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« Last post by Davo on Today at 12:51:14 pm »
I’m at least in part dismissive of him having a very limited range of sources; a position I’d expect a history professor to heartily endorse.
The point with populists (and Stone is a left wing populist with, in my view, an authoritarian streak) is that they “flood the zone with shit”. Refuting every crazy claim becomes a huge task. My basic view would be that his viewpoint, which is common amongst the far left, doesn’t really have much time for trade offs, or unintended consequences, or even budget constraints.
Take his idea of free public transport. Firstly, is the problem with public transport use in most British cities a demand issue? No, it’s not, it’s a supply issue, so making it free doesn’t help. And the reality of free public transport is virtually every poster on UKB paying for me to waltz around London for free. Lovely for me, politically unsustainable. See? A paragraph to refute one sentence of nonsense. That’s how populism works, there gets a point where saying “X is not a serious actor, ignoring them is more productive” becomes a far more viable strategy. I’m sure if we were taking about covid denialism you’d be nodding along in agreement.
As for things already existing in different countries. Well, many things exist in many countries and they don’t work, or do work but in a very different context to the U.K.
I guess that is at least an attempt at justifying why you are dismissive, I’ll give you that. I would also say that it is easy to criticise and say why ideas are crap and they won’t work and it is much harder to put forward stuff that you think might work. Also I know Stone personally and the idea that he is a populist of any description is quite the notion!! As to him being authoritarian that made me spit out my coffee laughing!! Anyway, would you mind taking the time to describe some key policies that you think would help the UK? Cheers Dave
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I’m at least in part dismissive of him having a very limited range of sources; a position I’d expect a history professor to heartily endorse.
The point with populists (and Stone is a left wing populist with, in my view, an authoritarian streak) is that they “flood the zone with shit”. Refuting every crazy claim becomes a huge task. My basic view would be that his viewpoint, which is common amongst the far left, doesn’t really have much time for trade offs, or unintended consequences, or even budget constraints.
Take his idea of free public transport. Firstly, is the problem with public transport use in most British cities a demand issue? No, it’s not, it’s a supply issue, so making it free doesn’t help. And the reality of free public transport is virtually every poster on UKB paying for me to waltz around London for free. Lovely for me, politically unsustainable. See? A paragraph to refute one sentence of nonsense. That’s how populism works, there gets a point where saying “X is not a serious actor, ignoring them is more productive” becomes a far more viable strategy. I’m sure if we were taking about covid denialism you’d be nodding along in agreement.
As for things already existing in different countries. Well, many things exist in many countries and they don’t work, or do work but in a very different context to the U.K.
"Go straight to Gulag"
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« Last post by Rocksteady on Today at 12:41:02 pm »
Resurrecting this old thread to see if I can get any help on a problem I'm having:
Moving out of London to southern counties, typical move have a young family and need way more space than I can afford in the most expensive city in the world.
My wife and I like traditional houses and architecture etc and found a Grade II listed farmhouse, old timber framed job etc. We were informed before offering that the house was subject to some underpinning 25-30 years ago. Slightly fell in love with the house/garden and made an offer.
We got a full survey by a specialist 'heritage' building surveyor and I took the opportunity to have a walkaround with him. Basically a long list of things probably that I would have expected given the age of the property etc, some things that are sort of perfect world jobs like repointing with specialist heritage building materials etc. He mentioned that it was a little bit suspicious that the whole house had been recarpeted and repainted as this could cover up issues. Most importantly he mentioned that there were signs potentially of more recent 'movement' i.e. subsidence and it would be good to have sight of the report on the underpinning work, particularly as the chimney is leaning.
It has proven impossible to get this report. The sellers claim they have lost it and have given their recollection of what sounds like a massive piece of work with the house basically starting to collapse into an old cellar. The surveyor who oversaw the work after a lot of chasing has surfaced and claims she also has lost all her records of the work. The sellers' solicitor has had a weird strop that we are investigating this and has said we need to exchange within a week or they will reconsider - I am not taking this seriously, but also consider it a classic scammers move to put people under time pressure to make a financial decision. Furthermore, the TA6 form has turned out there is Japanse Knotweed on the property, ostensibly removed and under a guarantee for another 7 years or something.
I was expecting a list of things to tackle on an ongoing basis with an old house, but the subsidence plus knotweed feel like 2 red flags for getting insured and for selling on, and I am starting to be a bit suspicious of the sellers. They don't live in the UK any more and originally I had the picture this was a recent move but now I'm thinking they have not lived in this property for years and have let it out for long periods. Have a bit of a feeling they are covering up problems they know the house has and don't want to deal with.
Right now I am debating my options. Clearly I need to get a structural engineer around to assess whether the house is imminently going to fall down. I guess I just have 2 choices, renegotiate the price or pull out. And whether any amount of money discount is worth the hassle this is all going to be.
Interested in others who've had similar experiences, any advice etc would be appreciated.
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I think a decent compromise is us following the very simple rules already in place as asked for by the land owner(who has every right to tell us to fuck off)! What is it with us as a group..? And our sense of entitlement and inability to follow simple rules, access is only going to become more of an issue, if we can’t do better, we deserve everything we get…
This, and arguments similar to this, are commonly heard in cases like this. To be clear I'm not in favour of antagonising those with a legal right to make life difficult for climbers. And I am in favour of access agreements where time and circumstance have arrived at this formal approach being the way to preserve climbing access - and this example seems like a place where not risking rocking the boat is the most sensible approach. (and request a few discreet very low profile 12mm glue-in clippy-stick access bolts to tidy up the pinnacle, preserve vegetation(?), and 'replace unsightly old fixed gear'...)
But be honest about the wider scene rather than make-believe. It's rarely as simple as: 'lets follow the rules'. We can pretend that climbing takes place according to landowners' rules if that's what suits our argument at the time, but climbing doesn't happen like that in reality.
If you truly believe in a fairytale of 'we only do what the landowner has explicitly permitted following a formal request' then don't ever climb on the slate, and strip the Diamond access route tomorrow. Then relax in a warm glow of knowing you're righteously following the landowners' rules (oh what you really think Mostyn Estates want to know about and agree to a via ferrata on their land?!). Loads of other places where we just go and climb and place all sorts of fixed stuff without seeking explicit permission.. and hope it turns out ok.
No coincidence that two people making a case against bolts here are JB and NY. JB lives in that far-off unsullied fantasy land known as The Unspoiled Trad Environment. I think NY probably often visits there on holiday  .
This doesn’t really deserve a reply…. But if I’m anything I’m a glutton for punishment so here goes.
As already mentioned and the way threads in general work, we are talking about a specific place so pontificating about what is the norm elsewhere isn’t bringing much to the table is it? Also mentioning what you think mine and JB’s world view is, seems at best like poking the bear either for fun(which I get) or because you like being a argumentative dick at times(I also get/am).
I can understand why you might think I’m possessed by the spirit of Ken, because I don’t often pipe up other than to sound like some kind of dinosaur, harping on about resisting progression or regression depending on your view.
Despite how I might come across I think you’ve really got a very skewed view of where I stand. I love headpointing and I like clipping bolts, I do however feel really strongly about preserving certain aspects of British climbing, I’m not anti bolt, I’m anti bolt at crucibles of adventure climbing, I’m certainly not anti bolt in the peak, I piped up because spidermonkeys decent compromise comment struck a nerve, access is going to become a really big deal in the future. I will admit I’m very much against the need for convenience people seem to want these days, and rocking the access boat because they can’t be arsed to put a bit of effort in is at best short sighted and at worst plain selfish.
I’m not someone whole likes rules let alone following them, and I’m fully aware how it works elsewhere.
I holiday everywhere…. In fairytales and in reality,I love it all.
Why not get on with channeling the spirit of Ken and ditch all wooly BS? God knows we could do with it.
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« Last post by seankenny on Today at 12:28:08 pm »
I’m at least in part dismissive of him having a very limited range of sources; a position I’d expect a history professor to heartily endorse.
The point with populists (and Stone is a left wing populist with, in my view, an authoritarian streak) is that they “flood the zone with shit”. Refuting every crazy claim becomes a huge task. My basic view would be that his viewpoint, which is common amongst the far left, doesn’t really have much time for trade offs, or unintended consequences, or even budget constraints.
Take his idea of free public transport. Firstly, is the problem with public transport use in most British cities a demand issue? No, it’s not, it’s a supply issue, so making it free doesn’t help. And the reality of free public transport is virtually every poster on UKB paying for me to waltz around London for free. Lovely for me, politically unsustainable. See? A paragraph to refute one sentence of nonsense. That’s how populism works, there gets a point where saying “X is not a serious actor, ignoring them is more productive” becomes a far more viable strategy. I’m sure if we were taking about covid denialism you’d be nodding along in agreement.
As for things already existing in different countries. Well, many things exist in many countries and they don’t work, or do work but in a very different context to the U.K.
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« Last post by Davo on Today at 12:14:08 pm »
This may sound high-handed rather than taking down each point, but frankly, I can’t be arsed.
Actually, if you're going to be so dismissive of someone then I think it is kind of incumbent upon you to lay out some kind of argument. You don't have to agree with him to recognise that Stone is not exactly advocating Fully Automated Luxury Communism or Millei style ancap libertarianism. Much of what he seems to be arguing for does in fact exist in some form in other countries.
Wholeheartedly agree with you here Andy. Sean if you can’t be bothered arguing or replying in a reasonable and civilised manner then I would suggest not responding. On the other hand I personally would welcome reading your thoughts about what would be best for the economy. I’m not being sarcastic here, I actually enjoy reading this kind of stuff and would like to know what opinions your research, education and work has brought you to. Cheers Dave
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« Last post by andy popp on Today at 12:02:11 pm »
This may sound high-handed rather than taking down each point, but frankly, I can’t be arsed.
Actually, if you're going to be so dismissive of someone then I think it is kind of incumbent upon you to lay out some kind of argument. You don't have to agree with him to recognise that Stone is not exactly advocating Fully Automated Luxury Communism or Millei style ancap libertarianism. Much of what he seems to be arguing for does in fact exist in some form in other countries.
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« Last post by TobyD on Today at 12:02:11 pm »
Dining table, oak 152cms X 76cms. In good condition but being replaced.
Free but collect only. It's in South Devon. PM me if interested.
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« Last post by seankenny on Today at 10:59:07 am »
I’m sure the other items on your list could be equally dismantled or picked apart on further interrogation by someone with the knowledge and/or inclination (e.g. the right wing press).
Much of what Stone writes about economics is nonsense. It’s based on the careful reading of about three sources, when the subject is one of the most discussed academic or policy topics in existence. Behind much of what he writes is the implicit assumption that powers that be like to keep people down (which in my view is somewhat different from liking hierarchy, which many powerful people absolutely love) rather than the recognition that running even a simple economy is very difficult. This may sound high-handed rather than taking down each point, but frankly, I can’t be arsed. It’s worth saying that the economic ideas of much of the right wing press is also complete nonsense, but superficially convincing too. The fact that we’ve tried them and they haven’t worked suggests that the superficial charm has perhaps worn off. Worth reading Will Hutton’s views on Labour’s economic policy, or listening to the interview he did on the Prospect magazine podcast. He is slightly optimistic about Britain’s prospects *if* things are done right, and positive about Labour’s approach. Full disclose: I’m a Labour Party member and donated the princely sum of three pounds to the campaign on day one. (Look at me eh.) So that’s my bias.
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« Last post by ali k on Today at 10:46:58 am »
My impression was that in 2010 there were plans in place towards transitioning to very high energy conservation standards but those were scrapped.
We're talking about the situation/choices at the election now. Not 14 years ago. But you can blame the Tories for what's happened in those intervening years. Building Regs were most recently updated in 2021 including higher performance targets, and were due to be again in 2025 (Future Buildings Standard). But it's a huge step change to go from where we are now to Passivhaus across the board. My impression is that even the small amount of Passivhaus social housing building that has happened has led to dramatic cost reductions due to 'learning-by-doing" such that now costs are comparable to standard builds https://www.passivhaustrust.org.uk/competitions_and_campaigns/passivhaus-for-local-authorities/
Of course an organisation advocating for Passivhaus will say that, and it's right that costs have come down and will continue to fall as it scales up. But I can only speak from experience being involved in a number of Passivhaus projects right now. When the rubber hits the road it's not true to say that costs are comparable. And the number of people/companies experienced enough to deliver Passivhaus projects is tiny relative to the construction industry as a whole. That cannot change overnight. You haven't said what your target date is for this manifesto commitment... It's all very well comparing it to building battleships and shifting your entire economy to a war/climate footing, but what happens to literally everything else that needs to be done and paid for in the meantime? Should we disband the army and NHS and retrain all the nurses and soldiers to work in the construction industry for the next decade? Obviously not. An overrated source of funds.
I literally meant each and every person who buys a new-build property. Not a few billionaires footing the bill. Houses will become more expensive if Stone's wishlist came to pass. Who will pay for that when people rightly moan about the already high housing costs? Or is he saying it should be subsidised out of general taxation? I'm guessing this news hasn't filtered south of the border? Scotland adopts passivhaus regs, starting 2025.
Hasn't the Scottish Govt just ditched its climate targets because they found them to be unrealistic? As I say, let's see what happens later this year if (a) that legislation is passed, and (b) what the "Scottish equivalent to the Passivhaus standard" turns out to be. Anyway, I don't want this to turn into a thread with me railing against improving energy efficiency in the construction industry FFS. I wholeheartedly agree it's something that needs to be done. But if Stone is just going to throw together a utopian climate manifesto as a way of attacking Labour for not being radical enough then he needs to show his working.
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