At a time when many are being detained or discredited in the US and other Western nations for expressing their opinions publicly or attempting peaceful protest, I admit I’m hesitant to post on these issues.
You might enjoy Gina Marie Wylie’s take on this in “The Far Side” over on
http://www.beyondthefarhorizon.com/
We shouldn’t mistake
representative government for true
democracy.
We the people. The only
people really being listened to in the current system are those who can afford to pay lobbyists large sums of money to sway and woo Members of Congress and The Senate. Individuals have very little representation, most decisions are in favour of large concerns, such as corporations or foreign governments, willing to spend vast sums persuading politicians with biased reports, lavish banquets, promises of intent and offers of secure overpaid positions of employment after politics.
We could talk about what is wrong with Government forever and a day. How do we start fixing it?
1. Lottery Selection of representatives.
A move to original democracy as practiced by the Athenians, in ancient Athens citizens were “elected” to government by a lottery system. Down with Career Politicians. Remove the Power mongers. Real locals represent district/regional issues. The end of 45% voter turnouts. Civic duty is rewarded by a pay grade well above average, as it is already.
2. Individual Representation Not Party Affiliations.
Axe all parties. Vote with your own convictions, not to improve standing in Party hierarchy.
3. Anti-Compensation Laws.
Ensure corporate donations of any kind are illegal with imprisonment and huge punative fines for the corporations, banishment from office and imprisonment for politicians, even after office. Corporations are already protected by their employees, partners, suppliers employees and customers representing their interests [see point 7].
4. High School Standardised Competency Tests.
Independently audited standardized tests as part of GED to prove an understanding of the basic process of Government before appointment to office. Stop Lawyers, Doctors and similar having disproportionate representation.
5. Limited Overlapping Terms.
Give new appointees a chance to “learn the ropes” with 3 months orientation followed by a year as a junior representative before moving to a senior representative position. All positions have limited terms so people won’t spend decades in office becoming jaded, institutionalized and become inured against change.
6. Promotion by Compentancy Approval Rating.
Politicians move up the rungs of Government by doing a good job. Weighted marks by public and peers.
7. Repeal of Representation and Policies.
Vote of no confidence in a petition by a minority percentage (say 10% local, 5% regional, 2% state, 1% national) followed by wider vote by a constituency two-thirds (i.e. 67%+) rule to remove a Representative or Policy/Law, for any reason. Let’s use some of this information age technology to improve interaction with the citizens.
8. Positions requiring qualifications such as Police Chiefs, Judges etc are offered up to a public vote against a choice of peers of similar station.
9. Make the Military and Police swear to protect the interests and welfare of the People, as
guided by the administration.
Not the dictates of the administration itself. Soldiers and Police Officers shouldn’t be afraid to perform their duty as their conscience dictates and without the direct interference of politicians. Politicians should not “plan” military actions, only request that objectives are met within the Rules of Engagement.
Essentially a hardening of the current Constitution against the loopholes currently being exploited.
Would any of this work? Well, not in this simplistic form but it could with a little effort.
Would politicians accept it? No.
What do we do about corruption in the mainstream media? I have no idea, except to ignore them.
-- beginning of frustrated rant 2 --
The difference in the public outlook for the future in 1992 compared to what it’ll be in 2012 could be night and day (or should that be day and night). In 1992 the Cold War had ended and Free Trade was spreading, music was performed by anti-corporate grunge, techno and hip-hop breakouts wearing scruffy clothes. In 2012? Energy Crisis, Food shortages, Climate Change, Cost of Living rises, the Misrepresentation of Government, Global Political Instability and Isolationism, Population Pressures and Migrations, Central Identity Registers and Crime, Alien Invasion [

joke]. Music provided to you by careful analysis of youth fashion trends and precision marketing by your friendly corporate music industry conglomerates, performed by pretty young things, with added parental control and “golden era” compilations. We shall see...
The Government has had 40 years or more to tackle the problems of oil dependency, social inequality, world population growth and climate change to name a few. All of which have huge
security issues associated with them. What has been their progress? Where has been their investment? Billions of dollars are spent each year on oil procurement and technology development. A new car model can cost two or three billion dollars, for incremental improvements. What is the plan for the future? With relatively miniscule investments in the alternatives it’s not surprising that they are lagging behind, there are no economies of scale and little incentive to solve mostly
engineering issues. Energy efficiency in homes is appalling. As is reuse of resources (i.e. recycling). We cannot
replace oil currently but we could drastically
reduce dependency on it.
Energy independence is the biggest security concern every nation faces. Our solution, so far, is to wage war...
-- rant 2 ends --
Al Steiner writes about a socialist version of these ideas in his “A Perfect World” and its prequel “Greenies” available at
http://storiesonline.net/. Or see a number of published hardcopy authors.