Physics, chemistry, biology and local government, that is the order in which they evolved on this earth. It is probably then same across the universe. There is definitely physics throughout time and space and certainly chemistry and it is very likely that there is biology beyond our own little sphere. If there is and there is intelligence then ultimately there will emerge a form of local government.
Without physics, without the forces and fundamental particles there would not be atoms and there would be no chemistry. Without chemical compounds that can interact, build compound molecules, save and release energy there would be no biology and without the evolution of mankind and its complex societies there would be no local government.
We think that we are creatures of free will but we are not, or at least not fully and that we arrive at our decisions and subsequent actions through cognitive thought and reasoned argument but we don’t, at least not fully. As sure as light follows day everything that happens within the town halls up and down this country is governed by the fundamental laws of physics, the very laws that created us and have ruled over the universe for the last thirteen billion years or so.
Let’s start with the second law of thermodynamics which states that (forgive me for I paraphrase) ‘In any closed system the amount of usable energy is always less than the total potential energy and as the amount of usable energy decreases entropy, the degree of disorder in the system will increase.’
From this we can deduce two things. The first is that it does not matter how much energy you put into something what comes out will be less than the effort you made, in other words it can take an awful lot of effort to achieve something fairly small. The second is that the natural order is for entropy to increase which means that there is a tendency for systems to move from a state of order to one of disorder. The very act of trying to maintaining things in a structured way, even just to keep them the way they were goes against the second law and demands a huge amount of effort and usable energy.
Anyone who has ever worked in local government will recognise these as truths. It requires a lot of hard work to make any change (and quite rightly so) as there are stakeholders to consult, partnerships to be built, public money to be accounted for and proper process and procedures to be put in place. At the same time, while you are focussing your efforts on this change, all of the other systems you had put into place will slowly be slipping into a glorious state of higher entropy or what used to be known as a mess.
So what can be done? Nothing! You can’t fight the laws of physics, they are immutable and beyond mankind’s manipulation. You are not responsible for the laws and you shouldn’t take the blame. You can only understand them and work with them to at least ease the pressure of your workload and make your life that little bit easier. Next time we might look at Newton’s laws of motion.
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 