The idea that we are somehow in charge of our governments is absolutely laughable.
While every few years we are certainly presented with the opportunity to vote for a candidate of our choosing, that can seem like making the best bad decision, there is no guarantee that the candidate we select will even garnish enough support to gain a parliamentary seat and on the occasion that they do all too often we find that we are not being accurately represented.
Think about it, although we may vote for a prospective member of parliament and or party, apart from the figure head what do we get; do we vote on taxes: corporate bail outs: wars: resource use: or budgets?
Of course not, in fact what can seem to be policy one minute can turn out to be the exact opposite of what gets done after the votes have been tallied.
Democracy is not working
“Too often we hold fast to the clichés of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”
John F. Kennedy
We should be critical of all aspects of our social model, identifying what is not working; examining what the failure is causing and addressing the root cause problem.
Our social problems are technical and as such require technical solutions. Not the consensus of uninformed opinion, which is what democracy generates by the very nature of the system.
Would we ask our local member how to build a bridge or a plane?
Would we hold a referendum to decide how to construct a boat?
Viewing our social problems as technical in nature, would it not be preferable to empower those with a background in each relevant technical field to resolve problems as they arise in our society. We could have a world where instead of governments and corporations working against each other in order to attain advantage over each other, there could be global teams working together to solve problems and improve society and life in general on our planet.
Now if we really wanted to solve the problem of say drink driving would we strengthen laws and make penalties harsher, or could we perhaps address the situation of humans being in control of motor-vehicles at all. If we allowed the individuals with the appropriate skill sets to work together too research and develop automated vehicles, not only would drink driving be a thing of the past but all driving issues would be resolved. No more speeding, running red lights, accidents, unpredictable reactions or actions. Just computer guided vehicles that communicate with each other and make hundreds if not thousands of decisions a second based on the environment and information gathered from other vehicles around them.
This may sound like science fiction but Goggle has had an automated vehicle travelling the streets of America for several years.
The DARPA urban challenge
Now this not only solves all these driving problems but also makes theft redundant, how would anyone steal an automated car and if all cars become automated, why would anyone actually need to own a car? Instead we could phone for a car when it is needed, use it and then when we get out it drives off to the next place it is needed. Make these vehicles electric with the use of carbon nano-tube technology and we can start to see some long term fundamental changes take place.
Now this is just one example of how technical solutions outperform laws and legislation and I am by no means saying that technology itself can solve all our social problems. Rather the point here is that addressing social problems technically means that as a species we get to the root cause and generate solutions that resolve these issues, not just applying patchwork band aids.
As different problems will stem from different technical variables it is not a select group of technicians that can solve all our problems but rather many groups of technically skilled individuals working towards solutions for problems in their related fields. A desire to be involved with a technical group would only require skill and education in the appropriate field.
