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Great post. Worth bearing in mind that it is a government (more than one, in fact) that is involved, not a country. Apparently Sarkozy now employs Orwell's gho
by noibl 15y ago
Great post. Worth bearing in mind that it is a government (more than one, in fact) that is involved, not a country.
Apparently Sarkozy now employs Orwell's ghost as a speechwriter:
- "You have a tremendous responsibility that weighs upon you, ... The responsibility has to be shared between you and us."
- "behind the anonymous Internet user there is a real citizen ... and a nation to which he or she belongs"
It defies parody.
- hugh3 15y agoI'd refrain from reading too much into the precise word choice in the English translations of speeches presumably made en Francais.
- noibl 15y agoHow would you translate the verb 'appartenir' then? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW5Z6T9Azyg#t=10m47s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW5Z6T9Azyg#t=10m47s
- madflo 15y agobelongs sounds good.
- loup-vaillant 15y agoThis talk is an almost perfect example of applause light[1]. 95% of it is either self evident or universally accepted. But in the end, there's very little substance, if at all. What I found most creepy about this talk is how similar it is from preaches I used to hear for Christmas. Same tone, same use of applause lights. It really felt religious. And for such important (and practical) issues, I don't take religiosity as a good starting point. [1]: http://lesswrong.com/lw/jb/applause_lights/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/jb/applause_lights/