constitution being a muddle of mammoth proportions from which the only thing that clearly stands out is the astounding fact that it has worked at all). And you won’t find much of it from our great government either – a fact probably related to their having been in power for too long and having forgotten the dream on which their original success was founded.

In a truly functioning business or country our rules and laws should only really serve one purpose – to provide examples and clarify the meaning of our goals and how we will achieve them together. When instead they become the only means our leaders have to maintain the status quo or create change then they have already lost. As soon as we stop believing in our collective vision we forget also the purpose of our laws and gradually join the ranks of the rule dodgers.

© David Walker 2006. All rights reserved.

Get in touch with David here.