Government 2.0? Is it possible??

Government is one of the most important aspects in the world today. We are growing up under this government in the so-called “Information Age”. Every day, especially in our generation, technology is advancing rapidly. Think of cell phones. 8 years ago we had green screens with black font, now we have internet and streaming videos and even pc applications. Point is, in a time of growing technology, I do not think that the government is utilizing this technology properly. Granted, they do supply some information via web, but for the most part they are not getting the public involved enough with government through technology.

I think one way government can utilize technology and make it more accessible is by giving the people the choice to choose what they want to do with their money that they give to the government. I read this comment from someone on the Slashdot site and thought it to be very interesting. Americans pay millions, if not billions of taxes a year. Where does that money go? What does the government use it for? We do not know. The blogger brought up an interesting point to allow those who pay taxes to the government to choose which department they want their taxes to go. If someone wants their taxes to go to the Department of Agriculture, so be it. If someone wants their taxes to go towards the war in Iraq, so be it. The blogger also stated that it should only be a small percentage of the tax. If the idea is successful, then they should increase the amount you can redirect to a certain field. This also allows the government to be more transparent and accessible because it gets people involved with government by allowing them to choose what they want to do (basically a true democracy). This in turn, will allow the government to see what the American people truly want. It will reduce criticism of the government and let them know what the American people truly want (because in my opinion, 60% of the policies enacted are not in favor of the public).

As good as this idea is, I did find some drawbacks to it. The first drawback I found is that if people can choose where they want their taxes spent, some areas may get more money than other critical fields that need money. For example, if we are at war, people may want to donate more money to the Department of Defense rather than the Department of Agriculture. This could prove devastating for the economy and the farmers of America. This would probably prove most devastating if the idea of donating a small percentage of your tax dollars grew into donating all of your taxes to a certain department. Overall, I do not think the government will ever allow people to choose where they want their taxes to go. The government distributes taxes to departments that need it. This may not seem true when you think about the billions of dollars it cost to make one missile or one F-16, but those smaller agencies are receiving some of the money.

I think this is a good idea to allow a small percentage of your taxes to go to a department you want. Will it ever happen? Well, that is up to government and I do not think they would be too fond of this idea.