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Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
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Samizdata quote of the day The House of Lords is also talking shale gas this morning. The Economic Affairs Committee is discussing the economic impacts and, like their colleagues in the lower house, decided that the right people to speak to are a group of people who oppose economic development on principle (they took evidence from the experts a couple of weeks ago).
I have no objection to their lordships listening to Swampy et al, but the point has to be made again and again: where is the voice of the taxpayer and the consumer, the voice of those campaigning for economic development and jobs? What is it that members of both houses of Parliament have against ordinary people?
– Bishop Hill
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Modern “democrats” rule by encouraging the creation of interest groups then cultivating and promoting some whilst ignoring or denigrating others. Since, by definition, ordinary people are too amorphous to be an interest group and, indeed, since the whole purpose of this exercise is fragmentation, they cannot be represented in any forum where power is wielded.
Now cyclists or ramblers on the other hand…
Ordinary people don’t say the things the elitists want to hear. Ordinary people just go on and on about their jobs and homes and families and expenses and the problems they are having trying to live.
Why, it’s like they just don’t care about all the higher things that the “better” people all care about all the time.
So plebian.
Look, it’s not election time, so why should they pretend to care? Their job is to govern! The electors cam have their say when the next General Election happens, and not before!
The great majority of “ordinary people” are not seriously engaged with anything important – witness the general lack of engagement in politics, complacency w.r.t the plight of the aged, ignorance of even the most basic science, acceptance (apart from ineffectual grumbling) of the continued erosion of freedoms, acceptance, even enthusiasm for B***S**T such as “global warming” and “green energy”.
Their utter immersion in their cellphones/’pads at all times, especially in public, to the exclusion of anything approaching “conversation” with their companions, who are in any case similarly absorbed, just reinforces the case.
The reason why swampy and company get to be heard is because they can bother to be heard. Why should the lords (note the small l) go out of their way to invite those who are not interested in what affects them?
They engage groups who advocate for increased government control through more taxes and laws.
The climate change movement hinges on the same principal of mutual interest at the expense of the public.
And logic.
Shale gas is (or should be) a matter of private property rights. If the property of others is damaged by such developments then I am sure lawyers would be only too happy to take the case to court (and given the state of modern Tort Law that should act as a deterrent to any irresponsible developer).
The fact that opponents of such development reject this solution (calling for New York State style bans instead) shows they do not really believe their own case – whether in the United Kingdom or the United States.
Oh dear. It make not be *your* idea of a conversation but people glued to their mobiles or pads are indeed doing something they value and it would be most unwise to deduce overmuch from that.
The reason I (and a well known civil rights activist I know, come to think of it) could not be dragged by a team of a dozen harnessed hippos into a public meeting like that is they are a waste of time pretty much by design. Do you seriously think that is where governments get their ideas from as to what they should do?
Perry de Havilland certainly has a point, only the mad go to or organise public meetings, any committee of more than three people is a waste of time. And I amnot sure about at least a third of that.
Indeed, Perry. In fact, the phones and pads is where many of the real conversations take place.
The House of Lords is not sullied by such considerations.
Well of course phones, pads, whatever are where we meet a lot these days. To criticize the tech on a blog of all places is a hint odd!
Just imagine what a disaster fracking is for the left. Worse then the disaster 17 years of global cooling presents to their agenda. Fracking must be stopped. You cannot have a revolution to overthrow the government if everyone is enjoying cheap energy and has a job. We must have sufferring to bring about the left wing nirvana
I think that John de Beer has a very good point, and the ‘ripostes’ strike me as puerile. His point is that the vast bulk of the population do not care, what if habeus corpus is garbage to them, and pretentious Latin too? They might have learnt at school not much more than basic literacy and numeracy, and the subtext resentment of those cleverer than them? What if they form the jury of your peers when you are falsely accused? Would you object if the jurors hearing your case were more interested in getting out to watch a soap opera, then deciding your fate?
And in the meantime, good men can do nothing, so evil triumphs.
This is “consultation”, a weasel word to describes the pretense of the state seeking the views of the public, when in fact they already know the result of the exercise in advance.
Ed, my point was that some people are like that, while others are not – and it may not always be obvious which is which. So what of it? It was always thus. You can’t expect more than a small part of the population to be interested in things you find important, no matter how truly important they really are.
I wonder how much Swampy and his friends would be bothered to be heard if they actually had to put food in their own mouths instead of living off the government.
There really does need to be the concept of a second class citizen who is a ward of the state with reduced privileges and a less well-regarded opinion. Foremost of that class would be politicians.
Foremost of that second class would be politicians, bankers, landlords (living off the taxpayer while bilking everyone else), stay-at-home (aka hermit parasite billy no-mates) mums. In short people who live easy lives.
Miss your petri dish much, Pardone?