Key Criteria Of The Perfect Form Of Government
Name: Egalitarocracy (Rolls right off the tongue doesn't it.)
Type: Egalitarian-Meritocracy
Key Criteria: Self-Correcting
Red Flags to Avoid: Thinking we got it right. The inability to change our minds.
Working Guidelines: Voting accountability would be provided by the blockchain. A kind of "natural selection" process would produce better voters. Capitalistic & socialistic structures in the appropriate ratios. Regular Town hall meetings to discuss progress to date and new policies.
Define The Target
Thomas Jefferson said “a little rebellion now and then is a good thing.” If it is time for rebellion then rebellion to what? What do we want that our forefathers didn’t? Aren’t we still seeking the same things, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?”
Our founding fathers got a lot right when creating the rules of our nation but they were a product of their time and didn’t have the science and technology we have today. What if we keep the best of what they created and use what we now know about the world and human nature to create a government that works for the governed not a few elite?
There was and still is the Puritan notion that there are good and bad people in the world and that they need to be instructed and punished on occasion when they go astray. This is at the root of our misunderstanding of human nature and how to motivate people. There are no good and bad people, there are only true and false beliefs. Beliefs are either aligned with reality or they are not.
We as a society need to determine what the truth is before shooting at targets. To many people have false beliefs about how the world works and those beliefs adversely affect us all. To avoid tyranny, government should allow but not encourage false beliefs. When someone gets in trouble it is usually the result of something they believed that wasn’t true. This is where government can help. If government reflects what we believe and we believe science is a proven and consistent method of determining the truth then government should incentivize critical thinking and logic.
This is the foundation of how government can help us by being aligned with reality itself. Too many of our leaders deny science and have become leaders because to many voters deny science. A government that is geared to teach it’s citizens not what to think but how to think, will produce the best results.
The Devil Is In The Details
I think what we really want is “Life, liberty and a level playing field.” Historically the role of government has been to protect us and to establish justice by creating and enforcing the rules we as a society choose to live by. But if we have a fundamental misunderstanding of why people behave the way they do then you will get what we have; injustice and inequality. If people really aren’t inherently bad just misinformed then government with the help of the blockchain has the power to correct the problem. It won’t be easy though because as always, “The Devil is in the details.”
Centralized And Decentralized Systems Working Together
Government by its nature is top down, autocratic and suppressive. Nature is bottom up, evolutionary and open to change. We need to be aware of these diametrically opposed systems and be able to adjust them together as both are needed. Evolution is a mindless process that over time can produce elegant solutions that seem almost magical. But because it is mindless many of its solutions seem inhumane and even horrific in the case of predator vs prey. Because we are not mindless and can feel other people’s pain we try to find solutions to help each other and government is often our solution. The right mix of both are needed for optimal results but our beliefs often get in the way producing bad government.
Universal Basic Income
The only humane thing to do as a society is to provide for those who, for whatever reason cannot provide for themselves. Anyone who believes there are good and bad people will have a hard time with this solution. They don’t seem to understand how hard it is to get a job without an address or a car or food! All they see is a lazy drug addict watching TV all day spending “their” tax dollars.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs tells us something about human behavior and what motivates us. We should build social systems that promote rising the unfortunate up the pyramid instead of demonizing them. They are not bad people. They were unlucky and perhaps made bad decisions because of the false or inaccurate beliefs in their minds.
Free Education For Anyone Who Wants It
Do you really want a better world? Then educate the electorate! If we have people who cannot discern fact from fiction how can we expect to advance as a society? People develop at different rates and may not know what they want to do until very late in life or simply want to make a change. Let them get educated for free and we’ll all be the better off. And by the way, good teachers are some of the most valuable people in a society, let's pay them what they're worth!
Employee Owned Companies (Worker Cooperatives)
Richard Wolff has been promoting worker cooperatives for some time now and you should check him out if you haven’t heard of him before. (Talks at Google: "Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism")
He has a bottom up view demonstrating workers will do what’s right not only for themselves but also the communities they work in. All politics are local so the profit motive is only part of the equation. The long term health of the community is also a primary concern because they live there! They will not vote to pollute the air and water and they will not outsource their own jobs. Government should promote and incentivize worker cooperatives with subsidies and tax breaks as much as possible.
Use The Blockchain For Accountability
The blockchain can be used to track votes. Not what you voted for, that would be encrypted, but how your vote turned out over the long run. Did what you voted for work? If it did your reputation as a voter would improve. If not, there is no harm done because you want to encourage voting but over time the better voters would have more influence. Just like Steemit. Before long you would have Super-Voters getting good leaders and the right policies more often than not. It’s like natural selection for the best ideas. This could also work with cooperatives and the jury system.
Power & Wealth Limits
Human nature being what it is there should be a limit to how much power and wealth any one individual can achieve. At some point there would be a 100% tax on any individual over a certain net worth. Most wealthy people don’t do what they do for the money anyway. The do what they do for the accolades, notoriety and their ego. So give them the awards and notoriety they deserve and keep the money for those who really need it. This means the government plays a role in redistributing the wealth. This is another problem for those who believe there are good and bad people in the world. How does the government decide who is deserving? Again we can use the blockchain for accountability by checking if the money spent is producing results.
As always, comments are welcome.
Source Images:
Government Building Photo by Sebastian Pichler on Unsplash
Target Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Money Photo by Aidan Bartos on Unsplash
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Wikipedia
Employees Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash
Wealth Photo by David McBee from Pexels