Posted by
Virginia Daddy on Friday, November 13, 2009 12:45:39 AM
I don't know why, but in the midst of my studies this week I thought of Mel Brooks line in History of the World when playing Louis XVI, "Its good to be King..." I guess it is good to have privilege and ultimate authority. But what would I do with that sort of power? Its hard to say with certainty what one may do, but here are some initial thoughts. Of course, I would be the benevolent dictator (evil laugh)...
1) Get rid of all government assistance or subsidies.
2) Get rid of most public education.
3) Honor religious freedom without being scared to practice it.
4) Actively encourage competition in the media.
5) Limit governmental functions, keeping functions to protect the nation and provide for strong infrastructure.
6) Be pro-choice (in taxation, allowing people to choose where to put their money)
7) Narrow the judicial system so that suits must meet certain standards in terms of damages/harm inflicted, remedies possible, and availability of alternative dispute resolutions.
8) Apply strict and harsh penalties for crime, so that the motivation for punishment is not to cure the offender but to instill fear of the consequences.
9) Since there is no government assistance, strongly encourage charitable acts and actively encourage selflessness (this is where I am most idealistic).
10) Encourage entertainers to avoid shock value, because all too often the funniest, best, most moving stories are those that are more pure.
11) Encourage face to face contact instead of a reliance on technology.
12) Focus on local politics instead of an obsession with national politics, and therefore encourage more power to and from the local governments.
13) Stop the need to get all the information the current government has on all of us-- get people off the grid so they can be more autonomous.
14) Encourage the value of good faith and loyalty to everyone.
15) Acknowledge the reality that some people will not act according to good faith or loyalty.
16) Define good faith and loyalty to include acting for one's own benefit but excludes blatantly cheating another out of a benefit.
17) Require certain historical and civic truths to be known and understood before one can vote.
I am sure there are others out there that I would consider, but this is a good start. My biggest goal would be to eliminate the intrusion of our government into our lives and restore personal responsibility and autonomy.
Feel free to add your thoughts on what you think I should do. It would be good to be king, and right now, a new king would be a great thing.