2006-12-18 - 3:28 p.m.
Why Should I? The Issue of Motivation in Cooperation with Modern Governments
A Brief and Highly Informal Report by Erin Numasawa
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Motivation (understood, for the purposes of this brief and highly informal report, as what makes people do stuff) has long been a subject of discussion for the pseduo-science of psychology. More than a few theory-happy windbags have, it seems, been motivated to explain motivation. And it doesn't much matter whether an individual is inclined to attribute credibility to the work of Herzberg, Skinner, Hull, Vroom, Adams, McClelland, or a hearty number of others who will here remain unnamed, modern governments fail to motivate people to cooperate with them on nearly all accounts.
So why should I?
No, seriously. Pretend for a minute that this question isn't rhetorical. Motivation theories blow a lot of hot air and, ultimately, all come to the same conclusion; I'm motivated by rewards.
How are governments rewarding my cooperation with them?
(And, yes, I'm aware that it's possible to organize potential rewards into hierarchies, and to go even further with that and create tidy geometric patterns with those hierarchies. I'm also aware that it's possible to create and define and whole whack of terms which all serve, really, only to articulate what is common sense, that I'm motivated by rewards.)
I tend to surround myself with people who would ignore or, better yet, scorn a call to defend the existence governments. However, if, for some reason, a person did want to justify them, the reasons they might provide are easily predicted:
Governments provide public education! And health care! And public infrastructure! They mastermind the foreign policies that keep you safe and warm! They lock rapists and murderers away in jails! They protect your personal FREEEEEEDOM!!!
Bah-whooey, I say. I think modern governments are doing a rotten job of all of the above, and that things would be either A) much better or B) no less rotten if left to work themselves out.
So, for me, and for cynical/apathetic people like me, there are no rewards for and, consequently, no motivation to cooperate with them.
(Notable and exclusive exception of annual tax returns, which I'm motivated to complete because they give me a stipend back afterwards.)
CONCLUSION: Although many ways to stimulate motivation have been suggested by psychology's theory-happy windbags, modern governments fail to motivate people to cooperate with themselves, except for in the dubious, controversial abstract. In short, I don't want to cooperate anymore, and it's their fault.
SOLUTION: Assuming that a few of the relevant theories are correct (I choose among behaviors I expect will be rewarded, I am more likely to repeat a behavior that has been rewarded, I'm motivated when the effort I put into a task, and the rewards I get from it are reasonably balanced) modern governments would be well-advised to restore my motivation to cooperate by offering me tangible rewards.
SUGGESTIONS:
-Everytime I inform the government of an address change, I'd like my name entered into a raffle for a bicycle, or pinata.
-Everytime I complete any tedious government document or form, I'd like tickets for a Cake Walk, or for a Pony Ride (Cake Walks and Pony Rides will become much more common events if/when modern governments finally realize the importance of motivation).
-Everytime I renew a piece of ID I want a candy bar.
-Everytime I'm left on hold for three minutes or longer, I'd like a sticker of some sort. A simple gold star would probably be enough to keep me motivated. And, if I manage to collect enough stickers, I want a beach ball, or maybe a t-shirt.
