Friday, June 25, 2004
tangle of public and private interests with few effective rules
at last! ---From The Age yesterday
"The NGO phenomenon, if taken too far, constitutes a challenge to
representative systems and traditional political accountability," Johns and ....argue "The collection of all possible NGOs does not constitute
public opinion."
The result is a form of government much different to a generation ago, and a
tangle of public and private interests with few effective rules of
accountability. It is time there were.
Gregory Hywood is a former editor-in-chief of The Age.
the next step forward means knowing where the distraction towards the precipice occurred
at last! ---From The Age yesterday
"The NGO phenomenon, if taken too far, constitutes a challenge to
representative systems and traditional political accountability," Johns and ....argue "The collection of all possible NGOs does not constitute
public opinion."
The result is a form of government much different to a generation ago, and a
tangle of public and private interests with few effective rules of
accountability. It is time there were.
Gregory Hywood is a former editor-in-chief of The Age.
the next step forward means knowing where the distraction towards the precipice occurred
Friday, June 11, 2004
From "someone is responsible" to "somebody" ( you know that bloke!) is responsible.
J Ellul summed up our dilemma a long time ago. Time our leaders consulted him .
IF there is to be a new effective move back to governing with efficency-
FIRST Recognise the realities -we have gone full circle within a decade from quangos to quangos..We did'nt really move at all? Worse we have manged to slip from the efficient "someone is responsible" to "some bodies..is responsible".Sir Humphrey never been happier ?
SECOND Apply the KISS principle- democracy has worked well for a long time in some quite specific cultural paradigms - It doesn't need rocket science . Ditch what Ellul might have called the blunt tools of the "technological society " -its worship of change!
THIRD don't ask them, ask us !
J Ellul summed up our dilemma a long time ago. Time our leaders consulted him .
IF there is to be a new effective move back to governing with efficency-
FIRST Recognise the realities -we have gone full circle within a decade from quangos to quangos..We did'nt really move at all? Worse we have manged to slip from the efficient "someone is responsible" to "some bodies..is responsible".Sir Humphrey never been happier ?
SECOND Apply the KISS principle- democracy has worked well for a long time in some quite specific cultural paradigms - It doesn't need rocket science . Ditch what Ellul might have called the blunt tools of the "technological society " -its worship of change!
THIRD don't ask them, ask us !
Friday, June 04, 2004
Democracy may not be business but what is it? According to the new courtiers Government is not even planning anymore - see below Maybe noone in canberra believes anything anymore? partly explains the left-right march on both sides?
Chandran Kukathas CIS lecture this week
"The folly of central planning, in the end, Hayek tried to show, was not simply that it spelt economic disaster but that it corrupted the body politic. The danger was not economic planning as such but the planning mentality. Today, the ideal of economic planning, if not quite dead, is a limping dinosaur. But central planning itself is alive and well, and its corrupting effects are everywhere to be found, though they are seldom noticed. Hayek, more than anyone, can still help us see this"
Chandran Kukathas CIS lecture this week
"The folly of central planning, in the end, Hayek tried to show, was not simply that it spelt economic disaster but that it corrupted the body politic. The danger was not economic planning as such but the planning mentality. Today, the ideal of economic planning, if not quite dead, is a limping dinosaur. But central planning itself is alive and well, and its corrupting effects are everywhere to be found, though they are seldom noticed. Hayek, more than anyone, can still help us see this"
