“I know that it's probably not a good idea for a comedian, especially a satirist, to support a public policy group or a politician. This is something I learned only too well years ago when I did a fundraiser for Pol Pot. A few years later I saw 'The Killing Fields,' and I've got to tell you, I just felt like a schmuck.” KnowsYearsWellsIdeasFeltSupportSawsGroupsPolicyFieldsPoliticianYears AgoKillingComedianPotGood IdeasPublic PolicySatiristFundraiserSchmucks Author:Al Franken
“Because those who hold conspiracy theories typically suffer from a crippled epistemology, in accordance with which it is rational to hold such theories, the best response consists in cognitive infiltration of extremist groups. Various policy dilemmas, such as the question whether it is better for government to rebut conspiracy theories or to ignore them, are explored in this light.” LightGovernmentSufferingGroupsPolicyTheoryResponseVariousRationalConspiracyDilemmaExtremistCognitiveEpistemologyConspiracy TheoryCrippledInfiltrationExtremist Groups Author:Cass Sunstein
“But politicians who talk about failed policies are just blowing smoke. Government policies succeed in doing exactly what they are supposed to do: channeling resources bilked from the general public to politically organized and influential interests groups.” GovernmentInterestGroupsPolicyPoliticianSucceedResourcesSmokeOrganizedInfluentialChannelingGeneral PublicInterest GroupsGovernment PolicyBlowing Smoke Author:Robert Higgs
“Linear programming is viewed as a revolutionary development giving man the ability to state general objectives and to find, by means of the simplex method, optimal policy decisions for a broad class of practical decision problems of great complexity. In the real world, planning tends to be ad hoc because of the many special-interest groups with their multiple objectives.” MenWorldGivingMeanRealStatesProblemInterestAbilityDecisionClassGroupsSpecialPolicyHe ManDevelopmentMethodPlanningPracticalsObjectivesRevolutionaryComplexityProgrammingBroadsReal WorldAdsMultipleLinearSpecial InterestsOptimalInterest GroupsSpecial Interest Groups Author:George Dantzig
“in race relations, the single gesture and the single individual are more often than not doomed to failure. Only the group and the long-term, undeviating policy make much headway. ... if you want to make the world a better place, the first thing you must accept is the fact that you cannot transcend your limitations as an individual.” IfsWorldWantFirstsLongFactsIndividualTermRaceAcceptingGroupsPolicyRacismRelationLimitationLong TermGesturesDoomedBetter PlaceRace Relations Book:Color blind: a white woman looks at the Negro Source: Color blind: a white woman looks at the Negro
“The Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group strongly supports green-line policies, because the only way to attract top level employees and their families is to protect the region's open space and environment. We want to build a community that is demonstrates smart growth rather than a model for L.A.-type growth.” WayWantGrowthNatureCommunityLinesSpaceLevelsSupportEnvironmentGroupsPolicyTypeProtectModelsSmartGreenEmployeeRegionsValleysConservationManufacturingSiliconSilicon ValleyOpen SpacesSmart Growth Author:Carl Guardino
“Historically, religious groups have been most effective when they have stood apart from government and critiqued the performance of government in light of their ethical traditions. When churches become cozy with the state, they lose the capacity and the will to criticize unjust policies.” Has BeensStatesLightGovernmentLosesChurchReligiousGroupsPolicyCapacityTraditionPerformancesCriticizeEthicalUnjustCozy Author:Edd Doerr
“Nonwhite and working-class women, if they are ever to identify with the organized women's movement, must see their own diverse experiences reflected in the practice and policy statements of these predominantly white middle-class groups.” IfsWhiteClassPracticeGroupsMiddlePolicyMovementStatementsOrganizedMiddle ClassDiverseWorking Class Author:Kimberle Williams Crenshaw
“Personality must be educated, and personality cannot be educated by confining its operations to technical and specialized things, or to the less important relationships of life. Full education comes only when there is a responsible share on the part of each person, in proportion to capacity, in shaping the aims and policies of the social groups to which he belongs.” PersonsImportantSocialGroupsSharePolicyPersonalityCapacityResponsibleAimEducatedOperationsProportionSocial GroupsImportant Relationships Book:Reconstruction in Philosophy Source: Reconstruction in Philosophy
“Genocide involves the attempt to achieve the disappearance of a group by whatever means. It does not have to be violent, it could be a combination of policies that would lead to a certain group dying out.” MeanDoeCertainGroupsAchieveDyingPolicyViolentCombinationGenocideDisappearance Author:Malcolm Fraser
“...The British press... [claimed that Tony] Blair was simply Bush's poodle - a favorite phrase, bewilderingly popular, although it made no sense - and that he was ignoring the will of the British people. Considering the hacks had spent Blair's first six years in office condemning him for relying on focus groups and opinion polls for his policies - in other words, paying attention to nothing but the will of the people, or at least their whims - that seemed a little rich to me, but as I said, logical consistency has never figured highly in the British media's scale of values.” PeopleYearsFirstsLittlesMadeSaidValuesAttentionOpinionRichFocusGroupsMediaPolicyOfficeSixPressesBritishScalesPay AttentionJournalistPhrasesLogicalConsideringConsistencyPollsWhimHacksBlairCondemningPoodlesOpinion PollsFocus Groups Author:Larry King
“It is deliberate policy to keep even the favoured groups somewhere near the brink of hardship, because a general state of scarcity increases the importance of small privileges and thus magnifies the distinction between one group and another.” StatesGroupsPolicyImportanceIncreasePrivilegeDistinctionHardshipDeliberateScarcity Book:1984 Source: 1984
“One of the best predictors of policy around is Thomas Ferguson's investment theory of politics, as he calls it - very outstanding political economist - which essentially - I mean, to say it in a sentence, he describes elections as occasions in which groups of investors coalesce and invest to control the state.” MeanStatesPoliticalGroupsPolicyTheoryElectionInvestmentSentencesOccasionsInvestorsEconomistOutstandingFerguson Author:Noam Chomsky
“Economist and Africa expert Collier analyzes why a group of 50 nations, home to the poorest one billion people, are failing. Considering issues such as civil war, dependence on extractive industries, and bad governance, he argues that the strongest industrialized countries must enact a plan to help with international policies and standards.” PeopleWarCountryHelpingHomeNationsIssuesPlansFailingGroupsPolicyIndustryStandardsInternationalArguingBillionsExpertsCivil WarStrongestConsideringDependenceEconomistGovernancePoorest Author:Amy Lockwood
“Pakistan is, I always feel, hopeful. You know, our system of government is not, and the system of foreign policy whereby we do whatever is asked of us as long as the price is right only proves to fundamentalist outfits and to militant groups that when we talk of things like democracy, when we talk of things like foreign policy, what we're really talking about is being pro-American.” KnowsFeelsLongGovernmentTalkingDemocracyGroupsPolicyProveHopefulForeign PolicyPakistanFundamentalistMilitantOutfitsSystems Of Government Author:Fatima Bhutto
“In 1988, when democracy was restored, the military establishment was still very powerful. The extremist groups were still there. And when the aid and assistance to Pakistan was cut, we had to adopt harsh economic policies. So in a way, it showed that democracy doesn't pay, and the military was able to reassert itself.” WayStillsAblePowerfulPayDemocracyCuttingGroupsEconomicMilitaryPolicyAidsEstablishmentHarshAssistancePakistanVery PowerfulExtremistEconomic PolicyExtremist Groups Author:Benazir Bhutto
“The people and the warmakers are two distinct groups. We must never say 'we' when discussing the US government's foreign policy. For one thing, the warmakers do not care about the opinions of the majority of Americans. It is silly and embarrassing for Americans to speak of 'we' when discussing their government's foreign policy, as if their input were necessary to or desired by those who make war.” PeopleIfsTwoWarGovernmentCareSpeakOpinionOne ThingGroupsPolicyMajoritySillyForeign PolicyEmbarrassingDiscussingInput Author:Llewellyn Rockwell
“This comes from a group of people who`ve been wrong about every foreign policy issue over the last two decades. They supported Hillary Clinton`s war in Libya. They supported President [Barack] Obama`s bombing of Assad.” PeopleTwoWarLastsPresidentIssuesGroupsPolicyClintonDecadesBarackForeign PolicyBombingPresident Barack ObamaLibyaAssad Author:Barack Obama
“Misgovernment...will often be reflected in oppressive or aggressive policies towards groups within the state or towards the state's neighbours.” StatesGroupsPolicyAggressiveNeighbourOften Is Author:Margaret Thatcher