Instead of trying to change to old corrupt office or school, you set-up a new and non-corrupt office or school next door/ nearby; with a new Head, who is in charge of a (mostly) new leadership team and with (mostly) new staff.The one thing I would add is from last night's post at Zero Hedge: power will devolve from the center because the Internet has destroyed the information gatekeeping capabilities that the power elite used to rely on. The very act of devolving authority will make replacement agencies smaller and, since they are closer to the citizen who can presumably move to a different polity if things do not function properly (*cough* California *cough*), presumably more responsive.
Then close-down the corrupt office or school.
I expect this will take a generation, but this is precisely what will replace the moribund Progressive vision.
Jerry Pournelle suggests this very idea as a way to overcome his "Iron Law of Bureaucracies"
ReplyDeleteIf you'not yet come across his blog it's right up your alley I suspect:
www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor
cheers
Differ
Your lips to G_d's ears, sir.
ReplyDeleteMay it come, speedily in our time (will settle cheerfully for our children's time, and work to make it happen).
"Power will devolve from the centere center because the Internet has destroyed the information gatekeeping capabilities that the power elite used to rely on."
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to burst anyone's bubble but that is just an internet fantasy. The internet has weakened the ability of the power structure to control the news but not eliminated it. Most American still get their news from the MSM. And it is not as if the gov. is sitting there doing nothing. They have passed several laws that would allow them to take control of the internet in an "emergency" which the gov. gets to define. As for control, there are already confirmed examples of the gov. cutting off access to news on tv (requiring deletion of a "Conspiracy Theory" episode) and radio (Mancow Muller's radio program being cutoff from several stations). It is only fantasy that would make anyone believe that this could not happen to the net.
Differ, I follow Pournelle's blog sporadically, but his Iron Law is required reading for anyone who proposes government solutions for anything.
ReplyDeleteAnon, Most American still get their news from the MSM.
Do you have any references to that? I quite frankly don't think it's true given the repeated polling that shows that a majority of the population thinks that the MSM skews left. In particular, the issue is that the MSM has turned their environment from a high trust one to a low trust one. A very interesting question is how much the American public acts on the information they get from the MSM - and whether they act opposite to what that information told them.
I.e. is a large number of Americans treating the MSM information they receive as a reliable indicator to vote the other way?
About the only power the MSM has left is the power to ignore stories. Quite frankly, that's what got Obama elected in 2008, and the media repeatedly ignored stories about his background. That's not helping him this time around, as large majorities think that he's not doing a good job, and a super majority think that the country is on the wrong track.
Net/net, I think that the MSM's gatekeeping power is vastly reduced, and on the way out.
I've been saying for the life of my blog that we need to get rid of 75% of the Code of Federal Regulations. I used to think it mattered which ones we got rid of, but I've gradually gotten to thinking it doesn't matter - it won't hurt you even if you do throw out an important law.
ReplyDeleteIf you just threw out 3 of every 4 you could throw out one that needs to be there. But you could keep them busy figuring out what really needs to be there and passing the replacement. Plus, if every law and every regulation sunsets unless it's acted upon, you keep them busy keeping meaningless bull crap alive.
It's like giving them a piece of paper that says, "How do you keep a legislator busy? See other side" on both sides of the paper. That ought to keep them busy for months.
In the mean time, shutter the agency. I mean, real solid metal shutters. If you trap some feds inside, well, eggs/omelet - you get the picture.
I kid - but only just a little. The whole point is to break up the infinite sum: if in every session they pass at least one law, the number of laws approaches infinity.
"...the Internet has destroyed the information gatekeeping capabilities that the power elite used to rely on."
ReplyDeleteSee also: The Printing Press.
We are living 'history' right now. I just wonder how many people recognize it. Did the 'Average Joes' living in the late 1700's realize the historical significance of the events happening around them?