Unlike my predecessor Plato, I do not have unlimited access to papyrus scrolls so I have to be careful not to get too carried away with my rant.\u00a0 So let me wrap this up.\u00a0 I have highlighted some of the steps I think will be needed to make Goodenoughia a better place to live than 2024 America.\u00a0 And not being a political scientist, I\u2019m probably ignoring vast areas of reform that must be considered; the currency, laws on business monopoly, government revenue, the government\u2019s role in research and development of new technologies, and on and on and on.<\/p>\n
But what I see as the most crucial change in the way the country is run lies in the \u201cmission statement.\u201d\u00a0 What we need to be striving for is to focus on increasing and strengthening the \u201cmiddle class.\u201d\u00a0 That is where thought and research need to be expended.\u00a0 What are the things that the states and the federal government can do to grow the proportion of the population that is functional and thriving.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure what the philosophy of this is called.\u00a0 It\u2019s not exactly Utilitarianism.\u00a0 Let\u2019s make up a name and call it photogian middle-classicalism.\u00a0 I want to see as many families as possible raising their kids successfully and enjoying a good life.<\/p>\n
Maybe we\u2019ll find that the efficiency we\u2019ve gained by automation is anathema to this middle-class maximization.\u00a0 If we can prove that\u2019s the case then I\u2019d propose abandoning it, even prohibiting it.\u00a0 Maybe a world where we employed wagons and horses would be better than one with automobiles.\u00a0 Who knows?\u00a0 But we should find out.\u00a0 That\u2019s what political science should be about, increasing human happiness.\u00a0 Because currently we have the opposite.\u00a0 The whole adult and adolescent population and now even small children are glued to a small screen being narcotized by pixels and sounds that really have no value (except of course this content!).<\/p>\n
So, that\u2019s what I think.\u00a0 What I imagine will be found is that the only way for government not to devolve back to the oligarchy that we currently \u201cenjoy\u201d is for there to be a few brakes on wealth.\u00a0 I never thought I\u2019d say this but maybe having a handful of people controlling 80% of the disposable income in the country is a really bad situation.\u00a0 Maybe it should be 70% or, heaven help us, 65%!<\/p>\n
And I\u2019ve also begun to believe that it is necessary to have some degree of coercion to force regular people to take part in their own local government.\u00a0 Possibly offices will be distributed by lottery, sort of like how jury selection is handled.\u00a0 If your number comes up, you\u2019ll have to be on the town zoning board or the budget committee.\u00a0 Sure, we\u2019ll make allowances and deferments but we can\u2019t have only retirees and women in charge of communities.\u00a0 It can be like what goes on for the members of the National Guard and Reserve.\u00a0 Businesses will have to make allowances and forcing citizens to know how their towns are run will become normalized.\u00a0 Make some kind of incentives to get people to attend the town meetings.\u00a0 Give away scratch tickets or something.\u00a0 Who knows, people might start finding out who their neighbors are.\u00a0 They might even find out they don\u2019t hate some of them.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll cut it short here.\u00a0 Leave your comments on what you disagree with and what I left out of Goodenoughia that needs to be in it to make it goodenoughia for you.<\/p>\n
O damn Glaucon!\u00a0 With all this talk we\u2019ve missed the festival of the Thracian goddess Bendis.\u00a0 I guess we\u2019ll have to stream it on Netflix.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Update:<\/strong><\/p>\n War Pig<\/strong><\/p>\n Wagons and horses are not ideal. Believe me, we have a lot of Amish in my county and the pollution they deposit on the highways makes keeping your car or truck free from funk quite difficult. Every few hundred yards will be a scattered pile of horse apples. Would you want to have to house, feed, water and medicate a couple of horses who produce copious amounts of manure to be shoveled, collected, then placed on a steaming, odiferous compost pile that draws flies and their maggots as well as various rodents and large members of the order coleoptera?<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Master Diver<\/strong><\/p>\n In the 1890s, the horses in New York City produced over\u00a02.5 million pounds\u00a0of manure and sixty thousand gallons of urine every day. A wonderful source of rat, insect and airborne diseases.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n photog<\/p>\n I’m seeing two votes against horsepower.\u00a0 Duly noted.\u00a0 But that was just a for instance.\u00a0 The biggest changes to our world have occurred in the last few years and have been spurred by the indoctrination of our children to despise the civilization that produced them and all the things they take for granted.\u00a0 Maybe the analysis says the change needed is the selection of teachers and school administrators.\u00a0 Someone needs to start thinking about the problems that are now endemic in our society.\u00a0 Women aren’t having children.\u00a0 That way lies collapse.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n TomD<\/strong><\/p>\n And then, there is the baked in Achilles heel that ultimately destabilizes all democratic governments: When the population learns they can vote themselves \u201clargess\u201d. Elections soon devolve to a competition for politicians promising the most goodies.<\/strong><\/p>\n Economic instability follows.<\/strong><\/p>\n photog<\/p>\n In reply to TomD<\/p>\n Tom, eliminating the income tax and deficit spending might help to hold back some of this largesse.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Glenn W<\/strong><\/p>\n I used to think that the wealthy in this country recognized that a healthy middle class was good for business, literally that a strong middle class is a \u201cwin-win\u201d for everyone. I have now come to the conclusion that I was terribly naive. The uber wealthy want both money and power.<\/strong><\/p>\n Once a person hits a certain level of wealth they no longer need more money. Sure, a bigger villa in Tuscany or a larger yacht may be nice but does it really matter? What\u2019s an ambitious person to do? It looks like the answer is power. Sure you own a lot of nice stuff but look how many serfs I have.<\/strong><\/p>\n I remember a few years back, Tucker Carlson was in a discussion (maybe with Ben Shapiro?) where he said that driverless trucks should be banned. He wanted the ban because so many American workers with only high school diplomas work as truck drivers that much of the middle class would be impoverished. I agree with Carlson on that. We need policies that encourage a strong middle class even if it hurts economic efficiency.<\/strong><\/p>\n Economic efficiency is another thing I have become very leery of. I always liked Milton Friedman and at one time he had me convinced of the righteousness of completely free trade with no tariffs or import quotas. His argument went something like this: if American manufacturing goes to cheaper overseas manufacturers those products will still be sold in the U.S. The dollars generated from those sales will ultimately need to be spent in the U.S. thereby encouraging formation of new, more efficient businesses here. How did that work out? Well, all the manufacturing from the Midwest was relocated overseas and the profits generated did come back to the U.S. as bond sales. The Midwest was sucked dry but New York city (where the bond trading takes place) profited handsomely. Thanks but no thanks. Milton Friedman was wrong.<\/strong><\/p>\n I also agree about encouraging direct participation in our own governance. I\u2019m not sure what the solution is but I\u2019m willing to hear anyone\u2019s ides on the topic.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Unlike my predecessor Plato, I do not have unlimited access to papyrus scrolls so I have to be careful not to get too carried away<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1263],"tags":[455,3658,4507,2816,492,4506],"class_list":["post-28621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","category-stuff-that-personally-interests-me-miscellaneous","tag-dissident-right","tag-fixing-the-country","tag-platos-republic","tag-post-america","tag-the-great-divorce","tag-the-republic"],"yoast_head":"\n