DIY growth
Embracing growth at LFG drinks
“If we want progress, if we want abundance, we’re just going to have to do it ourselves.”
The 150 or so people packed into the pub made sounds of agreement. Whether it was down to the optimistic thrust of the evening or the generous tab behind the bar, there was a warm feeling in the room. A sense of broad alignment towards the same goals: fix Britain, embrace growth, all hands on deck.
Having delivered those words in favour of DIY policy-making, Jack Hutchison, a programme director at Civic Future, wrapped up his speech and handed the mic to the co-founders of Looking for Growth.
The group, also known as LFG, has been building both an online following and a network of regional chapters over the past few months as it pushes lawmakers to pay attention to its infrastructure bill. Physical copies of the proposal are being sent out this week to MPs.
LFG didn’t exist back when I wrote about the new sense of optimism that was emerging at the intersection of technology and policy last year, when the UK had only just voted for a change in leadership. But it is certainly a part of that milieu.
The vibe at the Monday night event was of a very well-connected house party. Moving across two floors, I rubbed shoulders with civil servants and startup founders, parliamentary staffers and AI tinkerers. For £15, you could buy a T-shirt with the words ‘Pass the Bill’ written on the front.
And while it was a distinctly London crowd, one pervasive idea seemed to echo one of Silicon Valley’s favourite memes: you can just do things.
Taking action is hard, LFG co-founder Joe Reeve told the crowd, which is why most people tend to shy away from it. The silver lining is that you can have an impact simply by trying. “Just doing things actually has a lot of output,” he said.
What does it mean to bring that ambitious approach to the UK? It could mean building an AI company. It could mean lobbying for better infrastructure. It could mean finding new funding sources for research and innovation.
There are challenges, too. There’s a perception of the state as sluggish and immovable, of public services as allergic to technological upgrades. The question of how to balance this “build build build” energy with environmental concerns is a central one.
It is hard to deny, too, that much of what I’ll be talking about here is happening in bubbles – in Westminster and Whitehall, in Silicon Roundabout offices and, yes, in the occasional pub. Can this movement make its case in a way that gets mass support from the public? Does it even need to?
Those are some of the questions I want to explore by writing this newsletter. In the process, I’ll be following the doers who want the country to change and who want technology to play a part in it.
Teatime scroll Each week I’ll share links to writings, events, tweets and other conversation-starters. If you have something you think should be in here, feel free to email or DM me.
Everyone should read Andrew Bennett’s essay on the shortcomings of current futurist visions for the UK. “Run your finger over the contours and you get brushed steel, dimpled concrete and muted glass, not squishy moss or brittle bark,” he writes. “There is little enchantment, minimal poetry.”
The founders of Stripe published their annual letter, which is always worth a read even if payments are not your bag. It ends with some analysis of European dynamism and why it lags the US. It makes for hard reading, but not hopeless.
The profile of Tyler Cowen in 1843 Magazine is as good as everyone says it is.