Spinning Off the Pitch

[steveL]

For Info:

Sent: 06 September 2017 11:58
To: All HBC
Subject: Retirement - Alastair Rae

Dear Colleague,

Retirement – Alastair Rae

I am emailing to let you know that Alastair Rae, the Council's Public Relations Manager, will be retiring on Friday 6 October.

Alastair has worked for the Council for over 38 years and has lead the press and PR function for the last 29 years. In the short time that I have been  with HBC, it is apparent that Alastair is very well respected throughout the organisation and beyond. I know he has thought long and hard about retiring and he has told me it has been a difficult decision, after serving the Council for so long.

I am sure you will join me in wishing Alastair well in his retirement and I will be in touch again soon regarding arrangements for his farewell.

[fred c]

The LabTor Mob will be presenting him with a case of Veuve Clicquot 'Yellow Label' as a thank you for his contributions to their Vision for Artlepool.

[steveL]

Fair play to the guy - he lasted way longer than Goebbels . . .

[Inspector Knacker]

Fair play to the guy - he lasted way longer than Goebbels . . .

And Goebbels never got a pension.

[steveL]

I gather references to the Third Reich don't go down too well in the Civic although firmly establishing yourself as the town's chief inebriated man is apparently just fine

[fred c]

I gather references to the Third Reich don't go down too well in the Civic although firmly establishing yourself as the town's chief inebriated man is apparently just fine

Not sure why....... we have a Dictator running the show, we have a Fat Bloke who likes to dress in flamboyant outfits, we have a Dim Bully Boy who shouts and bawls, we have an Obsequious Little Man? who thinks himself cleverer than the all rest..........and a bunch of indoctrinated disciples 

[DRiddle]

I was always fascinated by that period in history.

A 'politician' took charge of a political group. He wasn't elected leader by the voting public but somehow he ended up in charge. He very quickly proclaimed to the people how strong he was and insisted he was addressed by all fellow politicians and staff as 'The Leader'.

Soon after, he set about removing any opponents from the political scene and handpicked his own deputies.

He then even started messing about with the flagpoles and personally decided which flags did or did not fly outside of the building at certain times.

Ultimately he managed to totally change the public's perception of a particular symbol, tarnishing it forever.

As i say, a fascinating but obviously horrific period in history.

[BresslawoffoftheBunker]

A sick comparison.  You're better than that

[DRiddle]

Comparison? Sorry Mike you've lost me. I wasn't making a comparison. A couple of people mentioned that period in history and it triggered one of my interests, political history. Obviously i have an interest in politics, but actually i'm more into looking back at it in retrospect and specifically seeing how it happened.

How does somebody go from (in many cases) being a relative nobody, to occupying such a position of power.

For example, John Major (as boring as the man may be perceived to be), is an amazing story of a 'failed bus conductor' ending up in a seat of high political office.

The Trump situation in America will be even more interesting to look back on in 30 years time than it is now. People will look back and say 'Why did we do that? Look at the damage it's caused'

The 6 or 7 things i outlined in my post above all happened, they're all very specifically mentioned in the history of that particular political ascent. In fact, every single one of those things i mentioned happened in 1933.

[DRiddle]

The other aspect of that period of history with i find truely fascinating was the willingness of the people around him to carry out the actions of the leader. We cover this in part of the psychology A level i've taught.

Overall, good people don't do bad things. But, good people CAN be convinced to do bad things. Often, they do the bad thing without even realising the point they'ed ended up at is REALLY bad.

Stanley Millgram explains it best in his classic study about conformity and obedience.

I'd recommend people look into it.

In a nutshell Millgram proves that people will do something that in isolation is horrendously bad, that they would never dream of doing normally. Even good people will do the really bad thing. But they'll only do that horrendously bad thing, if the things you ask them to do prior to the really bad thing, gradually get worse and worse.

You actually start off by getting them to do a series of relatively innocuous things and gradually over time, you ramp up the nature of the 'bad thing' you actually want them to do.

Eventually, they're doing something REALLY bad that they've never dreamed of doing if you simply asked them to do it from the outset. You can learn a bit about it here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCVlI-_4GZQ

I'd draw a parallel between what Millgram proved and what's been happening with the constitution at local level.

Nobody who's a good, rational, decent person would agree to completely destroying the councils constitution in one swift swoop. If a leader came into a meeting and said "Right, you're voting to remove public questions, restrict the length of verbal contributions of all councillors, restrict when, where and to whom questions can be asked, restrict what can and cannot be approved to make it onto the agenda etc etc." the good people will say "No we're not willing to do that".

But do it gradually, bit by bit by bit, each time making the change more and more like the thing you'd have like to have done in the first place, before the 'good people' even realise it, they've done the horrendous deed.

It's called gradual committment.

It's very dangerous.

[Inspector Knacker]

The constant factor in all this beside the psychology of the individual is the political party. The leadership is always in the realm of those with the a lust for power and all that goes with it.
I feel members of a party need the strength of the group around them, almost cult like, who will suspend rational thought to comply to the party's requirements.
The members will happily surrender their dignity unwittingly to serve their new master, a sort of masochistic compliance.
The trouble with national party involvement at local level is the party comes first and not the interests of the town.

As regards earlier comments, control of all media outlets or neutering is the first priority of gaining and maintaining control.

Remember..........

You're not expected to think,
a mindless voter, is a happy voter,
Now mark the ballot paper and leave it to us.

[BresslawoffoftheBunker]

I'm not disputing any of the facts you stated.

[for fawkes sake]

It will be interesting to see if everyone moves up and/or they bring in someone from The Mail. It always was something of an incestuous relationship.

[fred c]

I have never been sure why the council needs to spend a lump of dough on a PR Department......... we have a variety of Clowncillors who regularly appear in the Mail to push the LabTor Mobs agenda, we also have various council officers to make statements....... so as far as I can see.... save the cash and don't replace him..... in fact phase out the PRD.

[Inspector Knacker]

How does somebody go from (in many cases) being a relative nobody, to occupying such a position of power.

They rose without trace, turned up and took over. Nobody said a word.