2 ms·

But you have one fundamental flaw in your otherwise compelling idea. > If my local government wanted each of it's citizens to have a jar of pickles, what would

But you have one fundamental flaw in your otherwise compelling idea. > If my local government wanted each of it's citizens to have a jar of pickles, what would be the best way to do that? The government want's everyone to have a jar of pickles. For what reason ever. They might increase inteligence on the long run? Contrived, but let's go on. If you provide gift cards, some will buy a jar of pickles. Some will buy a game for a gaming console. Some will buy dog food. You see the problem? The idea is or was that everybody should get a jar of pickles but now everybody get's what he wants. For most of the time getting what you wan't is good but be frank: You seldom get what you want because for the bigger part of it you do not know what you want. It's advertisment and clever selling strategies which make you think you need something. So the government policy was to get a jar of pickles, planted by local farmers. Instead you buy a game produced in !?!?. Target missed.

DanielBMarkham 10y ago
You touch on a really deep problem. One that poisons political discussion. People vote for outcomes. Politicians make up various programs and policies promising these outcomes. This is why my pickle example was purposely contrived: it's a thing. You get it or you don't. There is a clear success criteria. We have a lot of things in the world like pickles. I don't go to the store looking for pickles and come back with a game. I want it, they have it, I push a button, now I have it. But once you start selling me feelings? There's no end to it. This is like hiring consultants without clear deliverables, timelines, or accountability. You're always going to get something, but most of the time it's just regurgitated policy promising to fix things you have been talking about that need fixing. I want it, they don't have it (it might not exist in this universe), I push a button, and now I have a bunch of reasons why it didn't work and why I need to push 7 more buttons to get what I actually wanted. I really don't want to go there in the current political climate. There are far too many button-sellers and people desperately wanting all sorts of ill-defined and perhaps ephemeral things. So all I've got is pickles. If you understand why pickles work one way and social services work another? Then we can move one step forward and continue the analysis. Quite frankly a lot of people won't be able to take that first step. (I guess if I believed I could push a button and get something really awesome, I wouldn't want to take that first step either.)

DanielBMarkham 10y ago

You touch on a really deep problem. One that poisons political discussion. People vote for outcomes. Politicians make up various programs and policies promising these outcomes. This is why my pickle example was purposely contrived: it's a thing. You get it or you don't. There is a clear success criteria. We have a lot of things in the world like pickles. I don't go to the store looking for pickles and come back with a game. I want it, they have it, I push a button, now I have it. But once you start selling me feelings? There's no end to it. This is like hiring consultants without clear deliverables, timelines, or accountability. You're always going to get something, but most of the time it's just regurgitated policy promising to fix things you have been talking about that need fixing. I want it, they don't have it (it might not exist in this universe), I push a button, and now I have a bunch of reasons why it didn't work and why I need to push 7 more buttons to get what I actually wanted. I really don't want to go there in the current political climate. There are far too many button-sellers and people desperately wanting all sorts of ill-defined and perhaps ephemeral things. So all I've got is pickles. If you understand why pickles work one way and social services work another? Then we can move one step forward and continue the analysis. Quite frankly a lot of people won't be able to take that first step. (I guess if I believed I could push a button and get something really awesome, I wouldn't want to take that first step either.)