Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.
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August 9th, 2006 | 13 comments - (Comments are closed)
 The report basically says no one gets fired for screwing up in the civil service and that there is no price for failure. It recommends some reforms that will not work because inherently governments have a coercive monopoly. Whereas in the private sector the profit motive works as an incentive because customers will stop buying crap services from businesses, hurting their profits. In the public sector if you stop paying your taxes the government will try and jail you. A mandarin hits it on the head in the report when he admits “Why is Whitehall poor at delivery? Because they’re aren’t any rewards or sanctions in place for civil service delivery.” Where is the incentive for better government? August 8th, 2006 | 12 comments - (Comments are closed)
August 3rd, 2006 | 9 comments - (Comments are closed)
My favorite conspiracy theory is the one that says the world is being run by a handful of ultra-rich capitalists, and that our elected governments are mere puppets. I sure hope it’s true… The only way I can get to sleep at night is by imagining a secret cabal of highly competent puppetmasters who are handling the important decisions… I know some of you will say that it’s obvious that corporate money influences the government. But that’s not enough to make me feel comfortable. I want to know there’s an actual meeting of the puppetmasters every Thursday at 3 pm… – Scott Adams via Frank McGahon who got to it via Hit and Run August 3rd, 2006 | 27 comments - (Comments are closed)
Most people believe that poor people should be free to trade with each other, and they should be free to buy and sell from us in the West. If people want to buy cheaper goods from abroad, and spend the money they save on food or medicines, they should be free to do so. Saving a few cents when buying a bag of rice makes little difference to you or me, or to the rich elite in poor countries. But to a poor family it could make the difference between eating at night, or going without. – Andrew Mitchell MP, Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, speaking Monday at the Globalisation Institute. July 26th, 2006 | 14 comments - (Comments are closed)
Israel is killing a lot more people in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah position which are located intentionally within populated towns and villages, than Hezbollah are killing in Israel targetting literally anyone with their random rocket attacks fired blindly into towns and cities… but Hezbollah’s poor ‘score’ is not for lack of trying.  July 23rd, 2006 | 37 comments - (Comments are closed)
– Professor Ian Angell, quoted on ZDNet July 21st, 2006 | 3 comments - (Comments are closed)
and,
Not some supercilious liberal flâneur and dilletante security-skeptic – such as yours truly – but Sir Richard Dearlove, formerly C, speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival. July 11th, 2006 | 35 comments - (Comments are closed)
Must go, got a government to destabilise. – Guido Fawkes explains the brevity of his comment on this posting at my blog July 6th, 2006 | 3 comments - (Comments are closed)
In what bizarre universe is this guy ‘liberal’ while someone like me – who is strongly pro-gay marriage, pro-easy availability of pornography, against the stupid drug war, and stridently anti-authoritarian – is often described as ‘conservative’? If he’s a liberal, I’m a Prada handbag. July 5th, 2006 | 23 comments - (Comments are closed)
I feel that the referee handled the Rooney thing badly – failing to whistle at all during the long physical assault on Rooney by three Portuguese players, then applying the law to what might have been an accidental stamp in the most draconian way. He’d also failed to give England a cast-iron penalty – but otherwise, I felt he had as good a night as might be expected in such a difficult match. – James Hamilton proving, by being just a tiny bit too rational and even-handed about it all, that he is not entirely English July 2nd, 2006 | 11 comments - (Comments are closed)
Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence; he is just using his memory. July 1st, 2006 | 10 comments - (Comments are closed)
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