[clug] [OT] Broadband clangers

[Scott Ferguson]

 On 14/08/10 14:06, Alex Satrapa wrote:
> On 14 Aug 2010, at 13:29, Scott Ferguson wrote:
>
>> A solution we can all live with for 50 years? How about constant
>> vigilance? We can't make the world a better place but we do have to work
>> to stop it becoming worse.
>> Personally I think most people do the right thing most of the time - and
>> peers are very influential. If "we" do nothing the "rest" will just
>> follow the second law of Thermodynamics ;-p
> This has been stated in the past as "all it takes for evil to prevail is for enough good men to do nothing." (which is most commonly attributed to Edmund Burke)
>
>
>

Thank you.

<Moot point>
A common misconception - the closest you'll find in any of Burke's work is:-
> "It is not enough in a situation of trust in the commonwealth, that a
> man means well to his country; it is not enough that in his single
> person he never did an evil act, but always voted according to his
> conscience, and even harangued against every design which he
> apprehended to be prejudicial to the interests of his country. This
> innoxious and ineffectual character, that seems formed upon a plan of
> apology and disculpation, falls miserably short of the mark of public
> duty. That duty demands and requires that what is right should not
> only be made known, but made prevalent; that what is evil should not
> only be detected, but defeated. When the public man omits to put
> himself in a situation of doing his duty with effect it is an omission
> that frustrates the purposes of his trust almost as much as if he had
> formally betrayed it. It is surely no very rational account of a man's
> life, that he has always acted right but has taken special care to act
> in such a manner that his endeavours could not possibly be productive
> of any consequence." 

Please feel free to correct me. :-)
I believe the phrase can equally be attributed to Thomas Jefferson (who
got it from Hobbes). I've been told it originates from ancient Jewish
commentaries.</Moot point>
Disclaimer: literature and philosophy are not my fields. :-D
I'm not sure where the RSL got the constant vigilance line...

Cheers