If you could have a clean slate and form your own country, what would it look like?

The questions below are just to provide inspiration and possible topics to cover, you don't have to answer them all or any of them really, just give an idea of how your country would run, and what life in that country would be like. If you have other suggestions for topics under those categories, awesome

Government:
-What system of government would you have?
-How would officials be placed in office?
-How would laws be made?
-Who leads the country?
-Are officials paid? and if so, How?

Citizens
-Who is elligable for citizenship?
-How do people become citizens?
-What does citizenship in your country mean?
-What rights do your citizens have?
-What is done about illegal immigration?

Taxes
-Are there taxes in your country?
-What do taxes pay for?
-How are they collected?
-Who collects taxes?
-What is taxed?

Healthcare
-What is your healthcare system like?
-Who runs your healthcare system?
-How are doctors paid?
-How does one become a doctor?

Schools
-What is your education system like?
-How are teachers/schools paid?
-What types of things are/arent allowed to be taught in schools?
-What type of higher education is there?

Military/Armed Forces/Law Enforcement/Jails/Prison
-What type of armed/unarmed forces do you have?
-What is your jail/prison system like?
-do you have a death penalty?
-Who pays law enforcement officials and soldiers?
-Who supports those in the jail/prison system?
-How are prisoners treated?
-How are deserters dealt with?(military)

Economy
-Who is allowed to own a business?
-What type of economical system do you have?
-How is it regulated?
-What types of things are regulated in your economy?

And so on and so forth. Go wild. What would your perfect country look like?

Government:
-What system of government would you have?

My government would be one of two things. The first (ideal)  system of government would be something like this. We pool all human knowledge from math, science, religion, literature, etc into one database. this database is accessed by a supercomputer that is able to connect any and all relevant information together to make literally the most informed decision possible. if you think about it, our decisions are based exactly on that- the information we have at the time. if we have the entire picture used to make decisions, there is no possible way that a better decision could have been made.

My second system would be an oligarchy. a small group of intelligent people debate with each other to form decisions.

-How would officials be placed in office?

1st option: they wouldnt.

2nd option: they would first have to pass several tests (which would be admistered to the entire population and would make sure they have the aptitude to lead/make informed and as close to unbiased decisions as possible). After this is complete, the highest scoring individuals would have debates with each other for as long as it takes for their views to be well expressed. The people would then elect a person to become part of the oligarchy (say, for example, there are 10 total people in the oligarchy). This would take place whenever an official had been in office for more than 2 years, to keep ideas fresh and power equal.

-How would laws be made?

1st option: laws would be arrived at, based on the best interest of humanity as a whole

2nd option: oligarchy presents their idea for a new law to the people, and the people vote on it.
-Who leads the country?

1st option: no one person does. everyone is legally equal, although natural leaders would still lead people in their day to day activities.

2nd option: the people. everyone votes for laws and decisions and the officials presenting those laws decisions

-Are officials paid? and if so, How?
In neither circumstance would officials be paid. in the oligarchy, they would be there solely because they want to be, not because of the money or power associated with it.

Citizens
-Who is elligable for citizenship?

anyone who can pass an intelligence test. no dumb people allowed haha

-How do people become citizens?

they apply for citizenship, take various aptitude tests, and if they pass are immediately citizens of my country.

-What does citizenship in your country mean?

you are not born into citizenship. you must want to be a citizen. thus, the people in the society choose to be in the society.

-What rights do your citizens have?

they can do whatever they want, however they want, whenever they want, as long as that does not inhibit another person's rights to do the same.

-What is done about illegal immigration?
what illegal immigration? if they want to be a citizen, they can become a citizen, if they are intelligent.

Taxes
-Are there taxes in your country?

If the community decides it is necessary for them

-What do taxes pay for?

whatever the community is levying them for

-How are they collected?

however the community decides they should be

-Who collects taxes?

people whose job it is to collect taxes?

-What is taxed?

whatever the community decides should be taxed

Healthcare
-What is your healthcare system like? free to all
-Who runs your healthcare system? run on local level. doctors are doctors because they want to be.
-How are doctors paid? they are not. they choose to be doctors because they want to be doctors, not because of money. they realize their contribution to society is part of a greater whole that directly affects them.
-How does one become a doctor? doctoral apprenticeship, few years of school to go over anatomy, diseases, etc

Schools
-What is your education system like? free. rigorous. constantly changing to incorporate the best possible education techniques and relevant information
-How are teachers/schools paid? they are not. they choose to be there because they want to help make a difference.
-What types of things are/arent allowed to be taught in schools? everything is allowed to be taught. if someone wants to be taught something, they will be taught something.
-What type of higher education is there? the people decide how long they go to school for.

Military/Armed Forces/Law Enforcement/Jails/Prison
-What type of armed/unarmed forces do you have? a necessary amount to make the benefits of invading the country outweighed by the losses of doing so
-What is your jail/prison system like? very small. people are not jailed. they are treated. most criminals are criminals because of their environment, not because of a criminal "nature." the insane people who kill to kill and things like that are removed from society and treated for their condition, humanely.
-do you have a death penalty? no.
-Who pays law enforcement officials and soldiers? the people enforce their own laws. if they feel it is necessary to appoint specific people to enforce the law, those appointed will want to have been appointed. every male would be trained in the military when they have reached a mature age (18 or so), but there will be no standing army.
-Who supports those in the jail/prison system? the people. if they feel it is necessary to remove a person from society, they will pay for it.
-How are prisoners treated? with compassion and a willingness to help, not condemnation.
-How are deserters dealt with?(military) if they do not want to defend their country, they do not really want to be in their country, so their citizenship is revoked and they will not be able to reapply for it.

Economy
-Who is allowed to own a business? no one will own bussinesses. there will be no competition between businesses. those concerned with a given issue will pool their resources to create the best possible product.
-What type of economical system do you have? resource based economy, not monetarily based.
-How is it regulated? it is not, because there is no need to.
-What types of things are regulated in your economy? no need for regulation.

Basically, the consensus of the public will be this:

we do not know who we are or where we are going in this universe. we have no idea what our lives mean to a greater whole in humanity, earth, and the universe. we do not know the nature of our universe, only of a small part of it. all we know is that we are in this life together, and we should help each other in any ways we can, because we do not have any reason not to. there is no reason to hate those unlike you, in fact those unlike you will most likely be able to help you grow as a person moreso than those who are similar to you. we work toward the betterment of humanity as a whole, not ourselves personally. we will continue our evolution to become more intelligent beings, united in a quest for knowledge, meaning, and love.

then, people who feel like that will want to be part of the country and will be granted citizenship, and the country will exceed any other country in standard of living, happiness, intelligence, and progress. that is my ideal country. it is basically what the Venus Project is advocating. look into it if you'd like. go to zeitgeistmovie.com and watch zeitgeist, zeitgeist addendum, and finally, the zeitgeist orientation, if this kind of thing interests you

Government, Citizens.

I like the stability and durability of the American form of government, though I would strengthen the citizenship requirement. Only those who have successfully completed four years of military service should be allowed the vote and run for elected office. The problem with the Western democracies is that voters think they can get something for nothing, and therefore rack up huge public debts, or vote to loot the wealth of their neighbors, without a view to the longterm consequences. My reasoning is that veterans are more likely to see themselves as citizens versus mere consumers, and therefore are more sensitive to the longterm consequences of policy decisions. In addition, if one is willing to risk their life for their country, then they have an emotional investment in it, and will be a *lot* more careful about their hopes, and their changes.

Taxes, Schools, Healthcare, Economy:

The government should be an umpire, not a big brother. Something like the American Constitution would work, provided voters follow the amendment procedures and don't vote for politicians who place activist judges believing in "living documents" on the bench. This  might be alleviated by strengthening the citizenship requirement-- the problem is with the demos, not the laws.

geturledout-- People already tried your system. It was called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Have you ever heard of it?

My reasoning is that veterans are more likely to see themselves as citizens versus mere consumers, and therefore are more sensitive to the longterm consequences of policy decisions. In addition, if one is willing to risk their life for their country, then they have an emotional investment in it, and will be a *lot* more careful about their hopes, and their changes

Yup, Heinlein made a great argument. The book is pure awesome, though the movie is a liberal Hollywood satire of it.

k, i have a couple questions for you in regards to option 1:

how do the people in your society put food on the table? are things rationed to them?
if doctors, elected officials, etc. don't get paid, how do they support themselves?
i can't see where the money to pay for their houses, let alone their taxes,
what about people who thrive on competition? are they not allowed in your society?
what happens to people who go through the jail treatment system and aren't cured?
how are people cured? what happes to them during their treatment?
your society doesn't seem to be based on money, what reward is there for a hard days work? what keeps people moving forward? what sense of accomplishment is there? doesn't seem like there's any sense of action and consequence, reward and punishment in your society since there's no competition.. it sounds rather marxist to me, everyone working tirelessly towards the good of the society.. don't get me wrong, it sounds lovely if it worked... i just can't see it working.. and looking at what's happened to countries like russia, china and germany, it doesn't sound like such a good idea to try.

coralaisy--

A better question than all those above is whether Mammon can survive without God, and vice versa.

The system of natural liberty, labeled capitalism by its enemies, has always had a moral component. It assumes individuals are free moral agents-- hence the Victorian emphasis on self-help, self-interest, self-restraint, self-respect, and self-discipline. In a world without traditional morality, people clamor for the state to bail them out, from a single mother demanding free health care, to a prison system that must incarcerate millions to protect personal safety. Without morality, Keynesian economics becomes common sense both at the household level and the public sphere -- we delude ourselves into believing that consumption, extravagance, and improvidence are good for us, while savings, frugality, and financial foresight are the plagues of society.

On the other hand, in a compassionate, softcore, Euro-socialist world, why be moral? Actions have no rewards and no punishments-- everyone gets bailed out. If one works Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for the government, and only Friday for yourself, why care about the future? Why care about starting a family? We would all be little children, getting our small allowance from the government to spend on weekend fun. When we subtract Muslim immigrants, secular Europe is depopulating itself rapidly, largely because of this reason.

This is why the debate is currently between conservatism and progressivism-- libertarianism can't be on the menu. Mars, Mammon, and Jehovah are natural allies, just as Venus, Leviathan, and Dionysus also stick together. It is a small step from a hedonistic stimulus to an economic stimulus.

you bring up some excellent points and remind me that i didn't add religion in the list of topics to discuss.

I suppose that in these times, 'threat' of being jailed acts as god in terms of a reason to be moral... and considering that, it's no wonder we're seeing the crime numbers we are (since jail here really isn't a threat, or anything to fear... but that's another thread). there's no such thing as accountability anymore, there is no sense of action and consequence (at least in America, where I live) and it's really destroying the country. Add in the fact that people here want everything "free" (which really doesn't exist, there's always a cost, but that's also another topic for another thread) just leads me to believe that they have some idea other than my own about what the responsibilities of government really are, how things work and how they should work. which is a big part of why i'm asking this question: to see what others think.