What would you do to fix everything ?

[PolyNewbie]

Here are some characteristics of what I would consider an ideal system. This sytem couldn't be implemented practically but I think this is what an ideal system would look like IMO

(1) All elected representatives required to read legislature before voting on it

(2) Nationalization of both petroleum & other natural resources as well as the banks

(3) Regional education governance bodies and cirriculum designers

(4) Public supervision of professionals, lawyers & cops as well as others except in the case of medical

(5) Re Instated borders and the elimination of free trade

(6) Floride in water made illegal

(7) Doctors required to take Hyppocratic Oath

(8) Politicians can only run in ridings where they live

(9) Manually counted voting system

(10) 100 % Public funding of election campains based on signatures. More public debating.

(11) Elected officials have no memberships in secret societies

(12) Free education for anyone

(13) Proportional income taxes when income tax is necessary

(14) Military strong but used to guard national borders not used for imperial conquest. We have everything we need and then some already.

I do not think corporate governance needs to be addressed. In the above system monetary reform would ensure responsible governance of corps. It would eliminate the need for income tax and extend lifespans as well as life quality. There would be fewer illegal drugs and a more creative, informed and interactive society.

We would get there fast if we got monetary reform.

[Canuck E Stan]

Here are some characteristics of what I would consider an ideal system. This sytem couldn't be implemented practically but I think this is what an ideal system would look like IMO

Welcome to Canacuba, or would it be Cubanada?

[geoffrey]

(4) Public supervision of professionals, lawyers & cops as well as others except in the case of medical

I'll play this game. Why the exception for medical and not accountants, or lawyers. Do you really think the guy that can give you a lobotomy needs less oversight than me doing your taxes?

[PolyNewbie]

geoffery:Do you really think the guy that can give you a lobotomy needs less oversight than me doing your taxes?

No I don't. Medical issues are always wide ranging and have ethical issues. Without big pharma control of medacine and the doctors taking the hypocratic oath we would be safe from bad medacine.

It would not be difficult to determine if an engineer or accountant was behaving unethically - in fact its easily proven compared to medacine. Lawyers should not have self governance simply from my experience and some obvious facts about the law society that makes it bad for the public & great for lawyers. It would be difficult for the public to determine wrong doing but this is preferable to the situation now where no one even tries (no investigations are done) by the law society.

So you agree with all my other points ?

[geoffrey]

So you agree with all my other points ?

I agree with 3, 6, and 8. But that's it. Here is my problems with the other items:

(1) All elected representatives required to read legislature before voting on it

I see your point but it's unlikely to help and it's impossible to enforce. Most politicans know nothing on economic policy, environmental science or engineering safety standards. That's what committees are for, they hear witnesses, they discuss, they change. Then they summarize for the non-thinking mass that the House of Commons is.

I can promise you that 80% of the MP's in Ottawa don't understand a majority of the bills, let alone read them. It's an impossible standard.

(2) Nationalization of both petroleum & other natural resources as well as the banks

Petroleum is owned by the government in Canada, provincially to be exact. Oil companies simply offer extraction services to the government, buying rights to extract various tracts of land and their payment is whatever profit they can deliver from that extraction. It's no different than any other government service industry, oil companies merely provide a service.

Nationalised oil is costly and rarely works as effectively as private oil. We tried it with Petro Can remember? The cost of the buyouts were massively inflated and the company underperformed anyone else in the market. It's not healthy for the economy. If people want to provide a service to extract the oil (it's worthless in the ground), I have no problem with people doing that privately. Oil exploration must remain in the private domain.

Onto banks, I think that opening up more private banks and allowing competition from foreign owned banks will allow the customers the greatest access to niche solutions for their banking needs. As well, the competition would allow the big banks to be held in line.

With the increase in institutional lending sources in Canada, those banks will also have less control over economic growth and inflation by their lending policies, something that you advocate from a different point of view.

(4) Public supervision of professionals, lawyers & cops as well as others except in the case of medical

Disagree. Public peopple know very little about the work of professionals, professionals are the best to oversee the work of their peers, they have a vested interest in the accountability of an organization because their value in the workforce is based on that reputation. A CA or a lawyer is going to be very concerned with unethical behavoir in their profession as it reflects poorly on themselves. We see that with a whole shwack of new accounting regulations brough on by the accounting profession (though some came from securities regulators) in the post Arthur Anderson/Enron/WorldCom cafluffle.

(5) Re Instated borders and the elimination of free trade

Through international trade, countries take advantage of their comparative advantages and we all become more wealthy. Absolutely free trade is required for us to acheive our highest possible standard of living, and we are a long way from that. National borders to trade are out of date and reflect a nationalist thinking that is no longer valid in the world as it is today.

I want to buy goods off 3rd world Asians and Africans because they make them cheap by my standards. And they want to sell me good because it raises their standard of living... my penny is worth much more to them than it is to me, and their surplus goods are worth more to me than to them. It makes sense for us to trade.

The biggest problem I see currently with trade is that only the big businesses partake in it. If I want to buy said African's goods, I need to go through Walmart, who inflates the Africans price and distorts the availability of perfect competition as they select the vendors that access the North American market... an African cannot freely enter and exit our market. And that's the problem.

More direct trade, and investment in small business outside of our country would be very beneficial not only to our wealth in Canada, but in bringing the 3rd world towards sustainability. Microloans are a fantastic example of such behavoir... I'd love to personally have more access to be able to loan Africans money. The returns are great, the repayment is nearly 100%, and it makes sustainable businesses and jobs for otherwise starving people in poverty. There is nothing more liberating than personal success, and it's a beacon to others in their community. That's free trade... not what we see right now with corporations like Walmart collectively screwing the 3rd world and selling to us at grossly inflated prices.

We need to open our markets up to small business foreign companies, that's when we'll reach our highest possible economic success, and we'll bring Africa out of horrendous poverty.

The source of my personal decision to never shop at a Walmart.

(7) Doctors required to take Hyppocratic Oath

Aren't they already? Even still, what does an Oath really do? People lie on the witness stand all the time.

(9) Manually counted voting system

A partisan hack counting votes is no less a risk than an evoting system that may be hacked into. Both systems have their fraud concerns. I think that we'll see more security in the long term with e-voting. Perhaps even from the comfort of your home.

(10) 100 % Public funding of election campains based on signatures. More public debating.

Bah. I actually don't even like donation limits. I should be able to fund as much of my cause as I wish. Also, we must allow 3rd party advertisers to speak their minds at election time. I don't agree with the gag law.

(11) Elected officials have no memberships in secret societies

Impossible to enforce and rather needless. If I know of their memberships before hand (it's possible to find out, and if it's not, we'll never know to enforce it), what's the big deal.

(12) Free education for anyone

Primary and secondary sure, give everyone a platform to succeed. But post-secondary should come at a high cost to encourage only those truly committed to attend. We have far too many people taking flakey degrees at the public expense as an excuse to not become responsible at life. I have no problem with people taking a few years to discover themselves, but not at the public expense. Go get lost in Europe or something, not take up a valuable chair in a class and cost the taxpayers thousands a year.

(13) Proportional income taxes when income tax is necessary

Flat income tax is my preferred taxation, it allows people to work more without facing financial punishment. Progressively taxation discourages productivity and increased employment (say a P/Ter going to F/T).

(14) Military strong but used to guard national borders not used for imperial conquest. We have everything we need and then some already.

We need to have a strong presence in the world in order to protect those that cannot protect themselves. I'm not one to believe that we should watch millions die just because they live on a different side of the world. Rwanda is an example where peace was likely and deaths could have been prevented by just having troops there. No war was needed, but hundreds of thousands would still be alive.

My two cents (which the bank invented according to PN )

[jbg]

(4) Public supervision of professionals, lawyers & cops as well as others except in the case of medical

I'll play this game. Why the exception for medical and not accountants, or lawyers. Do you really think the guy that can give you a lobotomy needs less oversight than me doing your taxes?

A lobotomy for the author of this thread would be a public service.