caroljane Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 According to the National Post (awordsworth@natpost.com)the state of Belgium has now been without a government for more than ten months and is doing just fine. The key is that regional governments are still in place, and as Laurens de Vos wrote in the Guardian,.."a nonexistent national government is unable to spend any money, which has proved an economical policy." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selene Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 According to the National Post (awordsworth@natpost.com)the state of Belgium has now been without a government for more than ten months and is doing just fine. The key is that regional governments are still in place, and as Laurens de Vos wrote in the Guardian,.."a nonexistent national government is unable to spend any money, which has proved an economical policy."Carol:I have been tempted to post about this for almost two (2) months. Amazing how everything seems to be going quite well. Hardly a single famine, plague or screams of help us have made it across the channel, let alone the pond!Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Coates Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 > the state of Belgium has now been without a government for more than ten months and is doing just fine. The key is that regional governments are still in place,..."a nonexistent national government is unable to spend any money, which has proved an economical policy." [Daunce]Speaking as a Brussels Sprout, my heart swells with pride at the ineptitude of my birthplace. [Daunce, didn't George accuse you of being a "socialist", with his usual penchant for accuracy? If so, you really shouldn't be enjoying this.] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George H. Smith Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 [Daunce, didn't George accuse you of being a "socialist", with his usual penchant for accuracy? If so, you really shouldn't be enjoying this.]Bzzzz...I'm sorry, Phil, but you got it wrong again. The correct answer is:I hope my posts lean to my strong belief in individual rights. But I am a socialist, in that I believe that governments need to exist, and that the best guardian of those rights is the kind of socialist system in which I have lived all my life.I admire many things about Rand and Objectivism, and especially the quality of followers they attract.But I dance with the one that brung me.Ghs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brant Gaede Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I'm beginning to think Phil reads posts osmotically. --Brant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caroljane Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 I'm beginning to think Phil reads posts osmotically. --BrantThere's truth in this quip. I think after a while we all read osmotically* - we absorb what most interests us, and along with the thoughts expressed in a particular post we take in our impression of the writer himself, and often think we know what they might or might not have written on a particular subject. Here for example, Phil had no particular reason to think me socialistic from whatever posts of mine he had read.I should clarify that I don't believe that any governmental system, including the one I favour, is automatically "best" for every situation, just as unions are not necessary or appropriate in every workplace. *Ba'al excepted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selene Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I'm beginning to think Phil reads posts osmotically. --BrantThere's truth in this quip. I think after a while we all read osmotically* - we absorb what most interests us, and along with the thoughts expressed in a particular post we take in our impression of the writer himself, and often think we know what they might or might not have written on a particular subject. Here for example, Phil had no particular reason to think me socialistic from whatever posts of mine he had read.I should clarify that I don't believe that any governmental system, including the one I favour, is automatically "best" for every situation, just as unions are not necessary or appropriate in every workplace. *Ba'al exceptedAhh yes, selective retention and selective perception, two of the key concepts that I taught when I was teaching persuasion, propaganda and rhetoric. Also, as I am sure Michael knows, heavily in internet marketing.International Encyclopedia of Communication"Perception refers to the process of categorizing and interpreting information that is attended to (→ Perception ). Selective perception refers to the process of categorizing and interpreting information in a way that favors one category or interpretation over another. Thus, selective perception is generally considered to represent a bias in → information processing . More specifically, information tends to be selectively perceived in ways that are congruent with existing individual needs, goals, values, → attitudes , and beliefs. This process generally occurs automatically, outside the conscious awareness of the perceiver (→ Automaticity ). The process of selective perception can occur at various stages of perception, including the initial recognition and categorization of stimuli, attention to competing stimuli, and the interpretation of these stimuli. Selective retention (also known as selective memory) is a similar process by which some information is retained and stored in → Memory (and is thus available for retrieving) and other information is not (and is thus forgotten). Like selective perception, selective retention is biased in terms of what information gets retained, with information that is more congruent with existing belief structures more likely to be retained in memory (and thus more likely to be recalled at a later time) than information that is less congruent ..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Daunce... If so, you really shouldn't be enjoying this.Carol,Do you accept this kind of instruction without compunction? I didn't think you were that easy.Don't mind me...Just wondering how far I can go with you to induce guilt. I've heard it said that brainwashing is an art, not a science.As for my opinion of this stuff in general, I recall the wise words I have heard attributed to several sources: "Don't you dare should on me." Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caroljane Posted March 9, 2011 Author Share Posted March 9, 2011 Daunce... If so, you really shouldn't be enjoying this.Carol,Do you accept this kind of instruction without compunction? I didn't think you were that easy. MichaelI accept instructions only from my Control at the Sacred Igloo, who conveys messages in secret ways through many unwitting messengers.Hmmm-- let me read your and Adam's posts again ...mwahahaha.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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