Student detained for loathsome Facebook posts

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In the United States, a student has been apprehended for posting vague messages of loathing society....the police responded. It does strike one as political correctness.

Preventing him going to that school is a decision the student ought to make - not the principal. He has not done anything wrong. He vented anger at the world. Who wouldn't when the world we live in is pretty poor. He deserves a Nobel Peace prize for identifying the hypocrisy or inherent contradictions in contemporary 'social values' at such a young age. If only every student could get such counselling....better still...if people actually realised 'the system' is stuffed. So what exactly is wrong with the system. Well here are some pointers:

1. Might makes right. Since the 1860s (Britain) perceptions have been more important than facts, i.e. Numbers more important than reasons or science. The implication is that sensible common law has become displaced by statutory law, which is inconsistent, so we need amendments to patch up contradictions, which creates loopholes, so you get this endless complexification of the law, which does not work because even the expert lawyers, accountants and so forth don't understand it, so you have to test the law in the courts, or get a ruling from the tax office. In conclusion, its arbitrary law, little better from when Hitler ruled Europe. That's right, the House of Lords & Commons were right to reject universal suffrage (democracy), but sadly they could conceive only of a false alternative (fascism/communist). Education was destroying people's minds back then as well. We needed a meritocracy, with reasons driving policies, not numbers. Reasons which are critiqued, rendered coherent by the smartest in society, not numbers which are extorted by vested interest groups or populists. Yes, we need a respect for objectivity. Even science today has turned into a popularity contest at the behest of governments. i.e. Climate change, monetary economics. The US started with sensible values....but democracy white-anted it. Democracy has also inhibited the development of the humanities....philosophy and psychology particularly.

2. Lack of accountability. The current system does not hold anyone accountable....most particularly politicians. The reason is that a 'two-party' democracy may as well be a single party autocracy. That is feeble competition when you know you are going to be elected by default in a bad system, able to be corrupt or get your chance at power. How hard do you think it would be for a politician to receive kickbacks into a Swiss bank account. Most of them are wealthy lawyers already. Ask yourself why Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is so loathed. Because bank workers will have a means to disclose the private bank details of corrupt politicians, as well as innocent taxpayers who ought not be forced to pay tax....why? That is my next point.

3. Coercion. People accept the myth that they have rights. You don't. They have a delusion of rights. Your political rights mean nothing in a modern specialised society where your material rights are everything. Without economic rights you are a slave to an unaccountable, wasteful, scornful (Wikileaks) or indifferent state. They will even use your tax contributions to keep you in your place, as an 'economic slave' serving their expedient and ill-conceived. Ill-conceived because they are not accountable for their policies. You triennial vote means nothing to you, and communicates little to them. They are middlemen, they are not statesmen with ideas. They know as much about public policy as your stockbroker knows about good investments. They are salemen making a buck living off your buck. You need statesmen the likes of Thomas Jefferson, but with even more integrity after 250 years of progress. Your system does not create them. This system loathes 'big picture', conceptualisers....it loves money, and spurns all ideas which does not create it TODAY!

We could go more fundamental than that, but that is the practical manifestation of your ideals! Think again.

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Author

Andrew Sheldon

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Applied Critical Thinking | www.SheldonThinks.com

Police road vigilance kills NZ teenager

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This is an interesting story from the NZ Herald. A 17yo teenager, Fenn McCoach, want killed driving to school on NZ roads – distracted as he collided with a truck. The question is – what caused the distraction. There is no question in my mind that the driver was distracted by a police patrol car. This is the 'psychological war' upon speeding drivers. Not just speeding drivers, but drivers who drive near the speed limit and react instinctively when they are over or close to it. The police presence on the road is regarded as the reason why people don’t speed. I have a different perspective…that the punitive policy of fining speedsters causes anyone who drives close to the speed limit, who has ever received a speeding fine, to jump or ‘react’ when they see a road (police) patrol car, and then to become paranoid about whether they got caught or not. This results in them incessantly looking in their rear-view mirror to see if the police are following. In the meantime there car is careering over the double-lines into oncoming traffic.

The problem is two-fold:

1. Police rely on fear (of fines) – which is not a desirable response in a speeding car

2. Drivers are vague about the technology which police use, and they have imperfect knowledge about whether they have been fined.

So how ought police to respond to speeding. Well, they ought to trust in the judgement of the driver, and to adopt an education program which actually empowers people. Our entire education system is fear-punitive based, and this causes people to be defiant in their personal lives. It’s a sad reality than ‘boring responsible parents’ have simply lost the courage and conviction to fight against these silly punitive laws, which is destined to destroy their effectiveness as thinkers (in their broader social activities), as parents, and as moral agents in the community. The punitive, fear policies of our schools, parents and government are keeping us in a mini-Dark Ages. We want our kids to behave, but our societal strategy for achieving this end is counter-productive.

The risks do not end with the vigilance of police; it continues long after. I recall getting a speeding fine on a country drive. I was driving in freeway conditions, and I was driving up a 20deg inclination, 15kmph over the limit. I received a fine. It did not occur to me the reasons at the time. I was a little intimidated by the police officer because he is an authority figure. The cost of court is excessive, and no one expects justice from our system. We have all seen evidence of its failures. Justice dies when 'justice is not seen to have been done'.

For the next 500km of driving I was distracted by persistent anxiety about the unfairness of the system. That response lives with me today because I still think its wrong, and yet I am powerless to do anything about it. For that 500kms I was at risk of an accident because of an supposedly 'police' intervention which was intended to protect me. I am confident that I am going to die 5 years earlier not because of speed because I am a thinking person, with good judgement. I think I am going to die of heart failure or cancer because of the incessant anxieties that arbitrary statutory (legislative) law is placing me under. NZ is moving in the same direction as Australia. The expansion of statutory law is turning NZ into a police state. This means more discretionary power to police because arbitrary law only creates loopholes. That means greater misuse and distrust of the law. I think you can draw a parallel between refereeing a football game and government. When you have a referee intervening in the game, as a player, you just lose respect for the referee and interest in the game. The legislature in Western democracies is bringing about not only the death of teenagers, but the destruction of people's minds. The legislature is the 'fundamental problem'; as it is the basis of our centralised decision-making. All systems and even values tend to be shaped by it. Sadly this is the case because government destroys critical thinking skills through its control of public education. Religious institutional control of private education mean you have a very unsavoury choice for educating your kids.

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Author

Andrew Sheldon

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Applied Critical Thinking | www.SheldonThinks.com

Police culture in NZ under attack

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Isn't telephone technology wonderful. We all have this wonderful instrument to preserve accountability - the I-witness account derived from cellphone video footage. The NZ Herald has received footage of a police officer breaching the nation's laws which prohibit use of a cellphone whilst driving. Apparently, the police officers are partially exempt if the call is 'work related'. I guess we will never know because the officer will probably not be investigated, yet the answer is probably in the story. Apparently the officer was very 'animated', suggesting it was a personal call.

This is not a rare incident, and a senior NZ police officer acknowledges that, which highlights the point that there are 'honest minds' in the police force. But just to convey how common this is, I want to cite evidence that this is a global phenomenon.

1. Australia: I grew up in Australia, and on a ski holiday with university friends, another brought some of his childhood mates who were cadets in the police force. They were drinking whiskey from the bottle whilst doing 120kmph (speed limit 100kmph) on 2nd grade backroads. i.e. One driver with the approval of two others. There is clearly a culture of disrespect for the law which permeates down to cadet school, and this 'culture of loyalty' trumps facts, truth and justice for a great many police officers.

2. Philippines: A very senior Philippines National Police (PNP) officer is caught not driving with a seat belt. He is able to get off with a warning driving in the Subic Bay area, which is actually an independent police authority. He is nevertheless able to escape accountability. The Subic Bay officer would not be so obstinate if he was a PNP officer. The culture of loyalty grows in the line of duty, but most particularly it is cultivated in training schools, whether its the police academy in Baguio City for officers, or elsewhere. Practically all the Generals in the PNP come from the same school, and more scary the same year, with eash year being politically aligned to a particular president.

Yep, integrity is a rare phenomenon today from members of institutions which one would have expected to be defenders of those concepts of freedom, integrity, honesty and rationality. The problem of course is that there are no consequences and inadequate training in ethics for these 'law enforcers' as cadets.

We might wonder whether the criminals are right to defy them when they are not always exponents of truth, justice and rationality.

In defense of NZ police, I actually find them to be more positive and engaging members in their communities. They are significantly better than the officers in Australia in terms of them reasonableness, and they are far more engaged than police in the Philippines. Mind you, police in the Philippines don't even have vehicles and judges are often corrupt, so I guess they might have good reason to hold the 'system' in disdain.

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Author

Andrew Sheldon

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Applied Critical Thinking | www.SheldonThinks.com

Extortion in San Diego - govt vs govt

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Here is a case which highlights the inherent corruption and inefficiency of Western democracy. I am reminded of the Filipinos fighting for a parliamentary style democracy. A little research will show that parliamentary democracy is just as bad.

This case, reported in the San Diego Tribune, draws attention to a law suit by the San Diego Police Association against the City government. The problem with this case is that the attorney who advised the police association had a reasonable case, but it was always going to be a difficult case to win. It highlights the problem with justice in Western countries, that it is no better than the justice system in Communist countries. The difference is that we think we are free, and we preserve a pretense of justice.

The City of San Diego pay $58 million in legal fees in 2010. Most of the legal cases were considered 'frivolous'. Many people will take these comments at face value, but its a lot of political posturing. I don't think they were frivolous cases. I think they were important cases, handled by an abysmal legal-judicial system.

The case highlights a lot of problems:

1. The conflict of interest - government as law maker and executor, running the police. The police ought to be privatised and regulated by private regulators. Government ought to have no executive authority.

2. Monopoly extortion - You have two monopolies extorting wealth from each other, the problem for police is that a union is weaker than a government who makes the rules, and who merely passes its legal costs onto long-suffering taxpayers. There are no consequences for the government who merely needs to pass on costs to taxpayers. There is no effective competition against a bad system.

3. Arbitrarily law - which means prosecutors and judges have no way of knowing the outcome. Our justice system is a lottery. Will the judge go by the spirit of the law, or the word of the law? Such dilemmas highlight the contradictions in the system. We need to see an end to statutory law, and a return to simply common law, until that system can be refined. Common law is law based on principles, held in context. Statutory law is out of context, potentially unprincipled, and vulnerable to loopholes and corruption by bad decisions. It inherently leads to subjective law making. Once corruption enters, you will not root it out.

I think the attorney Petersen has a case because there is extortion involved. His problem is arguing that point when the whole system is based on extortion, and judges have rubber-stamped it. Arbitrary rule is the basis of our legislature. The reason why there are kickbacks of all sorts and dubious decision making is because decisions are not required to be reasonable. The reason they are not required to be reasonable is because they are not 'argued' or 'defended', they are imposed by extortion, using money, 'political numbers', not reasons. It does not help that our politicians have amalgamated into parties, they were once independent. The problem is that their interests are divided on arbitrary 'jurisdictional' grounds, as opposed to reasons or issues. Unless and until people are fighting for issues, where reason is the standard of value, you can rest assured that you will continue to see arbitrary, senseless decision-making and an endless expansion of waste. Taxes will continue to rise, and political middlemen will keep on passing on costs to the 'long suffering', psychologically repressed taxpayer.

The only solution is political reform. The most simplest reform would be a refinement to the Constitution of the USA, Australia, Britain requiring politicians to be reasonable, i.e. For reason to be the standard of value, and disclosure of arguments to be the basis of political discourse. It sounds simply enough, and it is. It would make a huge difference. It would not however be enough. The system needs an overhaul. I wish I could say philosophers are better today, but they are probably worse. The issue is not quality, so much as 'quantity of good' anything. Even science has turned into a popularity contest.

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Author

Andrew Sheldon

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Applied Critical Thinking | www.SheldonThinks.com

The nature of public sector incompetence

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Public sector incompetence reaches new depths in NZ. I have already written about some suspicions I have with about the way senior executives were appointed to Pike River Coal. Those issues have yet to be raised, and they probably will in future. There have been a number of issues which have emerged;

1. Regulation: The cancellation of spot mine inspections as opposed to regular appointments where the miners can be encouraged to tidy practices up for the inspection. i.e. This tends to result in a culture of lax safety concern in a mine. The safety of all is threatened by the indulgences of just one who can cause a mine explosion. The preservation of safety standards in coal mines is therefore critical. Campbell Live reported that the Dept advised that inspectors were not required, even though used in overseas mining industries like Australia.

2. Caution: There is every reason to believe that the government and the company is more interested in protecting its reputation than lives. It has taken the argument that it wants to protect existing lives as opposed to jeopardising others. That might well be sensible if the prospect of danger is high...but now that I have seen the layout of the mine, I am inclined to say that the rescue team should have gone straight in. see Campbell Live for the latest news.

This caution is the result of a government fearful of risking lives. Whilst that is a laudable quality, one needs to perform a risk assessment, and ultimately to leave it to rescuers to make that decision. In this case, there are rescuers prepared to enter the mine and the police commissioner will not allow them. Why? Because there risk assessment is that its too dangerous.

There is no question that there is some risk....but risks are managed...not avoided. I have talked about risk management with investment. It is the same for mining.

At the moment we have 29 people at risk of dying or dead. They might have died instantly in the blast, they might have died of blood loss since, or they might be severely injured, and are rapidly becoming dehydrated. This is improbable given the amount of water in the mines. There is usually water dripping, though if people were so injured that they could not move, they might be stranded in a dry section. There is good reason for believing the following:

1. The miners are in different sections of the mine, so they have different chances of living

2. The 'spaghetti' design of the developing headings at the core of the mine actually reduced the pressure released from the blast. This is important for several reasons. It means that there was some absorption of the blast because the pressure will be released along the line of least resistance. There will be some frictional loss as the blast air passes out the 2.5km heading. It is possible that a person might have been standing mid-way along a circular development, so the pressure was equilibrated at that point. Anyone there would not have felt the blast, or if close, it would have been greatly softened.

3. The smoke from the mine combustion, probably coal burning/smouldering underground since has reduced the chances of anyone surviving...as the evidence to me suggests they ought to have gone in straight away. The mine gas levels were never lower than immediately after the blast. If the evidence shows that any deaths occurred away from and away from air circulation paths, it is probable that the lives of these miners could have been saved....if they survived the blast. The chances of a 2nd blast after a first one are unlikely.

Some poor decisions have been made. Its probable that any alternative decision now will make a difference. After all the prospect of blood loss is moot if they have stopped bleeding. The risk now is dehydration...and that only if they have no access to water.

This is why the company ought to have handled the issue. They will happily allow the govt to deal with it because government, or more specifically, the public service is not accountable. The mine CEO ought to have been called upon to make the decisions knowing that a law suit would result if he screwed up.

The problem with public servants is that they are accustomed to making arbitrary decisions because that is the nature of statutory law. Business also has to comply with statutory law, but corporate decision-makers are far more nibble at making complex decisions because they deal in the real world, where they have to consider context, multiple parameters, etc. This is why the CEO of Pike River knew to handle the problem over to the government, and the Police Commissioner of course is obliged to accept the responsibility. It was an undesirable development. It could be argued that it created a conflict of interest...as the company and government now have to be concerned with their reputation, which might even see efforts made to destroy evidence to protect both parties from political and financial injury.

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Author

Andrew Sheldon

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Applied Critical Thinking | www.SheldonThinks.com

Australian police make 'huge' drug seizure

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Lately I have been highlighting the feeble nature of our public service. These people are utterly useless and you are paying a great deal of money for their 'services'. They are paid not to perform any valued service, but to be 'perceived' as doing so. i.e. Any value they offer is incidental to the perception left in your minds...that they do some good, therefore government....in all its majesty...is worthwhile. The reality...its not. You are getting about 30c in the dollar, and if you consider the opportunity costs, then you are faring far worse. You are throwing good money in after bad. Here is evidence based merely on three articles I have fished out over the last week - with two in this mornings news...One does not need to stray far. I have written before about politician's perks, media incompetence, but here are a few more:

1. Public servant jobs

2. Academic research or see this for academic standards on climate change

3. Climate change journalism

4. Regulators - are they accountable?

Let me add to these examples with another example.

The media loves drug busts. So do the police and the government. It gives you hope right! It gives you the hope that one day the police are finally going to develop a secret technology which will detect all drug traffickers. Or maybe a drug 'appetite' suppressant? You might even be hoping it comes from one of our public 'prestigious' universities. Think again. You would be under the false delusion that governments want to solve these issues. Really they don't. Do you think your stockbroker wants you to have direct access to the market? After all, why can't the ASX develop trading software to directly sell shares to you? Because it needs a middleman to 'siphon the funds from you'. i.e. To tell you a cocking bull story to buy the stock.

Anyway, back to the real story. The media loves big 'drug busts' because you are curious, so you buy the newspapers. The police love these stories because they feel they are actually making a difference, and because it boosts their collectivist pride. Yes, I agree, its paradoxical that I use the world 'collectivist' in relation to fascism and the police....but then I'm met students from the Australian Police Academy, and I can tell you some of the people coming out of that place are 'freaking' scary as cops. There is the same 'sub-culture' in the military of course. It must be the organisational values don't you think...so you'd have to wonder who gets promoted. Which makes you wonder....is the police organisation clean, or are perceptions being managed better than they were in the 1980s. Police all around the world are corrupt. You might wonder why. They are all part of the same organisation. Do you expect any accountability?

Back to the story. We have a huge $210 million drug bust! This is big news. The problem is ...this is just part of the trade. This is not going to make a 'big' difference because its a big shipment, but a small part of the trade. It will not be missed in the market. The reason is because they are infrequent. The market does not depend on these trades.

More concerning is that these big seizures give you hope in government and the police. The reality is that the problem goes far more fundamental than this seizure, the performance of the police, or government, but the structure of our government. This whole edifice is about justifying your hope in government. Don't. They are a false hope. Don't look at these one off seizures, look at the streets of your cities...at the alcoholism, the poverty, the indifference, the values of the people. These issues are effects....the cause alludes government who are fighting symptoms. They are not dealing with the cause. They cannot deal with the cause because their conduct, their organisational structure is part of the problem. You are part of the problem - generally speaking. If you don't have mental clarity over these issues you are part of the problem because you are supporting a regime that does not serve you...but you think in some practical way it does because it leaves you materially wealthier. You focus on the fact that you have an expensive home and a growing bank account... you repress the memory or the significance of a government which 'seizes' its share, your neighbour who cheats on his wife, your bosses advances, your son's lack of respect for you....but you imagine everything to be ok, because on some concrete level, things are better than yesterday because I have more things. Sounds like a drug addiction to me. Yes, perceptions can be hallucinogenic can't they....and they are free courtesy of your newspapers, friends, teachers, parents, etc. There are not many places where you can hear the truth. Most people just want to believe...this is the basis of their hope. Its called positive thinking....and the more desperate they become for hope...the more they chant their mantra of positive thinking. This is the era of cognitive repression....and your government has a play in it.

Read this story about this police seizure and tell me that its going to make a difference to the drug trade. It ignores all the smaller trades which are just too small. This big shipper was tipped off because the organisers belonged to a large organisation. Most are family businesses with cargoes floating behind vessels with GPS-tracking devices. They will never get those shipments. If discovered they will be left floating in the Pacific Ocean.

The only way to end the drug trade is to restore people's respect for facts. Its far more fundamental than the government's thinking. And they will never reflect on the fundamental cause because if we did, they would have to oversee a very different form of government, which would of course steal their 'illegitimate' thunder.

I am reminded of public servants who acknowledge that they don't have the resources to fight crime. This has been the case with the financial regulator ASIC, the police, I hear it all the time. These people end up leaving the police in frustration. They go into these organisations seemingly with such noble ideals...but they never challenge their ideal.

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Author

Andrew Sheldon

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Applied Critical Thinking | www.SheldonThinks.com

WA police a law unto themselves

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Here we have an example of a gross breach of procedure by Western Australian Police. What possible justification is there for 9 police to use a tazer gun in the confines of a police station 13 times. It is an incredible breach of protocol. If you are wondering why none of these men lost their job, its because:

1. The 'red neck' culture of WA Australian police

2. The impunity which the police displays around the world, not just in Western Australia.

TubeHome.com Video from everywhere!

I believe this culture extends to the Australia Police Academy. Some 20 years ago I went skiing with some university friends. We were joined by police recruits from the Canberra-based academy who were friends of a university colleague. They were blatantly drink driving and speeding on the way to a Hunters & Gatherers concert at the Station Resort in Jindabyne. This incident aside....it was a great night.

The problem of course is that these guys act with impunity because they think they are beyond reproach. They did not even seem to care that they were being videoed. Its hard to believe that they did not know there were cameras in the police station. In addition, no one of 9 police in the room reproached the offending officer.

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Author

Andrew Sheldon

Resource Rent Tax

Applied Critical Thinking | www.SheldonThinks.com