All power to the Demosians and their latest venture, The Pro-Am Revolution - a lot of explicit and implicit overlap with the Play Ethic, and welcome for it. (Lots of good pop coverage on it too). The message that enthusiasms should be at the centre of our lives, legitimated and supported, is well worth promoting.
Yet a pal of mine pointed out a news story the other day which shows the disjunct between social trends and government diktat. Now it's not just that you can choose to be a Pro-Am - ie, voluntary activities done to a professional standard - you will be tightly monitored when you become one:
New building regulations coming into effect on New Year’s Day will restrict DIY enthusiasts’ right to carry out electrical work in their own homes, a government minister has confirmed.
Any significant electrical work, particularly in the kitchen, bathroom or garden, will have to be carried out be a qualified and registered electrician. If a householder decides to do the work, it will have to be checked by local authority building inspectors, which some DIY-ers fear will be as expensive as getting a professional in.
Given that DIY is number two in the Pro-Am pastimes list (according to a MORI poll), this kind of thing might, er, impede the revolution a little. One is almost grateful for the mediocrity and lack of brio of the current Tory party - because a "nanny state" rhetoric is just waiting to be articulated...
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