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18th October 2006, 01:47 PM
Now don`t get me wrong-I don`t usually read newspapers but t`other day, I picked one up and read about the Sir Richard general type-blokey. A journalist by the name of Max Hastings said this.....
"It has been a fundamental doctrine of the Blair government since 1997 that it does not matter how things really are, as long as they can be made to look right." Hastings goes on to describe this as a fantasy notion of government and a "lets pretend" school of strategy. Daily Mail, pp 12-13 sat Oct 14.
Rang a few bells with me....what say you?
..knowledge without action is insanity and action without knowledge is vanity..(imam ghazali,ayyuhal-walad)
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18th October 2006, 01:58 PM
You were reading the Daily Fascist?!!!! Oh no!
the future's bright; the future's trowel shaped
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18th October 2006, 01:59 PM
Bells are ringing though!
the future's bright; the future's trowel shaped
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18th October 2006, 06:04 PM
Of course, this kind of argument can cut both ways. You could misquote Max Hastings as saying something like:
"...it does not matter how things really are, as long as you can present a distorted, idealogically-driven argument to show that they are actually much worse."
As usual, the truth will be in the shades of grey somewhere in the middle, not at either extreme.
1man1desk
to let, fully furnished
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18th October 2006, 06:52 PM
That might be true 1man when the exponents of said views are equally matched. When those with power, authority and a vested interest in the staus quo are saying 'all's well', and those without any of the above are saying 'No its not!', its more than possible that the latter are 100 per cent correct.
When the kid cried out that 'the emperor has no clothes', the truth wasn't that the emperor had A FEW clothes on (grey or otherwise)...
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19th October 2006, 01:02 PM
I very much doubt that Max Hastings has ever been in the camp of "those without power, authority and a vested interest in the status quo"! Educated at Charterhouse and Oxford, former editor of the Daily Telegraph etc. etc. Extremely courageous war correspondent, who would probably eat Troll for breakfast.
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19th October 2006, 02:21 PM
Yes, but how digestible is Troll?
Possibly scope for a whole new thread there...
1man1desk
to let, fully furnished
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19th October 2006, 02:29 PM
Posted by Real Job:
Quote:quote:When those with power, authority and a vested interest in the staus quo are saying 'all's well', and those without any of the above are saying 'No its not!', its more than possible that the latter are 100 per cent correct
But I don't think that most of those with power and authority in British archaeology
are saying 'all's well'.
I'm not, for a start, and I am a member of one of Troll's favourite target groups - quite a senior consultant. Mr Hosty isn't, either, and he belongs to another target group - curators.
The real difference between us and Troll is not in whether or not we think all is well, but in how we analyse the problems and in the solutions we come up with.
Bear in mind also that those with power and authority might have a vested interest in some aspects of the status quo, but they also have a vested interest in improved standards. After all, if standards improved across the board, then fees charged for archaeological fieldwork would also increase across the board.
1man1desk
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20th October 2006, 02:52 PM
"It has been a fundamental doctrine of the Blair government since 1997 that it does not matter how things really are, as long as they can be made to look right." Hastings goes on to describe this as a fantasy notion of government and a "lets pretend" school of strategy. Daily Mail, pp 12-13 sat Oct 14.
Surely thats just a continuation of the Thatcherite propaganda policy put out by Bernard Ingham and others in the 80's.
"Freedom of ideas is one thing, freedom of the purse is quite another". Edward Harris
