Perfect Government?

[KingPhilip]

A good friend and I were discussing the recent announcement by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to consider criminal charges against the scientists who are to blame, or at least appear so, for the recent rocket failures. That quickly led to a conversation about their current government, and what the best possible system of government could be. Personally, I'm Anarcho-Socialist, I believe that we should have almost no governing body at all and that decisions should be made by all people, even if I realize the transition to that would probably destroy civilization as we know it. My friend is an absolute Capitalist, and claims that Capitalistic societies would be lightyears ahead of where they are now if more independent businesses were promoted with fewer monopolies. So I was wondering, there's more than a few bright people in around here, what do you guys think is the perfect government? Both in theory, and taking into account people's habit of corrupting everything as soon as more than $5 comes into consideration.

[Tom62]

I'm in favour of benevolent dictatorships.  They are not perfect, but better than these pseudo democracies in which certain parties have been in power since the beginning of time (and who don't give a shit about "normal" people).

[Asmodean]

A perfect government for The Asmo..? I'd say it would be a government, composed of people trained throughout their whole lives in leadership and selected based on level of competence and personality.

[Ecurb Noselrub]

There is no perfect government, as humans have the capacity to screw up any system they touch.  A typical western democracy in which you have certain guaranteed rights for individuals, majority rule, separation of powers, and a high premium placed on personal and economic freedom, is about as good as you can hope for.

[Too Few Lions]

I guess my idea of a perfect government would be a benevolent dictatorship run by me 

but seriously, so long as I have the freedom to think and say whatever I like, then I can't complain too much. Even if my views differ on certain things from the majority, the fairest form of government would seem to be a proper democracy where people get a real say in things, as opposed to the sham democracy of a two party cartel that we have in the UK or US.

You also need laws that enshrine peoples' freedoms, just in case the majority end up wanting to restrict the freedoms of any minorities at any point.

[KingPhilip]

A perfect government for The Asmo..? I'd say it would be a government, composed of people trained throughout their whole lives in leadership and selected based on level of competence and personality.

This sounds pretty awesome actually. The only issue I really see is whoever does the selecting would be under enormous pressure from every powerful person in the country to make certain picks.

You also need laws that enshrine peoples' freedoms, just in case the majority end up wanting to restrict the freedoms of any minorities at any point.

I think this would happen in any form of government, unless you found a way to have every minority equally represented or backed up when it comes down to issues. The majority will always find every loophole and petty issue to block the rights of whatever minority it has a problem with at the time.

[Asmodean]

A perfect government for The Asmo..? I'd say it would be a government, composed of people trained throughout their whole lives in leadership and selected based on level of competence and personality.

This sounds pretty awesome actually. The only issue I really see is whoever does the selecting would be under enormous pressure from every powerful person in the country to make certain picks.

Unless the selections were done by measurable merit rather than personal preference. Oh, there are certainly loopholes in the sentence-and-a-half presentation of mine, but overall, I don't see a big problem that does not let itself be regulated through law.

[KingPhilip]

A perfect government for The Asmo..? I'd say it would be a government, composed of people trained throughout their whole lives in leadership and selected based on level of competence and personality.

This sounds pretty awesome actually. The only issue I really see is whoever does the selecting would be under enormous pressure from every powerful person in the country to make certain picks.

Unless the selections were done by measurable merit rather than personal preference. Oh, there are certainly loopholes in the sentence-and-a-half presentation of mine, but overall, I don't see a big problem that does not let itself be regulated through law.

There is something to be said for how sound that sentence-and-a-half presentation actually sounds though. I really would like to see something like this put into practice, or at least attempted/experimented with.

[Stevil]

There is no such thing as a perfect government.

Governments need to know their place. Assume that anarchy is everyone's birth right and look at any restrictive laws as a violation of a person's rights.
That being said, they need to ensure we have a functioning society, hence must put laws into place which violate people's rights. They need to be conscious that they are doing this and hence only violate when absolutely necessary.
For example,
Murder is a birth right but a society cannot function very well with people murdering members of society, hence this right needs to be violated.
Gay sex is a birth right, the functioning of society is not impacted by two members having gay sex, hence this right should not be violated.
Euthansia is a birth right...
etc...

By and large, elected governments are people that are incapable of running a company let alone a country. With wages being so small, the capable people prefer to tackle a corporate company. Hence we are generally left with incapable, power hungry people in government.

NZ is fortunate enough at the moment to be run by a self made millionaire, from a childhood of living in a state home, to having over $50 million. He understands business and the corporate world. He gives a significant proportion of his government salary to charity. But generally we elect incapables into government.

[OldGit]

But generally we elect incapables into government.

Just like everywhere else!  In the UK we have few politicians who have first been sucessful in the world outside, and it shows.

[Siz]

A perfect government for The Asmo..? I'd say it would be a government, composed of people trained throughout their whole lives in leadership and selected based on level of competence and personality.

This sounds pretty awesome actually. The only issue I really see is whoever does the selecting would be under enormous pressure from every powerful person in the country to make certain picks.

Unless the selections were done by measurable merit rather than personal preference. Oh, there are certainly loopholes in the sentence-and-a-half presentation of mine, but overall, I don't see a big problem that does not let itself be regulated through law.

When does measurable merit come from anything other than personal preference? My choice of merit might be having big tits.

Hmmm, second thoughts, let's have government run by big-titted women... preferably holding naked debates... maybe in a bath of mud?!

[Tank]

A perfect government for The Asmo..? I'd say it would be a government, composed of people trained throughout their whole lives in leadership and selected based on level of competence and personality.

This sounds pretty awesome actually. The only issue I really see is whoever does the selecting would be under enormous pressure from every powerful person in the country to make certain picks.

Unless the selections were done by measurable merit rather than personal preference. Oh, there are certainly loopholes in the sentence-and-a-half presentation of mine, but overall, I don't see a big problem that does not let itself be regulated through law.

When does measurable merit come from anything other than personal preference? My choice of merit might be having big tits.

Hmmm, second thoughts, let's have government run by big-titted women... preferably holding naked debates... maybe in a bath of mud?!

Didn't they just kick out the Italian prime minister for doing exactly that?

[Too Few Lions]

When does measurable merit come from anything other than personal preference? My choice of merit might be having big tits.

Hmmm, second thoughts, let's have government run by big-titted women... preferably holding naked debates... maybe in a bath of mud?!

it's a nice idea, and I'd certainly end up watching BBC Parliament channel a lot more than I currently do (which is  never!), but I have one small problem....I like small breasted girls. Could we allow a few of them to be MPs too in the name of democracy?

[OldGit]

Watch the BBC news, TFL: they're all totally flat-chested there.  Except for that Welsh bloke.

[Too Few Lions]

Watch the BBC news, TFL: they're all totally flat-chested there.  Except for that Welsh bloke.

funnily enough I do watch quite a bit of BBC news channel, I knew there was a reason (other than all the other channels just have crap on!) They have quite a few cute weather girls on the BBC news channel too, that always cheers me up on a rainy day