Oddbean new post about login | logout @d72d5211 @44a8e2ed @3862d25e “That might require us to drop out of some "FTAs" that aren't really worth being part of in any case (and were never 'free' in any sense).” That simply is not going to happen. At least not in order to fix up government technology decisions.
@29b9efc5 well, then we're probably entirely screwed, because we'll be secretly sued into oblivion if we do anything to try to rectify the current dysfunctional IT landscape. @44a8e2ed @3862d25e
@29b9efc5 but, the fact is that politicians - woefully uninformed, based on my own consultation with several of them - got us into this mess, so they can get us out of it. We already know that the advantages to NZ of being part of #CPTPPA were 'marginal at best' at the time of signup, and I'm quite sure that few if any those scant benefits are being enjoyed by anybody other than the already too wealthy. @44a8e2ed @3862d25e
@d72d5211 @44a8e2ed @3862d25e The alternative is to be a more vulnerable version of Cuba. I don’t think anyone wants that.
@29b9efc5 hmm. I'm not sure you're seeing the same vision I am, so I guess you'll have to wait to see my explanation. But proprietary software has no place in crucial gov't services, nor in the storage of crucial data to the people and posterity. To date, we've paid to be colonised digitally, to the detriment of our culture and our sovereignty. @44a8e2ed @3862d25e
@d72d5211 @44a8e2ed @3862d25e As I've said in the past, I don't think that idea is fundamentally wrong.
@29b9efc5 ok, well that's a start :) - so we need to work out what needs to change to make obvious the negative impact of the status quo, and to make that approach no longer workable. Realising, of course, that these corporations (who have vast back-room influence globally) have literally tuned the global trade and local policy decisions to make what they offer the *only viable option*. We need people who fully realise this to be making policy decisions. @44a8e2ed @3862d25e
@29b9efc5 I think the Cuba analogy isn't helpful in this context. It is based on the idea that huge capital is required to sustain the status quo. That's precisely what the sort of a tech transition I'm proposing *doesn't* require. The one I'm proposing is about focusing on local/domestic industry - the dependence shifts to the commodity hardware level, where there's lots of competition & some open standards. But I'm getting ahead of myself. @44a8e2ed @3862d25e