Worthiness Fatigue or Aversion to Excess Worthiness

I woke this morning with a feeling of "worthiness fatigue" (really more of an aversion to the worthiness excesses other people). There's alot of worthiness about just now, let's face it !

My feelings of worthiness fatigue are partly prompted by an item on yesterday's MSM News about "green fatigue". As a lifelong environmentalist, with occasional lapses, this type of fatigue isn't something from which I suffer. Quite the opposite in fact. Journeying by foot or bike generally energises me, as does not overheating my home or workplace (I often combine the two, which also saves on space/travel). Similarly, not buying loads of unnecessary stuff saves on rubbish...and, yes, I also re-use/cycle wherever possible. Doing a recent MSM survey of my household carbon emissions, I calculated these at 25% of the UK average (mainly due to my not using a car, or travelling by air in the past 6 years). However, none of this makes me feel particularly worthy, nor do I proselytise about my "greeness" to other people.

So it really annoys me, as happens all the time, when "worthies" from government sponsored agencies - which by and large I consider to be a waste of public money ! - suggest I take a greater interest in the domestic problems of other people. My own view is that the exponential growth in publicly funded "helping professions" since the middle part of the last century, and particulary under New Labour, has greatly contributed to the kind of social problems which are now recounted everyday in the media, by as the saying goes "feeding the fire". The kind of worthiness which comes with these "professional helpers" is something I particularly detest. This is not to say that I don't think real social problems exist. They do, but their causes - often economic - usually receive inadequate attention, particularly from the present government.

Therefore, excess worthiness, of the kind embodied by people like Tony Blair and Gordon, and of which politicians from other parties also have more than their fair share, should be taxed at the higher rate as far as I'm concerned, and the sooner the better !