<
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/26/rightwing-populist-leaders-oppose-experts-not-elites>
"Is the success of the Trumps, Bolsonaros and Johnsons of this world
proof that the people can always be seduced by demagogues – and simply
don’t know what’s good for them? Distrust of professionalism does not
come out of nowhere. Neoliberalism paved the way for these attitudes.
Margaret Thatcher memorably held that academics didn’t really do any
work; in fact, they all – with the possible exception of scientists –
seemed to be lefties wasting taxpayers’ money. Tories introduced the
imperative constantly to audit and assess (and discipline and punish
those not measuring up); only what could be counted, counted.
Governments that praised “free markets” – the spontaneous emergence of
economic order – actually ended up constructing entirely artificial
“markets” in academia and healthcare. These pseudo-markets had to
provide the right “incentives” – because, so the assumption went,
professionals could not possibly be motivated by intrinsic goals of
helping patients or pursuing research or educating young people.
The result was not a genuine market, but a vast bureaucracy reminiscent
of the late Soviet Union. What one historian has called “the tyranny of
metrics” meant that the measure became the target; the relentless
quantification of performance distorted what and how professionals
performed. Enormous resources, and a fair bit of cunning, went into
gaming a system which was based on the suspicion that professional
self-regulation and internal accountability are sham ideals that just
justify professionals erecting monopolies and closed shops."
Via Paul Ferguson.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://www.xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
http://www.glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
http://www.sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
