Politics, The Final Frontier (Politics)

[Mick Harper]

I learned yesterday that North Korea is exporting tens of thousands of its citizens to the Russian Far East to work on various projects. They are paid at the lowest Russian pay scales, work eighteen hours a day and get two days off a year.

Both the North Korean and Russian governments benefit enormously from this arrangement so presumably it will continue indefinitely. So what's new, you ask? Me. For some reason I blew a gasket. North Korea has been going for nigh on eighty years, cheek by jowl with South Korea whose citizens are among the wealthiest (and freest) people in the world, and that has been going on for nigh on eighty years as well.

How dare such a situation exist on this our world.

[Mick Harper]

Assumption One: Millions of kids grow up without undue grief
Assumption Two: A few thousand kids come to grief for unknown reasons
Assumption Three: Something big comes along, million of kids benefit
Assumption Four: The something big caused the kids to come to grief
Assumption Five: The something big will be banned

This is all part of the 'Victim Society'. Everything is judged not by how society benefits but how a small section of society suffers. There is not even a pretence at applying the felicific calculus.

Let me know if you ever hear someone on the telly say, "I accept everything you say, it's all very tragic and the cause is clear enough, but I want it to go ahead anyway." Or even, "I accept everything you say, I'd love to ban it, but it's not technically possible so that's an end to it. Sorry."

[Grant]

Funniest example of this at the moment is the campaign to ban under 16s from using social media. Funny because you know that the campaigners spend hours every day on social media.

"But we must save the kiddies!"

[Mick Harper]

I only found out yesterday that passenger planes have to pay 'overflight fees' when they cross other people's territory. Two surprises here: that they have to and that I didn't know.