Sunday, 30 December 2007

The Eugene Plan (v. 1.0 , stable)

Or rather, a semi-prediction I came up with.

I decided to come up with a list of things I want to see in a super-power nation, to make it politically sustainable.

1. it should have a "i-can-select-where-my-taxes-should-go" scheme. The government should publish documents about its spending and budget regularly.

2. the government will control the goddamn Central Bank, and documents representing gold-deposits can be money, besides "Legal Tender".

3. it will have an independent Auditing authority like the ICAC in Hong Kong, which is responsible for stamping out corruption.

4. The structure for the government will be a federal government. Independent states will report to the main government.
- Independent states will create the laws for small things like transportation and education.
- The main government will be in charge of only a few important things, like coining the money, national armed forces, passports and itself.
- The main government is allowed to give guidelines to independant states, but not force them to do anything.

5. Social welfare is minimal and will only be offered to those who are starving and penny-less. People will be encouraged to s

6. Government does not tax its people's salaries. In other words, no direct income tax can be imposed. However, firms can be taxed directly.

7. The government will have a large congress.

8. Owning and using a firearm is a right that every person has. However, a background check and documentation of the ammunition and type of firearm owned are required.

9. The congress and the President will be decided by the citizens and approved by an independent supreme court.

10. The main and state government cannot censor anything, except for those which are explicit or are leaked military secrets, that endanger the country's safety as a whole.

11. Martial law can be imposed by means of curfew, but not by taking away people's firearms or self-defense devices.

12. Abortion, gay marriage, women's rights?

- Abortion : The government will not tell you whether abortion should be done by law. Neither will the government finance an abortion. If, however, you are unable to pay for it, but require an abortion, it can be done at a low-cost, which only includes the operating fees at a public sector hospital (which run without profit).

- gay marriage : the government will not prohibit it. However, if they affect anyone else, firms and any public sector activity, they can be fired.

- women's rights : This is out of the window. Women should not be granted extra rights, besides the rights of the individual. This will cause social inequalities.
Rape is not a unique crime. It is classified as sexual harassment and in certain cases, also assault.
And males can be raped too, if you call it that.

13. Banks and lenders are closely monitored by the government. Ideally, it should be under the public sector and subjected to scrutiny by the citizens. There is a limit on how high interest rates can go.

14. The government and the police cannot intrude any citizen's privacy without previous knowledge and agreement, or court-approved search warrants.

15. Passports and identification documents cannot contain any form of tracking device, which intrude personal privacy.
-----------

Ok, I know it sounds like the US Constitution now. But if that is right (and it sure is old too), why not keep it?

4 comments:

Eugene said...

Oh yes, and if that nation goes to space, make sure all those who serve onboard the spaceship are Marines.

Samuel Poon said...

Yeah! A Eugene Plan!

My response to some of the points:

1. A part of the tax you pay should be allocated by the choice of the taxpayer. So you may allocate perhaps 10% of the tax to the Immigration Department while another 10% goes to the Sewage and Waste Department. Of course there should be a minimal budget allocated by the government, but the bonuses could be allocated by the taxpayer, as a measure of their popularity and efficiency.

5. Rely on Voluntary Sector to deal with social welfare. It should be cheaper that way.

6. How else do you redistribute income without income tax? Maybe if you tax excessively large bank accounts, but that would lead to inflation... maybe if you tax stock transactions, but that would be regressive taxation... maybe a property tax. Still open to discussion.

7. Large congress and very lively debates/insults/assaults on TV live!

8. Maybe ban firearms in public areas? Maybe firearms only at home? No/Yes concealed carry?

9. That's not democratic... but I suppose that's stable though.

12. You missed out discrimination, but I suppose that's a minor issue.

Maybe I should write a Samuel Plan too. Still trying to figure out stuff like that.

Eugene said...

Repairs Patches for v. 1.1

31st DEC, 2007

- indirect taxation, taxation that can be avoided by the poorer people.

- Streamlining of the social welfare and medical care systems to save money. Encourage people to save.
- Encourage Voluntary sectors to take care of homeless and old. Government borrowing at no interest permitted.

- discrimination? It's basically the same as now, but in my world, the firm reserves the right to discriminate certain people and fire them, on the grounds that their behavior is disruptive to the operation of the firm/military.

- yes, a large congress, just to make things a little more democratic. And yes, it will be open doors all the way, TV live, without any censorship, except maybe the F*** word and other explicit language.

- People DO get to vote, for congressmen and the president. Voting will start at the age of 17, because people are more mature.

- Firearms can only be carried and owned by those above the age of 20 and with no criminal records at all. It must be approved by at least 5 people who are related to him/her.
Less-than-leathal self-defense devices are restricted to above 18.
Usage, accompanied by parent is 10 years old.

- Concealed carry is allowed, but ammunition is restricted to 50 rounds (so that the police doesn't have a hard time killing you)
- Concealed carry is only permitted after 2 years of absolutely no criminal records nor non-judicial records (speeding tickets).


- Capital punishment and torture methods are banned for police and military use. Only the Secret Services (Intelligence) are allowed, and must be permitted in a court of some kind.

- Rioting without permission is allowed, but use of less-than-lethal force is authorized as well. The government must publish a report and must send representatives to document the reasons of the riot/protest.

Eugene said...

Repairs Patches for v. 1.1

31st DEC, 2007

- indirect taxation, taxation that can be avoided by the poorer people.

- Streamlining of the social welfare and medical care systems to save money. Encourage people to save.
- Encourage Voluntary sectors to take care of homeless and old. Government borrowing at no interest permitted.

- discrimination? It's basically the same as now, but in my world, the firm reserves the right to discriminate certain people and fire them, on the grounds that their behavior is disruptive to the operation of the firm/military.

- yes, a large congress, just to make things a little more democratic. And yes, it will be open doors all the way, TV live, without any censorship, except maybe the F*** word and other explicit language.

- People DO get to vote, for congressmen and the president. Voting will start at the age of 17, because people are more mature.

- Firearms can only be carried and owned by those above the age of 20 and with no criminal records at all. It must be approved by at least 5 people who are related to him/her.
Less-than-leathal self-defense devices are restricted to above 18.
Usage, accompanied by parent is 10 years old.

- Concealed carry is allowed, but ammunition is restricted to 50 rounds (so that the police doesn't have a hard time killing you)
- Concealed carry is only permitted after 2 years of absolutely no criminal records nor non-judicial records (speeding tickets).


- Capital punishment and torture methods are banned for police and military use. Only the Secret Services (Intelligence) are allowed, and must be permitted in a court of some kind.

- Rioting without permission is allowed, but use of less-than-lethal force is authorized as well. The government must publish a report and must send representatives to document the reasons of the riot/protest.