Politicians are the butt of many jokes; J.F.K once said that “Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be president but they don’t want them to become politicians in the process”. There is a stigma surrounding politicians, which may be because politicians are typically either lawyers (who are stereotypically two-faced) or businesspeople (stereotypically thought of as greedy). Technocracy is the idea that people should be elected to office based upon their knowledge, which lends itself to the idea of professional engineers becoming elected officials, which I believe would be a breath of fresh air.
Engineers are rational decision makers who must to continually think of the well being of the public while creating ideas. The ability to problem solve and predict the cause and effect scenarios of the decision making process is what makes a good engineer great. Decision making. That’s what politicians do! They decide on the best course of action for the people whom they represent.
China, it seems, has already prescribed to the idea of technocracy. In 1990 a study of the various levels of Chinese government found that over 80% of the mayors and party secretaries held at least a four year degree in engineering or the natural sciences, and that this number was still increasing. This trend also seems to follow the idea that the knowledgeable elite should run things, which is strongly engrained in Chinese culture.
Some would argue that despite the aspects of their knowledge that makes them desirable, engineers would not make a positive alternative to the classic politician. Engineers are not well versed in the finer points of the law over which they would govern. The nation’s economics are an equation that has too few variables for an engineer to solve. Minds that are rooted in logic and thought cannot comprehend the emotional value that must be thought of when making decisions. Engineers are not good at oral communication and public speaking. Yeah, because all engineers are Vulcans.
There are obvious benefits to a technocratic society, including that politicians would likely be more rational in their thinking, a more thorough decision making process would be observed, projects in the public sector would be streamlined to save the taxpayer dollar and that politicians would likely be more transparent in their deliberation of ideas. As always, you can have too much of a good thing, and I do not believe for one second that a government composed entirely of engineers is a good thing. We need a well rounded group of the individuals who can give the most to every position, and if that happens to be a professional engineer I encourage it.
I might be a little biased though.
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