Text 3804, 82 rader
Skriven 2009-11-17 13:33:24 av Ross Cassell (1:123/456)
   Kommentar till text 3796 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
Ärende: On my many hats...
==========================
Hello Michiel!

17 Nov 09 12:15, you wrote to me:

 RC>>>> Yes, and I submit that if the Mayor of a Nederland Village is
 RC>>>> also the Town Vet, there would be no problem...

 MV>>> Maybe not where you live but here that would certainly be a
 MV>>> problem. It would not be accepted. Period.

 RC>> You lost the meaning of the example, by expressing your peoples
 RC>> need for huge govt, sorry I should have used another locale.

 MV> Your anti European bias is showing. And leads you to the wrong
 MV> conclusion. It has nthing to do with our (perceived) need for huge
 MV> goverment. It has all to do with avoiding situations where people get
 MV> compromised.

Oh puleez, its a well known fact that many Govts over there play the role of
the nanny. Its not a govt for the people by the people, its the People for the
Govt, by the Govt.

Has nothing to do with bias..

 MV> What if a fire breaks out in an old people's home and the chief of the
 MV> fire brigade calls the mayor that an emergency evacuation plan has to
 MV> be set in motion? What if at the same time the vet gets a call from a
 MV> large horse breeder that a valuable horse has a problem giving birth
 MV> and needs the vet right away? Where does he go first? Does he give the
 MV> tax payer what they pay him for? To be there and lead the evacuation?
 MV> Or does he go to the horse breeder to treat the horse? Knowing that if
 MV> he does not go and the horse dies because of it, the horse breeder
 MV> will never call him again and maybe many of his collegues. That will
 MV> cost him al lot of income.

You took the example to literally and without flexibility.

In this case, a Town Mayor albeit a Vet, would have to put his Mayoral Duties
first, would recuse himself from matters involving his line of work, and could
not use his position of Mayor to make his private practice benefit from any
contracts with the city he is Mayor of..

Small Towns over here arent large enough to warrant full time politicians,
unlike the major cities.

 MV> We do not want people to get caught up in such a conflict of interest.
 MV> So we make it a condition that if the town vet wants to apply for the
 MV> job of town mayor, he has to give up being a vet. He can argue that he
 MV> does not see a conflict, that it is only  a small town, that in the 30
 MV> years that he has been a vet, he has never been called to do an
 MV> emergency operation on a valuable horse, etc, etc, it won't help him.
 MV> If he does not agree to stop being a vet, he will not get the job of
 MV> major. Period.

So in the Nederlands a Town Mayor is paid a fulltime salary to do what is
probably part time work, see the nanny?

 RC>>  nothing evil intended on my part.

 MV> The road to hell is paved with good intentions...

and we both travel it together.. :)

I will follow your lead.

 RC>> its good to have confidence in your beliefs, its another thing to
 RC>> be arrogant and sometimes condescending about them, which is how
 RC>> you come across sometimes.

 MV> And you think that does not apply to you too?

I didnt say that, but unlike you, I dont go walking around thinking that I am
always right.

==
Ross
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