On another Blog I hang out at I posted a Question. What would you do policy or Reform wise to set the country up for future generations to be a better Society to live in. Maintaining what we consider our standard of living. In part because when setting up something with the scope of this institution. What kind of leadership and talent will be available to do this job? What is the budget and what kind of real power and scope does it have? and what are the parameters of its scope and power as the law is written? What constraints are on it that we should address in the future.
Who are the obstacles in society and why is it important? This is moving the policy debate and the amount of reform... Democratic party members and progressives should be fighting these fights in the Primaries we should do better and encourage people and ourselves to be more involved on a local level not just an intellectual or hyper critical level. (Understanding the demands that our lives have on our time.)
Hot links didn't come through... links below...
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
http://www.princeton.edu/...
http://www.forwardengagement.org/...
If King for a day what one thing would you do set the United States on a better path for the future understanding real world constraints and blowback. All change has a cost in itself for good and bad effecting people. Defend you idea and give constructive advise or even refutation if need be. Show weakness and strength with outside sources if possible...
I would Institute a Forward looking institution inside government that combines two ideas. One being an office of forward engagement that is mandated to issue reports to both houses of congress the President and all fifty legislatures and Governors Twice a year. Published twice a Year. One with an outline of what it sees as priorities for the future. Issues to be addressed and then an Update on action at the end of each year on progress and changes in outlook. The second would be to reinstating the Office of Technology Assessment to be used by both parties to give pure scientific and ration answers to all question it is asked to address. To address some of the issues of mixing Policy and Politics and the problems each would find due to philosophy and Purity tests. Princeton has an OTA legacy site for all to judge the use and scope of what a little agency was able to tackle. So how would you set up these to entities to be as unbiased as possible and independent from the daily games of politics. Governing sturcture and funding mechanism etc. Do you even see a reason to have this kind of process in place? Are resources spent on good policy more important than your own vision of what we are as a country of 300 million people?
Overview of the Program for Forward Engagement...
Forward Engagement ® makes a compound statement: (1) that major social change is accelerating at a rate fast enough to challenge the adaptive capacity of whole societies, including our own; (2) that foresight - the disciplined analysis of alternative futures - can provide timely warning of major issues ahead; and (3) that governance - the process by which policy is set and carried out - needs to institutionalize foresight.
The objective is not only to make theoretical points about the application of foresight to policy, but to produce a practical impact on governance in terms of attitudinal and institutional change.
What Ideas or issues would you institute to impact the future position of the country for the next century.. How would you leave the country better for future generations... You may post your own answer to the question and defend it ask for input on weaknesses or just comment on other people ideas.. Be critical but fair to all ideas... In the end we are all just people with ideas that we have only thought about superficially. Many ideas may not be good with a little input from others. We might just disagree on the best way to address what we see as problems. I was once told that Governing is the allocation of resources. In the end regardless of your personal ethos or vision of government. I Imagine that you want one that is not wasteful and that works the best of the best cost...
Flame away or just give insights to what you would do or change ... Just one issues if King for a Day....