Check 16 - Governments - Purpose

The Hidden Power

The purpose of government is to produce beneficial change

One of our central concerns in this podcast is why government is so ineffective - why don't governments work? And while many roads have led to preferential lobbying, there is arguably a deeper, darker reason even than that: aimlessness. The result? Bureaucracy, shiftlessness, the famous treacle that blinds and obstructs us in our endeavours. But institutions - and individuals - are capable of great things, if they act in concert - which is to say, if they act with a sense of purpose.

What is the point of government? How do we fit into this as individuals? This principle may seem self-evident, but as we find out, it certainly requires to be reiterated.

Talking points:

It's not as simple as it looks

Hobbs and the pessimistic view

How do we fit into this?

Orchestrating change

Needs and myths of leadership

Clarity, purpose and mud

Beneficial change

Without purpose, there are various phenomena that present themselves

Privileging rules over purpose

What the purpose becomes in the absence purpose

Publicity, personal power, ideology, peers groups

Maturity and government

Breaking the inheritance

It worked for Germany and Japan post WWII

Cybernetic governance

Modelling beneficial change

Links:

Sasha Swire - British government is amateur (Guardian review)

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/20/sasha-swire-british-politics-is-totally-amateur-thats-why-its-so-sexy-and-toxic

Robert Cialdini - Influence

https://www.theguardian.com/business-to-business/2018/mar/09/how-to-persuade-people-hint-not-by-telling-them-theyre-stupid

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