Now here's an interesting report from the Comptroller General of the USA. For those who do not know this fellow, he is an independent senior government official, somewhat akin to the Auditor General in other countries, who reports directly into the US Congress and is really considered to be independent of partisan politics. He is also blessed with an attention span greater than a blowfly (more than 1 week, remember the quote about a week being a long time in politics?) so he can take a long view on "stuff".
He spoke at a meeting and was unusually downbeat about USA, talking about how the US government is sitting on a "burning platform". The platform being burnt on firewood made up of huge deficits, major health care issues and funding problems, immigration chasms and problems, runaway spending, heavy over-extension on military and foreign policy, and so on and so forth. And he draws a parallel with the end of the Roman Empire.
He talks about trying to repair the US government and US state by targeting the above problems in a bi-partisan manner so that the US state lives on for much longer rather than be over-run by the Huns, Ostrogoth's, Visigoths and various other goths and bots (pun intended). Some of his quotes are very very thought-provoking indeed.
At the start of the 21st century, our country faces a range of sustainability challenges: fiscal, health care, energy, education, the environment, Iraq, aging infrastructure, and immigration policy, to name a few. These challenges are complex and of critical importance.
Unfortunately, our government’s track record in adapting to new conditions and meeting new challenges isn’t very good. Much of the federal government remains overly bureaucratic, myopic, narrowly focused, and based on the past.
To preserve its ability to address these and other emerging trends, America needs to return to fiscal discipline and focus on the future. At both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue and on both sides of the political aisle, we need leaders who will face these facts, speak the truth, partner for progress, and make tough choices. We also need leadership from our state capitols and city halls and from businesses, colleges and universities, charities, think tanks, the military, and the media. So far, there have been too few calls for fundamental change and shared sacrifice.
Solutions?
Obviously, a return to fiscal discipline is essential.
Government transformation is also essential.
Unfortunately, once federal programs or agencies are created, the tendency is to fund them in perpetuity. This is what I mean when I say our government is on autopilot.
We need nothing less than a top-to-bottom review of federal programs, policies, and operations.
Entitlement reform is especially urgent.
In so many areas—recruiting, training and development, job classification, pay and benefits, and employee empowerment—the federal government lags behind other sectors. This is a serious problem given that, in many areas, the government is competing with these sectors for top talent. Moreover, despite the wave of federal retirements that we know are coming, few agencies have adequate succession plans in place.
And his closing statement?
What’s needed now is leadership. The kind of leadership that leads to meaningful and lasting change has to be bipartisan and broad-based. Character also counts. We need men and women with courage, integrity, and creativity. Leaders who can partner for progress and are committed to truly and properly discharging their stewardship responsibilities. But leadership can’t just come from Capitol Hill or the White House. Leadership also needs to come from Main Street.
There is much to agree with what he said, but one needs to think about this alternative viewpoint. Yes, the Roman Empire collapsed, but the core civilisational ideas survived, the idea of democracy, of separation of church and state, the establishment of the longest serving organisation (the Catholic Church), huge artistic and scientific advances, all these happened due to, after the crash and in Italy. So while ONE system of government collapsed, Rome as Gibbons said, still lives on.
Final word? "In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed - but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love, 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. So long, Holly." - The Third Man
All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment