|
TO US The current political system in America does not work. Nor has it for decades, if ever, according to the noble ideas of its inception. Despite the promise of checks and balances intended by our three-tiered government, which would seem to preclude a fatal breach of national interest, nothing is impossible for creative statesmen. What was not foreseen by our forefathers can be forgiven them, for they were largely honorable men of principle, ethic and immutable substance. It was their conviction, and understandable, that similar men of honor would occupy seats of future government. And if some were less than honorable in one branch of those governments, such inequity would surely be stanched by either of the other two. In the days of honorable men, this was a most reliable and effective system, for their control of that safeguard would ultimately defeat those of less worthy intention. No such weeds could long flourish in the stringent soil of integrity; no breach of the Republic, for Executive, Judicial and Legislative all kept eyes on the other. What could not be anticipated by those noble men, nor by any other soul of honor, is that impossible era of absolute corruption, that future time of endemic misprision when no branch of government would remain uncompromised. 2 They could not know that merely 220 years beyond their noble dream, smaller men with scurrilous heart would render it a nightmare. Men and women alike, democrat and republican, liberal and conservative -- none would escape the spreading stain of Capitol corruption or collusion by silence.Hindsight will recall it as The Most Corrupted Age of American Politics, when shocking revelations of influence peddling, bribery, polling fraud and criminal cronyism will pale beside those of drug and weapons trafficking, money laundering, bank and real estate fraud, criminal conspiracy, murder and treason. Was it all inevitable? Was this arrogance merely a logical development in the twisted arena of money and power, or was it only these principals in this particular era themselves who were twisted? Were men more honorable, or if there were more honorable men, impervious to compromise, the perversion of State might be as unlikely as once envisioned. But, seeing this now as untenable, a new assessment is in order. Perhaps the answer lies in structure, the form of government. Having come to value freedom as a necessary condition, no form of dictator or despot would be suitable, of course. Kings are better than those, but only slightly. And we've seen what a mess can be made of a Republic turned rogue Democracy, when presidential politics can be polluted. 3 A possible solution might be to merge the best features of rule and eliminate those detrimental to the people. A new Constitution would not be necessary, except for changes that would prevent the corruption and collusion now apparent among the three branches of government.Bribery or undue influence of any sort would need elimination, such as Political Action Committees, Special Interest Groups, or lobbying in its present form. Addressing those and other such obvious compromise would help to assure a greater nobility. A decent leader, it is understood, would be needed -- one untouched by the temptations of his time. But he'd have no use for speechwriters, for he'd know the people want to hear the depths of his own heart. He'd have to qualify that heart for office, as will any other future politician, with a test of veracity and strength of character. He (or she, finally,) would likely combine that with recorded answers to essential questions of integrity, vision, and sense of national purpose. One pressing problem of politics to this time, and which would have to be addressed, is the nature of the Executive branch. It is largely a kitchen with too many cooks. All such redundant aspects would need curtailing in order to affix responsibility to the leader alone and eliminate the confusion of rule by committee. In that respect it would be, of sorts, a modified monarchy. Without the pomp and circumstance, 4 but also without the tenets of a tyrant. Constitutional restraints would see to that. Advisers would be the necessary eyes and ears, as now, for no leader alone can see or sense in all directions at once. But they would offer only assistance, not policy.There would be no appointments to official positions made by this leader, in order to avoid the specter of impropriety and conflict of interest by which some might be tempted. All such placements would be the exclusive province of an honorable committee apart from the executive. All new laws of the recent past would be reviewed and consolidated, simplified, or eliminated for redundancy or oppressive traits. Bureaucratic redundancies would face similar scrutiny to streamline their operation and purge wasteful expense of the people's purse. Archaic or useless committees or agencies would be folded. Oversight or examination of such function would be truly objective, again mindful of any specter of fraud or interest conflict. No law based on or tainted by threat to sovereignty would be allowed to stand, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Crime (Terrorism) Bill, or the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. No outside agency would be allowed to usurp, suspend or influence the reins of national power, such as with the World Trade Organization or the United Nations. All provisions of the Constitution would be strictly interpreted, letter and spirit. No perversion or controversion of intent or design in that document, 5 by creative statesmen, will be allowed to stand, regardless of their interpretation of the need for new order in the world. As for dealings with other countries, there would be no distinction of Most Favored Nation status, especially for those countries diametrically opposed to our own concept of human rights, for it would seem a most egregious hypocrisy to encourage a dollar from a demon. No distinction of status would be necessary: we'll trade with those countries who share a noble ethic, and shun the rest. Let them "get on board" when they've earned it. Otherwise we are but a prostitute.Foreign Aid would be abolished and all debts currently owed between this and other countries would be honored within a reasonable grace period. Any outstanding balance still unpaid beyond such grace period would suspend further trade or such cooperation until that balance is restored. Balance of the federal budget would be the mandate of each new administration, with more effective control of expenditures and a goal of steady surplus protected for unanticipated future needs. Administrations lax toward this mandate will be seasonably replaced. There would be no unsupervised and unaccountable agency, such as the National Reconnaisance Office, and no hidden or Black budget allowed free waste of public funds. Entitlement programs would be reviewed for necessary limitation and exercised with scrutiny toward elimination of fraud, within and without. 6 The Gold Standard would be reinstated for the necessary strength of paper currency and to control the inflation caused by foolish printing of excess notes. To again allow the mindless devaluation of present times would surely be seen as barbarous or undisciplined.Taxes will be simplified, at last. There will be no separate federal tax and state tax. No agency to report to about income earned or any other involuntary personal details. Nor will citizens pay a Flat Tax on any fixed percentage of their income. Instead, it will be a "consumption" tax, paid at the point of purchase. It will not levy against what is earned, but will tax what is bought. Anything purchased will include this tax, making it more like a state than a federal tax. But different from either, it will require no forms to fill out. All citizens of age and not in jail will train in the use of a firearm and be encouraged in such purchase. No one who is not a citizen will give birth to a citizen, and any blood relative of any citizen must first become a citizen before living in this country for more than a short time. Non-citizens will receive no benefits common to citizens such as medical, education, financial or other assistance. There would be no capital punishment, for no one who values life can also champion death. Violent or perverse offenders will be ostracized, imprisoned for life. All others will spend time away from society for periods commensurate with the relative damage done by their anti-social act. Parole will be abolished. Children who dare to commit violent acts, like adults, will be punished like adults. 7 All drugs, without exception, will be made available to the public, with revenues collected as from the drugs of tobacco and alcohol and others. Along with use of any drug, prostitution will be regarded as an exercise of right protected by the Constitution. As now with tobacco and alcohol, such things will be prohibited to minors, of course.Public education will necessarily include a grounding in acceptable behavior, restoring forgotten impressions of civility, ethics, morals, decency, etc. The simple basic skills will be rescued from their abandon and patiently reinforced according to the more effective phonics method. Computer skills will be mandatory. Teachers will have the authority of old, to run their classrooms with autonomy and discipline and respect. Citizens attracted to their own sex, race or belief will face no greater discrimination or sanction than any other citizens attracted to any other sex, race or belief. All benefits of citizenship will apply to all citizens. Newsgathering and investigation, and broadcast reporting as a whole, will undergo profound change. Instead of a newsbite approach, flying from one minimized topic to the next, important developments necessary for a citizen's understanding will be covered in necessary detail, providing what the Fourth Estate is committed to supply: vital information for the welfare of the populace. 8 Violent acts, being personally rare in any citizen's life, will be limited by that same frequency in all media. There will be no constant and dulling exposure to such rare and offensive events, and no need to inculcate anti-human acts or tragic accidents by recitation of local police blotters on endless news programs. Death is an occasional or eventual part of every life, but its place is not the public forum, fodder for ratings, or the business of any but those it closely touches. No one needs to hear their friend or relative died -- not in the media -- others will so inform of such private grief. And no one needs to have such tragedy of others imposed on them by nightly news. Only the passing of famous personage or other public loss should thereto occupy the airwaves.Along with these recommendations for a new and better society, and all others which aim to further that end, the most important motivation for their implementation can only be the following: ... to enable freedom of the citizen ... freedom to exist, to grow, to learn, to understand and contribute. To that noble end, here's to us. |