On Neo-communism (standard:Editorials, 2391 words)
Author: St George	Added: Aug 23 2002	Views/Reads: 13782/12519	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
My own socio-political ideology, I just thaught I'd run it up the flag pole and see who saluted, so to speak

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economic ladder would know that more affluent people are more 
productive. Those at the higher end would be more valuable members of 
society and therefore the hierarchy is stable with everyone realising 
that their position is solely down to themselves. 

A society must have leaders, but power inevitably corrupts; once this
simple fact is accepted it can be taken into consideration. Like a 
person's career choice, the choice to enter politics should be 
vocational rather than economic. Steps must be taken to preclude the 
possibility of career politicians, for whom power is an end rather than 
a tool. I propose that the hypothetical nation be split into different 
cantons, each comprising no more than 15% of the population, though 
smaller cantons may be necessary due to geography, economic 
considerations and population density/dispersal. Each canton elects a 
senator for a maximum of two years and for a maximum of two consecutive 
terms, with at least four years between non-consecutive terms. All 
senators must have another job from which it can be proven they get the 
majority of their income; a senator is paid only expenses plus a small 
amount in recognition of his services. All senators will meet (not 
necessarily a physical meeting, teleconferencing is often more 
practical) once a month in order to decide national issues and every 
year they will elect a lord protector from amongst their number. The 
lord protector has no additional powers but is officially head of state 
and will represent the country at official functions both at home and 
overseas. 

When deciding national issues each senator has one vote or may abstain;
if 10% or more of his canton request it, the senator must hold a 
referendum to decide his vote. Each canton may decide its own 
producer/consumer threshold and set its own taxes. If 25% or more of 
the population of a canton request it, a senator must hold an election 
to re-elect or replace him. Although a senator may be religious, the 
senate must be secular and not allow religion to influence legislature. 
The legislative system is bicameral. As well as the lower house (the 
senate) there is an upper house (the diet) made up of one person from 
each canton; the members of the diet are not elected but selected 
randomly once a year and hold the post for one year. The post is a 
secret and those selected cannot reveal themselves to anyone except the 
police. The magistrates (members of the diet) do not meet, but when a 
new act is passed by the senate the diet votes on it. The diet has 
power of veto, if 66% of the magistrates vote against an act then the 
senate must wait one year to re-propose it. Because magistrates are 
selected randomly, the diet is made up of people who would not normally 
enter politics, it acts as a barrier to unjust actions should the 
senate become corrupt. Because each magistrate does not know the 
identities of his fellows it is impossible for one to influence 
another. Judges, senators, and anyone with a criminal record are all 
excluded from selection, as is anyone who has been a magistrate within 
the last ten years. A person may become a senator at 18 and is eligible 
for magistrate selection at 21. 

A person is eligible to vote at 18 and anyone over 21 who fails to vote
is fined; if a person wishes to not vote in protest, they must register 
a protest abstention on election day to avoid a fine. Anyone with a 
criminal record is ineligible to vote. The election system is such that 
a person does not vote for the candidate that they wish to win, instead 
they vote for the candidate they most dislike, therefore the candidate 
with the fewest votes is elected. In a multi-candidate election this 
system is fairer than first passed the post. For example: let's say 
there were three candidates, X got 25%, Y got 35% and Z got 40%; with 
the first passed the post system Z would win even though 60% of the 
voters did not want Z elected. With negative voting the candidate that 
won would be the most popular and therefore have the fewest votes. 

Law enforcement will be carried out by a uniformed armed service, which
will also defend the country in time of war. The courts will be divided 
into criminal, commercial and civil. Three trial judges and thirteen 
jurors will try each major criminal case, each trial judge having three 
votes and each juror one. Sentencing will be carried out by a fourth 
sentencing judge. Sentencing judges will never try cases only decide 
sentences. Jurors and judges will never see or hear defendants or 
victims, as cases will be presented in text form, in this way they can 
only decide guilt or innocence based on fact. Guilt must be proved 
beyond reasonable doubt, one is innocent until proven guilty. Once an 
individual is convicted they are under no requirement to admit guilt or 
show remorse in order to qualify for parole, in this way if an innocent 
person is convicted they may keep some dignity. Commercial and civil 
courts will be based on an arbitrationary system rather than an 
adversarial one, with both parties being represented by the same court 
appointed impartial arbitrator. The arbitrator's mandate is not to 
secure the best deal for one party but to help both to reach a 
compromise. 

Violent crimes against the person are dealt with most harshly and for
murder the harshest punishment is necessary; extenuating circumstances 
will not be considered in murder cases. As with all major physical 
violence crimes there will be two trials, the first will decide guilt 
or innocence, the second will decide whether the conviction is safe 
enough to employ the death penalty. If the conviction is considered 
safe enough then capital punishment must be employed, if the conviction 
is not solid enough then a prison sentence will be delivered with the 
understanding that, should new evidence strengthen the conviction then 
the perpetrator may still be executed. Capital punishment is deemed 
acceptable because the whole philosophy of neo-communism is based 
around contribution to society and by taking a person's life; one 
commits the ultimate deduction from society. There will be two levels 
of illegal activity, offences and crimes. An offence is a minor 
transgression and once punishment is completed the offender is absolved 
of blame; a crime is more serious, committing a crime earns a criminal 
record which is permanent and affects the individual's rights. 

A society has a duty not just to it's citizens but also to the world at
large, therefore population controls are necessary. Under this system 
each individual has the right to bear 75% of a child, therefore when 
two people decide to have a child then they, between them, have the 
right to have another half child. They may either sell their half-right 
to another couple or buy a half right from another couple. Therefore 
two people can have as large a family as they can afford. Under this 
system deaths will outnumber births but the shortfall will be made up 
with immigration and with the inevitable birth of ‘extra' unlicensed 
children. 

Immigrants would be afforded full citizens' rights but only those who
would contribute to the society will be allowed entrance. Immigration 
can therefore be used as a ‘regulation valve' to maintain a given 
population, with more or fewer visas granted as the situation dictates. 
Immigration raises the question of alien cultures, the goal of the 
neo-communist state is to achieve social wealth and this is achieved by 
becoming a multi-ethnic society whilst remaining a uni-cultural one. An 
immigrant is expected to adopt the culture, customs and language of the 
native population; furthermore, they are expected to raise their 
children primarily in the native culture giving secondary importance to 
the parent's original culture. It is the duty of the population to 
resist alien cultural influences, in this way they force said 
influences to prove their worth for eventual adoption and to dispense 
with any undesirable influences. 

In a neo-communist state personal freedom and holistic wealth is the
ideal, the philosophy is simple: one's life, status and wealth are all 
dependent on one's self. However it must be recognised that the needs 
of the many outweigh the needs of the few, and the good of the society 
must be placed above the good of the individual; this is why 
jury/magistrate service are compulsory for those selected. This is also 
the reason for the harsh punishment of crimes which infringe on others 
personal freedoms. History tells us that in the majority of cases 
rehabilitation of serious offenders does not work. Therefore prison 
sentences are geared toward the dual objectives of punishment for the 
convict and protection for society. One need not go so far as the 
Victorian idea of ‘solitude and servitude' in order to effect 
punishment, however the prisoner should be denied all but the 
necessities of life. When an individual breaks a law they make a 
statement that they believe the law of the land to be wrong, because of 
this anyone convicted of a major crime will, upon completion of their 
sentence, be treated with lower priority should they require help from 
the police. 

Rider: 1) This is an ideology and therefore it is unworkable in the real
world. 2) Although I have used gender specific pronouns above, in a 
neo-communist state sexual, racial and physical equality is valued, 
though positive discrimination is looked down on. 3) In a perfect world 
I would be a communist, but communism does not work. 4) I am a fascist, 
in that I believe the state must come before the individual and that 
the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. 5) I condemn 
no-one, even if their views are incompatible with my own ...  please 
show me the same courtesy. 


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