Just me, stirring the pot…
As promised, a follow-up on a post from a week ago, where crni sparred with St. Luka, Davor and myself over what qualifies a person to be a minister for (in this case) higher education, science and technology.
Gregor Golobič during yesterday’s hearing (source)
As you know by now, PM-designate Borut Pahor nominated president of Zares, Gregor Golobič to the post. This sparked controversy, with one side (in our case personified by crni) arguing that Golobič is severly lacking experience in the field and is thus ill equiped for the job. The ultimate proof for that being that it took him close to 20 years to finish his studies and write his diploma.
The other side (personified by the above mentioned rogue band of die-hard communist cunts) however contended that Golobič has enough experience, not in the least because a ministerial post is inherently political (no lack of experience there). Add to that the fact that he his a proven techie, understands new tehcnologies and can add a stint in Ultra (a high-tech company) to his CV. Overall, the communist cunts conteded, Golobič’s broad “humanities” orientation with a degree in philosphy, political skill and IT experience make him an extremely suitable candidate for the job.
But.
What did the man himself say about his future job?
Firstly, during his hearing Gregor Golobič said that he is a politican and not an expert and as such does not have ready-made solutions. He went to add, that he has more questions than answers (probably deliberatly echoing Borut Pahor in his inaugural speech). As a minister, Golobič apparently will not deal in specifics of education and research – he will, rather, leave that to autonomus institutes and agencies – and will pursue public interest. In the field of research that means – according to Golobič – that he will give equal importace both to applied research, which must be co-funded by the private sector and basic research, funded apparently by state. (source)
Secondly, he will increase investment in R&D by 0.1 to 0.3 percent of GDP per annum, aiming to have 3% of GDP annually invested into R&D, a third of that coming directly from the budget, the rest from private sector. (source)
And thirdly, Golobič said something that might be considered his ministerial creed: Namely, that “in order to find the right answers one must be aware that one’s value is limited“.
EDIT:
Fourthly: On taking him nearly two decades to write his diploma and get his degree, Golobič countered that he was actually a student for only five of those 20 years and was lured away from finishing the studies by the turmoil of the 80’s, when he took up editorships, publicising and ultimately politics. He apparently also gave up his scolarship to pursue these interests. Fifteen year later he passed additional exams and finally wrote his diploma.
This were just a couple of excerpts from a three-and-a-half-hour long hearing. The entire trascript is here (Slovene only, I’m afraid)
Any thoughts?
zzz
(my thoughts 🙂 )
Hehehehe 😀
Go Go Golobič! (Since I don’t have time to read the transcript or opportunity to check out his hearing, the best I can do is post a non-argumented comment in the capacity of a communist cunt.)
I haven’t been able to believe so far one can reach depth of cognition and width of reasoning only via university, diploma thesis and the rest of the ladder.
So I would see no problem in GG’s extended academic career. Anyone needing a positive role model should start doubting his/her decision to study.
Communist Cunts, eh? Sounds like a hardcore punk band I’d like to have a CD of…
Mmmm, communist cunts. I love me some pinko pussy.
Well, he is definitely no multitasker, this one. It took that long to finish a couple of exams and write a thesis? I know that’s pretty normal, but one would expect such a superior intellectual superman to be able to handle more than an average person.
The 3% GDP for research has been a mantra ever since the independence. It has never been achieved and never will. According to Nationmaster, there were only 3 countries in the world in 2002 who spent >3% on R&D. If he does achieve that goal, especially with the private funding part, I will personally apologize and praise him as the greatest science minister of all time.
Although the problem is not really the overall level of spending, especially when we look at %GDP and compare to other countries. It’s the entrenchment of the scientific community and the striving towards mediocrity. I will admit that I hope Golobic as an outsider in the world of science can ruffle some feathers there. However, I am pretty pessimistic about it, considering his answers which obviously lack any clear plan as to what needs to be done.
Overall, I think his answers pretty much confirm that he does not really care about this position. More questions than answers and talking about the limitations seems like making excuses ahead of time to me. On the other hand giving an overly optimistic goal of GDP spending is also not realistic. So no surprises, some fluff thrown about, back to business as usual.