- by Christine Hobson
Technocracy is a hypothetical form of government in which engineers, scientists, and other technical experts are in control of decision making in their respective fields. The term technocracy derives from the Greek words tekhne meaning skill and kratos meaning power, as in government, or rule.
Thus the term technocracy denotes a system of government where those who have knowledge, expertise or skills compose the governing body. In a technocracy decision makers would be selected based upon how highly knowledgeable they are, rather than how much political capital they hold.
What is Technocracy?
Technocracy is a proposal for a steady-state, post-scarcity economic system. It is intended for industrialized nations with sufficient natural, technological, and human resources to produce an economic abundance. Primarily this refers to the continent of North America, but may also apply to other areas today as well if they have achieved certain minimum criteria.
What is the purpose of a Technocratic society?
The stated goal of a Technocratic society is to provide the highest standard of living possible to all citizens for the longest period possible.
What are the attributes of a Technocratic society?
* A thoroughly scientific method of control of the technology of our continent.
* Democratic controls for all non-technical issues and decisions.
* Maximum freedom for all citizens in terms of latitude of purchasing power and personal rights
* Removal of methods of scarcity economics such as money, debt, value, and interest.
* The elimination of political decision-making from technical affairs
* Replacement of these methods with an empirical accounting of all physical resources, products, and services (called Energy Accounting).
* Productive capacity many orders of magnitude higher than currently possible, without requiring any new equipment.
* Decrease in human labor required to produce these amounts through proper use of automation.
* Highest possible standard of living for ALL citizens in terms of income, housing, health care, education, and leisure.
* Sustainable resource management through conservation and industrial efficiency
* Elimination or vast reduction of various social ills, such as poverty, crime, pollution, insecurity, and disease.
Is Technocracy a form of government then, or something else?
Technocracy is not a form of government. Governments are organizations designed to produce laws with the intention of controlling its citizens to some extent. Technocracy is instead a method of control of technology. It outlines the basic operating characteristics for a high-energy,abundance-producing society.
Some areas may simulate social control, but instead of enforcing laws to achieve this, Technocracy instead is designed to provide an environment that will facilitate behavior conducive to this operating environment. People will have as much personal freedom, or likely even more, than in any modern democratic society. The technical controls of Technocracy are not interested or designed to interfere in people's lives, only instead to provide the best standard of living with which people can enjoy life.
Example.
Carbon Currency: A New Beginning for Technocracy?
Critics who think that the U.S. dollar will be replaced by some new global currency are perhaps thinking too small.
On the world horizon looms a new global currency that could replace all paper currencies and the economic system upon which they are based.
The new currency, simply called Carbon Currency, is designed to support a revolutionary new economic system based on energy (production, and consumption), instead of price. Our current price-based economic system and its related currencies that have supported capitalism, socialism, fascism and communism, is being herded to the slaughterhouse in order to make way for a new carbon-based world.
Technocrat to the Rescue
There is particular technocrat named Nandan Nilekani that is heading just this form of governance in India as we speak.
Last week I posted a very interesting article that I have basically waiting for for the past 12 months.
The headline read:
Nandan Nilekani to head new Technology Advisory Group
New Delhi, Feb 26 (PTI) The government today proposed the setting up of a technology advisory group to be headed by UIDAI chairman Nanadan Nilekani for creating reliable and tamper-proof IT projects.
The announcement was made by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his budget speech.
"A Technology Advisory Group for Unique Projects (TAGUP) is proposed to be set up under the Chairmanship of Nandan Nilekani for creation of reliable and secure IT projects," Mukherjee said.
He said an effective tax administration and financial governance system calls for creation of IT projects which are reliable, secure and efficient.
He listed certain IT projects such as the Tax Information Network, New Pension Scheme, National Treasury Management Agency, Expenditure Information Network and the ambitious Good and Service Tax.
He said the group will look into the various technological and systemic issues.
The UID (Unique Identity) Scheme is one of the most ambitious projects of the UPA government. The agenda to set up the UID Authority of India (UIDAI), under the parameters of the Planning Commission, is targeted at providing a unique identity to most of the population of the flagship schemes to ensure that the benefits reach them. The unique identification number would ensure that any lacuna in these schemes is removed so that the benefits do not reach those they are not meant for.
When it comes to Nandan Nilekani's vision for issuing every Indian a UIN, Unique Identification Number. At first glance it would have been thought is was nothing much, possibly a variation on the US's Social Security Number. At closer inspection however, you can see many layers that one would not have imagined. Nandan Nilekani co-founded Infosys, one of India's leading information technology companies, back in 1981. After serving as its president and then CEO, he's now joined the Indian government to help lead a massive new IT project: providing every Indian with a unique identity card. to concentrate on his next great endeavor: re-imagining India in the new millennium.
In recent months it has been revealed that Mr. Nilekani seeks to monetized the UIN as well as have it directly linked to ones biometrics, which would include all 10 fingerprints. Last week through the National Population Register (NPR) it was announced that the 2011 Census requirements of biometric fingerprints was to help target each person for various programs and schemes and link them directly to a system that would offer “real time population data”. This project also aims to give 1.2 billion citizens biometric identity cards that will have the ability to help millions of poor gain access to many services they otherwise would not be able to. Think about it, “To obtain the pension, the beneficiary has to implant his finger impression on a device with a business correspondent engaged by the bank and only if the impression matches with the one to whom a bio-metric card has been issued, then only the amount is released,” said SBI bank official.
Identification has always been a huge problem for India with many persons never identified from birth. Whole households with no means to identify themselves. This effects them on every level from the simple things like the purchase of a cell phone to the more useful and important services as opening a bank account, seeking employment . In most cases an address cannot be verified either because the poor live in slums or on the streets and have nothing to provide to prove who or where they are from. "This project is pro-poor and inclusive targeted mainly towards the poor. The middle class and the rich have some form of identity. People on the margins are getting lost because of lack of identity," Mr Nilekani said.
Mr. Nilekani's intention is to provide access to all persons state benefits that before only had available to those with means. Money. The whole idea is to include everyone into the System. Meaning everyone. This does not verify ones citizenship, but residency. This number will be issued from cradle to grave with no possibly of duplication. Hence for added measure the inclusion of biometrics. It has been said that India's efforts at giving every citizen an identity number is possibly one of the greatest challenges facing the government. What could this mean? Universal Financial Inclusion in India. Bank access, health insurance for all.
Nilekani is not alone in this venture, in fact he has some pretty impressive partners that seek their piece of the pie. IBM for one, and none other then Bill Gates of Microsoft. In August IBM began dialogue with partners in India to position itself in the project and shortly before Mr. Gates met with Nandan Nilekani to ensure his part in this monumental scheme. "The World Bank has offered to assist the government in re-structuring the Public Distribution System (PDS), the Delhi government is set to soon initiate a pilot project to launch its ‘cash for food’ program in the Capital. This is seen as the first step in overhauling the system." It would seem absolutely nothing should go wrong, with a Dream Team such as this put together .
In India in another three to four years, you will be known not by name, but by a unique identity (UID) number. Will this set a precedent for the rest of the world in the near future? Or have we already seen similar projects in other countries that could strip our identity and we become nothing more then a bit of information assimilated into a system.
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