The spectre at the summit
Rightwingers say the darndest things - - Posted on April, 21 at 12:02 am by Ken L
While I don’t normally see any point in criticising other blog posts, this effort by Sinclair Davidson is so absurd it can’t be allowed to pass without some comment. If people want to pass as public intellectuals - and get paid by the taxpayer - they should surely comply with the basic standards of critical evaluation that are required of undergraduate assignments. Or at least that’s what we require in business schools; maybe economists only require mindless evidence-free rhetoric.
Davidson begins with the sweeping conclusion that ‘Mr Rudd appears to be out of ideas.’ Parroting a line that Lazarus-with a-dose-of-formaldehyde Howard is using in his efforts to return to the spotlight, Davidson claims that ‘The Rudd government is the first is a generation that is non-reformist.’ Wow, such an insight after the government has been in power for all of five months.
According to Davidson, ‘While bereft of ‘big ideas’ his government has quietly been dismantling some important economic reforms.’ What are they? Well may you ask. ‘The Howard government’s WorkChoices legislation has been scrapped.’ This was done quietly? What bullshit. Julia Gillard has talked about little else for months. And what other ‘important economic reforms’ does Davidson list that the government has ‘quietly dismantled’? Well, ummm, none actually.
I can’t be bothered deconstructing every line in this appalling piece of pap but here’s another sample, discussing the 2020 summit:
Many big-picture ideas have been suggested; although none are original, nor worthy of a weekend in Canberra.
What a remarkable feat, to have evaluated all the ideas suggested by 1,000 people over a weekend by 8 pm Sunday night and come to the conclusion that none of them was ‘worthy of a weekend in Canberra’, whatever that is supposed to mean. Sinclair’s acumen is exceeded only by his work-rate.
Apparetly he is in good company: ‘Conservative bloggers have been unmerciful in their contempt for the whole process and the outcome.’ Gosh, the caterers are still packing up the orange juice bottles and conservative bloggers have already made up their minds about the outcome. No suggestion of closed minds there then. And then there are incomprehensible lines such as this:
The legalisation of all drugs to relieve pressures on prisons and the criminal justice system seems to be exactly wrong.
Well possibly, but why? Or is a professor of institutional economics now also to be taken as an authority on criminology? The confusion is compounded with the next sentence: ‘In short lots of social engineering …’ Maybe I’m thick, but I can’t for the life of me understand how legalising something constitutes ’social engineering’.
Mixed in with all this intemperate ranting is a goodly dose of hackneyed conservative contempt for ‘the progressive mind’. ‘Reopening the Republic debate alone should consume the chattering classes for years.’ Honestly, Sinclair, even Gerard Henderson has stopped using that tired old expression so beloved by the late Paddy McGuinness. Hmmm, he was an economist too.
Throughout the piece we find errors like these: ‘The Rudd government is the first is a generation that is non-reformist’; ‘the governments own in-house economic think-tank’; ‘interventionalist’; ‘the governments’ economic narrative’; ‘the Howard governments’ economic record’ (for god’s sake Sinclair, is it really so hard to learn how to use apostrophes?); and ‘none are original’. Davidson comments (sourly?) that ‘This piece just got knocked back from the international MSM’; jeez I wonder why.
Sinclair Davidson is a full professor at a public university. It goes without saying that he has every right to hold strong opinions and express them forcefully, but the professoriate deserves better than a piece like this that lacks any semblance of reasoned argument or even of common sense.
Posted in Rightwingers say the darndest things |
April 21st, 2008 at 2:40 am
Good stuff Ken…Davidson smells like a Howard enabler…a somewhat wobbly missile timed to strike the Aussie blogs at the end of the “Ideas Summit”…
He conveniently ignores the fact that Blair brought many private types into the public arena & even tho some have brought innovation and positive change…there are those not pulling their weight…such as a few of the wealthy benefactors involved w/ academy schools.
These Count Howard ENABLERS love to spew out terms like “The Nanny State” to reduce issues to a myopic partisan level & label/define their Opponents w/ one or two easily-swallowed phrases/terms for mass political marketing processes…
the only thing libertarian &/or free market-oriented about them is they have a compulsion to breakdown barriers like Unions & “market regulation” that prevents them & their PRIVATE SECTOR mates from infiltrating the public sector further…in order to reap more profits…& pay less taxes
…one of the key goals is to slow down the redistribution of income by government to the under-privileged by way of providing free or cheap public services…& instead reverse the flow of moneys back to themselves & their EATER mates…
to ensure that the only good citizen is a highly-indebted, addicted to consumption citizen…a citizen prepared to send their children or selves to the WAR ZONE in order to grab, re-direct or temporarily put “out of order” the resources for these vampyrs.
I’m all for specialisation in schools & hospitals & ensuring that those institutions have public connecting to socially/environmentally-responsible private pathways…but if you take too many of the “born to be compassionate & share” types out of a system & replace them w/ “born to make profits & storm up that hill over your bodies” types…eventually much of the system will limp along as the profiteers suck the “care” out & leave most institutions running on “testosterone-driven competition & the smell of an oily rag”…& only the best results will be go up in neon lights as the corporate media assists its benefactors to construct a facade of huge proportions.
Similar to the BS economic facade that was built by the Howard govt. & its enablers…the so called “PROSPERITY” facade…
& in knowing that Labor could pull down the facade & show the obscene speed & devastation inflicted upon this land & some of its peoples during this so called “boom” that led to so called PROSPERITY…it was in the interest of the Howeirdians to manipulate the “economic indicators”…or focus the population on general (somewhat meaningless & easily distorted) indicators in order to give a false sense of things…to hide the specifics behind those so called “facts, figures, statistics” & such…
& in turn knowing that Labor would have to put their foot on the brake and slow the speeding economic car down before the LAND & some PEOPLES hit the wall and didn’t recover…the ghost of Howard past has passed on the baton to the ghost of Howard present & his minions…& those almost MEANINGLESS & most definitely “smoke & mirrors” economic indicators are going to be SPUN like a centrifuge in order to separate REALITY from LIES & DISTORTION…REALITY will be disposed of…as happens in the lair of the Howeirdians…
& the LIES & DISTORTION will be offered to the public via many a media enabler…in an easily digestible form, like a poisoned sweet (think “The Nanny State”…or “politically correct”)…whilst Count Howard & his justifiers simultaneously warn the public that the more they chew on “the Nanny State” bars from Labor the more it will hurt.
And as the “rigged” & “distorted” & sometimes “deliberately misinterpreted” economic indicators show a dropping of economic speed, like on a speedometer…the finger of guilt & accusations of “negligence” & “incompetence” will be pointed at Labor…as they bravely attempt to REFORM in the fast lane…& transform the speeding car into a safer vehicle on a far less hazardous highway.
As they attempt to DO THE RIGHT THING by the people…in the Left-Hand lane.
Sinclair Davidson is merely a poorly directed missile that explodes into a few poisoned sweets…sweets straight from the spinning centrifuge located in the “cold as ice” basement laboratory of Count Howard & the Howeirdians:
“Any deterioration in these economic indicators could be slated home to an economically interventionalist, yet inexperienced, government. Consequently Treasurer Wayne Swan set out to rubbish the Howard government’s legacy of good economic management.”
(Davidson)
RIGHTTTTT….
missiles incoming!!!!…phhhttt…PLOP.
April 21st, 2008 at 6:38 am
Good work Ken
April 21st, 2008 at 7:42 am
Ken,
I’m at a loss to understand why the conservative commentators are bolshing the summit. To see debate, ideas old and new, left right delegates debating - smells like democracy to me.
It’s better than being mothered to death by Howard and being told that they are bringing in policies that nobody wanted.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:11 am
I agree aj, it might all be hot air,symbolism, or any other thing you choose to label it, but it is some form of discussion between wider Australia and the government of the day.
Something we haven’t seen for a very long time.
April 21st, 2008 at 11:11 am
BBBBut kkken,
He’s an economist! Everybody knows that maths is an exact and pure science, so economists’ views aren’t ideological and prejudiced rants like the views spewed forth by the progressive mind. Their views on everything need to be understood as the logical eqivalent of If A=B, and B=C, then the left can clearly be shown to be totalitarian. It’s obvious to anyone who isn’t blinded by sheer kevinsim, and if you fail to understand this obvious point you clearly have been the victim of the maoists’ march through the institutions!
April 21st, 2008 at 11:54 am
I reckon we might just have to leave those grieving for the halcyon days of John wHoward’s vibrant democracy far behind.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Tim Costello warned of the danger of cutting off working families: “There is a chattering class obsessed by a set of issues, and I’m probably guilty of being part of it … (we) are probably in danger of forgetting that when we come away from the summit and talk these big ideas of tax reform and republic and human rights charters, in Frankston and Campbelltown they’ll go ‘What? I wanted something that gave me real hope for my future and my kids’.”
April 21st, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Davidson’s piece followed the Gerard Henderson logic - the economy is doing well which means the right won the culture wars. In Davidson’s view Rudd had a summit so it logically follows that we’re all going to hell in Julia Gillard’s handbasket. No need to elaborate on the obvious connection, apparently.
Did anyone at the summit suggest the abolition of the apostrophe might be more productive than trying to teach people to use it properly? If we dropped it altogether some people would be relieved of the agony of figuring how to use it, others wouldn’t constantly make idiots of themselves by misusing it, and the rest wouldn’t have to live with constant exposure to apostrophe abuse. Benefits all round I reckon.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:59 pm
I think it’s safe to say the professor has had his arse pwned big time.
No wonder the “international MSM” - whoever that might be - didn’t want a bar of Davidson’s drivel.
April 21st, 2008 at 6:13 pm
‘Lazarus-with a-dose of formaldehyde Howard’, I just looked at the Murray Cod head on my wall I caught in 1987 and preserved in formaldehyde and it looks more attractive than Howards ever did.Even more intelligent.
)
What the good(sic)Prof; means is that an all expenses pain weekend at say,Port Douglas would be worthy of my company,Canberra having gone to the pack in the last five months. And Nask,Count Howard, obvious ‘o’ error.(I know
April 21st, 2008 at 6:16 pm
“pain” ,good grief,bloody Freud. ( I may be right!)..
April 21st, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Ken you have probably missed a point,not about these woeful academics who wouldnt make it in business,unless the arse of the CEO,required refurnishings with a academic qualification,but, the tiresome nature their presence is for us who have always found that type unproductive.Seeing you were able to point out just one professor’s problem with his ego,seems like a minor score in a minor league.They are everywhere these cowards of being honest,and they have students,and students have families,and the parents work for somebody,and the somebody doesnt want to be considered a dullard.The dullard has to accept some preaching from the magnificoes who invade ,whatever the chosen media and government influence is.These cowards of honesty have by now picked over the bones of Obama’s networking vote gaining processes,and are pumping out the bile,to see how they can suture their own fiddlesticks to stay as academics until their sense of speech making and correcting gullible students finds a window of oppurtunity to be a top numbat like Kissinger,or the first-order war mongers who have joined Obama. Watch how these bastards create wind furnaces around themselves,so they can never face the fact,they should be fully unemployed without influence.And then like a secret weapon note when they seem to be addressing a particular audience,they simply arent,the codified language of name dropping even in the minor moments of simple clauses.Its like a book on Charles Manson Helter Skelter..and Australia is now both testing ground and home of the variations of that creature coming up from underground.All manipulated for the sake of the would be numbats.Nasking and others are wrong this is right outside Howardism,but, more the bloody disposessed of power hanging on like academia is an essential good that can be hidden behind.These bastards introduced the two way mirror into disputes amongst secondary education teachers tea and lunchbreaks to manipulate their senses of confrontation about education and practicalities!?Metaphorically speaking!
April 21st, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Full disclosure, while Davidson is a full professor, KenL is only an associate lecturer.
BWAHAHAHAHAH
April 21st, 2008 at 7:53 pm
#13.’only’.
Would like to ask you, however your second line gave me the answer.
April 21st, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Then again Glyn Davis is a vice chancellor and some commenters are morons.
It’s a funny old world.
April 21st, 2008 at 8:49 pm
philip travers, having read thru some of Davidson’s other posts i’ll admit you might be on the right track…& furthermore, I confused part of SLs intro w/ Davidson’s piece. My bad. Those of us opinionated types without a doctorate can talk some real piffle sometimes…as some of the bloggers (not Ken or Tim) & their esteemed academic mates like to remind us now & then. I also put it down to being off the grog for nigh on 4 mths…:) Damn sobriety!
Tho I imagine the Howeirdians would be applauding Davidson from the sidelines.
“and Australia is now both testing ground and home of the variations of that creature coming up from underground.”
elaborate please, your comments intrigue me…seriously…but i’ll be disappointed if you take the “Illuminati” road or refer to “reptiles”…the lack of alcohol has diminished some of the more “paranoid/ delusional” aspects of my character and consequently i feel less inclined to head into that particular maze. Tho it was intoxicating whilst it lasted.
April 21st, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Nask; just to be a pain(and well off topic), as I type I have fourty six ltrs; of beer bubbling in this very room, it’s cold here now so have to bring inside, it’s a mans world:), shit I’m in trouble, however, one’s an Ale,
Imp Voyage starter,
Safale us05 yeast
Malt
Dextrose
Sterling 6.30%aau hops
Then
Lager;
Morgans Blue Mountain
Malt
Dextrose
Cascade(American hops)580%aau
Saflager W34/70 yeast.
Don’t tell me you could resist that :).
April 21st, 2008 at 10:06 pm
crikey…talk about coincidences. I didn’t read your comment before i posted comment 16 Ken. For real. Just noticed it now after watching the recording of the ABC news & 7:30 Report. I was referring to other blogs i read…but now you’ve put yourself in it…lol.
I guess it pays to check the most recent comments before you post. Tho sometimes there is a weird synchronicity thing goin’ on between some commenters and blogs. It’s freaky. And that’s not my paranoia speaking…Philip K. Dick might’ve been onto something…:)
April 21st, 2008 at 10:16 pm
You wicked man Lang Mack…;)…i’m salivating and trying hard not to imagine that fine brew in my hand.
It’s time for me to stave off the craving w/ a delicious half orange & mango juice & half soda water w/ ice.
Tears are now streaming down my face.
Thru my blurred vision i’m seeing wee bottles of beer dancing in the air…the horror…the horror…
April 21st, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Nask,orange,mango and soda water.Bloody hell.
Look, have taken a quick vote,well it’s only me voting and I’ll send you an occasional report on what your missi err, on your new clean ,oh stuff it.
(Just thought I’d let you know that the Stout I brewed around eight months ago is bloody brilliant had two king browns of it tonight and Mrs.Fang whoops, Lang , gave me the look, not that you’d be interested..Cheers..:))
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:32 am
Sinclair manifests what Jungian’s would call “shadow projection” - especially when he declares the government “long on symbolism and short on substance.
“He has ratified Kyoto, and apologised to the so-called stolen generation of indigenous Australians but seemed stumped on what to do next.”
This is actually the position of the Right - rejected by the electorate, leaderless with no obvious direction for the future.
(Further evidence of this claim is Right’s major public response to the summit is on the question of Monarchy - what could be more emptily symbolic than this issue?)
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:25 pm
I only know of Sinclair Davidson through his posting at LP, Troppo and Quiggin (I don’t read catallaxy, too low a signal:noise ratio). He seems clever enough and articulate, but only compared to a bog average person, he certainly doesn’t seem to engage on the level of other academics on these fora. I had the impression he was much older, approaching retirement/senility, based purely on his postings. Now I see that he’s relatively young.
I’m sure he knows almost infinitely more than me about institutional economics, but beyond that he’s just another average boring right-wing dude, operating all too frequently these days in an evidence free zone
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Yoo Hoo Luvvies!!
Howard has gone. Like, ah, six months ago!
Yoo Hoo Luvvies. Wakey, wakey, hands off snarkey!
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:27 pm
17
Langmack,
Slightly off topic;
I brewed my own for about 15 years and like your good self used dextrose. About 5 years ago i could not tie up my shoe laces without puffing. I was diagnosed with a heart problem and blood tests showed fatty liver as well. I gave up and have done exercises since then and have come real good i think.
I am not for one minute suggesting that you stop having a drink but am suggesting to you that you use honey or some other alternative to dextrose.
I did a fair bit of research on dextrose and i totally blame it for my condition as it was then.
I suggest you do some researh on dextrose and
google Dextrose then google HFCS process.
By the way i am neither a Medical Practitioner or a bee keeper.
April 23rd, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Thanks for that Gaff; there is some info on brewers forums on sugars and other variables, I don’t drink as much as I brew (don’t tell Nask) as I get a lot of enjoyment out of experimentation.I’ll check it out.
Isn’t John Greenfield getting banned by various Blogs as he acts like a twit and may well be one?.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Actually, dextrose is the ‘natural’ sugar for the body, it is the only one that the body can use directly without being metabolised via the liver. The other common ‘free’ sugar, fructose, is much, much worse, it’s adverse effect on the liver is equivalent to alcohol. Common table sugar (and HFCS) is half dextrose, half fructose. Honey is not much better.
The two best sweeteners to consume from a health point of view, are xylitol, a sugar alcohol, and stevia, usually as a powder from the Stevia plant. Both are readily available in Oz, in health food stores, but are not cheap compared to regular sugar.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Slightly off topic, but I wonder if the Young liberal drone who was soooo upset about the political bias of her apparently left-leaning teacher would be offended at the obvious bias of Sinclair Davidson? Just wondering….
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:20 pm
You’re such a science wonk Seeker, good for you. My wife is the same…as you know…:)
I’ve had similar problems to you Gaffhook…and was pissing every hour…was a few drinks away from diabetes. Too many late nights worrying about the Howard crew, drinking grog more than i normally would, and even tho i was vegetarian i was eating at night way too much dairy, empty carbs & greasy stuff since Latham’s loss in 2004.
The gardening & domestic duties kept some weight off…but my walking had decreased due to sitting in front of the computer too much. Believe or not, i’ve cut that down considerably…& only hit my fave blogs now unless i’m doing some research. Generally not trying to take in huge amounts of blogs or other sites a day. Moderation is the key. Tho I imagine some wish my comments were an example of such…:) I’ll try harder.
The increased exercise, avoiding grog & watching the sugar, salt & refined carbs really helps. And meditation. I eat plenty of lentil, chick pea, bean, cashew, brown rice and other pulses now in my dishes…but in smaller amounts more often…& more flat breads & less vege pizzas & greasy cheesy soya burgers and such…losing good weight now, probably close to 20 kilos…& breathing much easier.
These days i tend to stick to freshly squeezed lemon in purified water or soda water…and one glass of Golden Circle’s mango/orange juice w/ soda water, occasionally a sip of cranberry juice…try to get most of my fruit intake from eating the real thing rather than juicing it.
& the rest of the time just herbal tea (Celestial Seasonings, Lemon Zinger, Tension Tamer, Sleepytime & Organic Vanilla Apple…& Lipton’s Cranberry, Rasberry & Strawberry…Nerada’s Rosehip or Green tea). Once in a while I’ll have an iced “fair trade” coffee…or an organic “Nature’s cuppa” organic English breakfast tea. And for special occasions “Abundant Earth” Organic Hot Chocolate.
And once or twice a week an organic carrot, beet, celery & org apple juice freshly made in the juicer is a MUST. Great for detoxing the organs.
When i first came off the grog my head felt like it was in a vice for weeks…i tended to need one “Red Eye” or “Red Bull” a night to deal w/ the monotony…& psychological pain…but now i’ve got that down to once or twice a week after 4 mths.
I’d never be a wowser and a hypocrite & tell you Lang Mack to stop drinking ’cause I know how much you love it…and you’ve got the ability to drink & moderate…yer a lucky man…& yep, the stuff you brew sounds “beaut”…but it suits me better to be away from it these days…for my overall health…& mood shifts. I want to get to your age…;)…
& I promise to keep listening to your music…lol
April 24th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Seeks, your right about Dextrose, didn’t want to get into it here as there are sites for such, and Nask I’m proud of you son, can I call you son? :), you’ll live to my age, will just seem longer:).
My son in law owns a small Brewery, commercial, and happily lives twelve hours away,and supplies me with unending types of yeasts and hops, plus additives that are hard to obtain for the amateur,he imports a lot, so I keep making these brews and supply my free loading mates with the results.The really good ones I keep in a dedicated area, the ‘iffy’ ones I give away. I’m just a good bloke:).
April 24th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
LM said: you’ll live to my age, will just seem longer..:)
lol…tell me about it LM. Still, i never promised I wouldn’t have a nice, cold brew now & then a few years down the road when i’ve got my body into reasonable shape again…what’s the point of hitting your 60s if you can’t enjoy yourself…& have a fun day out visiting a local brewery or vineyard…me & Mrs. nasking have to have someting to look forward to…;) And maybe a trip to Uluru.
Thnx for the support LM. Have a chilled amber nectar for me…provided you haven’t already charitably supplied them all to your parched mates…:)
As for Davidson’s assertion that “Mr. Rudd appears to be out of ideas”…it seems to me the Rudd/Gillard well is overflowing w/ ideas…if only some of the swines in the Corporate media would stop trying to poison the waters we might all get to slack our thirst by drinking the fresh stuff they’re offering…gotta be better than the tepid, sludgy sh*t Count Howard & his cronies were offering. “Workchoices”…bluurp
here are two workers who drank from the Howard Workchoices well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxXdMSXGS6M
April 24th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
And speaking of “not so good” ideas…Maxine McKew seems to have been throwing around the idea of shortening school holidays. Or fitting them into her “busy” lifestyle.
All I can say is, if we wanted to run our system like the Japanese Maxine the diggers might as well have just let them walk on in.
They fought for a “different way”…a better quality of life. Many were Unionists. Some were teachers.
One of the few motivators for teachers is the hols spent w/ their families. And plenty of kids love them too. There are plenty pf educators who slog their way thru “high pressure” class after class on pretty basic pay…doing voluntary after-school work & extra-curricula activities, like coaching & co-ordinating clubs & weekend excursions…then add to that the multitude of hours at home spent marking, planning, researching on the net and creating work units. Just because the system has a few under-performing types doesn’t mean heaps of teachers don’t take their job seriously. I know many who end the year w/ their eye balls dropping out from stress & fatigue.
Why is it that govts. these days always feel the need to throw the baby out w/ the bath water?…treat every worker like they are a unit in an efficiency factory? They talk about families spending more valuable time together…but sometimes it feels like they are more interested in acting like a business executive & applying their “rarely at home” lifestyle to every other individual and work sector.
Seems to me some so called “feminists” are becoming the best friend the Corporate World has ever had.
Some of us actually enjoy being w/ our families after they’ve been working their butts off…& as a kid I loved spending time w/ my grandparents & guardians during the hols.
The future is not about creating a Japanese factory environment…I’m damned if i want to spend the years w/ a robotic dog as a companion…instead of my hard working wife.
They don’t sell her at Walmart.
April 25th, 2008 at 12:02 am
Wow, apparently tax rates have suddenly stopped affecting the rubes! Good thing that didn’t happen during the Howard era, or those guys would’ve been in hot water.