Because most of the residents move around the Island day-to-day on foot or cycle there is "continuous" one-to-one contact and conversations, in a way that is physically impossible in a society dependent on motor cars. Visitors to the Island are no exception, which is one reason why some people and their adult children return to the Island on holiday year after year. The contrast between Sark society and English suburban-style rural living is very noticeable. Whether you like it or not as an outsider depends on whether you like talking to strangers.
It is not in the interest of individual residents to be seen to be wealthy, because individual taxation is based on perceived wealth. As a result "keeping up with the Jones’s" is not evident and people "show off" in non-materialistic ways, such as by having beautiful gardens.
Property values gradually decline as the ends of leases approach. This is disliked by Islanders constantly being informed by the BBC about increasing property prices throughout the UK. There is a reluctance to spend money on property improvements because, unless the outstanding lease is long, this is not a worthwhile investment.
The Island government, Chief Pleas, is controlled by individuals who have no need to secure electoral popularity. They and their successors are in that position as a right. As a result they are motivated (albeit subconsciously) to take a long-term view of what is best for the Island; in other words to look after the interests of their heirs.
The interests of "the poor" are looked after day-to-day by the ‘Procureur of the Poor' (an official position undertaken by a volunteer). This concentrates resources on those in greatest need. Payments can include medical insurance premiums. The contrast between the simplicity of the Sark system and the cumbersome bureaucracy of the UK system is stark.
Medical care on the Island seems to work well compared with England. For example, the author came across a visitor who on a previous visit had dislocated her shoulder. It happened on a Sunday. Within an hour she was being greeted by a consultant at the front door of the hospital on Guernsey, having been taken down to Sark harbour by tractor-drawn ambulance, where the St John’s Ambulance boat was waiting, which in turn was met by an ambulance on the quayside at St Peter Port, Guernsey. Could that have been organised so well in a top-down NHS-type of system?
There is no VAT or any kind of tax on sales or business profits. This, together with the absence of income tax, enables people to undertake work for each other and receive payments for their work in a way that is impossible in a State that requires all business and personal earnings to be declared. There is no "black economy" on Sark because there is no reason for it to exist. Full-time employment is a foreign concept; most people gain money in various ways as opportunities arise.
Market forces (electricity charges are about five times English rates) and the lack of motorcars ensures that energy is used relatively efficiently on the Island. The insulation of houses is generally recognised as being important, in contrast to the English attitude of doing what is required by Building Regulations.
There is no need to accommodate motorised vehicles as a result of which the scale of physical development on the Island is much less than in a car-dependent country. Domestic garages and drives to them are not needed. Lanes are narrow and headroom low, with overhanging trees. Junctions between lanes do not need much space. Carriageway footpaths are not needed. A disadvantage of water-bound stone roads is that they can be very dusty during long dry spells: But what a minor problem compared with the many problems caused by attempts to accommodate motor cars.
The Island economy is mainly dependent on visitors, through the landing fees they pay within their ferry tickets, which contribute to Island funds, and the purchases they make in the shops, public houses, hotels, restaurants and cafés. Some of the tenement holders have island businesses, and so Chief Pleas is motivated to make the Island attractive to visitors. There is an extensive network of footpaths, along and down the cliffs, all of which are very well cared for. During the tourist season there are many events including sheep racing, concerts of all kinds of music, an annual cricket match with the Lord's Taverners, and so on.
There is a tendency for Islanders who run profitable businesses to give generously, especially in their wills, to projects that benefit everyone on the Island. For example, a splendid new building is currently being erected, funded this way, to replace the old Island hall and schools and provide space for Chief Pleas and other meetings and the Seneschal’s Court. A charity that subsidises the cost of medicines prescribed by the doctor is well supported, with numerous fund-raising events throughout the year.
The day-to-day positive motivation of people not "brought up" with a mind-set based on ready access to State dependency is quite different from the negative motivation of residents of a Welfare State.
From the grass roots of day-to-day Sark life, all of this can be seen as "government by the people". A kind of democracy. The Island Government does not interfere in individuals’ daily lives and so people are free to get what they want out of life. Chief Pleas ensures that the structure of the system is appropriate for the complexity of day-to-day life of the people of Sark.
Because Sark is small and everyone knows each other, the ever-changing intricate day-to-day activities on the Island seem to be integrated in a way which top-down co-ordination never seems to achieve. This intricacy is moreover impossible to begin to describe in a meaningful way to anyone whose mindset is top-down. And yet, seen from outside the Island, the results on the ground seem to be good. To a casual visitor it is a puzzling but bewitching place to visit.
Unfortunately, in the opinion of the author and of many others, the current notion of democratic human rights has gained credence on the Island and the constitution is about to be changed to fit the Western democratic mould.
Sark, soon to be ruled by people motivated to do what their electorate wants now, will become a different place.
(Barry Cooper contributed the notes, a top-down local government planner in England in the 1970s, since when he has been interested in and advocated bottom-up systems of governance. In the 1980s he was a member of the Executive Committee of the Town and Country Planning Association. In the 1990s he and his wife ran a home-based business. His e-mail address is
bcooper@orcop.com
Anyone interested in delving deeper should visit the Sark Government web-site at
http://www.sark.gov.gg/ - it is all there, open Government as it should be.)
10 August 2003