Player1x3 said:
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The American army currently consists entirely of volunteers and has over a million soldiers.
I don't mean unpaid, I mean non-drafted.
If you owned a new country? | |||
| Communist dictator | 12 | 15.00% | |
| Absolute monarchy | 11 | 13.75% | |
| Constitutional monarchy | 4 | 5.00% | |
| Libertarian style government | 13 | 16.25% | |
| Capitalist dictator | 5 | 6.25% | |
| Direct Democracy | 11 | 13.75% | |
| Representative Democracy | 8 | 10.00% | |
| A Federal State | 4 | 5.00% | |
| Anarchy | 12 | 15.00% | |
| Total: | 80 | ||
Player1x3 said:
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The American army currently consists entirely of volunteers and has over a million soldiers.
I don't mean unpaid, I mean non-drafted.
| NobleTeam360 said:
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It also spends pretty much nothing.
Marks said:
Yeah good point on the taxes. Maybe I could amend that to a system with a bit more in taxes...but if we're running a surplus, then the extra money is given back to the citizens. And yeah it would be interesting to see some of these in practice. Because some things like school vouchers look so good on paper, and even worked in test areas (Washington DC did some successfully a while back, or has charter schools or whaterver...I don't remember exactly) but would be cool to see if it works nationwide. |
That's exactly what got us into this mess. Politicians in the very early 1900's thought "Well, if we could just get a little more money through taxation, then..." and here we are 100 years later.
The government seemed to manage just fine without the income tax prior to 1913.
I might also add that I find the federal income tax to be tantamount to theft. It basically says that the government owns our money and merely allows us to keep some of it. Wherea in actuality, things could be paid for just fine through excises, toll fees, and other means without scraping their unreasonable percentage off the top of all our paychecks for the "priviledge" of taking care of us from cradle to grave. Meh.


| JazzB1987 said:
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It would be slow, terrible quality internet. It would also be extremely expensive, as many people live in rural areas where there is no broadband infrastructure in place. Cost would be exorbitant, and I don't think high-speed internet is a "right". By the way, almost everything you mentioned is already run by the government (not very well, I might add).
Also, "non-profit" just means you keep your books differently and don't pay incomes taxes. Non-profits make tons of money. Don't be fooled by the misleading name.


NobleTeam360 said:
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Our spending is also minimal. But I did say in a later post that I'd raise taxes if I had to...and any budget surplus is given back to the people each year.
Kantor said:
The American army currently consists entirely of volunteers and has over a million soldiers. I don't mean unpaid, I mean non-drafted. |
Yes, but Americans are more patriotic than your averige Western citizen.
Anarchy.
If I acquired the land through legitimate means (which would be the only way that I'd ever get it). That is, through homesteading or trade, my only role would be to sell that land to people. Though, for the sakes of getting the society started, I'd mostly just abandon most of it, save for a couple of areas which could generate me a lot of profit down the line (some coastal parcels, maybe some along any borders with other countries).
And that's it. I'm not going to pretend to know what's beneficial for people, they can work that out for themselves. I'm not going to set up a system of courts and laws, the people are free, and, ultimately will learn to solve their disputes without such enforced institutions.
Representative Democracy. Semi-Socialist Democracy is probably the best way to run a country... All people are equal in all ways, and in all rights. Freedom of Speech, and whatnot. All plans by the government must be undertaken with complete transparency for the citizens and towards other states. Honesty is key.
Free Healthcare
Semi-Free Education (Free Until after 1st year of University)
Student loans managed through government, loans may come from banks, however highly regulated
Taxes on the Rich higher than on the poor, tax loopholes very carefully watched
No money in politics, each party gaining over 10 percent of the vote is allowed a portion of the budget to campaign, other money can only come from small donors. (Under 100 dollars) TV ads and the like will be lawfully discounted for elections. Broadcaster will receive compensation for ads, however they will not charge as high as they would for a regular ad.
Just some ideas haha

This excercise is ridiculous without knowing about culture / resources etc of the land. Places like Syria (before the Civil War), and Argentina (before going broke) had beautiful constitutions that were never enforced because of how different reality on the ground was from what the country could offer.
The constitution would say "law makers will make laws and be elected from the 50 regions every four years. one chamber will represent the states equally, one the population equally by state. the law will be interpreted by the courts to protect liberty and to settle the disputes of the masses under the laws of each state. an executive will enforce the law, upon election and wage wars the law makers view as necessary to defense and liberty. no man is to hurt another man, but is free to do as he pleases otherwise, save for making laws. the government is not to be used to harm another man, financially, with violence, or otherwise, except in self defense during war"
I would build a country similar to the US if it was in Western Europe, or North America, but with specific guidelines to reduce privacy / corruptability of law makers. Essentially, all meetings between law makers and large donators would be filmed for scrutiny, and people offering money for creating power that benefits corporation a at the expense of corporation b would be guilty of "capitalism fraud", and the law maker would be removed from office and prevented from returning to elected office. I would also abolish the income tax and all welfare / minimum wage / social security restrictions that exist now, but replace it all with a negative flat income tax starting from birth, indexed to 150% of median income (i.e. making 150% of median income results in no pay out or tax). Essentially: NFIT = (Income * 0.25) - $10,000. Not working (say a kid or a retired person) would get $10,000. At $30,000 in income you'd get $2,500. At $50,000 you'd pay $2,500. If kids collected the $10,000 each year, that would pay for college and education in a private setting so you could lower property taxes at the state level. More people would retire sooner, after owning property and building enough wealth to pay for old age health care, so you'd also have more laborers. Everybody would probably make a bit less money, but goods would be far cheaper, and healthcare would be affordable for all. With millions more having substantially more spending power, and no minimum wage, people of all skill sets could be gainfully employed, or at least perpetually re-educated to eventually be satisfied with their job. Jubilee exceptions would also be implemented for life events - with each person being able to claim a full exemption for producing a child, marrrying, or paying for a funeral. Sales / consumption / tarrif taxes would pay for everything.
People are difficult to govern because they have too much knowledge.
When there are more laws, there are more criminals.
- Lao Tzu