Matt Chocqueel-Mangan's blog

I have a question for you. It’s the question behind the purpose of this blog.

What ONE change would have the biggest positive impact on our society?

Here are some pointers:

1. Firstly… think big! This is about root causes – big ideas that change society.
2. You don’t have to know how to implement your idea – this is about the what, not the how.
3. Do explain why it will work. What are the social mechanisms at play?
4. Please – no whingeing! This is about positive change, so please… be positive!

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“There is a paradox at the heart of our lives. Most people want more income and strive for it. Yet as Western societies have got richer, their people have become no happier.” So says Richard Layard in his 2006 book Happiness: Lessons from a New Science.  But the problem is not income, nor it’s addictive nature, nor the social issues resulting from widening gaps between the top and bottom earners. The problem, it seems, is happiness.

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Finally I get the platform I dreamed of… If you haven’t heard of his Radio 4 program before, comedian and activist Mark Thomas is creating a People’s Manifesto, taking suggestions from his studio audience and then getting them to vote for the best. Although I initially submitted my policy suggestion as a joke in order to ensure I got a ticket to see the recording, the BBC went with it and invited me to introduce it on the show. You can … Continue Reading

Winston Churchill, presumably warding off more 'average voters'

So said Winston Churchill, apparently. Was he right? It’s not difficult to see his point, let’s be honest. I say this because I include myself in the ‘average voter’ category. In fact, as someone who would struggle to tell you what the main political parties actually stand for (I mean really stand for) I wonder if I could even claim to be in the ‘average’ category at all.

Or maybe I’m being too hard … Continue Reading

In an earlier post, I described a desire to see societal issues tackled by identifying the root of the problem. To reiterate this point I’d like to draw from The Spirit Level which describes this approach much more convincingly. To quote directly…
“The health and social problems which we have found to be related to inequality tend to be treated by policy makers as if they were quite separate from one another, … Continue Reading

As a surprisingly direct response to my previous post, the path to a better society may well lie in some incredible research published earlier this year in a book called The Spirit Level: Why more equal societies almost always do better. The book establishes, with alarmingly comprehensive evidence, that economically unequal countries have more of just about every type of social problem.

The book draws on research into 22 developed countries, comparing the gap in income between the richest 20% and the poorest … Continue Reading

The problems that matter most to me are societal – based on basic social / human needs. It seems indisputable that these types of problems;

1. are problems that impact us all
2. are not necessarily problems in every society
3. are problems because our society doesn’t have a system in place to address them properly

Those, surely, are facts. Nothing controversial.  I would also add that these problems;

• are not being addressed in a coordinated, non-emotional, non-political way
• are problems because the greatest problem solvers are not being attracted to the greatest problems

I invite you to comment on whether you agree with those last two points, but whether … Continue Reading

Hello cyberspace chums. I’m thoroughly delighted to declare this blog well and truly launched! Gawd bless her, and all who read her. I’m using this space to learn and share knowledge about societal issues, in the hope that we can improve The Way We Live by pooling our collective knowledge and experience. Most importantly I’m hoping to share ideas much better than my own, so may I make an early plea for your opinion, thoughts, experience, ideas, and/or anything else you have in your treasure trove of inner wisdom. … Continue Reading