Manifesto?
Alright, then. A promise is a promise. This poll here was the final trigger to prompt my comment on my own political stances, at long last. Dont be shocked.
I commented there, but here it is.
First of all, my place in the political spectrum:
(Sorry, there wasnt an option "off the spectrum", so i suppose this comes as closest as possible).
Then, to summarise in a single line:
Technocracy + humanism = ultimate solution for the distant future. Period.
People ask me: where do you stand in the political spectrum? Sorry to say it, but i'll have to laugh at the question. Political labels are becoming increasingly irrelevant. People are feeling they're less represented by their leaders, regardless of their proclaimed political affiliations. Policies are run largely by incompetent folks with good links, good heritage, good upbringing and good wallets. Economic interests define policies, thus making them less designed for the people, but rather for various economic entities. Ultimately, it all boils down to economic interests - religion, social movements, greed, power, economic theories, wars, alliances, everything - all of that is just secondary. Hence, the established political dichotomy discussed above is secondary, too. And i dont want to apply to it.
Besides, there's not even a unified political dichotomy throughout the world. Whats considered "left" in the US is not the same "left", say, in Europe. Same about the "right". And that could be pretty confusing.
The solution to all this mess is a total change in the way politics is made. Its the experts who should run the policies and propose plans to the people, who in their turn need to have the capability to take informed decisions and approve or reject these proposals. Experts who are driven by the motivation of achieving better efficacy in the way society works, industry achieves, efficacy in the social relations and the relations human-environment, and last but not least, optimised production and use of energy. Add a good control on the execution of these policies, and there you go. This should be achieved through proper education and both scientific and social progress. Eventually, such individuals who have the proper qualification and profound grasp in their own sphere of speciality, should conduct the respective policies, and not mess with things they dont understand. (Currently, legislative bodies all across the world are full with non-experts who vote on specific legislation anyway, without knowing whats it all about - for example, i'm not an expert in medicine, but if i was an MP, i would've probably had to vote on dozens of medicine laws, which is just ridiculous). Consequently, i think all political parties will sooner or later become an outdated relic from the past.
Apart from proper education, two more things are needed in order to achieve an effective form of technocracy: a well thought-over legislative framework that most people agree with (after having been thoroughly informed about its pros and cons, in a fair way); and a simple and effective evaluation system (that is, if an expert is not doing their job well, they'd get substituted).
Three more things. Minimum bureaucracy. Proper motivation. Society-orientated agenda, rather than profit-orientated.
The current political system is a farce; the current economic system is not efficient. Its a never-ending ups-and-downs cycle, and doesnt work naturally. The money/debt cycle is stupid, but meanwhile a lot of effort is needed to overcome even the inherent notion which is stuck in our brains, that "this is the only way and there's no other".
What i'm talking about may be called technocracy; but its not the typical technocracy which most people imagine when hearing the word - you know, all the machines, AI, Matrix, I Robot, etcetc. Thats bullshit. Technology is only a vessel, albeit a crucial one. First and foremost, we're all humans. The interests of the humans should define the human society, not the interests of one group or another, a group of people who are hiding behind an artificially created industrial or socio-political label (the collective irresponsibility) rising above the amorphous majority of the bleating herd. We're humans, no more, no less. Not lefties, righties, commies, libertarians, progressives, or else.
If an alien race lands on Earth tomorrow and looks into our social system, they'll have a good laugh :))) :(
Surely enough, technocracy, or at least the typically perceived form of it, which is so cliched by the media, in literature, by political theorists etc, is often associated with the alleged threat about sprawling bureaucracy, omnipotent oligarchy, et al. I admit this threat exists, and could become reality if the idea falls into the wrong hands just like many other initially good ideas did - for people are imperfect, and if they find too much power in their hands, they get perverted. Always. So i dont think the picture i drew above will come into reality anytime soon. But still, its possible. I just hope we won't need to go through a massive social and economic cataclysm to realise that.
Call me idealist. But yeah, some of you wanted to know.
Ps. One more thing. I'm seeing the word "believe" being used too often when talking about politics. Perhaps its just semantics, but IMO "believing" implies trusting an unchecked authority or axiom. I dont like the word "believe". I never believe something which i havent tested myself, or personally seen the results of.
♪ / A
[edit] I offered a solution, but under one condition. People's minds should change first, then people's way of perceiving the world, and with that, the prerequisites for my model coming reality would be in place. But not before that. I'm fully aware that we're not ready for that stage of society yet. Not so fast. We've seen what shit can happen when people are hurrying to jump into things they know little or nothing about, too fast.
And yet, the picture i viewed is ultimately the solution. And it WILL come true one day. Maybe not in my lifetime, but still, it will.
Either that or we'll go back to being monkeys. Or we'll just blow this whole place up.