How to Run a Government 101

gloomy-optimist

gloomy-optimist

Used to live here
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I think it's pretty apparent that our governments a wee bit off track in the way things are getting done. So, if you were to suggest some reformations, what would they be? How would you get the government back on track?


Personally, I would start with reëstablishing the purpose of government; to reduce conflict as much as possible between its citizens, so that coexistence becomes the priority, and to similarly reduce conflict between our nation and the rest of the world.
It's not the government's job to decide what our morals should be, as long as we don't overstep the boundaries of others' rights, and we should focus our attentions more towards maintaining our nation rather than every other one that has a different form of government...

There's a start. I'm expecting to hear some really interesting view points on this topic, so let's get it going!
 
First off, we need to establish the basics which are the Natural Rights.m Ok i forgot what they were but it is crucial I think:meyes:.
 
I think we should have the freedom to streak... I don't know I just might become impulsive sometime.
 
As promised. :D

First of all I think we need a shift of focus, all I ever hear about is "growth", grow the economy, growth through development etc. Politicians love growth, it makes them feel good when they can point at a chart with an upwards trend. The problem with all this growth is we live in a closed system. Hoping that we'll all fly off in a spaceship to greener pastures when we've finally screwed the planet completely, is just wishful thinking. We are stuck here, in the fishbowl called planet earth. If we keep chasing growth then eventually there will be too many fish and too much fish crap to survive and the whole thing turns rancid. So without trying to sound too cliche or like a hippy, I think our focus needs to turn to sustainability, we aren't above the environmental system, we are a part of it and must operate in a way that the system functions healthily.

Growth for it's own sake is worthless, unsustainable growth has no base and leads to an inevitable fall. Most of our growth through the 20th century was through the use of millions of years of solar energy which we pulled up out of the ground in the form of oil. Achieveing unsustainable growth is no achievement at all, because eventually the system will collapse. Almost all of our economic success over the last century has been built on a finite resource, it has greatly exaggerated our perceived ability to feed and maintain such large populations, we are literally eating the oil out of the ground through the use of fertilizer and then transporting food with oil driven vehicles.

The key focus of any government's policy should be producing a high quality of life (this does not mean consumer goods) for as many people that is sustainable in the long run.
 
I definitely agree. And I think one of the things that make our government so inefficient is the notion that adding onto it will help make it better. Unfortunately, all that does is congest the system; we have programs from the New Deal that we don't need anymore, and they are still being funded. That's valuable taxpayer's money that's going to waste. Politicians add on tons of little extras to just about every bill that's passed through, and it complicates things way beyond the original intention; we're clouding our goals, and problems persist.

We need to filter through the government to decide what programs are needed, what is necessary, and what is dispensable. And we need to remember what the government's purpose is; some programs that seem "necessary" are really just kind of helpful. They don't really belong under the jurisdiction of the federal government, but people want to keep them in place to feel secure; really what they are doing is sapping money and resources when they should be placed under more personal responsibility. For instance, it won't really harm the government if there were less restrictions on purchases (like alchohol; if you want to be an alcoholic, then that's your problem; the danger lies in things like drunk driving, when you're liable to hurt someone). Yea, some people don't agree with it on their principles, but it's not the government's job to decide those principles for its citizens. You decide what your morals are; the government makes sure you don't infringe on other citizens' rights.
 
I agree that most of our governments are inefficient, every time you break something down into smaller units (Minister of the No.528 Bus Stop) you are encouraging small mindedness and self interest.

Self interest is one of the biggest problems facing any political system, it must be hard for a politicain to risk their huge income and make the hard (but risky in terms of votes) decisions, their focus will always be clouded by the need to maintain thier career and income. This is why we often see politicians thinking in terms of three or four years blocks till the next election rather than taking a long term strategic view. I often wonder what it would be like if all politicians were paid the minimum wage, it would certainly ensure that only those who really wanted to make a difference would be involved and self interest would mostly be eliminated. There would also be an incentive to improve pay conditions from the ground up. Of course I'm sure there are plenty of good reasons why that wouldn't work but it's a nice fantasy.
 
Stone said:
I agree that most of our governments are inefficient, every time you break something down into smaller units (Minister of the No.528 Bus Stop) you are encouraging small mindedness and self interest.

Self interest is one of the biggest problems facing any political system, it must be hard for a politicain to risk their huge income and make the hard (but risky in terms of votes) decisions, their focus will always be clouded by the need to maintain thier career and income. This is why we often see politicians thinking in terms of three or four years blocks till the next election rather than taking a long term strategic view. I often wonder what it would be like if all politicians were paid the minimum wage, it would certainly ensure that only those who really wanted to make a difference would be involved and self interest would mostly be eliminated. There would also be an incentive to improve pay conditions from the ground up. Of course I'm sure there are plenty of good reasons why that wouldn't work but it's a nice fantasy.
Click to expand...

Plato actually thought up a scenario where politicians and those of high office has basically no wealth whatsoever, so that they could focus more on the task at hand. It sure does sound nice, but in a consumer-based society that doesn't work out too well.
But yeah, we definitely need more politicians that are more interested in the fate of the country than the fate of their own reputations. And I think more people should be willing to publicly challenge the politicians that don't.
 
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