TED Community » Beth Bell

Sign in to send Beth an email »

About Me

Location:
United States, Minneapolis, MN
Gender:
Female

Comments

  • TEDCred score: 0.00 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

  • A comment on Conversation: Why should Democracy be the accepted method?

    Jun 14 2011: Well, a machine in our HR department already manages my withholding, which is most of the money used to pay my taxes, and I have income if I'm unemployed through no fault of my own. I prefer income tax over sales tax, personally, but there's no escaping payment to your government unless you can demonstrate need, which I can't.

    What's your ideal form of government, Richard? Algorithms?

  • A reply on Conversation: Why should Democracy be the accepted method?

    Jun 13 2011: Debra,
    I see what we have in place as an extension of where we started- we directed ourselves here, all working towards the things which are important to us. When a more representative government is in our interests, we will work towards it.

    Personally, I think people paying taxes should be able to decide how they're spent, so if I pay in $10K, I get to decide how $10K of the budget is spent, so we don't have the these "I don't want MY tax dollars going towards (something I don't support.)"

    But that kind of individual tracking is expensive, and security, of course, would be a concern. If we can't get voting kiosks to work, how can we expect anything more sophisticated to get rolled out broadly, like text messages to American Idol?

  • A comment on Conversation: Why should Democracy be the accepted method?

    Jun 11 2011: I was wondering about this myself today, as I got a layoff notice from my State where I work because the elected officials can't balance our budget. One of our former govenors recommended having an independent group solve our budget problem, but then what did we elect these guys for? To assign teams of problem-solvers? Why should someone who can get elected be given such authority over other people he may not care about? No one has to prove they can govern before running for office.

    But my question to you, Dylan, is if not Democracy, then what alternative?

Favorite talksSee all »