I recently posted this as a reply to another poster in this
thread, but wanted to
create another thread solely on this post to see how others feel about it, and if others have anything to add to it. Let's discuss solutions for our
currently corrupt and inadequate political system. All ideas are welcome and encouraged, and will be read and replied to in a respectable manner.
"I respect your intentions to alert people about the damage caused from the unnecessary strict partisanship and attachment to party lines. The best
way to show them this is by equally holding both sides accountable to the same rigorous criticism and pointing out there moderate, corrupt behavior.
However, without a solution you are merely preaching to the choir brother, and people will continue to choose sides.
Here is a few things you may want to consider when thinking about solutions:
The two most popular styles of Governance in the West come from Ancient Greeks; Athenian Democracy and Plato's Republic. All other forms of
Governance; Communism, Socialism, Totalitarism, Fascism... are reactionaries to these two ideologies.
The word
Democracy comes from the Greek words of "
Demos" (meaning "People" or aka "Mob") and "
Kratos" (meaning "Force" or
"Power"). This ideology had a short lived span in Athens until it was ultimately overrun and replaced with a diluted form of Plato's idea of the
Republic. Critics often referred to this ideology (Democracy) as "The rule of the mob" and was frowned upon because it placed power in the hands of
the 'ignoble', 'corrupt', and generally uneducated class of people. Critics, mostly the scholars, warned against this ideology by saying it would be
giving poor and uneducated people power over their betters and this seemed a reversal of the proper, rational order of society. For them the demos in
democracy meant not the whole people, but the people as opposed to the elite. Instead of seeing it as a fair system under which 'everyone' has equal
rights, they saw it as the numerically preponderant poor tyrannizing over the rich. They thought that it would eventually destabilize the state
through internal conflict until the point the state would be left vulnerable to outside attack, which it ultimately was. Socrates was one of these
beloved critics and after he was executed for his beliefs, Democracy was forever stained by his blood and not soon there after Plato's Republic came
into play.
Plato's Republic was set upon the belief that only the most noble, intelligent, and wise men should have authority to dictate policy. He
labeled these men as the "Guardians" and said they should be found by watching over the elite (educated) class and picking out only the men who had
led completely virtuous and noble lives, those who showed no signs of corruptness, greed or hatred. He proposed that they should not be paid hefty
wages and that they should live amongst the people, serving out their entire life inside of governance without the option to pursue other careers. His
main argument was that everybody in society had an equally important role to play; from the carpenters, to the blacksmiths, to the farmers, to the
"Guardians", and if everybody focuses solely on their job in a noble and virtuous manner, than society would remain healthy and would continue to
progress. However, some may say his ideas were too far fetched and not probable enough, and ultimately this showed to be true as his ideology was
never completely established in the manner he intended. Instead it turned into more of an monarchial empire, far from what he described. Later on,
others such as Machiavelli refurbished the idea of a Republic in a more practical form.
Both of these ideologies molded our current political ideology in the United States. Essentially it is like a synthesis between the two, with a few
more modern ideals added on. I think the founding fathers did a good job in creating a better system, especially compared to the old world systems of
europe at the time, although there are certain aspects of both ideologies that I feel should be more decisively implemented now days, especially from
Plato's Republic. Politicians should not be able to leave office and resort to higher paying jobs, this in my eyes obviously breeds corruption. Also
they should not be giving luxurious homes to live in, they should live amongst the people, this ensures they are 'in-touch' with 'reality'. They also
should be held to a higher level of scrutiny and oversight to ensure they are truly noble and virtuous people, instead of the narcissistic and power
hungry people we have in office today.
But ultimately we the people must understand that our societies condition is mostly the result of our own actions and in-actions, not so much theirs,
although there actions and in-actions do have some effect upon us. If society is corrupt, greedy, unequal, and generally sick, then it is a direct
reflection of our own doings, the system is merely sustaining these things and preventing them from changing. In conclusion, these problems are the
problems of the Human Mind as a whole, across the board, in every nation, class, race, and area of the world. Until we deal with these problems on
that level, then corruption, greed, hatred, inequality and war will continue. To the contrary, until every human being has access to the basic needs
of water, food, shelter, security (physical and economical), these problems of the Human Mind cannot be properly addressed and fixed. This
LINK (Maslows Hierarchy of Needs) describes this process of reform in further
detail.."
Discuss...
edit on 28-11-2010 by LifeIsEnergy because: (no reason given)