Our current cascade of tedious Brexit stories does at least remind us that one of the great public sector techniques is
pedantry. For all I know it may be just as useful in the private sector, but in
the public sector it is impossible to move without encountering it. That of course is the point.
An analogy is climbing hills while out walking. Go at your
own pace and the thing is easily done, but ignore the hill and stay where you
are - that's easier and less subject to exposure. The advantage of pedantry is similar – it slows things down
to a personally advantageous pace. In many cases that would be a standstill - which is what Brexit is fighting.
2 comments:
Here we have a hill and just over the brow are the fabled sunny uplands of economic nirvanah. Tighten the laces and start walking folks. Except that no one has a map, the tale of sunny uplands came to us via a not very diligent student of Herodotus and so far as anyone can tell economic nirvanah is a myth or comes with unpleasant side effects. Worse, these walkers have no Twix bars, they were taken off them years ago. They smile and sing, in desperation.
But nearby is another group of walkers, they have already come a long way and by a difficult path, they have some maps and a compass. They are not seeking nirvanah but something more realistic and not so showy, they stop and deliberate and set out again. Not everyone agrees but they keep together and they do share out their Twix bars.
Which group will be calling Mountain Rescue before long?
Roger - I see your second group has split into two, one part lagging behind the other. This trailing group has no Twix bars because they bought the last ones with borrowed money and can't afford any more. Unfortunately they no longer have money to buy them anyway, nothing but tokens issued by the leading group which draws further and further ahead. The sound of their marching song is fainter now...
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