Words matter. These are the best Geoff Mulgan Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
The most dynamic cities have always been immersed in the critical innovations of their time.
For most of human history, the main goal of states has been to conquer land and to achieve glory for their rulers, usually at others’ expense. Then in recent decades it was all about GDP. It’s only in very recent history that rulers have been willing to commit themselves to helping their citizens live happier lives.
The once-science-fiction notion of hyper-connectivity – where we are all constantly connected to social networks and other bubbling streams of digital data – has rapidly become a widespread reality.
Even many of the teenagers who feel confident on navigating the web simply don’t have the skills needed to ‘write and create’ digital tools, not simply consume them.
I have a lot of admiration for people willing to face the public, but I’d prefer not to.
There are hardly any apprenticeships in care; hardly any schools preparing teenagers for jobs in care; and few signs that politicians know what to do to raise the status and rewards for what will soon be one of our most important industries.
There is a yearning for people to return to elementary moral virtues, such as integrity and commitment. We distrust people who have no centering of values. We greatly respect businessmen, for example, if they display those virtues, even if we don’t necessarily agree with the people.
Local government in England is simply too big. Our lowest tier serves an average population of 118,500, while in the U.S. and across continental Europe the figures are more like several thousand.
It’s an irony that growing inequality could mean more money for philanthropy. In the U.S., quite a few of the ultra-rich have taken to heart the 19th century industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie’s comment that it’s a disgrace to die wealthy.
The classic think-tank is supposed to be sitting in an attic thinking up grand ideas.
Most governments do have inbuilt biases in favour of the rich and powerful, and most do contain plenty of manipulators who love intrigue, who have lost whatever moral compass they may once have had and who protect themselves with steely cynicism.
Conflicts are never caused in any simple way by identity, culture or economics. Where resources are scarce, or there are strong historical memories of conflict, small events are more likely to inflame passions.
As a civil servant in charge of the government’s Strategy Unit, I brought in many people from outside government, including academia and science, to work in the unit, dissecting and solving complex problems from GM crops to alcohol, nuclear proliferation to schools reform.
With a fractured sense of self, we come to depend on what people feed back to us – often mediated through social networks – not what we are. We have complex identities but may become less able to act as a subject – confident in what we really are.
A modest dose of self-love is entirely healthy – who would want to live in a world where everyone hated themselves? But taken too far, it soon becomes poisonous.
In every capitalist economy there are anti-capitalist movements, activists, and even political parties; in a way, that there are no longer anti-democratic movements, activists, and parties.
People don’t want charities to usurp the state as the core provider of social services.
Britain is rich in radicalism, and anyone who says that our society has drifted into fatalism and apathy should get out more.
All over the world, social innovation is tackling some of the most pressing problems facing society today – from fair trade, distance learning, hospices, urban farming and waste reduction to restorative justice and zero-carbon housing. But most of these are growing despite, not because of, help from governments.
Vigorous independent and critical media are indispensable in a democracy.
The most important innovators often don’t need any technologies – just imagination and acute sensitivity to people’s needs.
As the Internet of things advances, the very notion of a clear dividing line between reality and virtual reality becomes blurred, sometimes in creative ways.
The smug complacency of technology adverts disguises a pretty mixed picture, with too many people not connected, too many passive users of technologies designed for interactive, and far too much talk about empowerment but far too little action to make it happen.
So is civil society prepared for the future? Probably not. Most organisations have to live hand to mouth, juggling short-term funding and perpetual minor crises. Even the bigger ones rarely get much time to stand back and look at the bigger picture. Many are on a treadmill chasing after contracts and new funding.
In Britain, polls show large majorities in favour of mansion taxes and higher taxes on the finance sector.
One effect of an individualistic culture that’s poor at instilling mutual respect is that people jump more quickly to anger or violence.
Governments that invest billions in new hardware still find it hard to accept that they might benefit just as much from systematic innovation in such things as child development or cutting crime.
Democracy isn’t solely about polite conversations in parliaments. It needs to be continually refreshed with raw passions, anger and ideals.
I can think of nothing worse than a think-tank where everybody agreed.
The end of life is likely to be an important focus for innovation. Most people die in hospitals, tied up with tubes and with their bodies pumped full of drugs. Yet most would rather die at home and with more control over the timing and manner of their death.
Cities simply don’t have the powers they need to radically innovate in cutting obesity or the number of disaffected teenagers.
It matters more how governments behave than how big they are.
Courses can, and should, incorporate the excitement and fun of programming games, apps or even real digital devices.
The market turns out to be just one special case of collective decision-making.
Spreading an idea is hard work.
