Long Term Government Planning....LOL
I’ve touched on this a bit lately but my rants are not over. What will it ever take for a Government to have tangible long term nation-building plans that can be agreed for the good of the nation and supported on both sides of politics, and that create long term jobs and national wealth for all…….a Benevolent Dictatorship seems to be the best possibility
Democratic governments around the world have become less a representation of the people than a representation of how easily the voting base can be bought, and how the short term focus of winning the next election has become the goal…..to the detriment of good long term planning.
Nothing says this better than the term “Shovel Ready”. This term has grown from governments in recent years when calling for the private sector to provide developments and assist with bringing infrastructure forward. It means projects must be ready to commence construction almost immediately if they are to be considered for selection. This criteria, which has become a prevalent selection criteria, is about one thing only, and that is making sure a politician can hang his hat on something tangible before the next election. On almost every occasion I have dealt with these types of tenders (which is quite a few now), significantly better, job creating projects are passed over because they can’t be delivered in the political term and are hence not deemed “Shovel Ready”.
Whatever happened to the vision of Nation Building? Creating long term plans that benefit the country as a whole. That open up opportunities to private industry to create long term employment. There are no great leaders left, it seems. But is that the politician’s fault or our own? As a voting base we tag onto whoever will give us what we want right now, who has the shiniest trinkets, and in the worst case, we tag onto the politician who simply tells us what to fear and who to blame.
Anyway it’s only a dream……Does anyone want a road built, shovel ready of course.