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wolram
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Design your democracy, what laws would you pass, what would you include in
a, "charter".
a, "charter".
The things I've taken away from my readings on the subject are phrases like sovereignty of the individual, tyranny of the majority, and elective despotism. So first of all, my government would protect individual rights.If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.
- http://www.house.gov/Ethics/ethicschap1.html
Hence self-perpetuating government? What if all four candidates end up having the exact same policies and personae as each other, and unsuprsingly, as the majority of the Representatives?1. There will be four candidates to run for president and each would receive equal funding, no more, no less. The candidates are to be selected by the House of representatives. What ever candidate receives the majority of the US vote wins.
4. I would privatize all education...
These two goals are blatantly contradictory. Education is by necessity expensive; look at private schools here and now, a majority of the country could not reasonably afford to pay ~10k per year for K-12. You'd have an illiterate country, with millions of kids never learning to read. Oh, and "countries" is a plural, not a possessive.13. I would work hard at making my countries Intelligence the best in the world.
What's "AA"?2. I would extend the idea of equal protection under the law to mean equal rights for everyone. In other words, things like AA would be illegal.
The Bill of Rights already is the list of untouchable, federally enforced rights, and powers not granted to congress are already given explicitly to the States.5. I would limit the powers of the federal government on issues like abortion. To do this I would make the bill of rights the federally protected rights...all other individual rights are at left to the states to control.
Who'd reelect you?7. I would make SUV's get federal registration and tax the hell out of it to the point that no one save for the very rich would own one.
Gale17 said:doesn't having one person designing a democracy rather defeat the purpose of the democracy itself...
Gale17 said:so, you're talking about a democratic republic then. in a true democracy, everyone would vote on everything, and there really wouldn't be a leader at all.
Well it certainly doesn't seem liberal, I wouldn't want to live in a country where Firearm use and ownership is mandatory.rachmaninoff said:Echo 6 - you're hardly describing a "democracy" - sounds more like facism to me.
Meh.rachmaninoff said:Echo 6 - you're hardly describing a "democracy" - sounds more like facism to me.
You wouldn't have to use it unless attacked or you knew someone was being attacked. You'll be missed.smurf said:-Well it certainly doesn't seem liberal, I wouldn't want to live in a country where Firearm use and ownership is mandatory.
Heh, yeah. This war hero is moving to smurfonia (details following)Echo 6 Sierra said:Meh.
You wouldn't have to use it unless attacked or you knew someone was being attacked. You'll be missed.
Smurf said:Heh, yeah. This war hero is moving to smurfonia (details following)
So I guess things wouldn't be that much different than now. Gale17 has enlightened us.cronxeh said:Yeah.. umm.. Echo 6's "laws" give headway to overpopulation, civil wars, and a huge gap between the really rich and the really poor.
rachmaninoff said:Hence self-perpetuating government? What if all four candidates end up having the exact same policies and personae as each other, and unsuprsingly, as the majority of the Representatives?
I never said it would not be compulsory to have education and I never said was cheap. I said I would privatize it. And, I would establish a system where everyone, even the poorest, could get an education. But it would not be free.These two goals are blatantly contradictory. Education is by necessity expensive; look at private schools here and now, a majority of the country could not reasonably afford to pay ~10k per year for K-12. You'd have an illiterate country, with millions of kids never learning to read. Oh, and "countries" is a plural, not a possessive.
What's "AA"?
Yeah right...most of the rights on the bill of rights have been infrigined upon. I would make it so that this could not be done and I would leave all other rights not listed in the bill of rights up to the states. Such as abortion, drinking age, drugs, what have you...The Bill of Rights already is the list of untouchable, federally enforced rights, and powers not granted to congress are already given explicitly to the States.
Echo 6 Sierra said:So I guess things wouldn't be that much different than now. Gale17 has enlightened us.
1 through 10: Why?Bladibla said:1. ANY form of protest is banned
2. Bunking school is a death sentence
3. Goths wannabes are apprporiate reason for execution
4. Hippies are wanted as criminals
5. All religion is banned.
6. 'National' parties will be burned down
7. Vegetarians will be made to farm their own food, and are banned from any mechanical influences
8. R+B music, Rock music, and goth music is BANNED. Penalty:death.
9. There will be more violas players encouraged
10. Womens right to vote taken away.
Smurf said:1 through 10: Why?
I love to live in your democracy.Bladibla said:Dunno. First thing that came outta my mind were those 10.
Intelligence as in evaluated information concerning an enemy or possible enemy or a possible theater of operations?Townsend said:13. I would work hard at making my countries Intelligence the best in the world.
hitssquad said:Intelligence as in evaluated information concerning an enemy or possible enemy or a possible theater of operations?
Bladibla said:1. ANY form of protest is banned
2. Bunking school is a death sentence
3. Goths wannabes are apprporiate reason for execution
4. Hippies are wanted as criminals
5. All religion is banned.
6. 'National' parties will be burned down
7. Vegetarians will be made to farm their own food, and are banned from any mechanical influences
8. R+B music, Rock music, and goth music is BANNED. Penalty:death.
9. There will be more violas players encouraged
10. Womens right to vote taken away.
matthyaouw said:Read the original post again. It says democracy, not dictatorship you know.
Townsend said:I would keep most of the US constitution that is currently in place...with the following changes..
1. There will be four candidates to run for president and each would receive equal funding, no more, no less. The candidates are to be selected by the House of representatives. What ever candidate receives the majority of the US vote wins.
Townsend said:2. I would extend the idea of equal protection under the law to mean equal rights for everyone. In other words, things like AA would be illegal.
Townsend said:3. I would I make federal income tax illegal. I would impose a consumption tax in its place.
Townsend said:4. I would privatize all education...
Townsend said:5. I would limit the powers of the federal government on issues like abortion. To do this I would make the bill of rights the federally protected rights...all other individual rights are at left to the states to control.
Townsend said:6. I would give congress a bigger say in our foreign policy.
Townsend said:7. I would make SUV's get federal registration and tax the hell out of it to the point that no one save for the very rich would own one.
Townsend said:8. I would make things like Social Security illegal.
Townsend said:9. I would establish the TCRER...the Townsend Center for Renewable Energy Resources and I would give them the means to make a difference.
Townsend said:10. I would fund stem cell research.
Townsend said:11. I would make frivolous law suits a federally a punishable offense. The details can be worked out by congress.
Townsend said:12. I would legalize medical marijuana.
Townsend said:13. I would work hard at making my countries Intelligence the best in the world.
Townsend said:14. I would offer tax breaks to companies that didn't out source.
Bladibla said:10. Womens right to vote taken away.
Comments are welcome.Kenneth Mann said:I can't resist adding comments.
What makes you think I think that? The Jeffersonians were the first political party that latter became the democrats...I know a little about American politics, but thank you non the less.Actually, there's nothing in our system that limits the number of viable parties to two.
The only money they are allowed to have is fixed...that same amount of money is given to the four candidates that are selected. No money is to be spent by third parties on behalf of a candidate.The two major parties have just been able to fix this perk for themselves through many years of manipulation. I don't see how your law would ultimately change this.
I know it would more often than not be a battle between two parties but who the two parties would be is the thing. It would not always have to be the rebs vs the dems. That is the key difference.They would quickly marginalize whichever parties got the other two spots, and it would result in the waste of a lot of taxpayer money.
The last two are still being supported by the House...these are candidates that have political support...that is not happenstanceAlso, those last two would come each time as result of sheer happenstance, and sometimes they would be the the most far-out of parties. On the other hand, LaRouche would almost certainly love your idea.
Not so!, unless you eliminate the Supreme Court.
Well..basically my laws would make things like the New Deal impossible...Remember, the Constitution did make Income Tax illegal, until the Congress in the 20th century tampered with that.
Well that's cool...On this your choice is are absolutely right! It amazes me that those in Congerss do not see the debilitating effect on a nation of a "production-tax".
I don't see why.It was until the 19th century, and the job went unfulfilled. Without "public school" competition, I think you would see costs go out of sight, like with hospitalization insurance..
I would prefer it being a state issue even if the states cannot make up their minds...Careful here! If you limit one side, the other will go ape.
I would give congress a bigger say but not that much bigger. Just a tad bigger...Resulting in absolute confusion, and an inability to do anything in a timely manner.
Perhaps...I would be willing to look at different ideas.I see what side you are on. How about just taking away the advantages that SUV's were granted (before there were any SUVs), like exemptions from safety and antipollution requirements (intended for commercial users)?
Isn't it a bit late now? That would cause massive disruption in an economy that has come to rely upon it. I do agree, however that SS poses a serious and potentially fatal problem if it isn't corrected very soon (and at great cost). Let's just not make the cure worse than the disease.
People will blame the government for their problems either way. It's just politics...but I really believe in this one.Then everyone could blame you for all their problems.
Ok...all set...bring em on...Okay, but be ready for attack from most religious groups.
Actually, these are a feature of our most recent years. Previously judges automatically threw out anything that had any scent of being frivolous. Then someone in the court system decided that this offered inadequate protection. So, now we are at the other extreme. What we need is a good way of weeding out the chaff, like possibly a series of judicial case review boards (at all levels), backed up by appeals for those who felt that theirs were good causes that shouldn't be ignored. This would make frivolity much more expensive, while still allowing just causes to be heard. Those could be compensated for after having been vindicated - - and only then would they be heard in court. This would also reduce much of the present court backlog.
Up to the States to decide.And recreational marijuana?
Information...I would never support eugenics...I know nothing is guaranteed but I still want the best I can get.Eugenics? or are we talking about information gathering? Either way, nothing is guaranteed.
What would you do with GATT?