our culture of denial

...obviously comes with peak Man. Sigmund Freud would agree, even more so his daughter Anna:

The concept of denial is particularly important to the study of addiction. The theory of denial was first researched seriously by Anna Freud. She classified denial as a mechanism of the immature mind, because it conflicts with the ability to learn from and cope with reality.

Two examples:

Should you dislike the combination "climate" and "denial", may be it is easier to understand paired with the latest on Britain's Riots. There is lots of denial again and the fact that David Cameron has been brutally  ill-advised by his marketing boys, at least, I would like to believe he did not come up with that stupid idea himself; this, his, mission about this "Big Society" is pure rubbish and always sounded to me like the sales pitch of  a "double glazing window sales man" trying to distract from the truth by all means avoiding reality.

Obviously, I am not alone:

British politicians have espoused neo-liberal dogma for the best part of 30 years. A dogma based on consumerism and selfish individualism over shared responsibility.

And Britain, after 30 years, is a society more divided than at any other time since World War II. The haves have grown in wealth while the have-nots have grown in number.

... Social dissonance is no coincidence. Cameron's nebulous ideal of "Big Society" - that communities are stronger than the government in sorting problems out - has yetto prove of worth.
And so, in a time of austerity and a global recession lasting years, when people see their opportunities narrowing, services cut and the disappearance of the things they have for decades been told to expect, this is what happens.

Graeme Baker, NZHerald's news editor

The Big Society concept is not big enough to deal with the chronic problems that scar so many of our cities (and also some of our rural areas – extreme rural poverty is a growing problem). Throughout Britain, not just in London, not just in England, our society is virtually broken.

We have lost religion, we have lost economic power, and we are now in danger of losing social cohesion and social responsibility. This goes well beyond party politics. It will take, at least, a generation to put the pieces together again. The task will be doubly difficult against the background of a prolonged global financial crisis.

The key component in renewal must be better education. A decent education is something that far too many young people in Britain are still denied, despite the mind- bending sums of public money that have been spent on the education service in the past 20 years or so.

If better education is the key to progress, to self respect and to aspiration, it is still of no use if it just leads to frustration because our society cannot provide enough meaningful work, and, equally important, the motivation to undertake such work.

Harry Reid, Herald Scotland

And in case you need a reminder on that great picture marketed under the term Big Society (BBC):

David Cameron says it is his "mission" in politics to make the Big Society succeed - amid claims it is being wrecked by spending cuts.

This Big Society issue needs much bigger ideas than cuts (the worst are those and any into eduction)  with a huge emphasis on Society. We will never hear a "mission accomplished" by David Cameron the way things are dealt with now.

So, should you see him, tell him!

Carpe diem!