A question was posted on Quora after the last election explaining that the poster had voted for Trump as a joke, was horrified that he’d won and asked how he could change his vote.
That level of ignorance seems well beyond what Socrates had in mind in his comments on voters.
And the image below is meant as a graphic argument against the belief some people have that their single vote doesn’t count for much.
The conventions may be over, but the rhetoric is still going strong. Did you know it’s a requirement for politicians to have a PhD—which stands for ‘piled higher and deeper’—and that’s no bull. Adams and Lincoln never qualified as politicians, but both made it as statesmen.
Ambrose Bierce starts us out with a wonderful definition of politics, just so we’re all on the same page. “Politics: A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.”
Over the years I’ve read many descriptions of politicians and Congress, but John Adams provided my favorite when he said, “In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm and three or more is a congress”
The next quote is from Lincoln, “Republicans are for both the man and the dollar, but in case of conflict the man before the dollar,” but times have changed and it would be more accurate to say, “Republicans are for both the man and the dollar, but in case of conflict the dollar before the man.” Of course, it applies just as easily to Democrats.
Andy Borowitz offers our final insight today. I don’t know for sure when he said it, but it’s been applicable since before I could vote, “It would be nice to spend billions on schools and roads, but right now that money is desperately needed for political ads.”
(Did you miss the first two I Hate Politics? You can see them here and here.)
This is the second set of political quotes (the first is here). I don’t know where you live, but I just received our 2012 Primary Voters’ pamphlet and it’s enough to make you weep. Granted, for years I’ve used my vote against someone I can’t stand as opposed to voting for someone I like, but there are some races that I can’t stand any of the candidates.
Before considering the candidates let’s give some thought to politics and politicians—conceptually, that is.
Oscar Ameringer provides a good basic definition to set the mood, “Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.”Wow; 25 words that say it all.
So how would you describe a politician?
According to Texas Guinan, “A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country.”
Nikita Khrushchev reminds us that people aren’t that different no matter where they are,“Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.” (Anybody else thinking Alaska?)
I find John Quinton’s description very apt, especially these days, “Politicians are people who, when they see light at the end of the tunnel, go out and buy some more tunnel.”
But it is Henry Cate, VII who has the final word on politicians, “The problem with political jokes is they get elected.”
This is the second set of political quotes (the first is here). I don’t know where you live, but I just received our 2012 Primary Voters’ pamphlet and it’s enough to make you weep. Granted, for years I’ve used my vote against someone I can’t stand as opposed to voting for someone I like, but there are some races that I can’t stand any of the candidates.
Before considering the candidates let’s give some thought to politics and politicians—conceptually, that is.
Oscar Ameringer provides a good basic definition to set the mood, “Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.”Wow; 25 words that say it all.
So how would you describe a politician?
According to Texas Guinan, “A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country.”
Nikita Khrushchev reminds us that people aren’t that different no matter where they are,“Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.” (Anybody else thinking Alaska?)
I find John Quinton’s description very apt, especially these days, “Politicians are people who, when they see light at the end of the tunnel, go out and buy some more tunnel.”
But it is Henry Cate, VII who has the final word on politicians, “The problem with political jokes is they get elected.”
Unless you’ve been off-planet you’ve probably noticed that it’s election time again and if you think it’s been bad so far, well, as the man said, you ain’t seen nothing yet. That said, I thought a little levity now and then would relieve the tedium of listening to both sides lie over the next six months.
Aesop, he of the famous Fables, has a wonderful insight that certainly explains many of those who hold office—past, present and, sadly, future, “We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.”
Plato did a great job of explaining the difference between those who run and those who vote, “Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber.”
Clarence Darrow summed up how many of us feel today when he said, “When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I’m beginning to believe it.”
While Mark Twain, in his inimitable style, handily summed up the Legislative Branch, “Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.”
Finally, Milton Friedman succinctly sums up everything, “If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there’d be a shortage of sand.”
There is only one quote today; not because Imre Lakatos didn’t say anything else worth quoting, he did, but because I want this one to stick in your head.
The year is more than half over and we are swiftly moving into election mania times and 2012 will be far worse.
“Blind commitment to a theory is not an intellectual virtue: it is an intellectual crime.”
So I offer this bit of what I consider wisdom, especially for all those who vote an ideological ballot, whether it’s the Right, the Left or somewhere else.
We aren’t living in an era in which we can afford blind commitment to anything, so dust off your skepticism, put away your knee-jerk reactions and put on your thinking cap—the country needs you.
Today is Blog Action Day and the topic is Climate Change, so I asked Chris Blackman, a strategic consultant who specializes in finding both private and public funding for the green and clean technology sectors, to tell us about a country that has used US-invented technology and incentives to become a global solar leader.
In 1940 Russell Ohl, a scientist at Bell Labs, invented the photovoltaic cell.
So why is dark, rainy Germany a world leader in installed photovoltaic solar panels and solar manufacturing equipment instead of the US?
I work in the sector and am frankly astonished that anyone would even say the words ‘Germany’ and ‘solar power’ in the same sentence.
Germany became a solar leader by use of a feed-in-tariff. Many panelists at the AlwaysOn going green conference in San Francisco last month derided this promising incentive to encourage the adoption of clean energy technologies.
To learn more I contacted Sebastian Britting, a visiting graduate scholar at Columbia University, who will publish the results of his thesis analyzing all the economic and ecological implications of America emulating Germany’s success implementing this program.
How does a feed-in-tariff work?
Sebastian explained “the utility companies are forced through legislation to accept clean sources of energy generated by individuals, provide access points where the individual can feed the energy into the grid and pay the individual a premium for the energy they have generated.”
Germans quickly latched on to this program because it is a guaranteed source of income. This is clearly demonstrated by the year-on-year increase in solar technology equipment in German homes: 40% for the each of the last three years.
The benefits of adopting feed-in-tariffs in Germany don’t end with personal profit, “Germany created 280,000 new jobs since implementing this incentive and is today at the forefront of innovation in the solar energy industry.”
The same program that rewards customers for generating their own electricity also allows the utilities to reallocate the cost of buying it by spreading it out to all of their customers.
“That price increase was 1.38 [Euro] CENTS per kilowatt in 2008, a price increase of less than five percent.”
Stated another way, the program adds just $1.69 to the average German’s monthly electric bill. The average electricity price increases slightly for everyone but Sebastian emphasizes, “This is not a tax and spinning it as such is attempting to make a deliberate distortion.”
This price increase does not go on forever: “It is temporary and when the newly installed generators pay for themselves which is over a 20 year period, the price increase will phase itself out.”
Tellingly, 97% of all Germany’s solar power is captured using solar photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV is highly efficient under the most stressful conditions offering very little sunlight and little water.
Germany receives about 60% of the sunlight that the United States receives, yet even the brightness of a cloudy day provides enough light for the PV cells to generate electricity.
And since the only water required by PV cells is for cleaning the panels from time to time, a little rain acts as an automatic maid.
America invented this technology, so why haven’t we capitalized and profited from it?
Jim continues the saga of George II as it parallels Shakespeare’s Richard III. Be sure to return next week for the final act. See all mY generation posts here.
We interrupt the production of George II to bring you an urgent message from the author regarding the happenings of the past week—which were followed with rapt attention by him and his roomies. See all mY generation posts here.
Entrepreneurs face difficulties that are hard for most people to imagine, let alone understand. You can find anonymous help and connections that do understand at 7 cups of tea.
Crises never end.
$10 really does make a difference and you’ll never miss it,
The conventions may be over, but the rhetoric is still going strong. Did you know it’s a requirement for politicians to have a PhD—which stands for ‘piled higher and deeper’—and that’s no bull. Adams and Lincoln never qualified as politicians, but both made it as statesmen.
There is only one quote today; not because 
