to continue

my accidental theme of community consciousness

I was taking advantage of Labour Day and doing what I wanted (after I'd done what the lambs wanted and fed them) and was lying in bed watching TED talks this morning, actually now.

Bjorn Lomborg is a Danish political scientist who questions, actually that's their job so we don't have to do it - I lie, we all have to question, that our job in life. I love people who question everything, sensibly not that annoying "but why" crap.

I'd forgotten about the Copenhagen Consensus Centre which Bjorn Lomborg had helped found. Their purpose is, rather than identify problems the world faces - things like HIV Aids, disease, poverty etc - they work to identify solutions, prioritise the solutions and prioritise the spending.

This is a wee summary of CCC from participants, mainly economists, who are coming up with plans that make budgetary sense - a bit like how you'd run your household finances, getting the biggest bang for your buck - that's a technical economic term, y' know.

This is Lomborg speaking at TED in 2005 (it's 20 minutes but worth it)

Imagine if we really focused on what we can do rather than what we can't?

What would you make a priority to fix and why?

I'd focus on education but when you hear that for cents per person we could get rid of certain diseases like malaria, maybe that's the first priority, but then you'd have healthy but dumb people. I think I'd rather have sickly, smart people who can come up with their own solutions.

Next time you participate in the tyranny of the majority i.e. the next election, the only thing you really need pay attention to to make a wise decision, if you are going to vote at all, is a party's economic policy. It's a long read but in your own life income, borrowing and debt is important, it's way more important on a national scale when someone else is spending your money and borrowing in your name.