Love Douglas Adams. He was onto the lizard conspiracy theory early:
“It comes from a very ancient democracy, you see..."
"You mean, it comes from a world of lizards?"
"No," said Ford, who by this time was a little more rational and coherent than he had been, having finally had the coffee forced down him, "nothing so simple. Nothing anything like so straightforward. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."
"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."
"I did," said Ford. "It is."
"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't people get rid of the lizards?"
"It honestly doesn't occur to them," said Ford. "They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates to the government they want."
"You mean they actually vote for the lizards?"
"Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."
"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"
"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard," said Ford, "the wrong lizard might get in. Got any gin?"
"What?"
"I said," said Ford, with an increasing air of urgency creeping into his voice, "have you got any gin?"
"I'll look. Tell me about the lizards."
Ford shrugged again.
"Some people say that the lizards are the best thing that ever happened to them," he said. "They're completely wrong of course, completely and utterly wrong, but someone's got to say it."
"But that's terrible," said Arthur.
"Listen, bud," said Ford, "if I had one Altairian dollar for every time I heard one bit of the Universe look at another bit of the Universe and say 'That's terrible' I wouldn't be sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.” (So long and thanks for all the fish)
Great analogy especially as I have just re-read Hitchhikers Guide. Let’s hope they find the meaning of life (better way to find the funds than taxing children).
My own conclusion is that Labour are so desperate to distance themselves from the 'hated Tories' that they are prone to pull any lever or push any button to make them seem different. That might explain some of their odd choices. They even dreamed up a fantasy £20 billion black hole in the state finances to justify their flailing about - at the same time as spending new money with no clear return.
If Labour were an individual people would be asking if they were bad or mad.
Forgive me, Douglas Adams is the closest thing I have to a personal deity.
Possibly the first computer game he wrote was Bureaucracy, an Adventure-style text game. I still have the floppy somewhere. You can play it online; it takes patience. https://dos.zone/bureaucracy-mar-1987/
Love Douglas Adams. He was onto the lizard conspiracy theory early:
“It comes from a very ancient democracy, you see..."
"You mean, it comes from a world of lizards?"
"No," said Ford, who by this time was a little more rational and coherent than he had been, having finally had the coffee forced down him, "nothing so simple. Nothing anything like so straightforward. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."
"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."
"I did," said Ford. "It is."
"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't people get rid of the lizards?"
"It honestly doesn't occur to them," said Ford. "They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates to the government they want."
"You mean they actually vote for the lizards?"
"Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."
"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"
"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard," said Ford, "the wrong lizard might get in. Got any gin?"
"What?"
"I said," said Ford, with an increasing air of urgency creeping into his voice, "have you got any gin?"
"I'll look. Tell me about the lizards."
Ford shrugged again.
"Some people say that the lizards are the best thing that ever happened to them," he said. "They're completely wrong of course, completely and utterly wrong, but someone's got to say it."
"But that's terrible," said Arthur.
"Listen, bud," said Ford, "if I had one Altairian dollar for every time I heard one bit of the Universe look at another bit of the Universe and say 'That's terrible' I wouldn't be sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.” (So long and thanks for all the fish)
Great analogy especially as I have just re-read Hitchhikers Guide. Let’s hope they find the meaning of life (better way to find the funds than taxing children).
haha....absolutely. The answer is "tax education". But everyone's lost track of the question.
My own conclusion is that Labour are so desperate to distance themselves from the 'hated Tories' that they are prone to pull any lever or push any button to make them seem different. That might explain some of their odd choices. They even dreamed up a fantasy £20 billion black hole in the state finances to justify their flailing about - at the same time as spending new money with no clear return.
If Labour were an individual people would be asking if they were bad or mad.
Forgive me, Douglas Adams is the closest thing I have to a personal deity.
Possibly the first computer game he wrote was Bureaucracy, an Adventure-style text game. I still have the floppy somewhere. You can play it online; it takes patience. https://dos.zone/bureaucracy-mar-1987/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureaucracy_(video_game)
Great piece! But why take the title from the Borg in Star Trek?