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Why I Hate Politics

5/24/2013

3 Comments

 
Picture
These are the seats of the New Zealand government - the executive branch offices, parliament, and the library of congress - the world's most open government (US was 7th), the world's least corrupt government (US was 19th), the 4th most efficient government (US was 8th), and the 5th overall best government (US was 28th). We have so much we can learn from other countries.
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By now, I've already written a ton about politics. In four blog posts, I've discussed the Purpose of Government, I gave my 2012 Endorsement from Evolutionary Philosophy to President Obama, I described why his presidency resembled the Middle of a Turnaround using ideas from corporate change management, and I posted a sample passage from my novel Draining the Swamp, which is all about government and politics and one heroine's efforts to make a difference in them.

I love political philosophy. I love the possibilities that good governance can give us. I love the freedoms and interdependencies it has already given us. I love the step that America took to lead the world toward open, democratic societies. But I can't stand the constant stream of bad news lately about how broken the US political system is these days (with Republican obstructionism, the criminal ROI of corporations paying small sums to lobbyists for their enormous tax breaks, the apolitical IRS stupidly focusing on one political party, Monsanto getting politicians to anonymously add benefits for them into bills) and what that has done to our society (poor education, poor health care, crumbling infrastructure, dying ecosystems, high income inequality, mass shootings). It all gets me so angry because I want to do something about it, but then depressed because there's just not much more I can do. Some day, when I'm done writing these essays to help introduce and illustrate all the parts of Evolutionary Philosophy, I'm sure I'll write many op-eds (or is that op-Eds, short for the Opinion of Ed) about the politics of the day and what we might do to change them. It's something I'm hugely passionate about. If I thought I were electable, I'd run for office. But for now, let me just lay down some of my guiding principles of political philosophy.
 
Government / Politics
The purpose of government is to regulate the economic system by correcting market failures in order to best ensure the long-term survival of the species. Different strategies are required for the markets of different types of goods. Public goods (non-excludable, non-rivalrous) such as national defense, justice, and public utilities must be highly regulated or provided by government. Common goods (non-excludable, rivalrous) such as air, water, fish stocks, and timber must be protected for long-term sustainability. Club goods and private goods (both excludable) should be regulated towards perfect competition, which ensures maximum benefits for consumers. The six characteristics of perfect competition are: 1) many suppliers with an insignificant share of the market; 2) identical output produced by each firm; 3) consumers with perfect information about goods and prices; 4) all firms have equal access to resources and technologies; 5) there are no barriers to entry or exit in the long term; 6) there are no externalities in production or consumption of the goods.

The regulation of the economic system is an extraordinarily powerful position to occupy so there is great possibility and temptation to succumb to corruption by the money in the economic system. Corruption can occur anywhere singular people have hidden control over a decision. This is why checks and balances and transparency within the political system are of the utmost importance. It is also why only people of the highest character development should be chosen to work in this field.

Authoritarian or monarchical rule is plagued by the tyranny of the individual. A true democracy (all decisions made by majority vote) is plagued by the tyranny of the majority. The proper construction of a government is somewhere in the middle - a republic with representatives empowered to speak for the majority and the minority.

Among life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, life is paramount. This does not mean the life of an individual though; it means all life. Survival of the species is paramount. Individual freedom must therefore be constrained. Individual freedom must be subsumed to the cooperative goal of creating a lasting society. This is not a heavy burden as true happiness can only be found in a society that is safe for life. The appropriate sacrifices of the individual for the sake of society are merely the wise sacrifices of the short term for the sake of the long term.

Countries that recognize the evolutionarily philosophical goals of humanity, economics, and government will naturally desire to form coalitions of cooperation. Countries that do not recognize these goals may try to compete with these coalitions. They cannot be allowed to win. Cheaters within evolutionarily stable systems must not be allowed to win. Sovereignty is not a valid shield to hide behind when actions go beyond borders. Diplomacy, aid, ostracism, and force are the escalating options to deal with countries (corrupt leaders, really) that do not cooperate.

There are some commons that are common to the world. These must be regulated by an international system of protection and enforcement.


Political discussions become heated very quickly in today's world. I'm hoping discussions around political philosophy will be less so. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this - even though I kind of hate politics right now.

3 Comments
Andrej
5/24/2013 07:56:56 pm

yackety yak...

The problem once again are the people involved. I used to go back and forth on term limits, thinking that lobbyists would just suck up the power vacuum left when old timers timed out. Now I completely agree with term limits. The House is elected too often, they spend half their time getting elected, but changing that is not possible. I would go to 8 years for the House and 12 for the Senate and that if you serve in the House you can only serve one term as a Senator. Many states already have term limits for governors...

If politicians spent the energy, dedication, and hard work in governing as they do in getting elected, imagine how things would be. I would also shorten the campaign season dramatically.

Once more unenlightened, self-interested people are the problem...

I voted for Tomas More in the Perot-Clinton-Bush. I may not have it exactly right but I believe he wrote something like, "Those who seek public office shall be banned for life from seeking it." I would like to live in that part of Utopia.

Reply
@EdGibney link
5/26/2013 05:03:21 pm

And that's exactly why I had to go back to epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics in my Know Thyself section - utopia needs to be composed of utopians.

New Zealand decided to abolish an entire house of parliament in 1951 becoming unicameral. Can you imagine the outcry in the US if we tried to do something like that? I think people would literally set themselves on fire. Term limits or changing terms to 4-6 years seems tame by comparison. I've toyed with the idea of one house of congress being unelected - a civil servant position where people have to be skilled in crafting legislation and oversight. The elected house could propose their own bills but would probably be mostly a veto body bringing the voice of the people to the process. I'm also really intrigued by these "shadow governments" that UK commonwealth countries have. Alongside the political appointees from those in power, the opposition party gets to appoint people to oversee operations as well. It would be tough to implement in today's poisonous US environment, but in theory it should lead to more bi-partisanship simply because both parties have to interact more. Question time is amazing in these parliaments too. We got to watch one in New Zealand. The conversations were pretty theatrical, but at least they were talking on the record about the issues. The point is - we have a lot we can do to improve our governance but we are way too arrogant to even consider looking at what other people are doing. We just assume Washington, Jefferson, Adams, etc. had it all figured out back in 1776. That's insane. I'm almost coming around to the British idea that you don't need a formally written constitution. Almost.

Reply
Andrej
5/27/2013 01:15:03 pm

We need to improve the people who govern.... Gerrymandering has screwed us up to no end....

As to the unelected civil service, love the idea but how worked up to folks get about death panels, FCC commissioners, etc? Imagine the vitriol from Bachmann about unelected people making decisions.... Also, if you haven't please watch Yes, Minster and/or Yes, Prime Minister. Sir Humphrey is incredible as an unelected civil servant....




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