In the strange quiet 'twixt Christmas and the New Year I bring you three light fluffy concoctions of confusion: Starmer asks UK regulators for ideas to boost growth; A new Iranian approach to regional security and prosperity, by M. Javad Zarif; and Andrew Dessler with Out-of-control corporate power is the real cause of climate change.But before we begin, a few lines come my way (via Icehenge) from Poly Olbion:
Ill did those mightie men to trust thee with their storie,That hast forgot their names, who rear’d thee for their glorie:For all their wondrous cost, thou that hast serv’d them so,What tis to trust to Tombes, by thee we easely know3.
We start with poor Starmer who asks UK regulators for ideas to boost growth. The poor idiot Labour party - indeed, a great many politicians - remind me of Atlas Shrugged; not the wodges of philosophy, of course, but the uncomprehending stupidity with which they attempt to solve the problems they themselves have created by doing yet more things. In this case Starmer is - of course - correct to worry about regulation; but the problem is over-regulation, not the exact wording of any particular rule; and expecting the regulators to suggest less regulation falls foul of it is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.
No less witty and amusing is the Economist's Iran’s vice-president on how his country can make the region more secure and prosperous (probably paywalled). It is witty because near the beginning he offers us the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, non-intervention and collective security, and yet he never once mentions that the Iranian theocrats have been funding terrorists in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, causing untold harm, most especially to the poor people of these various countries; ironically of course his country does hold the key to making the region more secure and prosperous, by just not doing all those evil things. It is all, of course, a pointless waste of words; with some good luck, he won't be around to spew this nonsense for too much longer1.
Coming in at number three is Andrew Dessler2 who, in order to prove that "trust the scientists" should extend no further than the science, says "I stand with unions", and argues that the Real Cause of Climate Change is not greenhouse gases, but concentrated corporate power. Since I'm trying to keep this light 'n' fluffy I'll go no further than to say this is all deeply stupid: the Evil Corporates are striving hard to fulfill the desires of their customers, and no: arguing that they "create desire" is drivel and excuse-making.
Notes
1. That isn't a prediction, it is a hope.
2. Via QS. Amusingly, I find (via myself) AD saying "If a fossil fuel company wants to fund my research, I will gladly take their money". More Dessler chez moi; I'll stop at The flower of poor thinking is to lack influence.
3. He is writing about Stonehenge, so - fittingly for this post - is also a bit confused; nonetheless the words are lovely.
Refs
* ¡AI Caramba! - RC.
