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by dion.
Original Post: GrahamLand? A new constitution
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Graham Glass has bravely started to blog about his consitution.
It is a brave thing to do, as it tells everyone a LOT about him. A lot more than a post on your cat, or your coding style/preferences.
He has a lot of good ideas, and seems basically libertarian.
In a perfect world his ideas could really work, but I think that there is a flaw.
His government would only be in control of a few things (defense, policing, etc) and a bulk of the money would come in via free markets.
One item talks about Charity, and how it is better than welfare.
If we relied on people giving, there is a chance that we all step up to the plate and the world is good.
My problem though is that this puts HUGE power into the rich (not that this isn't true in the current world) and those with money to give (although I know that people with little money statistically give a lot more money than those with more money).
Those with money can choose the charities that they give too, and we will see even more lobbying for charities. Many groups of people will get nothing, and will be in real dire straits.
With education being in the private market, surely the rich will have the best schools (not saying this isn't the case now).
I would rather strive for a country that was willing to pitch in for the better of the entire society. Talk to people in Denmark (include many other countries) and most do not complain about their "high taxes" but are PROUD of the services available, and how they treat their people as whole.
One of the major issues is that you do not choose your parents. This doesn't just affect direct implications (how good your parents are at parenting) but it also puts you into an initial social class. This means that many start way behind the eight ball and have to work that much harder to get out.
Graham does have some interesting ideas here, and I agree with a lot of the social ideas (marriage, religion, etc) but feel there is more to discuss on some of the other social ideas.
Graham is a successful entrepreneur already, and when he sells Education 2.0, maybe he can buy an island and put this constitution to a test via the republic of Grahamland :)