At The Register.
About prostitution. Not quite sure why I\’m writing for geeks about prostitution really: Linux has made that entirely unnecessary*.
* Such a bad joke that Microsoft actually used it in an advertisement in New Zealand.
At The Register.
About prostitution. Not quite sure why I\’m writing for geeks about prostitution really: Linux has made that entirely unnecessary*.
* Such a bad joke that Microsoft actually used it in an advertisement in New Zealand.
“Not quite sure why I’m writing for geeks about prostitution really”
The Register has mutated from being an IT publication. It has become something of a more technical publication on Sci/Tech in general. It also has a pro-liberty attitude.
I’ve often wondered why it’s like that. I think it’s because the net from the early days has been libertarian (it took a decade for politicians to even notice the web, let alone the internet itself) and so operated in a government-free way (one reason for the success).
I also think it’s that IT practitioners require analytical skills to do their jobs, and government policy is very similar to a requirements specification. Those of us able to poke holes in a spec are just as able to poke holes in a ludicrous “vision thing” from politicians.
Quite why more politicians don’t have the skills to analyze their own fatuous proposals, I don’t know. You’d have thought it would make it easier to govern.
Tim adds: A slightly rhetorical question there from me to get that Linux joke in there.
I do know why I’m writing at The Register. Because the editor is/was a reader here.
Quite why more politicians don’t have the skills to analyze their own fatuous proposals, I don’t know.
I just don’t think politics particularly selects for contemplative kinds of people. There are undoubtedly *some* thinkers in politics, but they tend not to do very well, marooned on the back benchers as rather dangerous loose cannons. Party machines select for people who are good at making friends with the right people, who will put the party first; greasy pole climbers. As with any large organisation, really.
I was saying to my sister just the other day when we were talking about politics, that I’ve sometimes commented on labour pol K3rry McC4rthy’s blog, and while she stands for everything which I loathe, she seems like a nice enough person. But what doesn’t come across is much depth- much contemplation. Her thinking is like that on display from most politicians. It’s all A therefore B without questioning what assumptions are being carried along in the “therefore”.
Most political thinking is just loud-man-in-the-pub stuff. He gets a bee in his bonnet about something (prostitution, smoking, cats pooing in his flowerbeds) and just declares that “it ought to be stopped”. But pols actually have the power to make laws, unlike the man in the pub, which is why they’re dangerous.
I actually think most of them mean well in what they do. They’re just not deep enough to understand the ramifications of their actions. They don’t care because they don’t realise that they should.
The only qualities for becoming a politician, are 1. the desire to tell other people what to do, 2. persuasiveness and 3. the willingness to do (almost) anything to get into power and stay there. That goes for *all* politicians.
Arguably, the desire to be a politician should disqualify a person for the job, but what’s the alternative? Maybe picking people off the street at random to serve a non-renewable term?
Yeah, very good article, Timmy.
Check out Bernard Chapin for a different angle on prostitution:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VkQ6jme_pWc&feature=channel
Be prepared to give up a couple of hours to watching his other stuff after you’ve seen this, though. This guy is mint.