The Productive Pessimist

Posts

Sometimes, Problems are Personal. (Advisory: violence, domestic violence, SA of a minor, suicide reference, blood mentioned)

I don't usually write personal accounts. That's not what The Productive Pessimist is about, I tell myself. Problems are universal. Problems don't have names. We're here, as a company, to solve anyone's problems. But The Productive Pessimist also claims to provide the solution by living through the problems. We talk about how our lived experience informs and complements our professional expertise. Which means, sometimes, personal accounts are exactly what The Productive Pessimist is about. The recent EHRC legislation around access to "single sex" spaces is deeply personal. So is Kathleen Stock's recent musing on "why are so many young people using walking sticks, hmmm?" I won't be linking to either of them. They'll come up easily enough on a Google search. I'll be speaking on both of them, because of both of them bring up problems for businesses, and both of them are deeply, brutally personal. The advisory in the title isn...

NEETS: Many Problems, One Answer

"People who grew up in financial hardship more likely to be NEETs." "People diagnosed with ADHD or autism in childhood more likely to be NEETs." "Teens with depression and anxiety more likely to be NEETs." "Kids who were chosen last for school team sports more likely to be NEETs." "Children who spend breaktimes alone more likely to go on to be NEETs." NEETS - people, especially those aged 18-25, who are N ot in E ducation, E mployment, or T raining - are a persistent fretting point for politicians, and a frequent hand-wringing focus in the media. Almost every week, we see yet another "X type of child more likely grow up to be NEET" headline. It seems as though there are so many social problems causing people to shy away from paid employment, higher education, or worthwhile training pursuits. So many problems, that need so many schemes and organisations set up to address the problems (often by Friends of People in Whiteh...

"The Male Species Playing Football" Isn't the Problem - Removing Them Isn't the Answer

The Productive Pessimist's focus is on "living the problems to bring through the answer." That focus statement acknowledges three things: 1. There's always more than one problem 2. There's usually a single answer which covers all the problems 3. The best answers come from those who've lived the problems personally. This focus means we often find ourselves at odds with the more prominent non-profits of the UK, who do very well because businesses like to believe they "can't possibly afford" to pay for services - until their friends, network contacts, and family members are providing them as a business - but like to show their generosity and social engagement by publicly donating to well-regarded, prominent charities in some way, and the British public like to console themselves that the "lower taxes" they insist on every election are an entirely reasonable demand, because the voluntary sector will just mop up all the various socioecono...

Moving Away from State-Identified Inclusion

Is it possible to believe we need to move away from "State-identified" inclusion, whilst remaining fundamentally committed to ensuring everyone is supported to pursue their personal definitions of success? I happen to think so. It often comes as a surprise to people "how left-wing" I am (although, in 2002, I was described by a Politics and Philosophy lecturer as "slightly to the right of Atilla the Hun"... my politics haven't changed all that much in the intervening 24 years...) Currently, there is a lot of noise being made about how "white working class boys" have been "abandoned and forgotten by decades of so-called inclusion" - with all the attendant free rein to racists and other bigots that you might expect such an announcement to generate, and groups who've been milking the funding cash cows of "supporting women and girls!" for the past 5yrs having very public fits of pique about how "their" funding i...

Handling Heatwaves (Without Scorching Your Finances)

TEACHERS, EMPLOYERS, & "OTHER PEOPLE'S BUSINESS IS MY COMPLAINT" TYPES: . Black, beige, grey, or navy knee-length, cotton shorts, worn with plain white or black plimsols, and a plain coloured short-sleeve button down shirt still look "professional". There is no reason you should be preventing students or staff from wearing them, or complaining about people dressed "like that". . No, a fan that someone brought with them is not going to blow up your entire electrical system, or set fire to your office/classroom, as long as the flex isn't visibly frayed, and it's not plugged into an overloaded socket. If you can't let go of your fixation on controlling everyone who is forced to be locked in a room with you for hours at a time - open a minimum of two widows. Put a fan that you bought (so you feel secure in it being "compliant" with something or other) in front of every open window. . YOU DO NOT NEED TO "GO THROUGH PROCU...

This Isn't a Social Media Ban: It's a Declaration of War

As Mumsnet et al (likely the only people actually "consulted" about Starmer's social media ban for under-16s) squeal and cavort about yet another "victory" (they believe their last one was the EHRC guidance about trans people...and tall women...and women with broad shoulders...and women with flat chests...you know, the one that doesn't stop - and which they don't want to stop - a grown, clearly cisgender, violently aggressive man chasing a woman into the women's toilets, and assaulting her because he "thought she looked trans"...such protection...so much safety...), I'm already preparing for the reality that, as soon as this pointless act of government overreach and control for control's sake comes in, I'll have to hope like hell that people who have been very vocal about being anti-Digital ID actually put their boots on that ground, and engage with my freelance business being something I will no longer be able to run online....