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I think this sort of problem starts at the top, with our time limited democracies. Democratic governments find it hard to implement long term thinking because i
by alan_cx 13y ago
I think this sort of problem starts at the top, with our time limited democracies. Democratic governments find it hard to implement long term thinking because its unlikely the current government will ever get credit for it. This results in policies which are short term enough to promote re-election. This bleeds down to the rest of society. Where it does happen, it tends to be compromised because one side has to make sure the other side carries the project on. This leads to committee style compromises.
So, in general, from what I can see, long term thinking in western democracies is rare, and where it exists, compromised.
Implication being that Chinese long term strength lies in its ability to plan in the very long term, which they do. I think the west needs to find a way in which we can also effectively and flexibly plan long term.
- eli_gottlieb 13y agoCan we please stop promoting the "democracy sucks" meme? It's not as if the Chinese are actually planning in that long a term; they're using markets now like everyone else.
- pbhjpbhj 13y ago>It's not as if the Chinese are actually planning in that long a term; they're using markets now like everyone else. // So, how long term are they planning, in years? In the UK we get [a few] plans that encompass maybe the next 10-15 years at most. So presumably they've got that at least.
- PeterisP 13y agoThe problem is not with doing planning, the problem is with implementing tradeoffs after such planning - in democracy, you can't take actions that hurt you in this year but will benefit 10 years afterward, if it is not completely obvious to uninformed laymen. If you do, they get reversed after the next elections anyway.