Would you put up with ...

… going to a restaurant and getting pork instead of your fish order and the waiter telling you to eat it anyway?

… going to the hairdresser and getting you hair coloured green instead of the blond you asked for?

… going to a washing salon where you pay more for a short wash of your slightly dirty clothes, while the person next to you with his soiled clothes pays less for his long wash cycle?

Is your answer “no” to all of these?

Of course, you would not put up with it.

Then why do you still go to vote? Why are you so willing to accept bad service when it comes to government services? I rest my case...

... however, if you are interested in more details:

“At the most basic level, good government establishes and maintains an institutional framework that enables people to live better lives. Similarly, good public services are those that improve lives while using fewer scarce resources.” WorldHappinessReport 2019, sponsored by the United Nations.

The World Happiness Report shows that on the policy side the biggest increase in happiness comes from a reduction in corruption and conflict. On those measures, the evidence for Western democracies in the last 20 years is sobering. Germany’s economic freedom score is declining since 2016, the US peaked in 2006 (www.heritage.org/index). The degrees of economic freedom are the basis of all prosperity including (this may surprise) dealing with climate change.

The key pillars of good government are:

• Internal security

• External security

• Reliable institutional framework

Without these pillars, all the additional “services” modern governments offer are for nought. Unfortunately, these pillars are crumbling:

• World biggest Ponzi scheme: ever bigger government budgets, ever bigger debt piles, ever more goodies, ever worse demographics. By postponing the tough decisions, we are effectively expropriating the next generation.

• Financial repression: negative interest rates are deteriorating the wealth of savers.

• Lower income half is really under pressure. They do not have the means to counteract the negative effects of financial repression and are additionally burdened by the green movement (regulation and energy inflation hits them hardest). In addition, in places like Germany the financial incentives to go work versus receiving social benefits are minimal.

Luckily our society (so far) has forces that are able to counter balance and sometimes even overcome these negative trends. The most uplifting website I have found so far, one that is not based in some intellectual utopia but in reality is www.humanprogress.org. Another great resource is think-beyondtheobvious.com where the author warns about problems, but also offers solutions. Here in Germany, we have a whole host of smaller, entrepreneurial companies offering digitalization solutions (more details later this week) and picking up the ball where the slow, large corporations are challenged by the new environment.

Conclusion: Historically, the evidence is clear that democracies have the highest degree of freedom (Source: Economist Intelligence Unit – Democracy Index). So, I am not advocating its abolishment, but attempting to add to a wider debate. However, I am no longer prepared to pay for bad service.

#democracy #happiness #goodgovernment #entrepreneurial