tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post4760021219140823887..comments2024-03-05T10:52:24.691+00:00Comments on Mark Wadsworth: Ideas for blog postsMark Wadsworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-431058873293833792013-07-12T10:29:37.938+01:002013-07-12T10:29:37.938+01:00(That's why it's good to move home every f... (That's why it's good to move home every few years, to save lugging old crap, you just chuck away everything you haven't touched for the past 12 months.)<br /><br />It depends on your personality: hoarders will quite happily move boxes of stuff from one attic to the next ad infinitum. However, I would agree that having a "family home" that is passed from generation to generation, does tend to accumulate inordinate amounts of junk.<br />The buy/hire argument is easily solved for me, if it's more expensive to hire, I'll buy. If I need the space, I'll sell it again. That's what eBay's for. Not that I've sold much, but then I like having lots of junk around.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11871621274712323998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-89378547167450320202013-07-11T16:58:52.186+01:002013-07-11T16:58:52.186+01:00I told my friend to cost his storage space.
He no...I told my friend to cost his storage space.<br /><br />He now buys less, so it does work.Sarton Banderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04844470766043319292noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-11307671784071668432013-07-11T11:21:22.211+01:002013-07-11T11:21:22.211+01:00Ph, ta. I'll have to think about that.
TS, th...Ph, ta. I'll have to think about that.<br /><br />TS, that's another good topic, but a slightly different one. (That's why it's good to move home every few years, to save lugging old crap, you just chuck away everything you haven't touched for the past 12 months.)<br /><br />If you want to be scientific about it, let's assume it costs £20 to hire something for the day but £50 to buy outright. <br /><br />Superficially you say "Well, I might use this another two or three times, so I've got my money back"<br /><br />But then you end up with rooms full of old crap - even if you have used the things a few times, you have not necessarily got your money back because of the storage costs. <br /><br />And then you get emotionally attached to certain things which e.g. "bring back happy holiday memories" like three bloody mini-surfboards in our shed which we used for precisely three hours two years ago.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-79161646686698286672013-07-11T11:08:55.972+01:002013-07-11T11:08:55.972+01:00As for 12: I learnt to only own things that I regu...As for 12: I learnt to only own things that I regularly use. Otherwise, I rent. And I only own when I'm already doing something and realise that i'm tipping too much into rent.<br /><br />So, I won't buy some golf clubs because then I'll play golf. I'll buy golf clubs because I'm playing regularly and pouring money into club hire.<br /><br />It not only reduces clutter, it's also better financially.Tim Almondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13369256383976094670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-68728072602528799502013-07-11T07:54:41.552+01:002013-07-11T07:54:41.552+01:00Designs so good you do not notice...
Front-engine,...Designs so good you do not notice...<br />Front-engine, rear-entrance, half-cab double deck buses.<br />Slam door trains eg all suburban trains pre-1965.<br />BR Inter City trains, mark 1 stock.<br />Tube trains (still! Amazing)<br />London Underground surface stock up to and including D78.<br />London black cabs.<br />Physiocrathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13682019625346594568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-72610455782224627242013-07-11T07:47:57.128+01:002013-07-11T07:47:57.128+01:00Ph, actually, I must refine the design rule a bit....Ph, actually, I must refine the design rule a bit. On closer inspection, good design does not raise the question "why did they do it like this"? It just seems natural or "right". The fact that sometimes the right thing initially seems quite radical is by the by.<br /><br />Can you give examples re public transport vehicles?Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-90835035100317261252013-07-11T07:34:02.578+01:002013-07-11T07:34:02.578+01:00There is a library in that lot. My colleagues and ...There is a library in that lot. My colleagues and I used to work on the design principle that our work should not be noticed, but that was unusual and we had a lot of trouble from colleagues and bosses who thought that good design was when people could see what they had got for their money.<br /><br />Public transport vehicle design has got very bad since the 1960s from that point of view.Physiocrathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13682019625346594568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-23321020778267411672013-07-11T07:10:36.482+01:002013-07-11T07:10:36.482+01:00Doej, that's an excellent point, I'll add ...Doej, that's an excellent point, I'll add it to the list of topics I could blog about if I had time. <br /><br />RT, one of the reasons why real name bloggers are better is that if you are using your real name, you tend to be a bit more polite and circumspect - precisely because you don't want people to find out you said something outrageous.Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-66021207136842251482013-07-11T06:41:40.748+01:002013-07-11T06:41:40.748+01:00"Bloggers/commenters who use their real names..."Bloggers/commenters who use their real names tend to be better than bloggers who use an alias"<br /><br />The trouble for me is that I have an unusual name, and I don't want anybody typing my name into a search engine and finding out everything I've said online for the past ten years.<br /><br />If I were in the public eye I would use my real name though.Rich Teehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14037296506942507747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-25561236366403663722013-07-10T22:28:56.552+01:002013-07-10T22:28:56.552+01:00I don't know if this is obvious or I'm bei...I don't know if this is obvious or I'm being thick, but isn't your dog idea the solution to democracy in general, and the county problem too?<br /><br />To use a more political example, suppose a certain county decided to ban smoking in all public places, a neighbouring county decided to allow it. In the absence of other pressures, most smokers would eventually end up in the smoking county and non-smokers in the non-smoking county.<br /><br />Wasn't this sort of the point of having different US states? One of the problems with the EU is that while it promotes freedom of movement between the countries, it also wants every country to be the same, which sort of removes the purpose of moving to a new country.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-18558361210118007092013-07-10T22:10:09.831+01:002013-07-10T22:10:09.831+01:00MC, yes, if we could jump in a time machine back t...MC, yes, if we could jump in a time machine back to pre-74 we would decide to leave well alone. <br /><br />But after three score and ten years, most people will develop their new allegiances, and there will be Oxen who would baulk at the idea of becoming Berks again.Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-8147128331774529682013-07-10T21:09:18.452+01:002013-07-10T21:09:18.452+01:00No 7, County Boundaries, I suspect the reasoning g...No 7, County Boundaries, I suspect the reasoning goes thus:<br />People like to identify with a larger group, as a sort of subset of nationalism. The counties formed just such a grouping. The problem with the new (1974) counties was that they had none of the 800 years or so of history, or things like regiments, badges, flags, coats of arms, that the old counties had, so there were very much fewer added psychological benefits in identifying with them. Also the British dislike change. Also the old boundaries were fairly arbitrary, unlike the new ones, which everyone knew had been planned by some bureaucrat.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11871621274712323998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-4887942412516228612013-07-10T21:07:09.166+01:002013-07-10T21:07:09.166+01:00SB, nice one.
AC, thanks. In fact, another topic...SB, nice one. <br /><br />AC, thanks. In fact, another topic on my "to do" list is <i>"Bloggers/commenters who use their real names tend to be better than bloggers who use an alias"</i> and you'll get an honourable mention in that one.Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-91809843979784492952013-07-10T20:57:21.099+01:002013-07-10T20:57:21.099+01:00A big thank you from me for all those posts. It...A big thank you from me for all those posts. It's a great blog, and the only one I read every day. And I probably wouldn't be in "that party" if I hadn't been influenced by it. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-32014024568646838832013-07-10T19:14:09.986+01:002013-07-10T19:14:09.986+01:00http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=8034...http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=803407<br /><br />Sarton Banderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04844470766043319292noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-33070636607675661082013-07-10T18:40:51.404+01:002013-07-10T18:40:51.404+01:00RT, agreed, both comments.
TS, maybe, but the way...RT, agreed, both comments.<br /><br />TS, maybe, but the way the British govt achieved some sort of fragile peace in NI was creating loads and loads of government jobs and endless tiers of bureaucracy to buy off the leaders of the warring factions. <br /><br />DBC, that doesn't explain why there are tiny counties and huge ones. <br /><br />JS, re 1, agreed, that's where it begins to go wrong (see also Canada). Re 5, "because", that's why. Re 6, yes it might, so what?<br /><br />Re 12, no they do not have official "standard sizes" but each town or county has certain "recommended minimum sizes for new builds" and on the whole their homes are bigger and nicer than in the UK.Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-71352034922770239142013-07-10T17:45:41.770+01:002013-07-10T17:45:41.770+01:001. It has been said that there is no demos in the ...1. It has been said that there is no <i>demos</i> in the EU so there can be no democracy.<br /><br />Re. Stigler's comments: It used to be the case that immigrants arrived in the US looking for the 'American Dream'. I heard a programme recently that very much suggested that the Mexican/Puerto Ricans now saw themselves as Hispanic and can do things for themselves, including dispensing with English.<br />3. The Tibetan example looks remarkably organised.<br />5. Why should dog/non-dog people have to pay a premium for their choice? Win/win at no cost I would have thought.<br />6. Is it desirable to have 'good' and 'bad' areas? Might not your scheme lead to palaces v shanty town?<br />7. Why does where you live have to change its name based on the local authority? Royal Mail, BT and all the other utility authorities might find it nice if addresses aligned with their service districts. I quite like the way that some German and French public bodies retain medieval heraldry on their uniforms. Not all tradition is bad.<br />12. Is it true that German houses use standard room sizes? It would be nice to think that things 'fit' after a move. I used to have a box room but even though my next house was bigger I never did manage to find proper homes for all my stuff.JimShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09295953179246578687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-8712907458575848682013-07-10T14:50:54.699+01:002013-07-10T14:50:54.699+01:00As regards counties I think the original idea was ...As regards counties I think the original idea was that you should be able to access and do business in the main county town, and other towns, easily there and back within one day. This would have been at a time when people travelled by horse or walked for instance to a hiring fair (as in Thomas Hardy) or drove cattle along the road to market. But there remains an advantage in working and living within shorter journey times of all the frequent destinations.DBC Reedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17891849727783879145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-82971797529026723272013-07-10T14:48:14.467+01:002013-07-10T14:48:14.467+01:00The main way to create a single country is by goin...The main way to create a single country is by going as far towards libertarian values as possible. If you have lots of government jobs, you'll get lots of corruption as people will help their own tribal group.<br /><br />With libertarian/classic liberal values, people start to value trade over tribe. They see the "other" as suppliers and customers. They might decide that they'll ignore their cousin who says they shouldn't allow black people in their bar, because the black people are putting a roof over their head, and their cousin isn't.<br /><br />It's why the USA is this country made up of huge numbers of relatively recent immigrants from France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Vietnam, Mexico and Puerto Rico, all of whom primarily consider themselves as American.<br /><br />The best thing they could do in Northern Ireland is to get rid of all benefits, legalise narcotics and shrink the state. Within a couple of generations, the catholic/protestant rivalry would be about as much trouble as England and Scottish rugby fans.Tim Almondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13369256383976094670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-88352714283208095102013-07-10T13:56:31.926+01:002013-07-10T13:56:31.926+01:00I would also add, in that BBC article, he describe...I would also add, in that BBC article, he describes how people are interested in what cars celebrities drive etc.<br /><br />I would describe this as a "cargo cult" effect; people can't perceive how celebrities became famous, so just copy the superficial aspects in the (ultimately futile) hope that they can replicate it, like the cargo cults trying to replicate the circumstances that brought them gifts beyond their comprehension. <br /><br />This wouldn't happen in a small tribe because it would be intimate and everybody would be far more aware of everything that the other tribe members are doing.Rich Teehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14037296506942507747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-37698749702053548672013-07-10T13:41:58.383+01:002013-07-10T13:41:58.383+01:00What I find interesting about leadership is the im...What I find interesting about leadership is the importance of charisma. It's impossible to define or capture or teach, but you know it when you see it.<br /><br />Charismatic people don't really do anything except give people something to believe in, then the people do all the rest themselves.<br /><br />In modern politics, charisma actually seems like a disadvantage since modern societies are so bureaucratic and complicated that it favours managers rather than leaders. People with charisma seem to prefer to go into business nowadays, probably because it is easier to feel you are achieving something in a business.Rich Teehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14037296506942507747noreply@blogger.com