That Was The Week That Was: 7 – 11 May
Our assumptions about what is immutable are under attack. The very institutions that we thought were all that stood between us and anarchy are now daily being criticised for being ‘elitist’ and ‘out of touch’ and worst of all, ‘standing in the way of progress’. This one is particularly odd, because when asked what ‘progress’ might mean in this context, those that attack the institutions – we speak here of institutions of such radical thinking and disruption as the Supreme Court, the House of Lords, the Rule of Law; things like that – want nothing more, and nothing less, than to go back to the mythical days when apparently those very institutions ruled our lives with peace, love and understanding. What, as Elvis Costello asked, is so funny ‘bout peace, love and understanding? Nothing or course, but the language those that think the institutions stand in the way of progress choose to use does not normally reflect peace, or love, or understanding. So Monday’s announcement from the White House that China’s requirement on airlines that Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau be referred to in ways that the Chinese Communist Party considers appropriate was, oh yes, you guessed ‘Political Correctness Gone Mad’. American airlines were not going to be cowed like that, the White House thundered. Political correctness is one of those irregular nouns – mine is the only way to describe something, yours is perhaps not as good a name as it might be and theirs is political correctness gone mad. But as is so often the case, the White House had fired the starting gun on the theme of the week that was… On cue, Tuesday saw the withdrawal of the US from the joint agreement with Iran regarding their nuclear programme. As far as President Trump was concerned, that too was political correctness, gone mad. He, as mad as hell, was not going to take it anymore. Sanctions and trade wars; front and centre. The banks of Europe need to get themselves into shape to help fight a trade war. Where to look for inspiration when it comes to fighting legacy thinking and practice? Ryanair, of course. Fat dumb and lazy – sorry, low volume, high margin, ‘legacy-minded’ banks need to look to Ryanair. So says Insead. That other hot bed of back-to-the-fantasy-past-ists – Team Brexit – were not to be outdone. First, there was outrage, outrage, that the European Union might impose visa requirements on Britons. There are undesirables only on one side of the border, apparently. The solution might be – irony alert – a reciprocal agreement. By Wednesday another group of rent-seekers par excellence, Brussels Airlines’ pilots, unhappy with the various holidays May holds, announced that tools are to be downed. Only they know what is best for the owner of their employer, and the business model being put forward is against their view of what is public policy. Funnily enough, on Friday the US Court of Appeals decided that the US pilots could not use exactly that same argument to stop the Secretary of Transportation giving Norwegian a licence to operate. Market forces, or political correctness gone mad? You choose. Which leaves Thursday. Never keen to share the limelight, that on-going slow-mo car crash, Brexit, went into space. Brussels could be putting lives at risk if the UK is shut out of the €10bn Galileo space satellite project, David Davis has warned. Brussels is doing that? Naughty Brussels. How dare it? Talk about political correctness gone mad! Still, the week ended well. The DoT announced a pilot programme for unmanned vehicles. Like their previous space roadmap, that one might have rewarded more wordsmithing.Trackback from your site.