Plato wrote about his utopian society and called it “Plato’s Republic”.
On a road trip years ago, my friend Caleb attempted to describe his dream society and we called it “Caleb’s Republic”.
With all the political activity lately, tensions heating up, I’ve turned some thought to my dream society and will be working on describing “Brian’s Republic”.
Just some quick notes, to bookmark the idea for myself later. These are woefully incomplete and probably naive, but, hey, ya gotta dream, right?
- Based in Libertarian principles of a government that restricts the absolute minimum of individual rights.
- Government is only necessary for defense of the nation, maintaining common infrastructure (transportation and communications), and adjudicating matters of law.
- Taxes are only paid by corporations and businesses — individual income is not taxed at all
- Corporations are not accorded equal rights with individuals! They are granted a charter by the government for a limited time and for a specific purpose and their charter expires and must be reviewed and renewed periodically.
- Citizenship is only granted upon reaching the age of majority and completing a term of civic service — military, administrative, or some other government function. Non-citizens have similar rights, but have no say in how the nation is governed.
There’s more I want to write about… but another time. One problem I’m having is trying to find a line between protection of common resources and preventing government from restricting the rights of property owners.