In short, David Cameron (British Prime Minister), argues (http://www.ted.com/talks/david_cameron) that through information technologies public policy can increase citizen 'wellbeing' on the cheap (and that it must be done on the cheap because there is no more money to spend on public services).
Do you basically agree or disagree with Cameron, and why?
What is one way you can think of that government (local, state, or federal) can foster citizen wellbeing without increasing public spending (or with minimal increase)?
I do agree with Cameron when he says that public policy can increase the wellbeing of citizens through the use of information technologies. I take this stance because I think in the age in which we now live there is an abundance of information supplied to us every single minute of every single day, and I believe that we have not yet come to a conclusion as to how this information can be used or interpreted. So as I understand it, it is a problem of poor communication and ineffective distribution of information on the part of the government, which leads me to believe that much could be done to increase the effectiveness of public policy without any additional cost to the government. I think that one way that government can foster the wellbeing of citizens without increasing public spending is through a recycling or reutilizing the information available to governmental institutions in a new way so as to make it easily understandable to citizens of all ages and educating them on public policy. I liked the example that Cameron showed in his TED talk about the use of power in certain neighborhoods and how that could be used to coax citizens into living a greener and more environmentally friendly lifestyle. I believe something like this could be done or put into place and be very effective with little or not cost to government and yet still have great effects on energy consumption and carbon footprints.
ReplyDeleteIn general I agree with Cameron because as we relate back to the idea of Locke, Hobbes, Jefferson, and others the purpose of governments should be for the wellbeing of the people. If it is not for the wellbeing of citizens then the nation is just in the same state it would be without a government and the only difference is a few people live in luxury from the profits of the citizens. Therefore like Cameron suggests information technology could at the very least make available to the people the true actions of the government and we then may have somewhat more power over our life (with respect to our wellbeing). The chances of an immoral/non-deserved leader being placed in a position of power, as it so often happens today, will be decreased as they would have to prove their character and promises. However purely information technology seems to just lack in power for people; how will the people be able to use this information to their advantage besides only the fact of knowing it, will we able to apply it to unfair situations to manipulate the government to change this situation that is not satisfying our opinion or will there be a "democratic" decision that shows most people are not bothered by the rules/regulations?
ReplyDeleteThen a possible way that government could improve well-being without the spending of large amounts of money could involve the introduction of colleges with very minimal tuition (covering only expenses for materials needed for education) as in some European countries which could lessen the gap between economic classes success rate in academics which today has a great effect on career success. Education is not supposed to be for the purposes of business in the first place, and the likely increase in college attendants will surely boost economy in the long run. Furthermore the more young people that are in school the less likely they're to be involved in crimes, and less of a burden they are to parents as well. But since having many colleges with low tuition, this leaves little options to pay teachers their salary, which must be covered by the government with a good rate (as this will impact teacher's motivation for helping students succeed), but as said, the impacts the students will later have on society will balance this loss in the long run as the government does not have to waste as much resources later.
I agree with what David Cameron is saying in his argument. He explains
ReplyDeletethat there is no money for public spending and that so much is being
used, but through the use of information technology it can be saved. He explains that throughout history there have been changes in
the government such as going from local authority to now focusing on
the people for power. Before the government kept everything to themselves
where as they were the only ones who could access certain things. But now
people are able to view things such as crimes commited and websites for
information on different healthcares. He explains that this has lowered
the cost of public spending because before this was more expensive.
He says that it is important that the government focuses on the
"wellbeing" of people. He gives examples such as paying people to recycle
and showing the difference of saving electric. I think this is a great
way for the government to foster citizen wellbeing without increasing
public spending because if citizens compare their spending to other
individuals then they will be more willing to save the money or power.
These can be things such as using water or electric. If people are able
to see the difference in other people's spending compared to their own
then it can result to saving public spending.
I do agree with David Cameron in this argument. I believe that he is correct in saying that governmental data that was previously unavailable to the general public can now be viewed by anyone who has access to the internet. With this fact, the people will be able to view from a statistic standpoint the troubles that are being experienced by the government. With the people being aware of these issues, they will have the ability to give input to the government officials about ideas that will benefit the wellbeing of themselves and of others in the society. The government can weigh the input of these people against ideas of their own in order to determine the most cost efficient method to provide for the wellbeing of all the people.
ReplyDeleteI like Cameron's idea of limiting power usage in towns in order to promote a more environmentally friendly life style in which the people adjust to being able to live using less power. This limited use of power will limit the spending on power and electricity which would increase the budget and allow the government to spend more money on the well being of the citizens.
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ReplyDeleteBefore answering this question it is important to note what one means by use of the term “citizen well-being”. At least in context of this answer, citizen well-being means the overall quality of life that a person leads. According to David Cameron in the video, if we combine the right political philosophy with the values of the information revolution we can remake government and achieve better citizen well-being. In order to make this work, as far as political philosophy, he believes people should be given more power and that government should try to understand people (and not force them to act the way they want them to). In regards to the information revolution, he believes the values of transparency, greater choice, and accountability are key. For the most part, I agree with Cameron as I do believe that many times in government politicians go off to their ivory tower (in the US that being the state capitol or Washington D.C.) and forget about their constituents. One of the ideas that he suggested that could be employed in society at little to no cost would be making a website that details every expenditure of the government, in a similar fashion to the Missouri state government website he mentioned, and making it mandatory for every state government and federal agency (within reason). Another way to further the ideas he mentioned could be by going beyond simply providing crime statistics online and requiring police to wear body cameras to ensure the police are not stepping over the line. The website listing expenditures and the body cams on the police will not drastically improve citizen’s well-being per se but it does provide transparency and accountability (in terms of both the spending website and the police body cams) and allows for greater choice which allows companies to better examine where they’d like to invest their money without mounds of red tape (in terms of the spending website). In short, it will not cause a drastic change (as I already pointed out) but it will help us work toward better well-being for all citizens.
ReplyDeleteTo start off, I find flaws and even good thoughts when Cameron states his first claim when he says that if the people in society have more free will and power, we would have a better life politically. Although I am a firm believer in people making thier own decisions and receiving consequences whether it be good or bad ones, there needs to be not necessarily strict, but a firm order to keep our society in check. But on the other hand with his statements about transparency, choice, and accountability, I do firmly agree with this. This does give the general population a good idea of what goes on with the government. Since governments nowadays are 'power of the people', maybe these information systems will give an eyeopener to the people who run our government. The whole recycling aspect of his speech is what intrigues me a lot as well. In my opinion, if you live in a cluster, physically, you also have a clustered mindset, a scattered, and more hectic way of living. The inputs of the people who can have access to all of these documents with how our government is spending money, they could give a better efficient way to make it work for them, and more importantly, to the people.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the viewpoint that David Cameron presents in this short video. The idea of putting more information into the hands of the people is definitely a cheap way to increase the well being of citizens all across America. Knowledge is power, therefore knowing this information gives people are larger sense of importance. The idea of showing all government transactions is a great idea on how to make countries more conscious on their spending. The people will be able to see these transactions and question why these transactions are being made, which could result in politicians being less likely to spend due to ridicule. I also liked the idea he presented on showing the savings of neighbors around you when it comes to being energy efficient. As he stated numerous campaigns to become more energy efficient have failed because they don't show the result of what can happen if you do become energy efficient. In showing that someone within the persons neighborhood is spending three times less a month on energy bills, then one way become more likely to change his/her habits. In conclusion as Cameron believes the more information you can give the people the more their well-being will increase, and giving information is free of cost.
ReplyDeleteCameron brings up some valid points concerning the information revolution. I think that knowledge is power and if you can give knowledge to the people then we will have to power to make changes. As technology becomes more and more accessible it can and will open the door for his “people power.” We can look to any other revolution such as the industrial revolution to see the change and ease with which goods, services and ideas have benefited. It would stand to reason that the information revolution is no different. I also believe Cameron is right in the sense that we don’t have the money for large scale programs, being in so much debt already, but information and technology can fill that gap for a fraction of the price. One basic way we can see this, even today, is in education. Information that used to cost a lot of money from schooling, books and other resources can now be instantly accessed for a very cheap price and education is the primary ticket to wellbeing. As Thomas L. Friedman demonstrates in his book "The World Is Flat", due to the internet everyone can potentially have the ability to become educated to increase their wellbeing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with David Cameron because our culture is now controlled by technology. It would be almost impossible to go through a day in today's society without using some type of technology, rather it is a laptop, cell phone, calculator, vehicles and etc. Using this technology in a better way to communicate effectively with the learning knowledge that is being discovered each day can help the wellbeing of the people in a cheap method. Our problem in society is that we have the capability of the technology and the knowledge but we aren't communicating the knowledge into helping out the wellbeing of the society.
ReplyDeleteI think that by increasing the recycling and environmental health is a great way to help raise the wellbeing of the citizen. This saves us money because we can reuse materials instead of having to remake profits. People gain money from recycling and with less pollution in the environment it takes away health risks from people.
I agree with David Cameron and his argument in that not enough money is going for public spending. Over time the government has changed its spending habit and put more money for the people. The government use to be only to access certain things whereas now the community and access almost anything, including private records. The only thing we as a community really can't view are someone's medical records. Cameron states that it is important for the government to focus on the wellbeing of the people because it decreases public spending. I think this is great because then the money that was going towards that can go towards a better cause.
ReplyDeleteDavid Cameron thinks he's saying that software creators will go to great lengths in order to serve the common good. There are enormous problems with this. There's no back door that only lets good guys go through it. If technology has a deliberately introduced flaw in it, then foreign spies, criminals, crooked police and criminals will eventually discover this vulnerability. They will be able to use it to intercept all of our communications. That includes things like the pictures of your kids in your bath that you send to your parents to the trade secrets you send to your co-workers. For David Cameron's proposal to work, he will need to stop people from installing software that comes from software creators who are out of his jurisdiction. The very best in secure communications are already free source projects, maintained by thousands of independent programmers around the world. They are widely available, and thanks to things like cryptographic signing, it is possible to download these packages from any server in the world and verify, with a very high degree of confidence, that the software you've downloaded hasn't been tampered with.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Cameron in the fact that he said there is not enough money for the people in public spending. I like how he pointed out that a way to get around this is to get around this is to give people informational knowledge so that the people can have the power to make changes. For example when he said to show the people how the government is spending money is a great way to give the people knowledge so they can give better ideas of how the government is spending it. With this I feel that this is the one way government can increase citizen well-being without increasing spending.
ReplyDeleteDavid Cameron takes the right stance when he discusses the government spending and transparency. If we were able to see what the government did and how commercial companies spend their money then it would be more beneficial to our well being. I also like his statement of comparing bills of yours and others in order to transform behaviors and show people that they can be like others and spend less providing a better cause for the society. These days, people just rely on their technology such as ipads, phones, computers that they don't have as much public knowledge or education. People are using money to diminish their value of life and love. They are taking time from their lives away. Rather than actually focusing on the people around them. People aren't behaving like they used to or communicating. They are stuck in their own lives with their money and personal products. The government does the same thing. I feel like with a change of government and knowledge and more publicity and communication, citizen-well being can increase while spending money can decrease dramatically.
ReplyDeleteDavid Cameron has good arguments in his video and I agree with his view. Power of the people is the simplest, cheapest way we can create a society of well-being. When we add transparency into how we operate, it allows us to be able to trust and put our faith in each other and our government. As Cameron states in his video, one thing everyone can do that does not require more spending is to recycle. This helps our environment and brings people of all together for the better cause of society. The short saying, ‘team work makes the dream work’. We can accomplish more when we are ALL in motion in the same direction, and being able to trust each other plays a major role. Taking his idea, I do feel having public records of spending, costs, crimes, etc. open to the public would be a great, effective way for the government of all levels to get involved in increasing the well-being of citizens.
ReplyDeleteDavid Cameron's discussion was very convincing in my opinion. I absolutly agree with Cameron's idea of revamping governments and how they operate. Giving people more power over their lives will improve citizen well being instead of spending more money. I agree with people making choices for themselves but without some kind of body keeping citizens in line then it would be complete anarchy. With that being said when Cameron talks about transparency, choice, and accountability I do agree that. This all will allow the people to become more involved in the government and understand what all is going on. I also like when he talks about recycling, how if you give someone incentive such as money to recycle that they will go out of their way to do it more. But these new information systems will help people comprehend how and why the government is operating like it is.
ReplyDeleteIt is safe to say that I agree with David Cameron's take on the idea of using the information technologies public policy to increase the wellbeing of citizens by making it cheap. This idea would control the way we spend and could cut unnecessary costs. With the age that we live in today, the technological aspect would be cheap and easier to receive information. Another way to increase the wellbeing of people is to create more awareness to decrease power usage and increase recycling, gives us a free way to help the environment.
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