Comments on: Munchausen by Proxyocracy

By: Carnival has almost left town

Carnival has almost left town — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 12:08:00 +0000

[...] Ladner presents Munchausen by Proxyocracy posted at Jay P. Greene’s [...]

By: Rantings and Ramblings From All Around.. » Blog Archive » Sunday Afternoon Reading To Make You Smarter « Seeing Red Az

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 23:49:17 +0000

[...] Munchausen by Proxyocracy « Jay P. Greene’s Blog [...]

By: Malcolm Kirkpatrick

Malcolm Kirkpatrick — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 00:07:52 +0000

Academics are another story. They shun effective means of educational service delivery quite deliberately to impede the progress of quick students. The batch process emphasis, which treats students as a “class” and measures academic progress in units of time (a “year of Algebra” makes as much sense as a “pound of friendship” or a “square foot of suspicion”) frustrates slow students and bores bright students. Selecting inefficient methods deliberately to make work for employees (which happens) is as malicious as breaking children’s bones to enhance their returns from street begging.

By: matthewladner

matthewladner — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 20:05:14 +0000

Cody-

I wasn’t arguing that politicians literally suffer from MBPS. Rather that that their ignorance, lack of foresight, shortcomings in preparative research, trading votes on issues, compromise to get somehting passed, getting reelected by pleasing constituents and (sadly) bad faith often creates a spot-on imitation of MBPS.

By: CodyPT

CodyPT — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 19:15:05 +0000

The word “deliberately” was not my choice of words. It was taken directly from Matthew’s opening piece…”MBPS involves a caregiver deliberately making another person sick.”

If you believe policy makers suffer from MBPS and choose to deliberately hurt the country, then you are overlooking the effects of ignorance, lack of foresight, shortcomings in preparative research, lack of creativity, trading votes on issues, compromise to get something passed, getting re-elected by pleasing your constituency….factors that are all or partly at work in contributing to policy-making in the very pragmatic and rough-and-tumble world of governing.

By: John Hock

John Hock — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 04:44:11 +0000

And here she is in somewhat less glamorous circumstances . . . .

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/mbartonmug1.html

By: matthewladner

matthewladner — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 21:14:12 +0000

I will be happy to stop posting ralphing images when Congress stops making barf-out policy.

Here’s a feeling old moment for you: as it turns out, the ghost girl was played by Mischa Barton, who is now a young Hollywood beauty queen type:

http://www.starpulse.com/Actresses/Barton,_Mischa/gallery/3812091/

By: Greg Forster

Greg Forster — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 19:43:17 +0000

All that said, I do wonder whether JPGB might consider adopting a no-ralphing image policy.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:04:01 +0000

Politicians know exactly what they’re doing. Its just the payoff matrix in politics doesn’t reward doing the right thing for the country, it rewards you for doing what’s right for the most politically influential.

If you don’t do it, someone else will.

By: Malcolm Kirkpatrick

Malcolm Kirkpatrick — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:40:04 +0000

Beat you to the Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy analogy by about ten years.

The supposition that benign intentions motivate politicians falls to historical and current evidence. The US “public” school system DID NOT originate in benign motives, but in anti-Catholic bigotry. The BIA schools deliberately sought to expunge Native American culture.

In Hawaii, juvenile arrests for drug possession, drug promotion, robbery, and assault fall in summer, when school is not in session. Juvenile hospitalizations for human-induced trauma fall in summer. Corruption in school construction contracting is widespread across the US and well-documented.

In what democratic theory of government does the instrument of organized violence (the State) contribute to collective actions which people would undertake without coercion?

The choice politicians make, of a bureaucratic, inefficient, and abusive system over a system controlled by parents and responsive to individual differences in children’s interetsts and aptitudes, is very deliberate.

Munchausen’s syndrome by proxy is exact.