Senate

A few decades ago, before the internet was popular, I posted this on a bulletin board, which was the early form of web page for exchanging ideas. Under a pseudonym "Vlad" I ranted against the corruption of democracy, and how the worst people tended to run for political office. Face it, the reason we have so many lawyers in Congress is because so many lawyers suck at being lawyers and can only be elected by people stupider than they are, to do jobs they also suck at.It isn't a failure of Democracy, but education. Government controlled schools can't even train graduates to work minimum wage jobs, how can we expect graduates from public schools to elect the best people. Forget the whole "We aren't a democracy, we are a Constitutional Republic" rubbish. Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia and North Korea are all examples of Constitutional Republics.People are protected by wisely promulgated laws, not by types of government. A corrupt Democracy is a Mob; A corrupt Republic is an Oligarchy; and a corrupt Monarchy is Tyranny -all modern nations have a document that serves as a constitution, so the US is not the first and only nation to have one. In fact, it was the British who pointed out that since the US lacked a constitution, they didn't have to recognize the US as a nation or its citizens. The US was forced to follow the same rules it used to declare independence, and finally wrote a constitution.Argument: Democracy is a failure because people are stupid and selfish. We have to get rid of the current manner of selecting public servants at the legislative level. When people learn to demand entitlements from government, they learn that it is okay to steal from the productive citizens to pay for entitlements. Politicians also learn to appease stupid voters with bribes paid for by others.Remedy: Select Legislators the same way we select juries -By utilizing the tax rolls. Those who file taxes have more of a stake in society as a whole and few working people would act so freely with taxpayer dollars as those who depend on appeasing blocks of voters.As a jurist, a citizen is screened for mental competency, literacy, potential hardship, etc. Part of the screening would include a basic civics test to determine the potential candidate's level of knowledge. Like potential jurors, a candidate would also have alternates, should the primary selection be eliminated or need to be replaced.Once the primary candidate is selected, he attends a "Constitutional Basic Training" course for remedial civics, as well as the purpose and limits of government and how taxes are utilized.After about a month of remedial training, the Legislator begins his term, under the mentoring of the senior legislator he may be replacing for another month of transition.The compensation for a legislator should not be more than the salary of a public school teacher, saving vast amounts of money often wasted on current, career politicians. Adjustments may be made for people who earn far more in their normal professions.Once a Legislator has served their two or four year term, they are tasked with training their replacements and dismissed, with the years of public service added to their time at work for pay and seniority purposes.Ideally, each citizen should be called up to serve once in a lifetime, but as the process is random, a person selected a second time may decline. They may also choose a second term, under the same conditions as their previous term.The Legislator Selection process spares the taxpayer the curse of career, self-serving politicians, months of election advertisements, deceptive debates, Political Action Committees, smear campaigns, and selfish voting blocks. Citizens will be represented by a true cross-section of their population, not failed lawyers with wealthy friends, and not by political parties controlled from other states or countries.What made ancient Athens great was that every citizen had a voice in their government. The assembly was open to all citizens to speak, which produced many great orators and rhetoricians. When citizens lost that voice, due to elitist support for tyranny, Democracy required a long and bloody struggle to return.The Founding Fathers of these United States all agreed that government was a necessary evil. The constitution allows government certain powers but also includes many more restrictions of power, such as not infringing on speech, religion or weapon ownership, to the point that the Bill of Rights contains freedoms so essential to humanity, that they are above any act of government, including repeal.If you truly want a better government you have to be better people.