Government

These are stand-alone ideas about government and society.  These may not be popular or even accurate.  If I am wrong, show me how.   

Capitalism can only be effective when there is adequate education in society – a well-informed public.  The model of capitalism is to arrange itself around whatever the people want through how the money is spent.  If people want cheaper things, then the model of how that society will be geared towards providing what the people want.  But if that cheapness compromises human rights – for example, in a sweat shop in China – then morally, the value should move from “cheapest” to “cheapest, without compromising human rights.”  The reason human rights are compromised is because people are either ignorant of the true cost of their cheap products, or they value their convenience over someone else’s life.  Ignorance is curable.  So is evil, but it’s a harder battle.

If the people want self-destructive things then capitalism must necessarily provide it.  But a society which values freedom – even when that freedom is poorly executed – will stand a better chance of survival than a society which values well-intentioned control.  When one person’s freedom to make poor decisions affects another person’s freedom to make good decisions, then control must be exercised by the government.

No government should engage in a practice that is unsustainable to the environment.  This is not sentiment or morality speaking – it is simple economics.  You take care of the cow that you get milk from. 

No government should mistreat their poor.  The French Revolution should teach us this.  Even the French found reason to riot in the streets.  Do not underestimate the power of the people – even, and especially when, those people are poor, uneducated, and have nothing to lose. 

Even though our country was founded on a principal of separation of church and state, it seems that at some point, there will be a value system which will pervade the government.  This value system might intersect with a religion or faith.  The point is to not restrict people from the freedom to practice the faith they choose, and to not force people to practice a faith they would not have otherwise chosen. 

For a government to thrive, power must not grow to be too central or controlled by too few – even if those few are elected by the people.  Those few will naturally, due to human nature, create an environment that protects their own interests.  If few must lead, let it be for a limited duration for limited times.  Career politicians will destroy us.  The people must be in power, but no one for too long.  The common person is not jaded and has the passion to evoke real change.  Some will say that common people are too inexperienced to affect change in our complex system of government – to this, I say, make your government simple enough for the common man to rule, or you have already signed your own government’s death sentence.

Those in power must be constantly filtered to avoid the stagnant, putrid portion of our society to become corrupt by the intoxicating taste of power.  These position must be seen as duty – not a career.  This will destroy the separation between “the people” and “the people who rule the people.” 

We have become everything we once rebelled against.  Our country is fat and slow – quick to anger and provocation – proud without cause.