Would A Technocracy Lead To A Happier Society.

What is a Technocracy?

Technocracy is a governmental or organizational system where decision makers are selected based upon how highly skilled and qualified they are, rather than how much political capital they hold. A form of government in which scientists and technical experts are in control; "technocracy is described as that society in which those who govern justify themselves by appeal to technical experts who justify themselves by appeal to scientific forms of knowledge"

The kinds of policies that a Technocracy adopts are those that are based on sound scientific or sociologic evidence rather than those based on political ideology. Think of it as evidence based politics. Where no such evidence exists, technocracies will try that policy in much smaller scales until they can determine if it would work well on a larger scale.

Essentially, they use the scientific method of only accepting what can be supported with evidence and experiementation, and apply that method to public policy.

Such a form of society puts science above religion. Religion does not meet the requirements imposed by the Scientific Method as god can't be proven scientifically. Many scientists are agnostics (god can not be proven or disproven) so it's conceivable that a society run by and largely composed of scientists would be agnositc as whole.

Some interesting links...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technocracy_movement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technocracy_Incorporated

Technocrats, see societies as inefficient and wasteful, and argue that the unemployment rate is not an accurate measure of the total number of people working and the amount of work being performed. In the United States, of those of working age, only 65% participate in the economy,[9] while European countries have an even smaller proportion.[10] Moreover, a significant number of employees work in industries such as finance, advertising, and retail. Many of these jobs would disappear after the transition from a monetary economy to a technocracy, meaning that the "adjusted" unemployment rate (a measure excluding such pecuniary jobs) is much higher than indicated.


Urbanates: A technocratic replacement for cities
Once a technate has been established Technocracy Incorporated advocates an entirely new form of living environment called Urbanates. An Urbanate is essentially an assembly of buildings where people live and work. These places would have all the facilities needed for a community, including schools, hospitals, shopping malls, waste management and recycling facilities, sports centres, and public areas.

Technocrats plan for Urbanates to be something akin to resorts, designed to give each citizen the highest standard of living possible. Getting around in an Urbanate would be inherently easy and efficient. Every kind of major facility would be placed within walking distance of a housing complex, eliminating the need for cars. It would also greatly enhance social interaction and communal bonding.

Urbanates would be connected via a continent-wide transportation network envisioned by Technocracy, which would involve a High-speed rail network linking every Urbanate, the Continental Hydrology (a massive Canal network), and air transport. These systems would also be connected to the Technate's industrial sites for easy transport of goods to consumers, and to all recreational and vacation areas of the continent.

The reason given by Technate advocates for all this ambitious restructuring of urban life is that modern cities are often extremely poorly planned and built in a haphazard way leading to major inefficiencies, waste, and large numbers of social and environmental problems. Technocrats believe that rather than trying to solve all these problems within the framework of existing cities, it is best to start with a clean slate and construct Urbanates when needed.