Latest news with #DanDavies
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
The Unaccountability Machine by Dan Davies: an excellent diagnosis but a depressing prognosis
The Unaccountability Machine: Why Big Systems Make Terrible Decisions – and How the World Lost its Mind. Author : Dan Davies ISBN-13 : 978-1788169547 Publisher : Profile Books Guideline Price : £22 In this informative and ambitious book, Dan Davies looks at contemporary systems. He looks at economics, airlines, banks and corporations and posits that recent fiascos (the 2008 financial crash; Brexit; the rise of populism) are not the result of 'conspiracy or cock-up' but of the growing complexity of these systems. Within these systems the idea of individual decision-making is redundant because the decisions are inscribed within the system itself, which produces its own results, independent of the individuals within the systems. This may initially seem like a plea bargain and excuse for those involved in nefarious activities, but ultimately the book is an indictment of the organisation and management of these systems within a neo-liberal environment. He introduces the term 'accountability sinks' where no person has agency therefore no one is responsible. He examines specific examples: Fox News reporting of voter fraud; airline flight experiences; squirrels getting shredded at Schiphol airport. READ MORE We all know the Ryanair experience where we have a problem but the person we engage with offers the interaction of a recorded message machine. For the system to function, 'it has to prevent the feedback of the person affected by the decision from affecting the operation of the system.' This last point he sees as a primary reason why many have abandoned mainstream politics and embraced Trump and populist politics. He identifies three main revolutions that have got us here: the managerial revolution, where control was passed over from owners and capitalists to professional administrators; the 1970s neo-liberal revolution which has shaped our current society; and the aborted cybernetic revolution. [ The Irish Times view on the Ryanair wheelie case controversy: making a bags of it Opens in new window ] He explores cybernetics ('the study of decision-making systems') through the eccentric, leftist Stafford Beer. Beer held meetings that were 'unstructured, informal connections between staff at different levels and performing different functions'. He wanted to create systems that were open, as opposed to closed systems – such as banking, where a limited focus on profit ended up with an implosion that led to them being bailed out by governments: the socialisation of private debt. Cybernetically speaking, there was not enough variety in the controlling system that would have provided feedback that the system was unstable and needed readjustment. There was no feedback channel beyond the closed system with regard to wider society. This is in keeping with Milton Friedman and the Chicago school of economics (the home of neo-liberal economics), which rejected a consideration of society. This was best expressed in Margaret Thatcher 's famous claim that there is no such thing as society. She, along with Ronald Reagan , was one of the two main political enforcers of this ideology. The closed neo-liberal system has led to the insanity where people still chase profit at the expense of planetary destruction. In cybernetic terms, it's the problem of emphasising one outcome of maximisation to the detriment of others. 'Every decision-making system set up as a maximiser needs to have a higher-level system watching over it.' Davis looks at the technical aspects and details of cybernetics, which are well explained yet require an extra level of concentration if, like me, you are not familiar with it. He claims that cybernetics could have changed the way economics developed in the 1950s and 1960s, instead of creating a system that supported the neo-liberal agenda. This agenda produced models of the world which neglected so many variables that they became self-fulfilling prophecies in their results: they were models of wish fulfilment posing as science. As Stafford Beer has it: 'Where analysis fails, ideology steps in.' That ideology was neo-liberalism. The strength of this book is its ability to provide an overarching theory of why the world is in crisis and how economic and societal development has lead to this. The book wraps up by reiterating that nobody in a corporation was or is responsible. This seems to me to let too many people off the hook. What about whistleblowers? There are always people doing the right thing. Davis, though, would argue that the systems were set up without the channels for this information to reach the ears of those in power. The profit motive is amplified as information within the system to the detriment of all other information/inputs. He ends by saying that, as systems get more complicated, we need to become use to more accountability sinks: '...we cannot afford the luxury of explainability; we can't keep on demanding that an identifiable human being is available to blame when things go wrong.' So morality is out the window. Our human status declines as he sees 'the death of responsibility' coming, and that 'I blame the system is something we will have to get used to saying, and meaning it literally'. An excellent diagnosis but a depressing prognosis. Highly recommended.
BBC News
01-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Firm behind New Brighton revamp hits back in noise row
A businessman whose company has been credited with the revival of a seaside resort has rejected concerns over late-night noise from one of his venues. Dan Davies, from Rockpoint Leisure, has asked Wirral Council to let his New Brighton bar Rockpoint Records open until 01:30. But six objections have been received from people who claim the move would increase "nuisance" and "antisocial behaviour".Mr Davies said there was no intention to stay open into the early hours every day, adding there had been no complaints from the police or environmental health officers about his plan. Mr Davies said: "We work with the other licensed premises. I spend a huge amount of time making the road look nice. "I have painted a number of things I do not own just to help other people out. "I want to be a good neighbour."Mr Davies company has been behind the refurbishment and reopening of a number of previously empty units on Victoria Street. He has previously said he saw New Brighton as the Wirral's Brookyln to Liverpool's Manhattan. He said he had asked for the later licence to help make the business more viable. "We take half of our weekly turnover in 10 hours on a Friday and Saturday. That allows us to open up on Mondays and Tuesdays when it costs us to be open."The reason we do that is I want New Brighton to be open seven days a week. "That has a number of advantages especially in regeneration and also public safety, antisocial behaviour even down to things like public wellbeing, isolation, mental health, all of those things."The report on which the committee will base its decision states the objections from residents "relate to public nuisance being caused by noise from entertainment emanating from the premises". It adds: "The representations also relate to nuisance being caused by customers of the premises drinking alcohol at the front of the premises and anti-social behaviour from customers leaving the premises."The application is due to go before councillors 7 May. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
BBC News
11-04-2025
- BBC News
Isle of Man Prison being 'tested' by capacity issues
Every aspect of the Isle of Man Prison is being "tested" due to capacity issues, a Home Affairs boss has told a committee.A Constitutional and Legal Affairs and Justice Committee heard that the Isle of Man Prison in Jurby had 160 prisoners, as of Monday, out of a total capacity of 167. Chief Executive of the Department of Home Affairs Dan Davies said the number of prisoners had "continued to increase" since April said the department had been looking at alternatives such as tagging instead of custodial sentences for some offenders and building an extra wing at the Jurby facility. While the official capacity of the prison was 141 that had increased to 143 after two isolation cells had become normal cells. The facility had also been using 24 extra cells housed in portable cabins, which had previously been described as a temporary solution. 'Remarkable job' There were currently 66 prisoners serving long-term sentences, which means those longer than four years, he told the Davies said the prison's staff were doing a "remarkable job" and cooperation from prisoners had also been "really important".He said work was under way to look at alternatives to custody, options to expand prison capacity, but also what happens when prisoners leave the facility. Released prisoners need secure accommodation but the bail hostel was currently full, he said. Mr Davies said if prisoners go back into the community but do not have secure accommodation, employment or a stable family environment, there was a risk of for Justice and Home Affairs,Jane Poole-Wilson, said the department was "closely monitoring" the trends of offending and the types of sentences. She noted that there were more sexual offences being prosecuted since the introduction of the Sexual Offences and Obscene Publications Act 2021, which came into force in March last year. Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
Al Jazeera
29-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Al Jazeera
‘The Palestine Laboratory' exposes Israel's export of unique systems of control and surveillance technology around the world
The film investigates how Israel has developed a 'technology of occupation' in Palestine and profits from selling it globally. In the film, directed by Dan Davies, Australian-German Loewenstein returns to Israel during the Gaza war to investigate how the country uses the Palestinian territories as a laboratory to test weapons and surveillance technologies which it then sells around the world. In this two-part series, Al Jazeera English's 'The Palestine Laboratory' film, journalist Antony Loewenstein investigates how Israeli weapons and surveillance technologies are first used to control and repress Palestinians in Palestine before being sold all over the world. In episode one, in Israel and Palestine, the film examines how Israel positions itself as a world leader in hi-tech weapons and surveillance technology, with glossy promotions from the top weapons manufacturers boasting that their products have been 'tested' and 'proven' in 'battle'. Hearing from both Israelis and Palestinians, the film explores how the arms industry understands what labels like 'tested' in Palestine mean and how the military intelligence Unit 8200 acts as an incubator for Israeli surveillance tech start-ups. In addition, it examines Israel's use of AI targeting systems in Gaza. Episode two of the investigation takes Loewenstein on an international journey to reveal how this 'technology of occupation' is used to subjugate and surveil political dissidents, human rights activists and journalists all over the world, and how this surveillance and military technology developed by Israel and tested on Palestinians is marketed abroad. It reveals how the latest Israeli technology is being used to monitor refugees and migrants in Greece and along the US-Mexico border. Loewenstein visits Mexico to explore its use of Israeli spyware and travels to India to discover how a thriving arms trade fosters close links between the two nations. In South Africa, he uncovers a hidden aspect of the country's history which saw a secret relationship between the apartheid-era government and Israel, centred on a clandestine arms trade and shared values. The film further investigates how cutting-edge military and surveillance technology is being used on Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza before being marketed to international clients as 'field-proven' and 'battle-tested'. Watch "The Palestine Laboratory" Episode 1 on Al Jazeera English at 12:00 GMT on 30th January 2025. Episode 2 will air on 6th February 2025 at 12:00 GMT and will also be available on the Al Jazeera English YouTube channel.
