This is just too dumb to bear. A society is not a household. Isn't there anyone with any brains out there? Einstein brought relativity to the science community of Europe. Poets rescued J.S. Mill with connotative reality a form of relativity. But no one seems to have learned the lesson and we have all of these boobs who will create chaos for a dollar. Disgusting! See below for John N. Warfield's pioneering work in spurious saliency, unproductive emulation and cultural lag. Not to mention productivity lag. You have to think outside the box folks. Otherwise you hurt until you are driven outside the box. Warfield was talking below about the same problems in Academia but it's a much better model for societal management than a household. The flow of information and the value of tradition and future planning in academia is much more relevant to guiding a society than the household budget.
REH 2.1 Diagnosis #1: Kenneth Boulding and the PIPS. Part of the diagnosis pertaining to displaceable content of formal academic programs can be found in Kenneth Boulding's discussion of Poor Intellectual Productivity (PIP). According to Boulding [1], poor intellectual productivity has three principal origins or Sources: unproductive emulation, spurious saliency, and cultural lag. Unproductive emulation refers to what might be called "global academic groupthink" (GAG), a particular species of groupthink [2], in which one postulates that there are some truly outstanding academic institutions, and that those institutions who aspire to share in the greatness should emulate the outstanding ones. Spurious saliency refers to what might be described as allocating importance to content that far exceeds the proper allocation. Cultural lag refers to major time delays in assessing and implementing advances. 2.2 Diagnosis #2: Structural Incompetency Virus. Part of the diagnosis pertaining to displaceable content of academic programs is that academics (both faculty and administrators) suffer from SIV, the Structural Incompetency Virus. This afflication was discovered in group discussion extending over a prolonged period by a group of program managers from the U. S. Department of Defense. It refers to a situation where, no matter what talent a person has, no matter what intelligent action a person might bring to a problematic situation, no matter what insights could be applied to resolving crises, the individual is precluded from exercising those talents and insights by virtue of the organizational structure in which the individual is embedded. In the Department of Defense, a significant part of that organizational structure is the vast set of laws and regulations (confusing, contradictory, and almost unlimited in amount), along with the unpredictable micromanagement imposed on the program managers by an overstaffed array of bureaucrats, legislators, auditors, and comptrollers. The extent of abuse of their various authority is commensurate only with the absence of responsibility for the mindless impact of their unpredictable and uncorrelated interventions. 2.3 Diagnosis #3: Underconceptualization Stemming from Defective Presuppositions. Part of the diagnosis pertaining to displaceable content of academic programs is that the application of power in making choices is based on underconceptualization stemming from defective presuppositions [3]. The application of defective presuppositions apparently is at the root of a great many bad decisions made by managers of all types, including those in the academic establishment. The defective presuppositions are quite frequently not articulated (often because they are buried in the subsconscious), and consequently cannot be corrected through discussion. Underconceptualization is a kind of system concept in which matters of considerable importance to some particular content are ignored, leading to a sub-conceptualization originating in the defective presuppositions. 2.4 Diagnosis #4: The Attraction of Magnificent Academic Trusels. A "trusel" is an idea or a finding that is widely perceived to be true, but which is largely useless (or even of negative value). (The idea that a truth may lack value may be disturbing, but it is true, although it is not a trusel and probably will not be thought to be magnificent.) A "Magnificent Academic Trusel" (MAT) is a trusel that has been widely acknowledged for its intellectual content (explicitly or implicitly), but without a corresponding amount of attention being given to its utility or even to its potential negative value for society. The negative value may come from commission or omission. It may deal with the content of a discipline, with the way a discipline is perceived, with knowledge that cuts across disciplines, and even with "integrative studies". Academia is an environment where two main things go on as the defining part of the image that characterizes academia. These are: (a) faculty actions, involving the advancement of thousands of ideas to a student clientele (whether formally in the classroom or informally in the research environment) and (b) administrative actions involving the imposition of dozens of decisions that affect faculty-student performance and morale. For reasons that are widely understood and accepted, the advancement of particular ideas is almost never subjected to prior scrutiny for evaluative purposes. Thus the concept of "quality control" in academia is weak, at best, and there is little likelihood that this situation will ever change through administrative action alone. Any attempt to "police" faculty utterances in the classroom will meet with deserving scorn. Because the life of the faculty member in an academic institution is often hectic, and usually involves high motivation and long hours, administrative decision making seldom is much affected by the busy faculty at large; although some token representation is usually to be had. Administrative rhetoric constantly reminds the faculty (much to the satisfaction of the faculty, who like to have this fiction sustained) that the faculty comprise the ruling body, when all the while the administration is making those decisions at will that often reflect biased and uninformed opinions about what is going on in the complex institution called a university. In an environment of this kind, where a faculty member can say almost anything in a classroom without fear of being called to account; and where there is an administrative-faculty tacit agreement that the administration can rule indiscriminately where it counts the most (i.e., in budget allocations), it is inevitable that severe abuse can take place both with respect to the propagation of knowledge and to the individual faculty member. If constructive change is ever to occur, it seemingly must involve a change in the mental models of the faculty leading eventually to a different view of academic administration, and a meeting of the minds that allows academia to evolve to a higher level of respectability. Just replace academia with the issues facing politicians. The Universities have ignored these principles and are now pricing themselves out of their student base as well. It's all nuts. REH From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Michael Gurstein Sent: Friday, September 17, 2010 6:21 PM To: 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION' Subject: [Futurework] FW: Wasteland: Europe stalked by spectre of mass unemployment -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Sid Shniad Sent: Friday, September 17, 2010 2:30 PM Subject: Wasteland: Europe stalked by spectre of mass unemployment http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/wasteland-europe-stalked-by- spectre-of-mass-unemployment-2080499.html The Independent 16 September 2010 Wasteland: Europe stalked by spectre of mass unemployment Rise in UK claimants prompts calls for rethink in austerity plans By Alistair Dawber <http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/wasteland-europe-stalked-by -spectre-of-mass-unemployment-2080499.html?action=Popup> * <http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/wasteland-europe-stalked-by -spectre-of-mass-unemployment-2080499.html?action=Popup> PhotosCLICK TO ENLARGE GRAPHIC The UK's fragile economic recovery was exposed yesterday by disappointing employment figures and an unexpected rise in the number of people claiming unemployment benefits. The claimant count, which measures the number of people claiming jobseekers' allowance, increased by 2,300 in August, the first rise since December last year, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics. The jump confounded City forecasts, which had pointed to further declines - and will alarm policy makers, coming as it does in the wake of this week's IMF warning that Europe risks becoming an employment "wasteland" in which joblessness threatens entire societies. Overall, unemployment in the UK fell by 8,000 in the three months to July on the preferred International Labour Organisation (ILO) calculation. Joblessness in the UK now stands at 2.47 million, or 7.8 per cent. But even the ILO data will do little to take the pressure off Chancellor George Osborne ahead of next month's Comprehensive Spending Review. Heavy spending cuts are certain to be announced, leading to the loss of thousands - probably tens of thousands - of public-sector jobs. "The labour market data are both disappointing and worrying overall, fuelling fears that the improvement in the labour market is coming to an end as companies' fears mount over the strength and sustainability of the upturn. This is even before public-sector job cutting really gets underway," said Howard Archer, a chief economist at IHS Global Insight. "Major job losses are on the way in the public sector as the Government slashes spending, and we doubt that the private sector will be able fully to compensate for this. Indeed, we suspect that firms will become increasingly cautious in their employment plans, reflecting their concerns that the intensified fiscal squeeze will hold back growth." Officials will take solace from higher employment levels, with 286,000 people finding work in the quarter to July, the biggest increase since records began in 1971. But the jump was a result of an increase in temporary vacancies and part-time roles. More than 100,000 new jobs went to former students. Yesterday's UK figures are also likely to ratchet up the tension between the unions and the Government. At their annual conference in Manchester this week, union leaders promised to fight future public-sector jobs cuts with co-ordinated industrial action. Brendan Barber, the TUC general secretary, said: "The worry must be that we are at a turning point as spending cuts hit business and consumer confidence. What is clear is that the economy is still extremely fragile. With more than one in six young people without work, the best the Government can expect is a largely jobless recovery." The figures yesterday followed a contrite response to the financial crisis from the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, who told the TUC conference the "cost of this crisis will be with us for a generation". Mr King will have been acutely aware of the fact that, earlier this week, the IMF said that creeping unemployment across the world could be costlier than restarting national stimulus packages, and that rich nations should again consider reflating their economies to avoid a jobs meltdown. At an IMF conference in Oslo on Monday, the Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who is grappling with 20 per cent unemployment in his country, said high unemployment may trigger a "crisis of confidence" in Europe, adding that sustained periods of severe joblessness were as likely to worry markets as much as high public-sector deficits. The European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, Laszlo Andor, added that 2010 had so far been an "annus horribilis" for unemployment, warning that, "if we fail to act, 2011 may still turn out to be the annus horribilis for social cohesion". Pessimists fear that the UK could not escape untouched by such a crisis. Yet the country is in a stronger position than many others in Europe. Countries like Greece, Spain and Portugal have seen joblessness rocket to more than 10 per cent as their governments have been bounced into a series of tough austerity measures, cutting public-sector debt in an effort to persuade the markets that they will not default on their sovereign bonds. Greek unemployment fell to 11.6 per cent in June from 12 per cent in May, statistics released last week revealed, but the level has jumped from 8.6 per cent in June last year. The increase is a result of cuts designed to trim Greece's burgeoning budget deficit, which stands at 13.6 per cent of GDP. Meanwhile, the blight of joblessness stretches right across Europe, from Portugal, where unemployment stands at 10.8 per cent, to Lithuania (17.3 per cent) and Latvia (20.1 per cent). Such statistics can hardly fail to have an impact on the British economy, and a number of economists expect the UK's advantage to be eroded as the Chancellor's cuts are implemented. "A number of eurozone countries have already started implementing cuts as part of their austerity measures," said Vicky Redwood of Capital Economics. "This process has not yet really started in the UK." According to Mr King: "The current plan is to reduce the deficit steadily over five years - a more gradual fiscal tightening than in some other countries." Economists believe, however, that the British cuts will inevitably lead to higher unemployment. Hetal Mehta, a UK economist at Daiwa Securities, said: "We are forecasting that [British] unemployment will continue to rise and that it will almost certainly be higher than the current level by the end of next year. The private sector will pick up some of the slack, but the overall effect on unemployment figures will be limited." Andrew Goodwin, senior economic adviser to accountancy group Ernst & Young's ITEM Club, agreed, describing the outlook for the labour market as, "pretty bleak". Government departments are scrambling to avoid the worst of the job cuts, with ministers already ordering leading public-sector workers to draw up plans for managing with fewer staff. Meanwhile, the outlook for employment across Europe remains bleak. Capital Economics expects the jobless total to rise both in this country and in the eurozone over the next three years. Worryingly, however, the pace of job losses is expected to be faster in Britain. The group reckons that unemployment in Europe will peak at 10.5 per cent, only a small increase on the current levels, while the level at home will rise to 10 per cent. The firm expects 16 million people to be without a job in the eurozone alone by 2013. Meanwhile, the total for all 27 EU nations has already passed 23 million, according to the OECD - up nearly 36 per cent since 2007. The challenge of reversing this trend could stretch Europe to its limits. !DSPAM:2676,4c93dde7177551800111139!
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