Colin was singing about Swindon's infamous Magic Roundabout, but I think he was also using it as a metaphor for modern (at the time) England.
The Magic Roundabout is technically a brilliant innovation. In fact, by nearly doubling throughput without doubling speeds, it actually has a better safety record per auto than almost any other junction in England.
But that doesn't change the fact that most people who drive it are scared to death. Putting up self-congratulatory signs about the excellent safety record didn't change that. Doing local news stories about its brilliant design didn't change that. You can't just tell people to stop having human reactions.
Technocratic 70s Labour felt inhumane, and the Thatcherite Tories even worse, both governments treating people like machine parts and then saying they have no reason to whinge because Britain is more efficient than ever. But being part of an efficient machine isn't enough for people. Sure, maybe England was indisputably going somewhere, but people need to understand where they're going, and how they're getting there, and feel as if they some control over it. Showing them efficiency statistics has no more effect than showing them the safety statistics of the Magic Roundabout.
Colin was singing about Swindon's infamous Magic Roundabout, but I think he was also using it as a metaphor for modern (at the time) England.
The Magic Roundabout is technically a brilliant innovation. In fact, by nearly doubling throughput without doubling speeds, it actually has a better safety record per auto than almost any other junction in England.
But that doesn't change the fact that most people who drive it are scared to death. Putting up self-congratulatory signs about the excellent safety record didn't change that. Doing local news stories about its brilliant design didn't change that. You can't just tell people to stop having human reactions.
Technocratic 70s Labour felt inhumane, and the Thatcherite Tories even worse, both governments treating people like machine parts and then saying they have no reason to whinge because Britain is more efficient than ever. But being part of an efficient machine isn't enough for people. Sure, maybe England was indisputably going somewhere, but people need to understand where they're going, and how they're getting there, and feel as if they some control over it. Showing them efficiency statistics has no more effect than showing them the safety statistics of the Magic Roundabout.