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Originally Posted by Zythryn
I agree completely with number 1....
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I agree with Zythryn, more or less. Our elections should be vastly simplified.
I'm not so sure about #2 -- economic system. It seems to work best when it is "broken" -- that is, neither raw capitalism nor planned socialism. Those who want to "fix" our economy are typically those who want to impose raw capitalism (small government, no regulations, no oversight), or those who want the exact opposite (big government beauracracies, tight regulations, micromanagemtn oversight).
The trouble is, neither of them works very well. Planned socialism doesn't allow for innovation and evolution of economics as the social order shifts one way or the other. And it suppresses the creation of wealth. Raw capitalism is susceptible to greed and panic and is therefore chaotic and unstable. It maximizes the creation of wealth (good) but also breeds bubbles and robber barons--and inevitably collapses and takes a good portion of society with it (bad). This makes long term planning (say, a generation or more) and extended national projects very difficult.
Unfortunately, as wonderful as capitalism is (Long live the memory of John Adams!) we must remember that it is an economic system. It is not a "religion", it is not "perfect", it is not "infallible". It is based on certain sound economic principles, and upon societal trust. That is, upon human behavior. And humans are all too fallible.
