So, what the hell does government do for you?

A question worth considering, so we don't end up like this.

As of wrangling around some travel arrangements last night, it's official. I'll be attending the Gov 2.0 summit next week. This gathering brings together a variety of government and technologist types to try to figure out exactly what government's going to do in the future and how it can do it better. It's convened by Tim O'Reilly, whose ideas I've critiqued here. A critique that he, to his credit, has responded to.

It promises to be a very interesting time. Reading the list of speakers and sponsors of the summit, it's clear that it will draw some smart, motivated people who are trying to open a discussion about just what the hell government is going to do to adapt to the challenges of the future. 

That's good. For all of my blasts at "government as platform" and some of its blind spots, I'm damn glad this discussion is going on. I'm glad that I'm fortunate enough to attend and hope to be able to learn a great deal, and hopefully ask some sharp questions.

However, the average person affected by government's actions isn't a federal employee. They're not heading up or working at a tech company. They're not cutting-edge. The unadjusted ticket price is probably a little beyond their means. Yet these are exactly the people government has to work for if it's going to mean a damn.

If there's one thing I try to emphasize here, it's the realization of how vital multiple perspectives are to finding the way out of our current difficulties (hence "there is no they"). It's a big world out there and it's easy to, with the best intentions, miss some valuable insights.

This blog has a fairly eclectic audience, something I count as one of its strongest points. The fact that many of you put up, on a regular basis, with me veering between politics, culture, history, poetry, Asheville and rambling about whoever's missing the big, devastating picture this week never ceases to amaze me. Thank you, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart.

So I'm turning the lens back on you, dear readers. I want to hear your perspectives, your concerns.

What are the best and worst things government does for you? What would you like it to improve? What places would you like it to leave you alone?

Let me know. Comment here, e-mail me. Hell, message me on Twitter. I want to go into this as well-informed and armed as I can be. In the coming days, I'll be asking a few other questions too, but this is the big one.

Again, thank you all.

Comments

[Martin V.]

I have to agree with you David. Frankly, the government works all too well for those with capital and access to the ears of power. It's in Tim's own words...

"What I learned when I went to Washington," O'Reilly told me by phone as he drove down a California highway earlier this month, "was how much the dialogue is determined by the companies that go there."

I foresee that Tim's ideas will be well received in D.C., perhaps implemented. But it's extremely problematic to attempt to reshape government for the purposes of private wealth accumulation. It's not a fact to be dealt with that the government is 40% of the GDP, it's part of the problem. Also, David, I think that it's part of the problem that the government legitimizes the use of violence. Our country, does indeed have two sides, headed in opposite directions. One has the power and money, the other has the numbers. I fail to see how government as platform accounts for the glaring class division and destruction of a middle class. Fascism is defined by Mussolini as the merger of state and corporate power. How does government 2.0 not enable that already ascendent tendency in the divided land of the U.S. of A.? People use the tools of power for reasons and they are often not altruistic, as Tim's intentions may not foresee the consequences.
And frankly, as an environmentalist, if gov2.0 does work, it's like window dressing the Titanic. We are burying our world in toxic garbage. Increasing capitalistic entrepreneurship would certainly create more consumption.
www.workersoftheworldrelax.org
Check out a great short about the need to stop producing so much, maybe government can help with this?