Out & About …

… on the North York Moors, or wherever I happen to be.

Roseberry summit

Roseberry was quiet this morning. What more can I say?

So I’ll digress.

The other day, I came across a new word and stored it in my memory banks for a suitable occasion. The trouble is it’s a Dutch word ‘struisvogelpolitiek‘ but I think it’s worthy of it slipping into common usage just as we have the German ‘schadenfreude‘.

Struisvogelpolitiek literally means ‘ostrich politics’ and has come to refer to leadership, like the ostrich, that implements ineffective measures to address problems so as to create a false sense of security or control.

As an example, and for want of any other, many of the passengers of the Titanic refused to board the lifeboats as they believed that the ship was unsinkable and that staying aboard the Titanic was better than being in a lifeboat on a dark, cold night.


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