All of you patriots out there, please don't disregard the words that I am about to write simply because they go against what you so fervently believe in. I believe that the governmental system of the United States is not the best government system in the world. Granted it is rather brilliant, but, in my humble opinion, it is by no means the best.
The United States government is a republic. In other words, the citizens of said country elect people via elections, to represent them in the government. There are three sections to the government. The Legislative, Executive and Judicial Branches. The Legislative Branch is bicameral, which means there are two chambers, the House of Representatives, and the Senate. The House represents each state by population, whereas the Senate represents each state equally (two seats per state). There are 535 total representatives. This branch is responsible for creating laws that interest the people. The Executive Branch is the President, his job is to interpret the laws, run the army, and rule the country. The last branch is the Judicial, which is typically overlooked but should not be under estimated. The Judicial Branch's job is to interpret the laws created by Congress and determine whether they are constitutional or not.
I believe there are quite a few flaws to this system of government. The first flaw is the number of representatives for the number of people. 535 fat old men do not in anyway represent the whole 319.9 million people living in the United States. Robert Yates, a famous anti-federalist, believed that this form of representation is blatantly unfair because their are so many minorities that don't necessarily get their voice heard, simply because they are a small group of people. This really goes against the whole idea of Democracy. The second problem I have is that the 535 people elected into Congress are rather stupid, corruptible and extreme. These persons are almost always on the fringes of the left-right political spectrum, which neglects to represent the independents and moderates that make up a surprisingly large amount of people. Congressmen are also extremely bribable and looking for their own personal interests, this can be seen in numerous cases, and there is no need to go into detail about them because one could look them up. I stated that these men/women are stupid because they really are. One doesn't see scholars or doctors pursuing careers in politics, and quite frankly I have a problem with that. I do not have many qualms about the Executive Branch, the only one is that the President, after his first two years in office, begins to focus more on his reelection than running the country, this is obviously a problem and not in the best interest of the people. Lastly the Judicial Branch. I fear the power of the gavel above all fears of our government. There is nothing more frightening than giving twelve people the power to interpret the holiest document in the United States (the Constitution not the Bible). These men and women are incredibly bright and have the ability to change the course of the whole nation. Yikes. However, they are appointed for life, and I appreciate that because it is rather difficult to corrupt them.
The United States government is a republic. In other words, the citizens of said country elect people via elections, to represent them in the government. There are three sections to the government. The Legislative, Executive and Judicial Branches. The Legislative Branch is bicameral, which means there are two chambers, the House of Representatives, and the Senate. The House represents each state by population, whereas the Senate represents each state equally (two seats per state). There are 535 total representatives. This branch is responsible for creating laws that interest the people. The Executive Branch is the President, his job is to interpret the laws, run the army, and rule the country. The last branch is the Judicial, which is typically overlooked but should not be under estimated. The Judicial Branch's job is to interpret the laws created by Congress and determine whether they are constitutional or not.
I believe there are quite a few flaws to this system of government. The first flaw is the number of representatives for the number of people. 535 fat old men do not in anyway represent the whole 319.9 million people living in the United States. Robert Yates, a famous anti-federalist, believed that this form of representation is blatantly unfair because their are so many minorities that don't necessarily get their voice heard, simply because they are a small group of people. This really goes against the whole idea of Democracy. The second problem I have is that the 535 people elected into Congress are rather stupid, corruptible and extreme. These persons are almost always on the fringes of the left-right political spectrum, which neglects to represent the independents and moderates that make up a surprisingly large amount of people. Congressmen are also extremely bribable and looking for their own personal interests, this can be seen in numerous cases, and there is no need to go into detail about them because one could look them up. I stated that these men/women are stupid because they really are. One doesn't see scholars or doctors pursuing careers in politics, and quite frankly I have a problem with that. I do not have many qualms about the Executive Branch, the only one is that the President, after his first two years in office, begins to focus more on his reelection than running the country, this is obviously a problem and not in the best interest of the people. Lastly the Judicial Branch. I fear the power of the gavel above all fears of our government. There is nothing more frightening than giving twelve people the power to interpret the holiest document in the United States (the Constitution not the Bible). These men and women are incredibly bright and have the ability to change the course of the whole nation. Yikes. However, they are appointed for life, and I appreciate that because it is rather difficult to corrupt them.
Now to the political systems that I think are just absolutely brilliant...
The first of these systems is the Democratic Socialism. This is the idea that a country will tax the hell out of their citizens, but then give them the best benefits in the world, such as health care, education, and unemployment cheques. The best part about all these things is they are free!!!! These countries are advantageous for both impoverished and wealthy citizens. The poor get great benefits and essentially have an equal opportunity to succeed as everyone else. The wealthy may be restricted and taxed heavily, but they still have a free market to use (with a few restrictions), therefore they still have the opportunity to make as much money as possible. This system is predominant in the Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark), and is thriving there. Although one must admit that it is almost impossible to implement a social democracy on a large scale because it would simply be impossible to control. Another advantage to social democracies is that the countries usually give citizens shares in their natural resources. This means if a country has oil and is selling it, the citizens get a percentage of the money earned from said oil. Wonderful isn't it!!!
The next political system is the Socratic System. Socrates believed countries should be ruled by divine leaders, who were essentially the most amazing and brilliant people in the country. This just completely makes sense because a divine leader would look out for the best of everyone in the entire country and know exactly how to govern, and know exactly what to do. It is essentially an emperor. This government however has a few major flaws. The first is the fact that it would be nearly impossible to find the perfect leader, and even more impossible to deem whether that person was the perfect leader mentally. The second problem with this idea is the human factor. Like in communism, socratic government is bound to fail due to the greed of all human beings. No one could ever become supreme leader of a country and not become a tyrant. It just doesn't happen, we are simply to wired to look out for our own personal interests as opposed to the country's.
This brings me to my third and final favorite form of governing, elitism. Now you may jump at my throat at tho very moment claiming that elitism is horrible and is essentially a tyranny, an oligarchy and an aristocracy all mashed into one. But hold up, I have a justification!! Elitism is not necessarily the powerful and the rich who rule, nonono it could be the extremely smart!!! This is exactly what I want. Who could be better then the nation's smartest people to run the country? I'll tell you, no one. Granted the government would have to be set up in a way that everyone has equal opportunity to succeed, but other than that we are good to go. Why should we have buffoons representing bigger buffoons when we can have intellectuals discussing everything civilly? America needs to change and it starts with the youths, so fight for what you believe in, start a revolution!
The first of these systems is the Democratic Socialism. This is the idea that a country will tax the hell out of their citizens, but then give them the best benefits in the world, such as health care, education, and unemployment cheques. The best part about all these things is they are free!!!! These countries are advantageous for both impoverished and wealthy citizens. The poor get great benefits and essentially have an equal opportunity to succeed as everyone else. The wealthy may be restricted and taxed heavily, but they still have a free market to use (with a few restrictions), therefore they still have the opportunity to make as much money as possible. This system is predominant in the Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark), and is thriving there. Although one must admit that it is almost impossible to implement a social democracy on a large scale because it would simply be impossible to control. Another advantage to social democracies is that the countries usually give citizens shares in their natural resources. This means if a country has oil and is selling it, the citizens get a percentage of the money earned from said oil. Wonderful isn't it!!!
The next political system is the Socratic System. Socrates believed countries should be ruled by divine leaders, who were essentially the most amazing and brilliant people in the country. This just completely makes sense because a divine leader would look out for the best of everyone in the entire country and know exactly how to govern, and know exactly what to do. It is essentially an emperor. This government however has a few major flaws. The first is the fact that it would be nearly impossible to find the perfect leader, and even more impossible to deem whether that person was the perfect leader mentally. The second problem with this idea is the human factor. Like in communism, socratic government is bound to fail due to the greed of all human beings. No one could ever become supreme leader of a country and not become a tyrant. It just doesn't happen, we are simply to wired to look out for our own personal interests as opposed to the country's.
This brings me to my third and final favorite form of governing, elitism. Now you may jump at my throat at tho very moment claiming that elitism is horrible and is essentially a tyranny, an oligarchy and an aristocracy all mashed into one. But hold up, I have a justification!! Elitism is not necessarily the powerful and the rich who rule, nonono it could be the extremely smart!!! This is exactly what I want. Who could be better then the nation's smartest people to run the country? I'll tell you, no one. Granted the government would have to be set up in a way that everyone has equal opportunity to succeed, but other than that we are good to go. Why should we have buffoons representing bigger buffoons when we can have intellectuals discussing everything civilly? America needs to change and it starts with the youths, so fight for what you believe in, start a revolution!
I enjoyed your analysis of government, but I disagree with your view that elitism is the best form of government. The officials in Washington are by no means dumb, and the most intelligent people are not necessarily the best ones to govern the country. While democratic socialism and the Socratic system seem to be good ideas, as you write, are pretty impractical on a large scale.
ReplyDeleteThere are only nine Supreme Court justices, not twelve. Elitism results in extreme social stratification as the wealthy monopolize all educational resources.
ReplyDeleteWhile the American government is a flawed system, those flaws are due to political elitism. In order to get elected, one must have a large amount of money to finance a campaign. And everyone, even when in office (except when they're about to retire), worries about reelection. That being said, there are some some good politicians. Your argument that scholars and doctors don't run for office is flawed, because politicians all either have Political Science and/or Law degrees. In fact, those doctor and scholars usually have jobs that they enjoy, and have no want to run for office. In addition, elitism is a system that, while does work, is shown to devolve into debouched and corrupt leaders. At least with our system, they have to think about reelection. While I respect your opinions, your argument is quite flawed, and your lack of evidence is telling. Oh, and there are only nine Justices on the Supreme Court.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this argument could have some real base if it wasn't so... Extreme. The elected (I remind you, elected) officials in Washington aren't stupid as you claim them to be. Believe it or not, they're not these monsters you make them out to be, and your lack of specific evidence and consistent use of generalization really kills your argument. I won't even get in to elitism, but that argument was extremely flimsy, not helped by the fact that it contained a good number of colloquialisms.
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