The Goal
Currently: government for government.
Future: public service, not self service.
The goal is to unite through social media to amplify our voice, to direct purchase power in order to reward the good and punish the corrupt, and to employ coordinated community action when legal or political force is needed. By doing this, we aim to cut government back to serving the people, end its collusion with corporations, resist surveillance, lower the tax burden, and restore freedoms that have been eroded.
The Challenge
The Unaccountable State
Government in both the US and UK has grown large, complex and hard to control. It now reaches into most areas of life, spends vast sums of public money, and increasingly uses technology to monitor and manage citizens. As states grow, small elites often capture them for their own interests. Without strong accountability, the system serves itself first and the public last.
Too Big, Too Slow
The modern state keeps expanding, creating more rules, regulators and spending, yet services keep getting worse. People face higher taxes, often hidden through stealth charges, inflated bills and back-door levies. Corruption runs deep, with public money wasted or funnelled through favoured pet projects and contractors. Endless regulation slows down business and everyday life, making everything harder and more expensive. Even so-called NGOs are often government bodies in disguise, extending control under a false banner. The result is a swollen system that takes more and delivers less.
Expanding Surveillance and Control
New laws and technology give governments endless ways to monitor and control citizens. Vast amounts of personal data are collected with little oversight, from phone records to online activity. Digital ID systems, payment networks and algorithmic scoring embed controls that are almost impossible to undo. With the push towards cashless systems, access to money, travel and services can be cut off at the flick of a switch. Facial recognition, GPS tracking, smart devices and online surveillance all feed the same machine, building a web of control that grows tighter every year.
Power Without Responsibility
Decision-making is scattered across departments, regulators and contractors, making accountability almost impossible. When things go wrong, blame is pushed onto “the system” and no one ever gets fired. Outsourcing creates a contractor shield, letting ministers and officials dodge responsibility for failure. Staff are rewarded for protecting budgets, not fixing problems. A web of quangos and NGOs pursues openly political projects under the pretence of neutrality, yet no one voted them in and no one can remove them. Power rests with bodies that answer to themselves, not the people.
Favouring the Well-Connected
Money and policy often flow to the well-connected rather than to the best ideas. Funding is poured into flashy projects that look good politically but bring poor returns. The revolving door between government and industry blurs loyalties, with officials moving back and forth. Regulation is bent by heavy lobbying, donations, and favoured politicians, leaving rules tilted towards big firms instead of the public. Government and corporations are in cahoots, shaping the system for themselves while ordinary people pay the price.
The Solution
The Accountable State
To restore control, we must turn to People Power. The tools are already in our hands: the reach of social media to unite and coordinate, our collective purchase power to reward or punish corporations, and community action through the courts and political channels when needed. By combining these, citizens can push back against bloated government - the ultimate fatal convenience - cut through elite capture, and reassert that the state must serve the people, not itself.
Too Big, Too Slow
We should push for fewer departments and fewer laws so that government does less, but does it better. Wasteful projects must be stopped, and public money should be tied to results that can be measured. Citizens can use social media to highlight misuse of funds, building pressure for independent audits that reveal how money is really spent. A People’s PAC can pool resources to back honest representatives and challenge corruption in court. We can use our purchase power to support businesses and leaders who deliver services quickly and simply. When necessary, coordinated community action in the courts or through politics can enforce accountability and ensure government spends less, but works better.
Favouring the Well-Connected
We need open accounts so every grant and subsidy can be tracked, stopping funds being steered to political showpieces. Public registers should record when officials move between government and industry, making the revolving door visible. A People’s PAC can finance candidates who pledge to break corporate capture and end backroom lobbying. Citizens can use social media to expose politicians who take favours and reveal how regulation is bent for the powerful. With purchase power, we can cut support for firms that buy influence and reward those that compete fairly. And when laws are written for insiders, legal challenges can force them back into line with the public interest.
Power Without Responsibility
To fix this, we need clear lines of responsibility so the public knows exactly who is in charge and who is to blame when things fail. Contracts must be published with penalties for poor delivery so outsourcing cannot be used as a shield. Performance targets should be tied to results, not budget preservation, so staff are rewarded for solving problems, not hoarding funds. Quangos and NGOs that pursue political projects must be brought under direct scrutiny, with powers to abolish or reform them placed back in the hands of elected representatives. Above all, the rule must be simple: if you hold power, you are personally accountable to the people.
Expanding Surveillance and Control
The answer is to build hard limits on surveillance so governments cannot collect or hold data without strict oversight. Citizens should push for a right to cash, protecting access to money and services outside digital systems. Digital IDs and scoring algorithms must be voluntary, never mandatory, with full transparency on how they are used. Facial recognition and tracking tools should be subject to open review and challenge in court. People can use social media to expose abuses, and a People’s PAC can back candidates who defend privacy. By insisting on choice, accountability and independent oversight, we can stop technology becoming a cage and keep it as a tool that serves the public.