Dublin Opinion

And then I remembered Carlo Cipolla’s brilliant essay on The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity (Allegro ma non troppo pub. Critica 1992) which identified the third (and golden) basic law, which states: A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses.

Eduardo Paz Ferreira is trying to apply Cipolla’s idea about individuals to the European Union.

And that is when it occurred to me: if we transpose Cipolla’s analysis of individuals to institutions, can we say that the European Union is stupid? Unless this is a deliberate attempt to establish a complex scenario in which plan B is to expel the brown skinned members that have insidiously infiltrated the rich man’s club that is otherwise referred to as the eurozone. And this includes the Irish who have made scurrilous use of their pale complexions and light-coloured eyes to temporarily escape their historical role as the Blacks of Europe. Let’s not forget that these black sheep were also the ones who voted “no” in the referendum that was supposed to reinforce European integration?

Good point, and nice that Ferreira is a fan of The Committments, but I think there is still plenty of individuals we can apply it to. Like this one.

The following is taken from a webchat with the presenter of House Hunters Liz O’Kane on Thursday, 10 May 2007.

Brian Byrne: Do property markets follow boom and bust cycles as there has been alot of negativity toward property lately?
Liz: Yes, every market is cyclical and if anybody thinks this downturn is a surprise, they are foolish. However, the market will come back.
John: Do you think new developments are a better investment, rather than second-hand properties?
Liz: Well, first of all it depends on where they are. However, new developments generally have good insulation and are maintenance-free, whereas a second-hand property could break your heart with all the on-going work that needs to be done. A new development with a good contemporary design is probably the way to go…. if you can find it!
Mairead: In your opinion do you think the property market is going to slow down?
Liz: It already has slowed down, although most properties in the Dublin area are holding on. The slow down just means that property will take longer to sell, but in the long term will return to a more level playing field.
Mary: Do you think that the property market could crash?
Liz: No… I don’t think any government can afford to let that happen. A levelling off is what we are seeing.

Thanks to Gav O’Reilly on twitter for the O’Kane quotes.