David Cameron: The next age of government

Translator: Niels Justus Reviewer: Jette Derriche

Someone once said that politics is, of course, "showbiz for ugly people."

Det er blevet sagt, at politik er showbiz for de ækle.

So, on that basis, I feel like I've really arrived.

På den måde, føler jeg mig hjemme her.

The other thing to think of is what an honor it is, as a politician,

Det er en ære, som politiker,

to give a TED talk, particularly here in the U.K.,

at holde en TED-tale, især her i UK,

where the reputation of politics, with the expenses scandal, has sunk so low.

hvor politikeres omdømme, med udgiftsskandalen, er sunket meget dybt.

There was even a story recently that scientists had thought about

Det er endda blevet fortalt, at forskere overvejer

actually replacing rats in their experiments with politicians.

at bruge politikere i stedet for rotter.

And someone asked,"Why?"

Og én spurgte, hvorfor det?

and they said, "Well, there's no shortage of politicians,

og de svarede, - der er ingen mangel på politikere,

no one really minds what happens to them

ingen kærer sig om, hvad der sker med dem,

and, after all, there are some things that rats just won't do."

og der jo, trods alt, ting, som rotter ikke vil finde sig i.

(Laughter)

(latter)

Now, I know you all love data, so I'm starting with a data-rich slide.

Jeg ved I alle elsker data, så jeg begynder med en data-rig slide.

This, I think, is the most important fact to bear in mind

Dette, tror jeg, er det vigtigste faktum, at huske på,

in British politics or American politics,

i Britisk og Amerikansk politik.

and that is: We have run out of money.

Og det er: Vi har ikke flere penge.

We have vast budget deficits.

Vi har et kæmpe underskud på budgettet.

This is my global public debt clock,

Dette er mit globale gælds-ur over offentlig gæld,

and, as you can see, it's 32 trillion and counting.

og, som I kan se, så viser den 32 billioner og er stigende.

And I think what this leads to

Jeg mener, at det fører til

is a very simple recognition,

den meget simple erkendelse,

that there's one question in politics at the moment above all other,

at der, for tiden, er et spørgsmål, som er over alle andre i politik,

and it's this one: How do we make things better without spending more money?

og det er: Hvordan gør vi tingene bedre, uden at bruge flere penge?

Because there isn't going to be a lot of money to improve public services,

Fordi der vil ikke komme en masse penge, til at forbedre den offentlige service,

or to improve government, or to improve so many of the things

eller til forbedring af det Offentlige, eller til at forbedre alt det.

that politicians talk about.

som politikere taler om.

So what follows from that is that if you think it's all about money --

Heraf følger, at hvis man mener, at det bare drejer sig om penge,

you can only measure success in public services

at man kun måler succes i offentlig services

in health care and education and policing by spending more money,

i sundhed og uddannelse og politi ved at bruge flere penge,

you can only measure progress by spending money --

at man kun kan måle fremgang ved at bruge penge,

you're going to have a pretty miserable time.

- så vil man gå en hård tid i møde.

But if you think a whole lot of other things matter that lead up to well being --

Men hvis man mener at der er meget andet, som fører til et godt liv,

things like your family relationships, friendship, community, values --

såsom familien, venner, fællesskab, værdier,

then, actually, this is an incredibly exciting time to be in politics.

så er det en spændende tid at være i for politikere.

And the really simple argument I want to make tonight,

Den enkle pointe, som jeg vil fremføre i aften,

the really straightforward argument is this:

den totalt indlysende pointe er:

That if we combine the right political philosophy, the right political thinking,

Hvis vi forener den rette politiske filosofi, den rette politiske tænkning

with the incredible information revolution that has taken place,

med den utrolige informations revolution,

and that all of you know so much more about than I do,

og som I alle ved meget mere om end jeg gør,

I think there's an incredible opportunity to actually remake politics,

så mener jeg, at der er en utrolig mulighed for at forvandle politik,

remake government, remake public services,

forvandle det Offentlige, forvandle de offentlig services,

and achieve what's up on that slide, which is a big increase in our well-being.

og opnå det, som står oppe på sliden, hvilket er en stor forbedring af vores liv.

That's the argument I want to make tonight.

Dette er den pointe, som jeg vil fremføre i aften.

So, starting with the political philosophy.

Lad mig begynde med den politiske filosofi.

Now I'm not saying for a minute that British Conservatives have all the answers.

Jeg siger ikke, at de Britiske Konservative har alle svarene.

Of course we don't.

Selvfølgelig har vi ikke det.

But there are two things at heart that I think drive a conservative philosophy

Men der er to vigtige ting, som driver en konservativ filosofi,

that are really relevant to this whole debate.

som er relevant for denne debat.

The first is this: We believe that if you give people

Det første er: Vi tror, at hvis man giver folk

more power and control over their lives,

mere magt og kontrol over deres eget liv,

if you give people more choice,

hvis man giver folk flere valg,

if you put them in the driving seat,

hvis man sætter dem i førersædet,

then actually, you can create a stronger and better society.

så vil man faktisk skabe et stærkere og bedre samfund.

And if you marry this fact with the incredible abundance

Og hvis man forener dette, med den utrolige mængde information,

of information that we have in our world today,

som vi har i verden i dag,

I think you can completely, as I've said,

så tror jeg, at man kan helt forvandle politik,

remake politics, remake government, remake your public services.

forvandle det Offentlige, forvandle den offentlige service.

The second thing we believe is we believe in going with the grain of human nature.

Det andet, som vi tror på, er, at man skal være i samklang med den menneskelige natur.

Politics and politicians will only succeed

Politik og politikere vi kun lykkes

if they actually try and treat with people as they are,

hvis man faktisk prøver at behandle folk som de er,

rather than as they would like them to be.

snarere end hvad man ønskede de var.

Now, if you combine this very simple, very conservative thought --

Hvis man forener denne meget simple konservative tanke

go with the grain of human nature --

med den menneskelige natur,

with all the advances in behavioral economics,

med alle fremskridtene i adfærds-økonomien,

some of which we were just hearing about,

som vi lige hørte noget om,

again, I think we can achieve a real increase in well-being,

så tror jeg, at vi kan opnå en reel forbedring af livet,

in happiness, in a stronger society

i lykke, i et stærkere samfund

without necessarily having to spend a whole lot more money.

uden nødvendigvis, at skulle bruge en masse ekstra penge.

Now, why do I think now is the moment to make this argument?

Hvorfor jeg tror, at tiden nu er inde til dette?

Well, I'm afraid you're going to suffer a short, condensed history lesson

Jeg er bange for, at I kommer til at finde jer i en kort lyn-lektion i historie,

about what I would say are the three passages of history:

om hvad jeg kalder historiens tre perioder:

the pre-bureaucratic age, the bureaucratic age

den før-bureaukratiske tidsalder, den bureaukratiske tidsalder

and what we now live in, which I think is a post-bureaucratic age.

og den vi nu lever i, og som jeg tror er den efter-bureaukratiske tidsalder.

A simpler way of thinking of it

En enkel måde at forstå det på er,

is that we have gone from a world of local control,

at vi gik fra en verden med lokal styring,

then we went to a world of central control,

så gik vi til en verden med central styring,

and now we're in a world of people control.

og nu er vi en verden med folke styring.

Local power, central power, now, people power.

Lokal magt, central magt. Nu folke-magt.

Now, here is King Cnut, king a thousand years ago.

Her er kong Knud, konge for tusind år siden.

Thought he could turn back the waves; couldn't turn back the waves.

Han troede han kunne få bølgerne til at rulle baglæns.

Couldn't actually turn back very much,

Det kunne han ikke. Han kunne faktisk ikke bestemme ret meget,

because if you were king a thousand years ago,

for hvis man var konge for tusind år siden,

while it still took hours and hours and weeks and weeks to traverse your own country,

hvor det stadig tog uger at rejse tværs over landet,

there wasn't much you were in charge of.

var der ikke meget han var herre over.

You weren't in charge of policing, justice, education, health, welfare.

Han var ikke herre over politiet, domstole, uddannelse, sundhed, velfærd.

You could just about go to war and that was about it.

Han kunne omtrent kun gå i krig, og ikke meget andet.

This was the pre-bureaucratic age,

Dette var den før-bureaukratiske tidsalder,

an age in which everything had to be local.

en alder, hvor alt nødvendigvis var lokalt.

You had to have local control because there was no nationally-available information

Man havde kun lokal styring, for der var ingen nationalt tilgængelig information,

because travel was so restricted.

fordi rejsemuligheder var begrænset.

So this was the pre-bureaucratic age.

Så det var den før-bureaukratiske tidsalder.

Next part of the cold history lesson,

Næste del af denne kedelige historie-lektion,

the lovely picture of the British Industrial Revolution.

er det herlige billede af den Britiske Industrielle Revolution.

Suddenly, all sorts of transport, travel information were possible,

Pludselig var der mange slags transportmuligheder,

and this gave birth to, what I like to call, the bureaucratic age.

og det førte til, hvad jeg gerne kalder, den bureaukratiske tidsalder.

And hopefully this slide is going to morph beautifully. There we are.

Og billedet glider forhåbentlig over til det næste. Her kommer det.

Suddenly, you have the big, strong, central state.

Pludselig har man den store, stærke, centrale stat.

It was able -- but only it was able -- to organize

Den, og kun den, var i stand til at organisere

health care, education, policing, justice.

sundhed, uddannelse, politi, domstole.

And it was a world of, as I say, not local power, but now central power.

Det var ikke en verden af lokal magt, men af central magt.

It had sucked all that power up from the localities.

Den sugede al magten fra det lokale.

It was able to do that itself.

Det kunne den gøre af sig selv.

The next great stage, which all of you are so familiar with:

Det næste store skridt, som I alle er så bekendt med:

the massive information revolution.

Den massive informations-revolution.

Just consider this one fact:

Bare tænk på følgende:

One hundred years ago, sending these 10 words cost 50 dollars.

For hundrede år siden kostede disse 10 ord 50 dollars

Right now, here we are linked up to Long Beach and everywhere else,

Lige nu er vi i forbindelse med Long Beach og alle andre steder,

and all these secret locations for a fraction of that cost,

og alle disse hemmelige steder for en brøkdel af heraf,

and we can send and receive huge quantities of information

og vi kan sende og modtage enorme mængder af information

without it costing anything.

uden at det koster noget.

So we're now living in a post-bureaucratic age,

Vi lever i en efter-bureaukratisk tidsalder,

where genuine people power is possible.

hvor reel folkemagt er mulig.

Now, what does this mean for our politics,

Hvad betyder det for vor politik

for our public services, for our government?

for vores offentlige service, for det Offentlige?

Well I can't, in the time I've got, give huge numbers of examples,

Jeg kan, med den tid jeg har, ikke give masser eksempler,

but let me just give a few of the ways that life can change.

men lad mig bare nævne nogle få måder, hvormed livet kan ændres.

And this is so obvious, in a way, because

Og det er så indlysende

you think about how all of you have changed

når man tænker på hvordan vi alle har ændret

the way we shop, the way we travel, the way that business is done.

den måde vi køber ind, den måde vi rejser, den måde forretning drives på.

That is already happened; the information and Internet revolution

Det har allerede fundet sted. Informations- og internet-revolutionen,

has actually gone all the way through our societies in so many different ways,

har allerede påvirket vort samfund på mange måder.

but it hasn't, in every way, yet touched our government.

Men den har ikke fuld ud påvirket det Offentlige.

So, how could this happen?

Hvordan kan dette komme til at ske?

Well, I think there are three chief ways that it should make an enormous difference:

Jeg tror der er tre hoved-områder, hvor det burde gøre en enorm forskel:

in transparency, in greater choice and in accountability,

Transparens, flere Valgmuligheder og Ansvarsgørelse,

in giving us that genuine people power.

ved at give os reel folkemagt.

If we take transparency, here is one of my favorite websites,

Hvis vi tager transparens: Her er én af mine favoritsider,

the Missouri Accountability Portal.

Missouri Accountability Portal.

In the old days, only the government could hold the information,

I gamle dage havde kun det Offentlige informationen,

and only a few elected people could try and grab that information

og kun få udvalgte personer kunne få adgang til denne information,

and question it and challenge it.

og sætte spørgsmålstegn ved noget.

Now here, on one website, one state in America,

Men her, på denne ene side for én stat i Amerika

every single dollar spent by that government

er hver eneste brugt dollar af det Offentlige

is searchable, is analyzable, is checkable.

søgbar, analyserbar og kontrollerbar.

Think of the huge change that means:

Tænk på den enorme forskel det gør:

Any business that wants to bid for a government contract

Enhvert firme, som vil byde på en regerings-kontrakt,

can see what currently is being spent.

kan se, hvad der for tiden bliver brugt.

Anyone thinking, "I could do that service better, I could deliver it cheaper,"

Enhver som mener: " Jeg kan gøre det bedre, jeg kan gøre det billigere."

it's all available there.

det er altsammen tilgængeligt her.

We have only, in government and in politics,

Vi har, i det Offentlige og i politik,

started to scratch the surface of what people are doing in the commercial world

blot begyndt at kradse i overfladen af, hvad andre gør i den kommercielle verden,

with the information revolution.

med informations-revolutionen.

So, complete transparency will make a huge difference.

Fuld transparens vil gøre en kæmpe forskel.

In this country, if we win the election,

Hvis vi vinder valget,

we are going to make all government spending over 25,000 pounds

vil vi gøre det Offentliges udgifter over 25.000 pund

transparent and available online, searchable for anyone to see.

transparent og tilgængelig online, søgbar for enhver.

We're going to make every contract -- we're announcing this today --

Vi vil gøre alle kontrakter - vi bekendtgør det i dag -

available on the Internet so anyone can see

tilgængelig på internettet, så alle kan se

what the terms are, what the conditions are,

hvad teksten og betingelserne er,

driving huge value for money,

hvilket fremdriver en kæmpe værdi for pengene,

but also huge increases, I believe, in well-being as well.

men også en kæmpe forbedring af vores liv, tror jeg.

Choice. Now you all shop online, compare online, do everything online,

Valgmuligheder. I shopper alle online, sammenligner online. Gør alt online,

and yet this revolution has hardly touched the surface

og denne revolution har knapt kradset i overfladen

of public services like education, or health care or policing,

af offentlige services som uddannelse, sundhed, politi

and you're going to see this change massively.

og man vil komme til at se en massiv forandring.

We should be making this change

Vi bør gennemføre disse ændringer

with the information revolution in our country,

med informations-revolutionen i vores land,

with searchable health sites, so you can see what operations work out properly,

med søgbare sundheds-sites, så man kan se hvilke operationer der lykkes bedst,

what records doctors have, the cleanliness of hospitals,

hvilken historik læger har, hospitalers renhed,

who does best at infection control --

hvilke er bedst til infektions-styring.

all of the information that would once be locked in the Department of Health

Al den information, som tidligere kun befandt sig i Departmentet for Sundhed.

is now available for all of us to see.

er nu tilgængelig for os alle.

And the third of these big changes: accountability.

Den tredie af disse tre store forandringer: Ansvarsgørelse.

This, I think, is a huge change.

Dette, mener jeg, er en kæmpe forandring.

It is a crime map. This is a crime map from Chicago.

Dette er et kort over forbrydelser i Chicago.

So, instead of having a situation where only the police have the information

I stedet for den situation, hvor kun politiet har informationen

about which crimes are committed where,

om hvor og hvilke forbrydelser der begås,

and we have to employ people in government

og vi skal ansætte folk i det Offentlige,

to try and hold the police to account,

for at hold politiet ansvarlig.

suddenly, we've got this vast opportunity for people power,

Pludselig har vi fået denne enorme mulighed for folke-magt,

where we, as citizens, can see what crimes are being committed --

hvor vi, som borgere, kan se hvor og hvornår hvilke forbrydelser begås

where, when and by whom --

og af hvem,

and we can hold the police to account.

og vi kan holde politiet ansvarlig.

And you can see this looks a bit like a chef's hat,

Den ligner en kokkehue,

but actually that's an assault, the one in blue.

men det er et overfald, den der i blåt.

You can see what crime is committed where,

Man se hvor hvilke forbrydelser begås,

and you have the opportunity to hold your police force to account.

og man har mulighed for at holde politiet ansvarlig.

So those three ways -- transparency, accountability and choice --

Disse tre måder - Transparens, Ansvarsholdelse og Valgmulighed,

will make a huge difference.

vil udgøre en kæmpe forskel.

Now I also said the other principle

Jeg nævnte også det andet princip

that I think we should work on is understanding of people,

om at jeg mener, at vi skal arbejde på at forstå folk,

is recognizing that going with the grain of human nature

ved at arbejde med den menneskelige natur

you can achieve so much more.

kan man opnå meget mere.

Now, we're got a huge revolution in understanding

Vi har en kæmpe revolution i vores forståelse af

of why people behave in the way that they do,

hvorfor folk opfører sig, som de gør,

and a great opportunity to put that knowledge and information to greater use.

og en muligheder for at sætte denne viden og information sammen til et større hele.

We're working with some of these people.

Vi arbejder sammen med nogle af disse folk.

We're being advised by some of these people, as was said,

Vi får råd af nogle af dem, som sagt,

to try and bring all the experience to book.

for at omsætte al den erfaring i praksis.

Let me just give you one example that I think is incredibly simple, and I love.

Lad mig blot give et eksempel, som jeg synes er ganske simpelt og som jeg elsker.

We want to get people to be more energy efficient.

Vi vil gerne have folk til at blive mere energi-effektive.

Why? It cuts fuel poverty, it cuts their bills,

Hvorfor det? Det begrænser energi-knaphed, det sparer penge,

and it cuts carbon emissions at the same time.

og det reducerer kul-udledninger på samme tid.

How do you do it?

Hvordan gør man det?

Well, we've had government information campaigns over the years

Vi havde offentlige kampagner over flere år,

when they tell you to switch off the lights when you leave the home.

som opfordrede folk til at slukke for lyset, når man gik hjemmefra.

We even had -- one government minister once told us to

Vi havde endda en minister, som ville have os til

brush our teeth in the dark.

at børste vore tænder i mørke.

I don't think they lasted very long.

Jeg tror ikke den varede ret længe.

Look at what this does. This is a simple piece of behavioral economics.

Se hvad dette gør. Dette er et simpelt stykke adfærds-økonomi.

The best way to get someone to cut their electricity bill

Den bedste måde at få nogen til at reducere deres elektricitets-regning

is to show them their own spending,

er ved at vise dem deres eget forbrug,

to show them what their neighbors are spending,

at vise dem, hvad deres naboer forbruger,

and then show what an energy conscious neighbor is spending.

og så vise hvad en energi-bevidst nabo forbruger.

That sort of behavioral economics

Den slag adfærds-økonomi

can transform people's behavior

kan ændre folks adfærd

in a way that all the bullying and all the information

på en måde, som alle trusler og information

and all the badgering from a government cannot possibly achieve.

og plageri, som det Offentlige umuligt kan opnå.

Other examples are recycling.

Et andet eksempel er genbrug.

We all know we need to recycle more.

Vi ved alle, at vi bør genbruge mere.

How do we make it happen?

Hvordan får vi det til at ske?

All the proof from America is that actually, if you pay people to recycle,

Beviset fra Amerika er, at hvis vi betaler folk for at genbruge,

if you give them a carrot rather than a stick,

hvis man giver dem en gulerod i stedet for en kæp,

you can transform their behavior.

så kan man ændre deres adfærd.

So what does all this add up to?

Så hvad er kommer der ud af alt dette her?

Here are my two favorite U.S. speeches of the last 50 years.

Her er min to favorit U.S. taler fra de sidste 50 år.

Obviously, here we have JFK with that incredibly simple

Her har vi JFK med et utroligt simpelt

and powerful formulation,

og kraftfuldt budskab,

"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country,"

"Spørg ikke hvad dit land kan gøre for dig; spørg hvad du kan gøre for dit land."

an incredibly noble sentiment.

Et utroligt flot udsagn.

But when he made that speech, what could you do

Men, da han holdt den tale, hvad kunne man gøre

to build the stronger, better society?

for at bygge et stærkere, bedre samfund?

You could fight for your country, you could die for your country,

Man kunne slås for ens land, man kunne dø for ens land,

you could serve in your country's civil service,

man kunne blive tjenestemand,

but you didn't really have the information and the knowledge

men man havde ikke rigtig den information og viden

and the ability to help build the stronger society in the way that you do now.

og evnen til at bidrage til opbygning af et stærkere samfund, på den måde vi har i dag.

And I think an even more wonderful speech,

Jeg synes at en endnu herligere tale

which I'm going to read a big chunk of,

som jeg vil læse en stor del af,

which sums up what I said at the beginning

som opsummerer hvad jeg sagde i starten

about believing there is more to life than money,

om at tro på, at der er mere til livet end penge,

and more that we should try and measure than money.

og mere man bør forsøge at måle på, end penge.

And it is Robert Kennedy's beautiful description

Det er Robert Kennedy´s dejlige beskrivelse

of why gross national product captures so little:

af hvorfor nationalproduktet indfanger så lidt:

It "does not allow for the health of our children,

Den "kan ikke vise vore børns sundhed,

the quality of their education, or the joy of their play.

"kvaliteten af deres uddannelse, eller glæden ved deres leg.

It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages,

"Den viser ikke poesiens skønhed, eller vores ægteskabs styrke,

the intelligence of our public debate.

"eller intelligensen i vores offentlige debat

It measures neither our wit nor our courage,

"den viser heller ikke vort mod,

neither our wisdom nor our learning,

"heller ikke vor visdom eller vore kundskaber,

neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country.

"heller ikke vort hensyn til andre eller vor kærlighed til vort land.

It measures everything, in short,

"Den måler, kort sagt,

except that which makes life worthwhile."

"alt, med undtagelse af det, som gør livet værd."

Again, a sentiment that was so noble and beautifully put 40 years ago,

Igen et udsagn, som var så smukt sagt for 40 år siden,

and a beautiful dream 40 years ago,

og en smuk drøm for 40 år siden.

but now with the huge advances in information technology,

Men med de store fremskridt i informations-teknologien,

with the massive changes in behavioral economics,

med de massive forbedringer i adfærds-økonomien,

with all that we know about how you advance well-being,

med alt det vi ved om hvordan man gør livet bedre,

that if we combine those insights

hvis vi kombinerer disse indsigter

of giving power to people, and using information to make that possible,

til at give magten til folket, og bruge information til at gøre dette muligt,

and using the insight of going with the grain of human nature,

og ved at bruge indsigter til at gå med den menneskelige natur,

while at the same time, understanding why people behave in the way they do,

samtidig med at man forstår, hvorfor folk opfører sig som de gør,

it is a dream more easy to realize today

er det en drøm, som er lettere at opnå i dag,

than it was when it was made in that beautiful speech 40 years ago.

end det var, da den blev sagt i den smukke tale for 40 år siden.

Thank you.

Tak.

(Applause)

(Bifald)