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Ian Sheane

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What would your ideal government system look like?

What would your ideal government system look like? Is a two party system such a good idea?

Topics: 2012 US election government systems design
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  • Glenn Beaton

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    Dec 9 2012: Americans and Europeans tend to think that their government systems -- modified democracies -- are the best. I would submit that their certitude is chauvinistic.

    Democracies have a lot to be said for them. But the problem is that they leave decision-making to the masses. By definition the masses are, well, not exactly elite in their intellectual ability. Or their willingness to work hard, or think hard, or do much of anything that requires exceptional talent or ability.

    Ben Franklin famously said “When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.” We are on the verge of that. People have discovered that rather than earning money, they can simply vote to take it from those who earn it.

    A better system might be one where the decision-makers advance on the basis of their productivity, and not on the basis of their willingness to "spread the wealth around" as Mr. Obama put it in a candid moment.

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