The news from Germany is that "locally-grown bean-sprouts" may have caused the E-coli outbreak. Which caused a certain confusion in the pub this evening, as people wondered where in the East of England they were growing bean-sprouts. Until we explained that the news report meant, local to Germany. Not local to the TV viewers.
Apparently, "The BBC's Stephen Evans in Berlin says the announcement may cause embarrassment to German authorities, who had earlier pointed to Spanish farms as the source of the outbreak."
Because that's really important, isn't it? 22 people have died. And the most important thing is not, calmly and responsibly, to prevent more deaths. No. The most important thing is to consider whether any public authorities might be embarrassed.
Stuff the embarrassment. Forget political considerations. When something is wrong, work out why it's wrong. And then stop it. You can be embarrassed later, when people stop dying.
Dear Archdruid,
ReplyDeletecommendable, down-to-earth words. Well done.
Alas, you seem to underestimate some profound facts (even though I don't like the word) about politicians: (1) on the whole, the longer someone is in power, the more likely it is that they don't give a shit; (2) getting into, and staying in power is the number 1 concern in contemporary democracies (not 'doing' anything, really), and therefore PR is everything. Blair's blatant obsession with, and privileging of PR in politics, was just one example.
Which is why anarchists (I mean the free-socialist variety in the 20s and 30s) were on the right track.
There - that should set off another blog posting.
I think you're right about the power, Holger. I used to know an anarchist. He'd turn up at political rallies with a black flag about 17 feet high, even though he was only 5 feet 2. I used to think if anarchy ever did break out, maybe I could hit him with the flag. Give him a real taste of what having no authority meant. Of course, it never did.
ReplyDeleteHey, I never carried a flag! And I'm not 5-2 either! Humph.
ReplyDelete