Why The BBC did not have any choice but to allow the BNP onto Question Time

As the BNP have 2 MEPs in the European Parliament, like them or loathe them they do have power and therefore they need to be included in public debates. It will then be left to the democratic process to determine what is right and what is not.  It is an important part of the democratic process to allow people freedom of speech whether you agree with their arguments or not.  They clearly do represent opinion from the voting electorate and therefore the arguments of the BNP must be listened to and debated.  It actually demonstrates the unfairness of the current British electoral system which needs to change.  The Liberal Democrats are leading the way in this respect.

Extreme opinions do matter in a free democratic society, because otherwise how do you determine what is an extreme opinion and what is not.  The internet has also changed the politic landscape and as people are better connected, debate will go on over the internet anyway.  The BBC had no choice but to allow the BNP onto Question Time and simply reflects a paradigm shift in technology which in turn has affected every other part of our lives.

The future of work in the information age

I was fascinated to read how robots will have their own operating systems to enable them to fully utilise their specialisms. Which got me on to thinking about how robots will be used and what they will be used for. Technology is advancing at such a rapid rate it is some how mind boggling to think how anyone manages to keep up with it all.

I was then thinking about where will all this lead. Inevitably as technologies advance their evolves a division of labour i.e. work becomes more diverse and specialised, new roles emerge and older ones become extinct. It is now suggested that individuals will experience three or four careers in their lifetimes, good news I think for it certainly will make life more interesting. Long gone are the jobs where after ten years you will find yourself in the same position.

Inevitably more and more people will need to become self employed and self relient as the newest fads evolve and the oldest ones diminish. But hold on catch your breath for one second. Do we really need development at such a rapid pace? When people are looking within themselves and find that their quality of life over the so-called rat race is becoming increasingly important. I think it is simply a paradigm shift driven by technology with society adjusting to accommodate the new information age.

So what about the robots and where does it leave us? The optimist will argue that robots will take the heavy labour away from the low level jobs and enable people to develop their creative side and lead more satisfying lives. The pessimist will argue that their will be no need for humans to carry out work and that we will be left redundant.

Their needs to be a significant shift in the whole system. This has initially seen a divergence in the development of technologies. On the one hand you have the creative commons - the loony left you might say and on the other hand the conservative right - the money makers seeking a financial reward for their labour. As in other business realms where you find the for profit and the not for profit interests the same games will be played within these new technologies.