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Most politicians are lawyers or community organizers. They don't understand technology. Think about some aspect of the world you don't understand, like crop fer

Most politicians are lawyers or community organizers. They don't understand technology. Think about some aspect of the world you don't understand, like crop fertilization or NASA probes. That is how ill-defined the world of tech is to the majority of our policy makers.

PakG1 8y ago
I guess I'm curious how to make them familiar with such topics. When my dad got cancer, he researched to become an expert on all things cancer as much as he could. When I started getting chronic pain in my hip, I started learning about how to strengthen it and about various physical therapies. When I feel unsafe about the food I eat, you bet your darn ass that I'll research agricultural methods and food supply chains. What makes someone like Erin Brockovich change to become Erin Brockovich, and how do we get more people like her? If cybersecurity issues that are big news (to differ from physical security issues) don't get people moving to understand the issues, what will? Maybe people just get the politicians they deserve and never the politicians they need. :(
- germinalphrase 8y ago
  There at any number of potential problems a politician may be called on to propose solutions for. We can’t expect them to be experts in each and every one. Right now, the “best” advice they get is probably from those who care the most, i.e. those who have a financial stake in the outcome. Politicians need better topic advisors that represent their average constituent.
  - salawat 8y ago
    We ALL have a financial stake in the outcome. Furthermore, there are things far more valuable and costly at stake. Like Liberty. Freedom. Justice. You know, those things? Reducing the equation of politics down to mere financial stakeholders is how you get to the position the United States is in in the first place. I get that we all like to laugh about those quaint ideals, but it truly SHOULD be the first thing on a politicians mind. Also, EVERY Congressman has the option of retaining researchers who have the job of becoming experts on every topic imaginable. Never mind access to one of the most extensive libraries known to man. Expertise is easier to come by than you seem to think. A Congressman being spoonfed information by lobbyists without having his/her own staff doing some digging and USING their powers to subpoena is a Congressman in sore need of replacing. Nevermind that we don't bother enforcing statutes that make it a felony to lie before Congress.
    - germinalphrase 8y ago
      I entirely agree.
    - PakG1 8y ago
      Again, what's the solution? For people to care to vote for change, they need to care to research and understand the subject themselves, and then consider it a priority after researching well. I doubt that happens. People are getting the politicians they deserve, not the politicians they need.
Aeolun 8y ago
Oh come on. If those crops die off en-masse or those NASA probes keep crashing into the countryside, you don’t need a degree or specific knowledge on the subject to know that something is wrong.

PakG1 8y ago

I guess I'm curious how to make them familiar with such topics. When my dad got cancer, he researched to become an expert on all things cancer as much as he could. When I started getting chronic pain in my hip, I started learning about how to strengthen it and about various physical therapies. When I feel unsafe about the food I eat, you bet your darn ass that I'll research agricultural methods and food supply chains. What makes someone like Erin Brockovich change to become Erin Brockovich, and how do we get more people like her? If cybersecurity issues that are big news (to differ from physical security issues) don't get people moving to understand the issues, what will? Maybe people just get the politicians they deserve and never the politicians they need. :(

germinalphrase 8y ago
There at any number of potential problems a politician may be called on to propose solutions for. We can’t expect them to be experts in each and every one. Right now, the “best” advice they get is probably from those who care the most, i.e. those who have a financial stake in the outcome. Politicians need better topic advisors that represent their average constituent.
- salawat 8y ago
  We ALL have a financial stake in the outcome. Furthermore, there are things far more valuable and costly at stake. Like Liberty. Freedom. Justice. You know, those things? Reducing the equation of politics down to mere financial stakeholders is how you get to the position the United States is in in the first place. I get that we all like to laugh about those quaint ideals, but it truly SHOULD be the first thing on a politicians mind. Also, EVERY Congressman has the option of retaining researchers who have the job of becoming experts on every topic imaginable. Never mind access to one of the most extensive libraries known to man. Expertise is easier to come by than you seem to think. A Congressman being spoonfed information by lobbyists without having his/her own staff doing some digging and USING their powers to subpoena is a Congressman in sore need of replacing. Nevermind that we don't bother enforcing statutes that make it a felony to lie before Congress.
  - germinalphrase 8y ago
    I entirely agree.
  - PakG1 8y ago
    Again, what's the solution? For people to care to vote for change, they need to care to research and understand the subject themselves, and then consider it a priority after researching well. I doubt that happens. People are getting the politicians they deserve, not the politicians they need.

Aeolun 8y ago

Oh come on. If those crops die off en-masse or those NASA probes keep crashing into the countryside, you don’t need a degree or specific knowledge on the subject to know that something is wrong.