Thursday, April 24, 2014

"A One-Size-Fits-All Government Cannot Survive in the iPad Era"

This quick-read Real Clear Politics article posits that over the first two hundred years of our nation's history there was a movement  toward centralized government that was pushed forward by technology and population expectations. And that beginning in the Seventies there has been a shift away from centralization, beginning with the diversity of choice offered by cable TV.

"Now we’ve reached a level of personalization powered by more than 100 million smartphones. The culture of individual choice and customization is so strong that no two of these smartphones are alike. We have different apps, music and more.


Over the past 30 years, as society has moved away from centralization, the political class has resisted. Government has grown ever more centralized. In fact, the federal government today directly controls a far larger chunk of the nation’s economy than it did just a generation or two ago.


That disconnect exists partly because politics and government always lag behind. It’s also partly because politicians are not thrilled with riding the new wave that disperses power away from the political class.


The disconnect cannot continue. Sooner or later, the politicians will concede and the government will catch up."


Thoughts?

23 comments:

Dust Bunny Queen said...

The Federal Government is too large, too over reaching and unable to effectively govern at the levels required by the individual and unique States.

The Feds should stick to the main core of governance for the "UNITED States" and deal with only foreign policy, military safety and a very very few topics that universally affect the entire confederation of states.

They need to butt out and stop micromanaging the entire country from a central location. What is required or what works in New York is not even close to what is required, desired or works in North Dakota.

The country is much to large and much to diverse to have a top down central government controlling everything from what we eat, what we are allowed to wear, what we can drive. Butt the fuck out!!!!!

If not....I see that the US will not exist as a united states and will eventually break up into logical geographic units. Not immediately, but sooner than later. Hopefully this will happen without bloodshed. I doubt it though. The Feds and the greedy pigs who are sucking the lifeblood from the people (aka politicians and bureaucrats)will not easily give up their power and conduit to wealth.

deborah said...

re breaking up into regions, I don't think that would be logical on a geopolitical basis. Also, I don't see how it could be done. Any region that tries it will be brought to heel.

I think it's more likely people will just start voting differently, as the article implies.

Shouting Thomas said...

I doubt it. Centralization is likely to deepen.

The professional/managerial class prefers to run things by fiat, and take decision making out of the hands of the electorate.

This is what Diversity is all about. Labeling half the electorate as bigots and haters who are too stupid to decide any substantive issue for themselves has been the dominant theme of the past 25 years. The kids are hyper-indoctrinated in this philosophy.

This ideology seems to have triumphed completely. Perhaps a rebellion is in the works, but I don't see it yet.

The Dude said...

No one is going to switch off the latest "reality" tv show or put down the bong long enough to care about anything the government does so long as the dole checks keep arriving.

The republic was lost years ago, but Obama has nailed the lid down tight on the coffin that contains it. Don't think so? Then think about who is reading these posts and where the data is being kept on file.

Think about who knows what next time you try to get health insurance or vote for anyone other than a statist.

Freedom - what a quaint concept. Cubans are freer than we are, due to ancient infrastructure.

Shouting Thomas said...

@Sixty

Don't despair.

The electorate flips in dramatic ways.

We have no idea where the electorate will go in the next decade, if they are allowed to vote on anything substantial.

Remember, if it were up to the electorate, gay marriage would have been defeated.

The Dude said...

Those counting the votes are criminals. Voting will make no difference in the ultimate endgame of a socialist utopia.

The government is the enemy - the unelected bureacrats who are mostly democrats and lazy RIP types who expect their gravy train to carry them to the grave.

No one can or will stand up to them.

ricpic said...

We have different apps, music and more.

Superficial stuff. Marvelous but superficial.

What is not superficial? Human nature. And human nature demands that something be worshipped. When a nation's elite is thoroughly secular, as is ours, the thing that is worshipped is the state. Our elite, our ruling class, is totally invested in its idol, the state. And it is literally a matter of life and death to the elite that we all pay tribute to its idol and bow down to it. Therefore one-size-fits-all government will only strengthen its grip in future.

Judaism got it right when it made the first commandment: Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me.

edutcher said...

"The disconnect cannot continue. Sooner or later, the politicians will concede and the government will catch up."

No, what will happen is that people will get fed up and force a change on the politicians.

And probably force a change of the politicians.

It even happened in Russia.

ndspinelli said...

Good post. The govt. always changes kicking and screaming. Cops have not yet adjusted to the ubiquity of cameras on phones and everywhere. They can't pull the shit they always have w/o being on videotape.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

breaking up into regions, I don't think that would be logical on a geopolitical basis

Why not? It makes more sense to be geographically united and have a common economic basis as well as being culturally united and make the laws for your area.

Now we have one group of disconnected elitists, who look down on anyone outside of their immediate sphere, making the laws for people that they don't care about and will never actually interact with.

In addition separate geographical areas will be able to control their own natural resources and conduct trade in ways that would benefit the producers and stewards of those resources.

The Dude said...

The elitists don't just dislike us, the actively and intensely hate us.

The question was asked back in 2008 whether or not a nation can be led by someone or a group of someones who hate the country they are in charge of.

I think we have our answer.

deborah said...

ricpic:
"What is not superficial? Human nature. And human nature demands that something be worshipped. When a nation's elite is thoroughly secular, as is ours, the thing that is worshipped is the state. Our elite, our ruling class, is totally invested in its idol, the state. And it is literally a matter of life and death to the elite that we all pay tribute to its idol and bow down to it. Therefore one-size-fits-all government will only strengthen its grip in future."

When a good portion of the children's daddy is Uncle Sam, that adds to it.

DBQ, I mean how we would fare if attacked by a foreign power. I'm all for autonomous regions if it comes to that, but I think it would be best to keep the military, etc., centralized.

deborah said...

Yeah, Sixty. I'm pessimistic about the future as far as escaping technology, which is what this is really about.

As I've said more than once, we will mainly be a consumer nation gorging on humongous weddings, apps, reality tv, and computer games (how far away is a pretty good holodeck?)

Amazon stuffs consumer goods down our gullets in a most efficient manner.

And the Feds will continue to take the vig, distributing it to those who will buy the latest smart phones and other gizmos.

I guess maybe this author has it wrong. It doesn't really matter which direction technology pushes change (toward or away from centralization), we are joined with it at the hip, and we will eventually merge with it. Is it written in the stars?

edutcher said...

Dust Bunny Queen said...

breaking up into regions, I don't think that would be logical on a geopolitical basis

Why not? It makes more sense to be geographically united and have a common economic basis as well as being culturally united and make the laws for your area.

Now we have one group of disconnected elitists, who look down on anyone outside of their immediate sphere, making the laws for people that they don't care about and will never actually interact with.

In addition separate geographical areas will be able to control their own natural resources and conduct trade in ways that would benefit the producers and stewards of those resources.


The KGB predicted it some years ago. Just because it didn't happen within the expected time frame doesn't mean it won't.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I mean how we would fare if attacked by a foreign power. I'm all for autonomous regions if it comes to that, but I think it would be best to keep the military, etc., centralized.

We could have inter regional treaties and even a treaty to support the group (if desired) in the event of an attack.

It would likely work out like it does now with the bulk of the military and the bulk of the men and women dieing coming from the south and the west and the "red" states while the baggage in the blue states whines and lets others die for them.

Frankly, if the New York East Coast region were to be attacked, I doubt you will find many people even TODAY as part of the "United" States willing to fall on their swords for them. We know damned well they wouldn't do it for us.

edutcher said...

The movement to break up the big Lefty states is the biggest indicator people want something done so government reflects their needs.

deborah said...

I think at the bottom of it there would have to be a centralized military command.

Ed, Khrushchev said they would bury us, and that hasn't happened either :)

Dust Bunny Queen said...

" Khrushchev said they would bury us, and that hasn't happened either :)"

Khrushchev remarked in his speech in Yugoslavia, "I once said, 'We will bury you,' and I got into trouble with it. Of course we will not bury you with a shovel. Your own working class will bury you,"[5] a reference to the Marxist saying, "The proletariat is the undertaker of capitalism", based on the concluding statement in Chapter 1 of the Communist Manifesto: "What the bourgeoisie therefore produces, above all, are its own grave-diggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable."

Well, it seems that we are doing a pretty good job of burying ourselves. Our political class, especially the progressives (basically socialists at heart) are accomplishing it as we speak. Russia doesn't need to fire a shot. They will just stand by and laugh at the incompetent boobs we keep electing and continue on with their own interests. We are destroying ourselves. They don't need to do much else but watch.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

The Russian prediction of the break up of the US.

LOOK.....he can see Alaska from his window!!!!!

deborah said...

"Well, it seems that we are doing a pretty good job of burying ourselves."

We are, but opposite of the way Khrushchev predicted. The Bourgeoisie is burying the working class and leaving, off to roam the planet for the next cheap labor source. I understand that Mexico is being price out by other countries.

deborah said...

Oh noes, northern and southern CA are in the same region :)

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Oh noes, northern and southern CA are in the same region :)

I KNOW!!! :-(
LOL

Actually, I don't see Idaho or Nevada being in the California region either. Maybe I'll move to Idaho and join the Canadian group. It isn't that far away.

deborah said...

I can see that; problem solved!