My Plan: a Reprise

[I wrote this a year ago, and it bears repeating because nothing has changed (yet.)]

It is clear that powerful interests are trying to prevent economic recovery in the United States.  They are behind the Tea Party as well as other retrogressive initiatives that have come forward recently.  They are actually profiting from the high unemployment and sluggish growth that afflicts us.  These interests are not publicly held companies, they are private corporations and industries that find the conditions of high unemployment and depressed wages to be helpful to their businesses.  They feel that the employees are more docile when they feel lucky to have any job, even at the minimum wage.

Unfortunately, these conditions are unstable.  The extreme levels of income and wealth inequality that exist now cause social unrest and intensify anger in dispossessed populations.  Extreme inequality leads to social disintegration.  Our current systems are trending towards more and more inequality.  I think that there will inevitably be an increase in social unrest and just plain violence (like the Newtown massacre).  To this end, it is useful that there are an estimated 276 million firearms in private hands in the United States.

To combat inequality, government must be established that takes effective measures.  Progressive taxation is one measure that is likely to prove efficient over the long term.  Insulation from financial risks for the individual is also essential.  One of the most serious individual financial risks is currently serious illness: 60% of bankruptcies list medical bills.  Single payer medical insurance is the most effective answer to this problem.  Premiums for medical insurance would be paid through the income tax, thus progressive as well.  European countries that use this system pay half of what we pay for medical care, and no-one is bankrupted by illness or injury.

One aspect of government that must be established in order to achieve greater equality is truly representative government.  This will be established by outlawing all campaign contributions.  All publicity for campaigns must come from a public fund that includes free television time.  The right to use the public airways will include a tax on broadcasters that covers the cost of providing TV time.  Candidates will first be selected locally by small groups, say a hundred people, and then progress to larger groups, say of ten thousand.  After passing through these primaries, candidates can use TV time to reach voters en masse.

Voting will be required of all citizens; the right to vote will be conferred by a free identity card issued by the federal government.  The card will contain a unique number that can be used to vote through any medium, including the telephone.  Ballots will include, in addition to the names of all qualified candidates and a write in line, a choice of “none of the above.”  The polls will be open continuously from the time the campaign starts until a prescribed cut-off date and time.

That’s my plan.