The Government's 13-point guide to the things that are supposed to make us feel good (or not, as the case might be), unveiled this week, is all right as a list of the second-division factors which affect our lives. But it does rather miss the main points.
Yes, it's important that air pollution is controlled, that economic growth goes hand-in-hand with wise use of resources, that we all keep on learning throughout our lives, that more houses are built on "brownfield sites" or that all countries do more to reduce greenhouse gases.
But how is it going to improve any of our lives to know the precise percentage of people of working age who are in work, the number of houses which are unfit to live in, the number of vehicles on the roads, whether fish can live in our rivers or the number of thrushes in the average back garden?
These are said to be the "key indicators" of our quality of life. To which it has to be said: "So what?" The indicators are only of significance if they lead to action to improve things. Otherwise it all means nothing except a load of words, an increase in bureaucracy, and a waste of money.
Meanwhile, the real issues which undermine the feel-good factor for most people go unaddressed.
We don't need to know how long we can expect to live. We do want to know that if we live to be old, it will be with dignity, and that if we're taken ill the health service will deal with us promptly and compassionately.
We don't need to know how poor the houses are that many people have to live in. We do want to know that wherever we live, it can be in reasonable comfort and free from harassment from neighbours or gangs of local yobs.
We don't need to know the precise figure of unemployed. We do want to know that something is being done to enable more people to stay in work.
We want to know that the police will protect us against criminals, that the courts will protect us against injustice, that our children will receive the best possible education and our elderly the best possible care.
These are the things people worry about, the things that provide a sense of security. Because when people don't feel secure, they don't feel good - and no amount of tinkering about with statistical trivia is going to make the slightest bit of difference.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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