"Thinking the Unthinkable"?

BasilRathbon · 27-11-2007, 08:35

When Labour first came to power in 1997, it vowed to think the unthinkable, yet I don;t recall anyone in the party ever actually coming up with any radical proposals that were subsequebntly implemented.

Leaving aside the obvious tautology that if someone is capable of thinking it a thought can't be unthinkable, what kind of radical politcal ideas could genuinely be classed as "unthinkable"?

Code13 · 27-11-2007, 08:56

I don't think it is a tautology Basil, more an oxymoron. But I think that, in the context of where Labour had come from, the adherence to free market economics, the continued curbs on trade unions, the strong Alliance with a Republican US President would all have been considered "unthinkable" not long before 1997.

Halibut · 27-11-2007, 09:02

Legalising and regulating the sale of all currently illegal substances.
Makes complete sense in every way, but so far off the scale politically that it's effectively 'unthinkable'. At least to anyone who's actually in a position to do anything about it.

Code13 · 27-11-2007, 09:25

Not allowing men to have driving licenses until they are 25 would prevent, on one estimate I heard, 70% of road traffic "accidents". The empirical evidence would seem to justify this, but, again, would be "unthinkable".

BasilRathbon · 27-11-2007, 09:29

I always thought that scrapping the concept of prison and enabling offenders to serve their punishment by giving something back to society was a brilliant "unthinkable" idea, but anyone suggesting this would be immediately shouted down as "soft on crime" by our "hang 'em and flog 'em" media.

Tricky · 27-11-2007, 09:34

Great idea. I don't know why we don't have chain gangs like in America on all these construction projects. It's an amazing source of cheap labour.

Whatif wewin · 27-11-2007, 09:41

Well this guy might well beg to differ as he believes that the Labour Party thought the unthinkable when going onto Iraq!
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comme...582965,00.html

Code13 · 04-12-2007, 13:46

Another good (in my opinion) "unthinkable" idea would be to give a fixed percentage of free university places to the top pupils in EVERY school (this is actually done in some American educational districts), irrespective of those pupils performance relative to pupils at other schools.

Thus there would be an incentive for "pushy middle class parents" to send their children to "sink" schools (as would be easier, at least initially, to get into the top x per cent). And once in the "sink" schools these parents would insist on the schools being improved.

shakermaker · 04-12-2007, 14:03

double post

shakermaker · 04-12-2007, 14:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Code13

Not allowing men to have driving licenses until they are 25 would prevent, on one estimate I heard, 70% of road traffic "accidents". The empirical evidence would seem to justify this, but, again, would be "unthinkable".

of course it wouldn't

people make mistakes when they first learn to drive... they'd just be making them at a different age!!!

statistics are dangerous in the hands of imbeciles

Code13 · 04-12-2007, 14:12

Or maybe they make mistakes because they are immature and testosterone fuelled?

slickwitch · 04-12-2007, 14:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by shakermaker

of course it wouldn't

people make mistakes when they first learn to drive... they'd just be making them at a different age!!!

statistics are dangerous in the hands of imbeciles

Do they make the mistake twice though shaker maker?

UrbanCaveman · 04-12-2007, 14:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by shakermaker

of course it wouldn't

people make mistakes when they first learn to drive... they'd just be making them at a different age!!!

statistics are dangerous in the hands of imbeciles

Are you suggesting men are more prone to mistakes than women when driving? Despite the evidence suggesting women have more accidents per capita?

sallonoroff · 04-12-2007, 15:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tricky

Great idea. I don't know why we don't have chain gangs like in America on all these construction projects. It's an amazing source of cheap labour.

I'm all for this one. It's certainly better than prisoners sitting about playing on playstations, etc.

.

shakermaker · 04-12-2007, 15:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by UrbanCaveman

Are you suggesting men are more prone to mistakes than women when driving? Despite the evidence suggesting women have more accidents per capita?

think you quoted the wrong one

i'd be interested in a link to the evidence though

shakermaker · 04-12-2007, 15:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Code13

Or maybe they make mistakes because they are immature and testosterone fuelled?

some do, no-doubt

not 70% of all traffic accidents though, that's just silly

md25 · 04-12-2007, 15:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by shakermaker

i'd be interested in a link to the evidence though

I can't remember the link but the evidence goes something like this. Woman claim on their insurance more often than men do; however when men claim they do so expensively. The average female claim is for something minor like "doing bumper in while parking", while the average male claim is for something major like "writing car off by doing 60 round a tight bend". Really. This is why men pay more for insurance, as when they screw up they screw up big.

UrbanCaveman · 04-12-2007, 16:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by md25

I can't remember the link but the evidence goes something like this. Woman claim on their insurance more often than men do; however when men claim they do so expensively. The average female claim is for something minor like "doing bumper in while parking", while the average male claim is for something major like "writing car off by doing 60 round a tight bend". Really. This is why men pay more for insurance, as when they screw up they screw up big.

Thanks, that's clarified what I was thinking.

Shakermaker, do you think that the reason Male insurance under twenty-five can be up to three times as high is because they have more of these 'learning accidents' or because young male drivers are overconfident and wanting to show off.

I'm just asking because it seems odd that the insurance prices are so much higher if we say a significant portion of that 70% statistic were mistakes and not due to immaturity.

If so it seems you're saying men are more liable to accidents under 25 than women for no physiological reason.

angle20 · 04-12-2007, 17:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by BasilRathbon

When Labour first came to power in 1997, it vowed to think the unthinkable...... what kind of radical politcal ideas could genuinely be classed as "unthinkable"?

How about "celebrating diversity". Surely that has to be a case of thinking the unthinkable?

shakermaker · 04-12-2007, 17:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by UrbanCaveman

Thanks, that's clarified what I was thinking.

Shakermaker, do you think that the reason Male insurance under twenty-five can be up to three times as high is because they have more of these 'learning accidents' or because young male drivers are overconfident and wanting to show off.

I'm just asking because it seems odd that the insurance prices are so much higher if we say a significant portion of that 70% statistic were mistakes and not due to immaturity.

If so it seems you're saying men are more liable to accidents under 25 than women for no physiological reason.

ok... here's what i posted above...

Quote:

Or maybe they make mistakes because they are immature and testosterone fuelled?

some do, no-doubt

not 70% of all traffic accidents though, that's just silly