Benefits of the Cloud State
The benefits of the cloud state model include:
- Lower Costs. Opening services to a variety of providers (currently monopolized by the government) will drive down costs for everyone. Nation-state governments have limited cost control accountability, which results in governments issuing debt to fund services, which results in higher taxes and/or tax money being spent on inefficient operations. When services are run by the public sector, cost is not a priority. Profit, sought by investors, enforces disciplined spending in the private sector. Additionally, there are untapped revenue sources that public sector services do not take advantage of, due to the fact that optimizing cost is not enforced. If a business does not reduce costs, investors will eventually stop providing investment/funding. This market-based enforcement mechanism does not exist in the public sector today. Elected representatives are supposed to ensure efficient use of public funds, but when the resource pools are so vast, there is limited accountability of cost.[1]
- Better Services. In the current service model, nation-state governments have a monopoly on multiple public services. Monopolies lead to a lack of innovation as the force of competition cannot be a natural check and balance. Allowing multiple providers to provide public services will be a catalyst for innovation as competition will be present. When an entity has a motivation to increase its user base, it must constantly be attuned to the satisfaction of its customers.
- More Accountability. Citizens of the Nation-state regime cannot change to whom their tax bill goes, it is simply one large government pot. When citizens are able to choose who provides their public services, a check on quality is automatically built in. Accountability will be inherent, it is currently absent.
- Innovation of Hybrid Entities. The fight of government vs. privatization does not have to be so stark, hybrid entities can exist and flourish. Hybrid entities are organizations that can blend aspects of both profit and nonprofit organizations. Hybrid’s can also be thought of as private enterprise, treating “mission” equal to or greater than “profit”. Mission-based enterprise can be utilized to supply public services while generating social good.
- The Removal of Politics from Public Services. Political beliefs should be removed from public services. The irrational and theological aspects of political beliefs clog the effective delivery of public services.
- Freedom to choose with whom your resources are shared. The cloud state allows citizens to have far more influence on whom they are sharing their resources with. In the nation-state regime, not only do citizens share their resources with mostly people they do not know, but with people who have drastically different value systems.
- Geographic Independence. The cloud state provides much more geographic independence, in that a citizens state can move with them. Contrast the nation-state regime, where moving states is logistically complex and overly burdensome.
Sources: Prime Cuts Summary|https://www.cagw.org/sites/default/files/pdf/PrimeCuts%202015web.pdf