Janice Stein : The Cult of Efficiency
"These lectures are about post-industrial society in the making. There is a growing emphasis on efficiency in this era of globalization, and the language of efficiency shapes the way citizens think about their most important shared values. But hidden in the polemics about efficiency are, I believe, much more important and enduring conversations about accountability and choice in post-industrial societies. To discover how these arguments live in practice, to move beyond the fixed positions of our political warriors, I wanted to look at what we as citizens are saying about public schools and hospitals. It is here that citizens engage in the most immediate and practical ways with the arguments of our times. I think by listening to these very local debates we can explore the dilemmas of democratic processes in a global age, where waste is a sin but the public trust remains sacred. Surprisingly, I find that citizens want to see both less and more of the state. Although citizens in post-industrial society are less deferential, more distrustful of authority, and more confident of their capacity to make the important choices, the escape from the state is more apparent than real." (real audio)
The dict-ified dictionary.com word of the day is demur
| source : web1913 |
Demur \De*mur"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Demurred}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Demurring}.] [OF. demurer, demorer, demourer, to linger,
stay, F. demeurer, fr. L. demorari; de- + morari to delay,
tarry, stay, mora delay; prob. originally, time for thinking,
reflection, and akin to memor mindful. See {Memory}.]
1. To linger; to stay; to tarry. [Obs.]
Yet durst not demur nor abide upon the camp.
--Nicols.
2. To delay; to pause; to suspend proceedings or judgment in
view of a doubt or difficulty; to hesitate; to put off the
determination or conclusion of an affair.
Upon this rub, the English embassadors thought fit
to demur. --Hayward.
3. To scruple or object; to take exception; as, I demur to
that statement.
4. (Law) To interpose a demurrer. See {Demurrer}, 2.
| source : web1913 |
Demur \De*mur"\, v. t.
1. To suspend judgment concerning; to doubt of or hesitate
about. [Obs.]
The latter I demur, for in their looks Much reason,
and in their actions, oft appears. --Milton.
2. To cause delay to; to put off. [Obs.]
He demands a fee, And then demurs me with a vain
delay. --Quarles.
| source : web1913 |
Demur \De*mur"\, n. [OF. demor, demore, stay, delay. See
{Demur}, v. i.]
Stop; pause; hesitation as to proceeding; suspense of
decision or action; scruple.
All my demurs but double his attacks; At last he
whispers, ``Do; and we go snacks.'' --Pope.
| source : wn |
demur
n : (law) a formal objection to an opponent's pleadings [syn: {demurral},
{demurrer}]
v : take exception to [syn: {except}]