Hope

Some 21^st Century Political Ideals

• People willingly accept responsibility for their politicians and their government.
• Relations between countries continue to improve with more student and researcher exchanges, more trade and intelligent experiential tourism.
• Subsidiarity is honoured (i.e. not one single decision is taken at a higher tier of government than absolutely necessary) as relations between tiers of government become cooperative.
• Communities, towns and districts, are recognized as the primary tier for political activity (rather than the Nation) with devolution of powers.
• Simplification of governmental controls with removal of thousands of laws and drastic reductions in the endless stream of new regulations.
• Finances come under control at all levels of government with independent auditing to commercial standards and automatic dismissal of both politicians and bureaucrats for actual or attempted chicanery.
• Empires disintegrate; war ceases to become an acceptable instrument of policy; and military expenditures reduce.
• The State becomes weaker, civil Society becomes stronger, Government becomes more responsive.
• Authoritarian regimes give way to democratic regimes as political maturation reaches Stages 2 and 3 everywhere, while the most developed societies continue to Stages 5, 6 and 7.

I believe that progress on these lines is possible: but we have to want it.

Originally posted: August-2009. Amended: November-2023.