The Ideal Republic
Democracy began as an alternative to war to decide the future of a country. Giving the power to the people to decide what they want for the country seemed like a good idea in theory, but as time progressed, it proved worse. People donât always understand what they want. We wouldnât have so many homeless and unsuccessful people if they were capable of managing their lives.
Democracy today masquerades as the voice of all, but in truth, it is a system designed to control the people. It keeps the poor fed through free money and the right to vote, the rich in control of their business monopolies under the ruling government, and the middle class from climbing the ladder to freedom. A group of people enjoys free money, sponsored by those who break their backs to pay the government so they arenât harassed.
The system forces you to acknowledge the will of the undeserving, the immoral, and the inadequate through their right to vote. And their will is always the same: more free money. Where does it come from? From those who are making money. The rich naturally become the enemy for making more than those who are not. They must be doing something wrong, right? Thatâs how democracy has progressed everywhere across the world.
In theory, the power to choose leaders who make decisions on your behalf doesnât sound badâexcept that if the population has the right to choose their leaders, itâs crucial to know what kind of population a nation has. A country with high integrity, high accountability, and high intelligence would choose a government focused on efficiency. If the larger population lacks integrity and sees the rich as enemies with the intent to fleece them, they will choose a government suited to that task.
In such a democratic environment, leaders must appease the larger population to earn votes. If the majority of the population lacks integrity, the government will have to cater to those people to stay in power. For that, they will resort to any act, regardless of its long-term impact. If the mediocre want to punish the rich for being rich, the leaders will find a way, under the guise of the constitution, to punish themâusually through higher taxes.
This is the primary reason why the long-term prospects of democratic nations are diminishing. Every âelectedâ government is concerned with saving their own skin rather than driving true reforms. Even if they do start a reform, itâs with the intention of immediate gratification in the form of votes, not long-term vision.
In a broken system like modern democracy, if someone manages to become wealthy or intellectually successful, that person is an outlier. In a system that thrives on mediocrity, the outlier is seen as a threat, a natural enemy of the uncouthâhow dare he! So, in the end, we have a clear enemy in the form of rich people, but only those who refuse to toe the government line. We have righteous victims who are poor and lack opportunities because of the supposed atrocities committed against them.
Then there is the middle class, who are neither the enemy nor the righteous victims. They must bear the burden of being in the middle. They neither have enough money to garner interest from the government nor any claim to being righteous victims. Therefore, every financial change in the nation is aimed at taking from the rich for the righteous victims. The middle class is the collateral damage.
So now we know the problemâwhat is the possible solution? Historically, nations have progressed on the backbone of military generals through conquests, senators through policymaking, religious leaders through cultural programs, and wealthy merchants through taxation. They were all stakeholders in the nation. Citizenship was a coveted asset, only granted to those who were beneficial to the nationâs progress.
A right to vote must be earned, not given by birth. You should only get to vote if you contribute to the system, either in the form of taxes beyond a certain threshold, by owning land to farm, or by being a business owner creating employment. The people who contribute to the system have more stake in seeing the nation progress, and the only way to please them is by bringing reforms that will benefit them long-term. The more such people benefit, the more they will contribute to nation-building.
The idea of equality is utopian, born out of a lazy personâs fantasy. Equality cannot exist among masses who differ in class, education, temperament, and social standing.
When a nation becomes prosperous, it attracts aspirants from nations that arenât doing so well. One way to manage them is by tracking their progress. If they came for academics, their academic progress must be tracked. If they came to make money, their contributions must be monitored. If their behavior doesnât align with the laws of the land, they lose their right to remain in the nation. Long-term citizenship must only be granted based on contributions to the nation.
The new republic must provide welfare only to make the lives of its subjects easier. The downtrodden must benefit from these welfare schemes. Religious authority is important to maintain the cultural fabric of the nation. Every citizen can practice their version of religion, but the nation must adhere to a common identity based on the ethos laid by religious leaders. Your prayers can differ, but your ethos must remain the same.
The new republic must embrace technology to solve public challenges. All the great breakthroughs that have propelled our civilization forward have been enabled by technology. The new republic must allocate funds, develop institutions, and launch programs to encourage young inventors to dedicate a portion of their lives and minds to technological advancements. If interspace travel must be explored for natural resource mining, long-term leadership becomes paramount.
Democratic systems that change every few years must be abolished. A long-term republic must be established with individuals in charge of specific public duties and policymaking until they retire from public service or are replaced based on their performance. Their performance can be judged by assemblies made up of merchants, businesspeople, scientists, artisans, servicemen, and military personnel from all classes.
Democracy in its current form will escalate into a civil war, the very thing it was formed to avoid. When the power to run a nation falls into the hands of the least deserving, they will take everything for themselves. But if the knowledge, dedication, and expertise involved in building a nation disappears, the nation will cease to exist too.
The idea of an ideal republic is beyond the scope of one essay, although I have tried. It is unfortunate to realize that it will likely never come to fruition. Still, as long as I am alive and writing, I will keep working on my vision of an ideal republic.