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Please review this platform draft and post your comments about it. It's a compromise between left wing socialism and right wing libertarianism.
There will be multiple competing internal affairs departments, which will constantly monitor and investigate all government employees and politicians. The internal affairs departments will also monitor and investigate each other.
Bribery of all kinds will be strictly prohibited, including campaign contributions. There will be no campaigns other than formal debates. To participate in a regional debate, a politician has to do well in a local debate. To participate in a national debate, a politician has to do well in a regional debate. Voters will decide who is doing well in each debate, but the voters will have to argue with each other on internet forums about their reasons before they can vote.
Extortion or blackmail of a government employee, for the purpose of receiving unfair government favors, will be a life-imprisonment crime. Secret bribery will be considered almost as severe as extortion. Bribery will include favors, such as what government employees and corporate executives arrange in back rooms. Investigating such negotiations will be a big part of the job of the various internal affairs departments. Getting a corporate job after government service, as a result of back room deals, will be an extremely serious crime, but not quite as serious as extortion, such as blackmail etc. In any case there will be a lot of teeth in enforcement against such crimes, with very severe punishments.
There will be no capital punishment, period. The most severe punishment possible for the worst possible crimes will be life in prison under extremely spartan and grueling conditions.
All superfluous functions of government will be carefully dismantled.
The legitimate functions of government are those that would be unfair if done voluntarily by the general public. Such as defense against foreign invaders. That would be unfair because, those who defend, defend everyone, at their own expense, while those who don't, get a free ride, at the expense of those who do.
The purposes of a lot of departments of the government will be to unwind the messes left by the existing government. Those departments will therefore be temporary. Such as to give everyone a reasonable return on their SS investment/taxes, while at the same time gradually dismantling SS for the future without cheating anyone.
Welfare will be reduced to the minimum possible safety net. Nobody will be able to live a life of comfort on welfare. It will always be very spartan, to make sure everyone is always motivated to do whatever it takes to get off welfare. That includes section 8, which will gradually be dismantled and replaced with very spartan homeless shelters for those who would be left homeless without section 8. People who are very old or disabled will get accommodations adapted to their conditions, but still spartan.
All health care and legal workers (such as lawyers) will become government employees, and will be equally available to all citizens. All such workers will be strictly credentialed with frequent skills testing and evaluations, and their skills will be made equally available to all citizens, with no discrimination such as giving poor people bad lawyers or bad doctors. The cost of such workers will be one of the biggest costs of government, but one of the most important, for what it takes for a modern government to be fair. Parts of the internal affairs departments will be constantly monitoring and investigating the fairness and competence of this part of the government.
I've left out some items, because I only spent a short time on this, and nobody can think of everything. Please include those in your comments.
Please review this platform draft and post your comments about it. It's a compromise between left wing socialism and right wing libertarianism.
There will be multiple competing internal affairs departments, which will constantly monitor and investigate all government employees and politicians. The internal affairs departments will also monitor and investigate each other.
Imagine the wheeling and dealing going on there. IRS investigating the DOJ who is investigating the DOD. In a perfect world, it might work. In ours, not so much. Add in that there is already too much bureaucracy and the fact your idea would probably quadruple it. Surveillance under teh NSA would look like overhearing a shouting match.
Bribery of all kinds will be strictly prohibited, including campaign contributions. There will be no campaigns other than formal debates. To participate in a regional debate, a politician has to do well in a local debate. To participate in a national debate, a politician has to do well in a regional debate. Voters will decide who is doing well in each debate, but the voters will have to argue with each other on internet forums about their reasons before they can vote.
We already argue entirely too much on internet forums. Without a way to give an equal voice to everyone, it would be like trying to talk to the band at a concert, but from the back row. See City Data P&OC for a good example. There are far worse places out there, but even here some pepole get drowned out by partisan bitching.
Extortion or blackmail of a government employee, for the purpose of receiving unfair government favors, will be a life-imprisonment crime. Secret bribery will be considered almost as severe as extortion. Bribery will include favors, such as what government employees and corporate executives arrange in back rooms. Investigating such negotiations will be a big part of the job of the various internal affairs departments. Getting a corporate job after government service, as a result of back room deals, will be an extremely serious crime, but not quite as serious as extortion, such as blackmail etc. In any case there will be a lot of teeth in enforcement against such crimes, with very severe punishments.
You'd still have to prove it was a bribe or extortion. Seems like a high bar to clear for a life imprisonment term. Not a bad start.
There will be no capital punishment, period. The most severe punishment possible for the worst possible crimes will be life in prison under extremely spartan and grueling conditions.
You'll lose a lot of people here. Capital punishment has a place in society in cases of extreme violence, premeditation, etc. Award an automatic appeal of the punishment at conviction and go from there. Maybe.
All superfluous functions of government will be carefully dismantled.
You'll find that every function of government has a fan base. You could abolish the (insert most hated agency) and you'd have people getting mad about it.
The legitimate functions of government are those that would be unfair if done voluntarily by the general public. Such as defense against foreign invaders. That would be unfair because, those who defend, defend everyone, at their own expense, while those who don't, get a free ride, at the expense of those who do.
The purposes of a lot of departments of the government will be to unwind the messes left by the existing government. Those departments will therefore be temporary. Such as to give everyone a reasonable return on their SS investment/taxes, while at the same time gradually dismantling SS for the future without cheating anyone.
Welfare will be reduced to the minimum possible safety net. Nobody will be able to live a life of comfort on welfare. It will always be very spartan, to make sure everyone is always motivated to do whatever it takes to get off welfare. That includes section 8, which will gradually be dismantled and replaced with very spartan homeless shelters for those who would be left homeless without section 8. People who are very old or disabled will get accommodations adapted to their conditions, but still spartan.
All health care and legal workers (such as lawyers) will become government employees, and will be equally available to all citizens. All such workers will be strictly credentialed with frequent skills testing and evaluations, and their skills will be made equally available to all citizens, with no discrimination such as giving poor people bad lawyers or bad doctors. The cost of such workers will be one of the biggest costs of government, but one of the most important, for what it takes for a modern government to be fair. Parts of the internal affairs departments will be constantly monitoring and investigating the fairness and competence of this part of the government.
I've left out some items, because I only spent a short time on this, and nobody can think of everything. Please include those in your comments.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
