The Perfect State

I am considering buying an unpopulated island that doesn't belong to any country and establishing a new sovereign state. That's an easy part, of course. The hard part is to make it perfect. What would you put in the Constitution of the Perfect State?
Here are a few of my ideas:

Preamble: We the people of the Perfect State, in order to form a perfect state, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Perfect State.

We the people of the Perfect State hold it self-evident that the governments tend to become self-serving, corrupted and oppressive. The government of The Perfect State shall be run by volunteers only (the JavaRanch model). The government of the Perfect State is the government for the people by the volunteers.

The model of the Perfect State is direct representation (see next item) without taxation: there shall be no taxation (individual or corporate) of any kind, including, but not limited to, income, sales, property, use, excise, or transaction taxes. However, the citizens can send their contributions to the government purely on the volunteer basis.

Direct democracy: all vital policies are decided by the majority in direct and anonomous voting by the citizens of the state who have been the residends of the state for at least 5 years.

No armed forces. It's the right (but not the obligation) of the citizens of the Perfect State to defend themselves against foreign agressors.

There shall be no entitlement programs run by the government (such as health, pension, unemployment, public welfare, or disability programs) of any kind. The citizens are expected to take full responsibility for their welfare, using private insurance and financial planning.

There shall be no laws or regulations restricting the individual freedom of the citizens of the Perfect State, incuding, but not limited to, the right of the citizens to alter the state of their mind and body (euthanasia, abortion, yoga, intoxication by drugs, etc)

We the people of the Perfect State hold it self-evident that the morals are relative in time and space, and the only moral absolute is the superiority of the individual over the society. The Perfect State shall not legislate or prescribe morality. The citizens of the Perfect State are free to excersize polygamy and monogamy, any form of sexual expression, practice any form of religion or system of beliefs, be affiliated with any political party, as long as it doesn't prevent other citizens to live by their own system of values. For example, as an owner of a private enterprize, a citizen of the Perfect State shall be free to discriminate the job applicants on the basis of their age, race, religion, gender, physical handicap, and sexual orientation, just as (s)he shall be free to discriminate by these factors when selecting a spouse.

The state shall not interfere, control, or manipulate the free market forces. All schools, fire departments, postal services, transportation, and parks shall be run by private enterprizes on the competitive basis.

The citizens of the Perfect State shall have no obligations or responsibilities toward the state, and the state shall have no obligations or responsibilities toward its citizens, except for enforcing this Constitution. The Perfect State is for the selfish cosmopolitans whose prime drive is the pursuit of happiness.

The official slogan of the Perfect State shall be, "Think not what you can do for your country, think what you can do for yourself". The official state flag shall be a circle-shaped piece of steel painted all white, reflecting the natural beauty (flag shape), robustness (flag material), and purity (flag color) of The Pefect State.

[ June 29, 2003: Message edited by: Eugene Kononov ]

Ban to Religious preachers. Your 80% problem is solved.
Population control is another problem which should be taken care from the very begining of YOUR country

Now rest depends how much people work to make money.

i'll give u my personal suggestien,
make law and and order system as islamic law and order system.implement islamic ruling techniques.it's the best system in my openion.
i m telling this without any prejudices.
democracy changed like this,
'by the thieves,for the thieves,of the thieves'
basha

i'll give u my personal suggestien, make law and and order system as islamic law and order system.implement islamic ruling techniques.it's the best system in my openion.
Something like Taliban?

Originally posted by Eugene Kononov:
i'll give u my personal suggestien, make law and and order system as islamic law and order system.implement islamic ruling techniques.it's the best system in my openion.
Something like Taliban?

Nothing like an opressive theocracy to create an environment where a people can thrive. :roll:

No armed forces. It's the right (but not the obligation) of the citizens of the Perfect State to fight against foreign agressors.
Not sure what you mean here. They can fight, but they can't be armed? They're not allowed to be organized in any way? Perhaps you mean that, thought they may indeed be armed and organized, individuals would at all times retain the right to decide not to participate, up to and including the possibility of deserting their fellows just before or during a battle?
I'm having a hard time imagining how PS might be able to credibly deter other nations from pushing them aside and taking any resources that they coveted. Is PS dependent on some external entity for protection? The US or UN? Or does it just locate itself somewhere with no resources anyone would want, and hope that it remains poor enough that no other countries would ever want to steal from it? Of parhaps it would exist on a Perfect Planet where none of our current nations exist, and no similar nations will ever form because with the shining example of PS everyone will opt for a friendlier system.
Does PS have anything resembling a police force? (All volunteer, I assume.) Do they have any authority to do - well, anything? If for example they learn of a father who routinely sodomizes his ten-year-old daughter, can the (or should they) do anything about it? Or does this fall under the relavite morality clause? Perhaps the police department chooses what it will do based on what it thinks people will send it contributions in return for. Sounds like a neighborhood protection racket to me. Can police accept contributions directly? Does the check have to be made out to the department, or might Officer Smith suggest that unmarked bills are preferable?
Just a few thoughts that occurred to me as I was mulling this over...
[ June 29, 2003: Message edited by: Jim Yingst ]

Originally posted by Eugene Kononov:
Something like Taliban?

good questien eugane.
first, let me tell that i dont have any special conciderations to islam.so u may ask,why my openion goes on this side,the reason is,
now the world is very deceptive.the level of deception is came to the root level of public.so for competing,deceptive tactics are becoming as standards and deception is everywhere.who is losing?.who is winning?.and why the world become like this?.
all probloms in all nations are made by a small group of people.but it's not easy to trace them becoz they are really smart for their duty.they distruts the trust between people by motivating them toward evil-side for making certain selfish purpose.

take a group consists off 10 people.
6 out of 10 people maybe very straight-minded.but they only posess the mentality of the group.means if the morality of the group is on evil-side,their morality is also like that.vice-versa.so who decides the morality of the group?.
by the remaining 4 of the 10 people,2 maybe evil-thinking.and 2 maybe very constructievely thinking(maybe less as only 1).so there is a battle between these forces.and the winning team'll decide the morality of the group.for winning,a lot of external influences will also affect.and ofcource the evil-forces is having an edge to win becoz common humen minds tend towars easy-side easely.and both sides use persuation tactics.evil-persuation will easely work in average humen minds.
so for winning,the constructive team needs strong structured system.every government is having it at certain extend.like police,rules etc.
now we can come into mass public.we now saw the life becomes boring everywhere.on my openion the reason is humens are living by their 'head's rather than their 'hearts'.why an average person is not trusting another?.what is the reason?.
if u think,u can find the answer that evil-persuation is the real victim behind it.nowadays people is not opening their minds towards any others.he is fearing something.and this situation happenes becoz of the influence of the evil-forces in the society.and all 'current systems' are very open to these forces.
so an effective 'ruling system' must be very well protected against this evil forces in any way.evil-forces can be brainwashing,maybe it's sex,maybe it's cheating.i think all 'present ruling systems' failed here.so we are suffering.more than 70% of public just look for feel-good scenarios for present moment.they'll not think in a large scale.so a very strong system is required.
i think islamic law and order is very adequate for ur country for a long run.
basha

If I have a design for a perfect flawless bread slicer, like nothing ever devised, always cuts the bread perfectly square and exactly the same thickness for each slice and never wastes any bread (unless you're picky and don't like heal), but I can only acquire materials that are imperfect, then how well will my assembled bread slicer work? The same analogy applies to Utopia. The reason you can't have a perfect society is because you don't have the main ingredient: perfect humans. But if you had perfect humans, there would be no need to devise a perfect society.

Originally posted by basha khan:

good questien eugane.
first, let me tell that i dont have any special conciderations to islam.so u may ask,why my openion goes on this side,the reason is,
now the world is very deceptive.the level of deception is came to the root level of public.so for competing,deceptive tactics are becoming as standards and deception is everywhere.who is losing?.who is winning?.and why the world become like this?.
all probloms in all nations are made by a small group of people.but it's not easy to trace them becoz they are really smart for their duty.they distruts the trust between people by motivating them toward evil-side for making certain selfish purpose.

take a group consists off 10 people.
6 out of 10 people maybe very straight-minded.but they only posess the mentality of the group.means if the morality of the group is on evil-side,their morality is also like that.vice-versa.so who decides the morality of the group?.
by the remaining 4 of the 10 people,2 maybe evil-thinking.and 2 maybe very constructievely thinking(maybe less as only 1).so there is a battle between these forces.and the winning team'll decide the morality of the group.for winning,a lot of external influences will also affect.and ofcource the evil-forces is having an edge to win becoz common humen minds tend towars easy-side easely.and both sides use persuation tactics.evil-persuation will easely work in average humen minds.
so for winning,the constructive team needs strong structured system.every government is having it at certain extend.like police,rules etc.
now we can come into mass public.we now saw the life becomes boring everywhere.on my openion the reason is humens are living by their 'head's rather than their 'hearts'.why an average person is not trusting another?.what is the reason?.
if u think,u can find the answer that evil-persuation is the real victim behind it.nowadays people is not opening their minds towards any others.he is fearing something.and this situation happenes becoz of the influence of the evil-forces in the society.and all 'current systems' are very open to these forces.
so an effective 'ruling system' must be very well protected against this evil forces in any way.evil-forces can be brainwashing,maybe it's sex,maybe it's cheating.i think all 'present ruling systems' failed here.so we are suffering.more than 70% of public just look for feel-good scenarios for present moment.they'll not think in a large scale.so a very strong system is required.
i think islamic law and order is very adequate for ur country for a long run.
basha

I guess that mean the Taliban model government is the best.

Originally posted by Jim Yingst:
No armed forces. It's the right (but not the obligation) of the citizens of the Perfect State to fight against foreign agressors.
Not sure what you mean here. They can fight, but they can't be armed? They're not allowed to be organized in any way? Perhaps you mean that, thought they may indeed be armed and organized, individuals would at all times retain the right to decide not to participate, up to and including the possibility of deserting their fellows just before or during a battle?
I'm having a hard time imagining how PS might be able to credibly deter other nations from pushing them aside and taking any resources that they coveted. Is PS dependent on some external entity for protection? The US or UN? Or does it just locate itself somewhere with no resources anyone would want, and hope that it remains poor enough that no other countries would ever want to steal from it? Of parhaps it would exist on a Perfect Planet where none of our current nations exist, and no similar nations will ever form because with the shining example of PS everyone will opt for a friendlier system.
Does PS have anything resembling a police force? (All volunteer, I assume.) Do they have any authority to do - well, anything? If for example they learn of a father who routinely sodomizes his ten-year-old daughter, can the (or should they) do anything about it? Or does this fall under the relavite morality clause? Perhaps the police department chooses what it will do based on what it thinks people will send it contributions in return for. Sounds like a neighborhood protection racket to me. Can police accept contributions directly? Does the check have to be made out to the department, or might Officer Smith suggest that unmarked bills are preferable?
Just a few thoughts that occurred to me as I was mulling this over...
[ June 29, 2003: Message edited by: Jim Yingst ]

Although it appears Eugene and I are psychic blood brothers on this general concept and others, I had the same concerns with there being no army/police etc. What's wrong with a volunteer army like the US has now?
I also used to have this same perfect island society fantasy. Actually it should not be so unrealistic to buy an island for a few million from one of the poorer Caribbean nations. So maybe we ranchers could pool our resources one day...

I think the perfect state that I would like to live in would be something like Iain M Banks The Culture
Unfortunately its just plain fiction, but I still believe that some form of democratic system is the next best thing.

I love the spirit, but it did cross my mind as I read it that these 'Human slavetraders' that we have here in NYC, (in Chinatown), are going to love that place. I didn't see any laws against trading humans or owning humans or pimping out humans.
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I read this book not too long ago:Warrior Politics by Robert D. Kaplan. This book as a good section about the early English philosophers, namely Hobbes and Locke, (as well many other classical philosophers and historians.) These are the guys that inspired our American Revolutionaries.
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He mentions, (quite intelligently), something to the effect that Man is innately in search of more and more material things and the freedom to acquire these things. We then set up governments to 'take away' some of our freedoms, so we can protect ourselves from folks that will kill, injure to acquire more, as is in one's nature.
He talks about how too much freedom will yield chaos and folks will turn a blind eye to oppression, if only to have a sense of order restored.
He applies the lessons of antiquity to today's world, using comtemporary figures. It is worth the read.

How will the Perfect State combat the innate drive to acquire more material goods?
Will the citizens of Perfect State choose to give up some freedom, for a sense of security?? or will the chaos led to tyrrant who can restore order??

I think think the perfect state that I would like to live in would be something like Iain M Banks The Culture
Agreed - if we can get those nice benevolent AI's to manage everything for us effectively. But I don't recall much convincing detail on how this worked. It's been a while though, and I guess I have several novels to catch up on now...

Jim: Not sure what you mean here. They can fight, but they can't be armed? They're not allowed to be organized in any way? Perhaps you mean that, thought they may indeed be armed and organized, individuals would at all times retain the right to decide not to participate, up to and including the possibility of deserting their fellows just before or during a battle?
What I meant was that PS should have no professional army, but the citizens have the right to bear arms and protect themselves against the aggressors. And yes, the PS doesn't have any concept of "patriotism" or "treason", -- they are completely replaced by individual interest. The absense of professional army is a weak point, of course. However, when I thought about it, it's not as weak as it appears to be. There are many nations that either have a small army that can be destroyed by a few dozen bombs, or no army at all, and yet they seem to have survived.
Jim: Is PS dependent on some external entity for protection? The US or UN?
Not sure, I'll have to think about it.
Does PS have anything resembling a police force?
I struggled over this one and the correctional system, too. On the one hand, PS shouldn't have any police, professional or volunteer, as there is too much potential for abuse. On the other hand, some order ought to be mainained. Perhaps you guys can help me here.
Herb: What's wrong with a volunteer army like the US has now?
The PS doesn't have any money to pay for the professional army, it's that simple. The are no taxes in PS, and if the army relies on charitable contributions from its citizens, there is a potential for a military revolt during the hard economic times when the citizans cut back on their voluntary contributions.
Herb: Actually it should not be so unrealistic to buy an island for a few million from one of the poorer Caribbean nations.
I was not joking about that. Just give me some time.

What I meant was that PS should have no professional army, but the citizens have the right to bear arms and protect themselves against the aggressors.
Perhaps a corporation could get into the security business and operate a small military which can be hired out as necessary if there's enough perceived need for it? We rely on market forces to allocate fund if there's a need? This could be interesting for MNC's. Can they now wage war on rivals? Or even on small nations that piss them off? Hey, the oil companies are going to love this. And wait until Microsoft relocates its offices here...