Thanks ! A brilliant summary of a not-so-brilliant situation.
BTW, I liked a lot the historic perspective at the start - and referencing „nobility and clergy“ as dead weight for the society at large.
Replace „nobility“ with „political class and/or the upper 0,1%“ and „clergy“ with „consultants“ and you come to the conclusion that history does maybe not repeat itself, but that there certainly are recurring patterns.
Taking the historic perspective one step further: regulation seems sacred to us in Europe right now. Which begs a comparison with the pre-Reformation church and their use of saints. Calling upon saint didn‘t solve problems - but despite this, the church constantly came up with new patron saints you could pray to. Why ? Because it was the mood of the day with the general population at the time - and, first and foremost, it cemented the clerical leadership claim. And if praying wouldn‘t work out as intended….. well, it was never the saint‘s fault, but, of course, the lack of zealot faith of the prayer ;-)
It‘s really a bit like every special interest now gets its own regulation in lieu of a patron saint. And every new patron saint requires a new day off, a new procession etc. - or, in modern terms, a new reporting obligation. All of this diverts resources from real productivity and problem solving.
So I totally second your call on a moratorium on further regulations. My hope: after abuse comes reform. And, low and behold, the Protestant Church had no need for any saints anymore. It‘s just that we shouldn‘t maybe start the reform with 95 thesis - Luther might disagree, but this large number is not really helpful if your proclaimed aim is to reduce regulation ;-)
Thanks ! A brilliant summary of a not-so-brilliant situation.
BTW, I liked a lot the historic perspective at the start - and referencing „nobility and clergy“ as dead weight for the society at large.
Replace „nobility“ with „political class and/or the upper 0,1%“ and „clergy“ with „consultants“ and you come to the conclusion that history does maybe not repeat itself, but that there certainly are recurring patterns.
Taking the historic perspective one step further: regulation seems sacred to us in Europe right now. Which begs a comparison with the pre-Reformation church and their use of saints. Calling upon saint didn‘t solve problems - but despite this, the church constantly came up with new patron saints you could pray to. Why ? Because it was the mood of the day with the general population at the time - and, first and foremost, it cemented the clerical leadership claim. And if praying wouldn‘t work out as intended….. well, it was never the saint‘s fault, but, of course, the lack of zealot faith of the prayer ;-)
It‘s really a bit like every special interest now gets its own regulation in lieu of a patron saint. And every new patron saint requires a new day off, a new procession etc. - or, in modern terms, a new reporting obligation. All of this diverts resources from real productivity and problem solving.
So I totally second your call on a moratorium on further regulations. My hope: after abuse comes reform. And, low and behold, the Protestant Church had no need for any saints anymore. It‘s just that we shouldn‘t maybe start the reform with 95 thesis - Luther might disagree, but this large number is not really helpful if your proclaimed aim is to reduce regulation ;-)
Wow! No wonder Europe can't get its act together to defend itself. Their bright people aren't working. Brilliant piece.