Data collection as right-wing bugbear
Something led me to read this Salon.com piece about the U.S. Republican party’s rejection of a longstanding process of collecting data on the populace, a change which reflects so closely the Harper government’s scrapping of the long census form (and its disposal of other forms of data collection) that I recommend we all read it.
The final two sentences of the article especially apply:
Progress is built on the accumulation of knowledge, and ideological rigidity shouldn’t be able to compete against the truth that derives from a better understanding of our universe. And yet that’s where we are today — watching as one of the two major political parties in our country becomes not just more and more distrustful of science, but also opposed to the very notion of information-gathering — and governs accordingly.
Tux 15:21 on 2012/05/23 Permalink
Who needs information when you’ve got religion? Who needs debate when you’ve got rhetoric? Who needs poor people when you’ve got rich people?
David Tighe 15:50 on 2012/05/23 Permalink
Who needs analysis when you have convictions?
mdblog 20:17 on 2012/05/23 Permalink
Because we all know that every single one of the 100,000 + protesters in the street could give a detailed analysis of the current situation with regard to Bill 78 and tuition hikes. I wouldn’t be surprised if each and every one of them could provide statistics on public spending on universities as well as all of the relevant jurisprudence as it relates to constitutional law and Bill 78.
ant6n 20:45 on 2012/05/23 Permalink
@mdblog
The students are on average clearly more informed than the green squares, the old people, anglophones and the ROC. If you read stuff on the internet against the hikes, they are generally much better with the numbers than the polemics saying that Quebec is Canada’s Greece and the spoiled, self-entitled Iphone-wielding brats need to shut up and pay up (i.e. the Gazette, Globe’n'Mail, CBC, CTV…).
mdblog 20:52 on 2012/05/23 Permalink
@ant6n
You think they (the students) are more informed because they agree with your point of view. Don’t you see that?
Love the sleight against Anglos. I see your true colours. Racist.
ant6n 21:36 on 2012/05/23 Permalink
Last week I was a “fabulous fonctionnaire” (you used that against me because I compiled factual information that didn’t agree with your point of view, ironically), today I’m a “Racist”. Who’s showing “true colors”?
Kate 01:15 on 2012/05/24 Permalink
mdblog, you can’t behave like that on this blog. ant6n has never said anything remotely racist here and I won’t have it.
mdblog 06:44 on 2012/05/24 Permalink
@Kate
Fair enough. I will censor myself, ok? I wouldn’t want to be banished.
@ant6n
We simply don’t agree and I can live with that. Apologies for the name calling. I will remain more civilized in future discourse.