In 1966 Ronald Reagan proposed the "creative society": replacing civil servants was businessmen. ...

[marmar]

.... Well, now we've got it and nine million recalled lead-painted toys, and nine mine fatalities within the week. Can we please make it all go away?


from OurFuture.org:


The Creative Society
Submitted by Rick Perlstein on August 17, 2007 - 11:26am.


I woke up the other morning to a cascade of apologetics from a toy industry spokesperson interviewed on NPR's Morning Edition. She was explaining away the recall, this past week, of nine million Mattel Barbies and lead-painted toy cars manufactured in China. Groggily groping for the snooze button, I caught the tail end of reporter Renée Montagne's question"...really does seem there's an increase in problems with imports from China in this last year. This is, as I just said, the second recall in a month for Mattel. What's going on?"and the flack's pat response:

"Well, we do recall products on a regular basis. This year we've recalled over 400 products. Of those, 44 of those recalls have been of toys. Frankly, Renee, that is a lower number than the number of toy recalls we did last year and the year before. Nevertheless, it is something of concern to us. We look at it very, very closely. With respect to what's going on, as I'm sure your listeners realize, much of our manufacturing has moved outside of the United States and much of it is in China. So if that is where products are being made it is not unexpected that that is where the recalls would be occurring."

And this, I thought to myself, was frightfully clever stuff. The reason crap from China seems so crappy is just because there's lots of crap being made in Chinanothing to do with the fact that, say, Chinese newspapers aren't allowed to report "negative news" about business, thus giving Chinese factories impunity to work whatever scams they can dream up without fear of discovery; or that Chinese factory owners who slather lead paint on toy trains are allowed to escort inquiring American reporters to jail. No: the fact that there were more recalled Chinese toys was just a function of the fact that there are more Chinese toys. Simple arithmetic. Move along. Pay no attention to the lead paint behind the curtain.

Mantagne followed up: "Consumer groups do say that Mattel is one of the most conscientious and rigorous toy manufacturers in the country so does this mean that if their products have problems, all products from China could be suspect?"

Great question. As Chaucer said: "If gold rust, what shall iron do?" ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://commonsense.ourfuture.org/creative_society?tx=3

[C_U_L8R]

1. I'm all for a Creative Society

but no one would ever really consider businesspeople as particularly creative....
they may use creative people... they may be inventive in the ways they finangle creative people...
but they themselves are certainly not deserving of being call "creative". No way.

Creative makes.

[Solo_in_MD]

3. Private business is always more creative than Gov bureaucrats

If you can not create a prodcut the public wants, then you are out of business...Gov workers are immune to the plebian demands of the marketplace and are securely employed regardless of skills and needs. I say this as a former civil servant...

[bobthedrummer]

5. Theoretically, perhaps-absent the corruption, maybe. Fascism is not far from these policies.

Here is another cross-post about what happens when good ideas become corrupted-and a historical indictment of some of the perpetrators of these privatization policies (i.e.Tommy Thompson et.al.).

" 'Neoconservatism' and how Wisconsinites worked alliances " (posted 8-16-2007)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=186x21683#21874

[Hugin]

2. Very good...

Thought provoking. Yep, we've got it alright...

[bobthedrummer]

4. Wisconsin lost it's progressive traditions to these criminals over the past few decades

we don't even have a State budget yet even though it was due at the end of the FY.

Here's a cross-post that is from a parent thread that details and documents what these criminals have done.

"This just in: 'Giuliani Seeks Private School Vouchers'..." (posted 8-19-2007)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=186x21683#21901