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Tags: socialism writer's block politics
Published : 2 months ago (Tue, 30 Sep 2008 02:27:44 PDT)
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http://oblivionbystars.livejournal.com/99483.html 0 links
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I couldn't not answer this. Except I'm on possibly the least co-operative keyboard known to man, so there we go; expect this to be slow and riddled with errors.
One word.
Socialism.
Fairness. Civil rights; full legalisation of free abortion up to 24 weeks, legalisation of euthanasia. Minority rights; full protection for victims of anti-minority crime, legal protection for every alternative (and non-harmful to others) activity and lifestyle known to man. Consenting adults to be allowed to do anything whatsoever between them, providing it hurts no-one else.
Education reform. Abolition of university fees for those on an combined income of under, say, £150k a year. Increased funding for schools, increased provision for gifted and talented students and those with learning disabilities. Development of personalised learning and encouragement of differentiation. Abolition of private and paying schools, with their facilities, teachers and advantages to become available to the public sector. Schools to be atheist, with no 'collective acts of worship' to be enforced. However, tolerance and understanding of other religions to be taught fully, along with simple ethics and philosophy, to encourage debate.
Crime-wise, decriminalisation of marijuana, and standardising of fines (eg, so people who fail to sort their recycling are fined less than people on mild drink-driving charges).
Tax-wise, income tax to be decided on a sliding scale related to income level. Tax levels to be kept constant for those on low incomes, as indirect taxation hurts them far more than direct; those on high incomes to have an increased percentage of taxation, and personal fortunes to be limited to five million pounds, above which, without justification, any excess is confiscated and chanelled into combatting poverty or decreasing income inequality.
Incomes also should be regulated, and linked to the usefulness of the work one does to civilisation, the pleasantness of the work, and how skilled it is. For example, company CEOs may do a responsible and complex job, but not one that requires millions of pounds a year; sewer cleaners do an unpleasant and very necessary job, and deserve to be paid more than minimum wage. Also, increase in the minimum wage, paid for by the revenue on capped incomes, so that everyone has enough money to live and no-one has too much.
Environmentally, huge reform. Excess government money gained by increased taxation of the rich to be thrown into alternative sources of energy, with high targets for cutting carbon emissions, decreasing air travel except when absolutely necessary, and decreasing reliance on cars. The country's rail network to be re-nationalised, to ensure high-quality service at the lowest price possible, and vastly expanded, so that the vast majority of places have a connecting rail link, rendering travel by car impractical and unnecessary.
Foreign-policy-wise, a spirit of international trust and co-operation to be encouraged, including negotiation with foreign powers and governments. An end to policies which make it acceptable for the Western world to act like the world's 'police' and complete withdrawal from Iraq.
The main problem I see is that nobody would actually vote for it. It'd be perfectly simple to finance; cutting unnecessary government funding and subsidies for religious groups would free up money, and increased income tax would create far more resources. It'd be practical, it'd just require huge and sweeping reforms to implement. But if it worked, income inequality would be vastly decreased, and capitalism and its harmful effects would basically... be vastly reduced. |
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