wat
Scientific Method?Jay wrote:
Bureaucracy came about because people tried to apply the scientific method to government. Really has nothing to do with economic philosophy.
Politicians wouldn't know a damn thing about the scientific method, even if we locked them in little cages and called them test animals.
It would be a damn good start.
But I don't think it'd educate them on the scientific method.
Economic theory, political theory, social theory.
All boils down to a fundamental problem;
"People gotta eat, sleep, and fuck.
Given a particular tribe's peculiar proclivities [i.e. culture], manage them such that they don't kill themselves off.
For extra credit, get some useful work out of them."
All boils down to a fundamental problem;
"People gotta eat, sleep, and fuck.
Given a particular tribe's peculiar proclivities [i.e. culture], manage them such that they don't kill themselves off.
For extra credit, get some useful work out of them."
Last edited by rdx-fx (2012-04-10 11:13:02)
It was the entire foundation for the Progressive movement. They wanted the government to provide certain things, but governments were hopelessly inefficient. So the progressives had to clean up government first. New York, for example, went from 169 government departments down to around 14 after Alfred E Smith was elected for the second time. Every government job was broken down into hundreds of component parts and the workers were graded on their performance in this way. Failing grades led to firings, in theory at least. Experimentation, statistical analysis, documentation, etc were taken from the laboratory and applied to people and their jobs.rdx-fx wrote:
Scientific Method?Jay wrote:
Bureaucracy came about because people tried to apply the scientific method to government. Really has nothing to do with economic philosophy.
Politicians wouldn't know a damn thing about the scientific method, even if we locked them in little cages and called them test animals.
It would be a damn good start.
But I don't think it'd educate them on the scientific method.
"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat
-Frederick Bastiat
eerr wat?
Bureaucracy is the natural government response to increased social complexity. Meaning: as society gets more complex government bureaucracy will grow to manage the new complexity.
This is true no matter what government or economic system you have. There is nothing really scientific about it.
Bureaucracy is the natural government response to increased social complexity. Meaning: as society gets more complex government bureaucracy will grow to manage the new complexity.
This is true no matter what government or economic system you have. There is nothing really scientific about it.
Last edited by Macbeth (2012-04-10 11:20:32)
I'm not arguing about the starting points of governments, or the idealism that periodically sparks a revolution here and there.Jay wrote:
It was the entire foundation for the Progressive movement. They wanted the government to provide certain things, but governments were hopelessly inefficient. So the progressives had to clean up government first. New York, for example, went from 169 government departments down to around 14 after Alfred E Smith was elected for the second time. Every government job was broken down into hundreds of component parts and the workers were graded on their performance in this way. Failing grades led to firings, in theory at least. Experimentation, statistical analysis, documentation, etc were taken from the laboratory and applied to people and their jobs.
I'm arguing that fundamental culture dictates the fixed end-point.
"meet the new boss, same as the old boss"
You are not going to effect meaningful change in a society, unless you fundamentally change the culture.
And that is the domain of the authors, poets, and philosophers.
Unfortunately, it takes about 1000 years (on average) to get any useful work out of that feckless lot..
Change the government every 200 years, while we wait for the 'nobler souls' to get off their asses and do their jobs.
oh my thankyou scientist sirrah, thank you for delegating me some work in your grandscheme, please sah, feel free to whip me again sir, yes sirrah
libertarian benefit collector - anti-academic super-intellectual. http://mixlr.com/the-little-phrase/
American government was always chaotic and corrupt. Certain segments of the population decided that they wanted a more efficient government, and Good Government groups sprouted up from time to time. They'd elect a reformer, pat themselves on the back, and it would revert to the old patronage system under different letterhead. Cleaning up the government and making it more efficient was the goal of socialists because they wanted to change the fundamental purpose of government itself. They couldn't do that effectively when 90% of the money the government took in was wasted by the entrenched kleptocrats. Of course, the efficiency didn't last and now we have both an inefficient government and the expensive social programs.Macbeth wrote:
eerr wat?
Bureaucracy is the natural government response to increased social complexity. Meaning: as society gets more complex government bureaucracy will grow to manage the new complexity.
This is true no matter what government or economic system you have.
"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat
-Frederick Bastiat
lol okay
"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat
-Frederick Bastiat
yeah, that's probably why we only discussed it in class and never had to write anything on it lolUzique wrote:
seriously surprised any high-school set that text as required-reading. it's considered difficult for graduate students.
on a non-pynchon related note, i'm glad you like my pendulous sweaty balls
libertarian benefit collector - anti-academic super-intellectual. http://mixlr.com/the-little-phrase/
- globefish23
- sophisticated slacker
- +334|6610|Graz, Austria
Even today.Uzique wrote:
well, since the mid-19th century. even france and germany didn't have unified languages until relatively 'modern' times. they had lots of regional dialects. france and germany both went through a gigantic amount of imperial effort to unify their languages and dictionaries.
Go tell a Bavarian that he is a German, and he'll slap you around the face with his Brezen.
do your balls hang low, do they wobble to-and-froUzique wrote:
on a non-pynchon related note, i'm glad you like my pendulous sweaty balls
big dick playa', swinging past my knees
libertarian benefit collector - anti-academic super-intellectual. http://mixlr.com/the-little-phrase/
libertarian benefit collector - anti-academic super-intellectual. http://mixlr.com/the-little-phrase/
You need some colored ribbons for motivation, or just a decent bottle of Absinthe?Uzique wrote:
oh my thankyou scientist sirrah, thank you for delegating me some work in your grandscheme, please sah, feel free to whip me again sir, yes sirrah
Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got my coworkers hamster wheels to go oil.
Massah sees us talkin', he's a-gonna whips us fo sho.
i'll take 100 µg of lsd, instramuscular please. i'll be spilling forth culture from every orifice and the world shall be changed as i die and go to heaven.
libertarian benefit collector - anti-academic super-intellectual. http://mixlr.com/the-little-phrase/
[video]http://www.metacafe.com/watch/3993738/tom_cruise_dance_tropic_thunder/[/video]Uzique wrote:
I stood in line for four hours. They better give me a Wal-Mart gift card, or something. - Rodney Booker, Job Fair attendee.
Can we go back to first world problems?
i tried to convey just how hilarious that dance sequence was to my (frankly skeptical) girlfriend one time, and went to great effort to find that scene online in a good quality rip, and she didn't laugh at all. high minded literary types, i tell you... the triple entendres of postmodern irony and self-mockery in that scene were a delight to me. the entire film is wrapped in so many layers of irony and self-reflexivity that you're not sure whether to laugh or cry.
libertarian benefit collector - anti-academic super-intellectual. http://mixlr.com/the-little-phrase/
Having to move my mouse ever so often so I don't appear idle.
Typing on a broken iPhone touchscreen.
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I am not sure if I swallowed my gum or spit it out. I know I was chewing a piece before I got a bottle of soda but I don't remember what I did with my gum.
Missed the first few minutes of Criminal Minds. Now I have to wait an hour to download it because the first few minutes sets up the entire episode plot