In the field of education there is a term “slow learners”.
I am quite surprised it has taken quite some time for some to decide on the lack of quality, judgement and lack of impartiality of O’ Tooles meanderings.
I think the offending article was motivated by a sudden realisation that lots of countries have housing crises. That’s a threat to the narrative ‘Ireland is a dystopian hell hole’. That inspires a search for a number that enables you say, ‘phew, for a second there it looked as if Ireland has a problem in common with other countries, suggesting it is not all the fault of the coalition and Ireland isn’t the worst place in the world’. The number that puts Ireland, apparently, in a poor light, is found. Doesn’t matter that there are definition and measurement issues - the low number doesn’t mean what he says it means. It “proves” that Ireland has the worst housing crisis in the world and the worst government.
Absolutely spot on. This winds me up something terrible.
How hypocritical is it for TASC and its contributors to bemoan the supposed obsession of economists with GDP, when all the while they are the ones obsessed with using GDP as a statistic!!!!
A percentage of GDP is a trick left wingers use when the want to pretend that something is very small in an Irish context compared to other countries.
Did you know, the Irish men have the smallest penises in the world,… as a percentage of GDP?
Our 'dystopian hellscape' is everywhere but in the comparative performance data! I imagine our 'national scold' will not be cherry-picking it bc runs contrary to 'vibes-based writing'. Whatever you do, don't look at relative performance, acknowledge positive change, admit that some problems are hard, and always make the perfect the enemy of the good enough.
The 2022 Berggruen Governance Index examines the varied performances of countries with a conceptual framework that incorporates democratic accountability (Quality of Democracy) and state capacity (Quality of Governance) as key factors of public goods provision (Quality of Life). Over the span of 20 years, the Index analyzes 134 countries across 3 main indices and 9 sub-indices to examine the relationship between Quality of Democracy, Quality of Government, and Quality of Life.
I often wonder what version of leftism attracts these columnists. Where have they seen socialism work well? Do they genuinely believe that a government made up of Sinn Féin, Soc Dems, Labour and perhaps PBP will improve the lives of Irish people?
In the field of education there is a term “slow learners”.
I am quite surprised it has taken quite some time for some to decide on the lack of quality, judgement and lack of impartiality of O’ Tooles meanderings.
Better to learn later than not at all.
Martin
I’m one of the people who don’t read Fintan as I find his reasoning nonsensical & it would therefore hurt my brain.
He is the worst model of the “begrudgers” 🤣
Exactly. I shouldn’t have read it!
I think the offending article was motivated by a sudden realisation that lots of countries have housing crises. That’s a threat to the narrative ‘Ireland is a dystopian hell hole’. That inspires a search for a number that enables you say, ‘phew, for a second there it looked as if Ireland has a problem in common with other countries, suggesting it is not all the fault of the coalition and Ireland isn’t the worst place in the world’. The number that puts Ireland, apparently, in a poor light, is found. Doesn’t matter that there are definition and measurement issues - the low number doesn’t mean what he says it means. It “proves” that Ireland has the worst housing crisis in the world and the worst government.
It’s the infantile pettiness gene that attracts so many (immature) readers!
Deirdre, i only read Fintan when Chris orders me to!!!!
Absolutely spot on. This winds me up something terrible.
How hypocritical is it for TASC and its contributors to bemoan the supposed obsession of economists with GDP, when all the while they are the ones obsessed with using GDP as a statistic!!!!
A percentage of GDP is a trick left wingers use when the want to pretend that something is very small in an Irish context compared to other countries.
Did you know, the Irish men have the smallest penises in the world,… as a percentage of GDP?
Blimey, that was quick! Thanks Sean. As you can tell, I couldn’t be more contemptuous of his stiff. And yet he is the ‘most read’ ITimes columnist…
Here's something well worth looking at:
berggruen.org/work/the-planetary/the-20…
Our 'dystopian hellscape' is everywhere but in the comparative performance data! I imagine our 'national scold' will not be cherry-picking it bc runs contrary to 'vibes-based writing'. Whatever you do, don't look at relative performance, acknowledge positive change, admit that some problems are hard, and always make the perfect the enemy of the good enough.
berggruen.org/2022-governance-index
The 2022 Berggruen Governance Index examines the varied performances of countries with a conceptual framework that incorporates democratic accountability (Quality of Democracy) and state capacity (Quality of Governance) as key factors of public goods provision (Quality of Life). Over the span of 20 years, the Index analyzes 134 countries across 3 main indices and 9 sub-indices to examine the relationship between Quality of Democracy, Quality of Government, and Quality of Life.
I often wonder what version of leftism attracts these columnists. Where have they seen socialism work well? Do they genuinely believe that a government made up of Sinn Féin, Soc Dems, Labour and perhaps PBP will improve the lives of Irish people?
100 per cent agree on Fintan’s extremism but newspaper columnists must reflect the prejudices of their readers