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Question: What is more important for the goverment?



« Last Modified by: John S on: Sep 18th, 2010 at 9:05am »

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what the most important thing for the goverment (Read 13512 times)
John S
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what the most important thing for the goverment
Sep 18th, 2010 at 9:05am
 
We had some people saying that the economy is the most important thing the Goverment should worry about.

I think if you didn't have society we would have any economy.

What do other people think is most important?
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vegitamite
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Re: what the most important thing for the goverment
Reply #1 - Sep 18th, 2010 at 9:38am
 


Hi riverina.jack

The more I  read of Ross gittens insights into WHY we have an economy and the reason it was started. I think we have lost our way.

The 'economy'  is measured -and means- different things . however IF we had stayed true and valued our social responsibilties the economy would be measured in the peoples happiness as a nation /society. But  our individual wealth is more important to us than community importance... also from Ross Gittens latest blog. I find this interesting but  sad more so...

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2010
Getting richer as we mess up our world

I guess you've heard the good news: the devastation of the Christchurch earthquake will be a godsend to New Zealand's gross domestic product, giving it an almighty and much-needed boost.

So maybe it's a pity earthquakes don't happen more often. Perhaps we could do the Kiwis a favour and send our air force bombers over there to use a few cities for target practice.

If you think this sounds stupid, you're right. To anyone in their right mind, an earthquake that destroys many buildings, roads, bridges and vehicles - and disrupts many people's lives - can't possibly be a good thing.

But it will boost gross domestic product. GDP measures market production (and the income that production generates). So as the South Islanders spend a couple of billion repairing and rebuilding their main city, much extra production will occur and many additional jobs will be created.

But what about the loss of all the valuable assets destroyed by the quake - doesn't that count? Short answer: no. GDP is a sum that's all pluses and no minuses. It counts the benefits, but ignores the costs.

It doesn't count the destruction caused by natural disasters, nor the depletion of renewable and non-renewable resources. Production involves the emission of many forms of pollution, but this cost too is ignored.

If the clearing of land to build a town involves destroying the habitat of animals, perhaps leading to their extinction, the cost of the clearing and the building counts as a plus, but the loss of habitat or species doesn't count as a minus.

So, does that make GDP a giant con job? Yes and no. Economists will tell you GDP is an accurate measure of what it's intended to measure: market production and national income; it's not, and was never intended to be, a measure of the nation's well-being.

But this is disingenuous. Economists don't understand it's possible to know things without that knowledge being reflected in our behaviour. And though all economists know GDP is not a measure of well-being, they still treat it as though it is, obsessing over it, ignoring other indicators and encouraging us to do the same.

If GDP is so defective as a measure of well-being or social progress, why doesn't someone try to fix it? Well, many people have tried, but they've had little success. Trouble is, many of the factors affecting our well-being can't be measured in dollars, so they can't be included in the sum that is GDP.

http://rossgittins.blogspot.com/2010/09/getting-richer-as-we-mess-up-our-world.html
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John S
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Re: what the most important thing for the goverment
Reply #2 - Sep 18th, 2010 at 9:54am
 
hi veg hope you are well

Smiley
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mellie
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Re: what the most important thing for the goverment
Reply #3 - Sep 18th, 2010 at 10:06am
 
Without a secure and stable economy, you cant have a stable and secure society.

When the economy crumbles, society follows....bit like trying to grow flowers without any soil.

Roll Eyes
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Re: what the most important thing for the goverment
Reply #4 - Sep 18th, 2010 at 10:13am
 
mellie wrote on Sep 18th, 2010 at 10:06am:
Without a secure and stable economy, you cant have a stable and secure society.

When the economy crumbles, society follows....bit like trying to grow flowers without any soil.

And the reverse isn't also true?

The economy is a product of society, not the other way around.
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Re: what the most important thing for the goverment
Reply #5 - Sep 18th, 2010 at 10:15am
 
Society assumes temporal precedence over economy, not the other way around. A strong economy is logically predicated upon a society that contains a sufficient quality of human capital in order to allow it to be strong. A dysfunctional and decadent society, or one that is filled with cretinous imbeciles and deleterious, ineffective social mores and policies cannot sustain a strong economy for very long (see: future of Western Civilization).
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John S
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Re: what the most important thing for the goverment
Reply #6 - Sep 18th, 2010 at 10:32am
 
mellie wrote on Sep 18th, 2010 at 10:06am:
Without a secure and stable economy, you cant have a stable and secure society.

When the economy crumbles, society follows....bit like trying to grow flowers without any soil.

Roll Eyes



If you didn't have a stable and secure society working paying taxes spending money where your economy be then.

It has only been about the last 15 years that people think the economy is important.
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Deborahmac09
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Re: what the most important thing for the goverment
Reply #7 - Sep 18th, 2010 at 11:13am
 
Economy and society Jack, they are equally important.
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Re: what the most important thing for the goverment
Reply #8 - Sep 18th, 2010 at 2:35pm
 
Deborahmac09 wrote on Sep 18th, 2010 at 11:13am:
Economy and society Jack, they are equally important.



So would you put one over the other?

i still think that if you didn't have a stable and secure socity you would'd have a encomy

Where would the goverment get their money to have a stable and secure society?
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Re: what the most important thing for the goverment
Reply #9 - Sep 18th, 2010 at 2:47pm
 
It think it goes hand in hand. It has from the beginning of time. Money has not always been the currency of the day.
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Re: what the most important thing for the goverment
Reply #10 - Sep 18th, 2010 at 2:52pm
 
Deborahmac09 wrote on Sep 18th, 2010 at 2:47pm:
It think it goes hand in hand. It has from the beginning of time. Money has not always been the currency of the day.



So you are saying money is not be all to end all?
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Re: what the most important thing for the goverment
Reply #11 - Sep 18th, 2010 at 2:58pm
 
Society, the people. Take the Principality of Bhutan for instance. The society is built on gross national happiness. It would be nice if places like that can keep their strong culture. I bet they'd lose a lot of their happiness if they started to worry about a raging economy.
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Re: what the most important thing for the goverment
Reply #12 - Sep 18th, 2010 at 2:59pm
 
John S wrote on Sep 18th, 2010 at 2:52pm:
Deborahmac09 wrote on Sep 18th, 2010 at 2:47pm:
It think it goes hand in hand. It has from the beginning of time. Money has not always been the currency of the day.



So you are saying money is not be all to end all?



Possably.
Maybe what I am trying to say is a bit like a family christmas dinner.
In our family everyone brings a plate. We as family members are contributing economically and socially.
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Re: what the most important thing for the goverment
Reply #13 - Sep 18th, 2010 at 3:10pm
 
How well can a society fair living off the smell of an oil rag when the cost of living starts overwhelming us as a "society"?

We can all numb our senses, smoke some pot, and sit in a circle singing 'Kumbaya' I guess.

It's a bit hard thinking about 'society', when you have debt collectors knocking at your door and threatening to turn off your electricity supply.

This and have elderly people perishing in their houses because they cant afford to eat properly, or turn on their air-conditioners.

My mother manages an aged and community services org, this and is concerned for elderly people under this 'social' welfare unfriendly government.


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Re: what the most important thing for the goverment
Reply #14 - Sep 18th, 2010 at 3:12pm
 
Without society millie there is no economy. But it is not as simple as that either.

The libs didn't give a stuff about the aged either millie!  So get off your high horse.
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