The Ivory Tower Syndrome

Sorry gaulois, the article is for subscribers only . . . <p> <p>---<br>"If you must kill a man, it costs you nothing to be polite about it." Winston Churchill <br />

Anyone have a log-in for this site that we can use?

ooopsie sorry the subscriber mail feature will not let others notified through to the actual story. Can't pass account/ password and violate privacy agreement and can't cut&paste and violate copyright. Aaargh. BC Vive participants can hopefully get their hands on the Vancouver Sun hardcopy and check the story.

Is the copyright situation for this story different than that of the 'U.S. Border Patrol to Look for Terrorists in B.C.?' story posted by Susan and also from the Sun? I don't know much about the web copyright situation (and am too damn lazy to research).

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"When we are in the middle of the paradigm, it is hard to imagine any other paradigm" (Adam Smith).

I have checked with Susan directly without an answer so far. Can anyone else tell me if I can post actual content under the "fair use" disclaimer?

from the Vancouver Sun (fair use only):

Vancouver Sun
Monday, August 23, 2004
Section: Letters to the Editor
Source: Vancouver Sun

The Ivory Tower Syndrome

One big problem most government leaders and those responsible for chairing large organizations such as the Canadian International Development Agency or the World Bank have is their tendency to be out of touch with the reality of the problems they need to solve.

When one has a huge expense account, first-class seats on most airlines, ultra-posh conference dinners and a lavish lifestyle, it isn't very easy to identify or empathize with a family living on $1 a day in the Third World. Instead of leading their respective organizations to practical solutions like micro-credit to eradicate poverty, they simply throw foreign aid money at other big institutions, which waste it on administration costs.

In addition, aid money is frequently given to impoverished Third World governments who then turn around and use it to pay down their national debts.

Tools like micro-credit put tiny loans (amounting to about $60 US) into the hands of the poorest of the poor to aid them in setting up small businesses.

These tiny loans help to build an economy from the ground up instead of from the top down, which is what works best. It is ironic how leaders and executives with master's degrees in economics and political science, making six-figure salaries and with children in private schools, fail to grasp this.

Alex Audette

Calgary, Alta.

If the content owner gives the reader the right to republish it in it's entirety so long as it is not for profit. If you only quote parts of it, it is considered fair use, and you do not have to have permission for that.<p> <p>---<br>"If you must kill a man, it costs you nothing to be polite about it." Winston Churchill <br />

I don't think they fail to grasp that idea at all - six figure salaries, free travel, shmoozing with elected big wheels and rock stars - they've got a good grasp on the whole situation.

This reminds me of a story about the Southern California wildfires. A lady's home burnt down quickly, she lost everything, even her cash and credit cards. She approached the Red Cross because they were on the scene getting good media exposure from all the TV cameras and asked them if they could put her up somewhere until she could get access to her bank, insurance and whatever - the Red Cross refused to help her. That would have been the end of the story except that the Red Cross later used a picture of this lady in front of her burnt home on one of their fundraising pamphlets, the lady was incensed and rightly so considering they didn't help her when she needed them. The lady also happened to be a Supreme Court Judge. She made the Red Cross squirm after that. Without this incident, the fact that the local head of the Red Cross in that district makes US $400,000 a year! Four-Hundred-Thousand-Dollars! ay' caramba that's a lot of donations!

The point of my posting was really that all these canadian sacred cows seem to suffer from the same "Ivory Tower syndrome" I tend to associate with bureaucracy, whether it is in foreign aid, public health care, public education, public broadcasting, bilingualism/multiculturalism, canadian identity/sovereinty, etc... Note that Americans have their sacred cows of national security and military and probably causing more damage than ours.

These sacred cows are seriously all decaying and I do not think that the situation is strictly due to outside forces of market deregulation, privatization, and commercially oriented lobby groups friends of the powerful. I am not in the Fraser Institute or "reform" by any means but I can sometimes see their perspective. Serious reforms of these sacred cows need to be carried out or we may end up with even greater evils.

You`re right, gaulois, the corruption and theivery runs amok through it all! But these institutions could work if people weren`t so greedy and actually cared about people! But even our government lies and steals so you know these bodies won`t be monitored, policed, or regulated so that they serve the people. And this greed is even worse in the private sector! It`s made to look legal, because the 'market' seems to control prices, wages, etc. But not only are they just as corrupt, their 'free market' allows them to rape the public to the point where only the rich can afford such things as quality health care. I don`t know, what`s the solution?

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Dave Ruston

The common thread here is human greed and it will show its ugly head in both a private and public sector solution. I have seen both at their best and at their worst. Its ugly head normally shows hidden behind the bureaucracies and simplistic ideologies. My focus is fighting bureaucracies and the comfort zone of ideologies they subject themselves to. Good governance is ensuring that the public and private sector complements each other in their shortcomings. Good citizenship is ensuring there is good governance.

I tend to agree, I don`t want to see Canada go completely communist, but surely, essential services must be accessable and affordable to all, so, what do we do? I mean, public health care, for instance, is unfragmented, and can buy and administer by bulk, and control prices. On the other hand, if you allow private companies to do it, to make it affordable and accessable, a government has to show backbone and cap prices. But this cramps the style of profit hungry corporations. Again, with essential services, i favour crown corporations and public administration, but again, the government has to free itself from its corrupt ways, and vigorously monitor the situation. Don`t just give bureaucracies such a free hand.

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Dave Ruston