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A third less something

13 September 2009 · 7:27 am · Political Science Fiction, TANSTAAFL

You’ve heard variations on the theme all your life, but the truth remains the same. In engineering, it goes like this: “Fast. Good. Cheap. Pick any two.” It’s applicable, I suspect, to most human endeavors, and here Cobb extends the premise to politics:

Ethics + Results – Principles = Pragmatist.

Ethics + Principles – Results = Theorist.

Principles + Results – Ethics = Tyrant.

If you have none of these things, you may well have: Incumbent.

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3 comments

  1. Mark Alger »

    13 September 2009 · 8:17 am

    All of which founders on the flawed premise that one wants results from government.

    M

  2. McGehee »

    13 September 2009 · 8:32 am

    If you have none of these things, you may well have: Incumbent-for-life.

    Fixed that for you.

  3. paulsmos »

    13 September 2009 · 12:42 pm

    -principles-ethics-results=progressive

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