Neutocracy
You won’t find the word in a dictionary – yet.
It’s government by a neutral body of people elected because they have the moral integrity, education, experience and talent to work honourably on our behalf. We are seeking the best people for the job. They are independently vetted for their qualities not their opinions. They are all paid the same: there is no boss: they serve for a limited term: no one can ever be re-elected: all votes they make are secret and untraceable because we trust them. Just think of the effect of all that! An upper house of advisors is made up of one person from each constituency drawn by lot from a list of local worthies who have got there by proving their local worth. Fixed term (8 years?) , no re-appointment. The USA will reel at such suggestions but they can’t escape. What they have was great but it was for another age. They step forward or go down. Like it or not this is crunch time. Ask the weather men.
Neutocracy is a step on from democracy which has undoubtedly brought huge benefits to the world but because of the way we have built it, is now stuck. The problem is the party system. Instead of propelling the best folk forward to do the job it promotes those most ready to fall in behind a leader or a creed. It’s not surprising we do this. We all come from some tribe, nation, religion or other which has driven us together in some way in order to stand up to the problems facing our group and in particular our enemies as we perceive them or are taught to do. We find it hard to think of life any other way. All putative democracies are stuck with the same situation. It puts in place a group or coalition intent on serving the needs of those who voted for it. It inevitably sees opponents as enemies and defines itself by not being what the other lot are. Because they depend on the money of their supporters the parties cannot really change anything fundamental for fear of upsetting the apple cart and losing power. There are many honourable and well meaning people in the parties but they are stifled by having to toe the line and vote as required. In the UK and the USA, perhaps the longest established democracies in the world, the problem is particularly acute. After the last world war most other democracies whose governments had been shut down had to start again and they introduced some improvements such as proportional representation, resulting in coalitions. In the USA and the UK the governments were still in place and proud of it. Now their first past the post system has brought them to a complete dead end. Parties are the antithesis of democracy.
As you will find, any attempt to change a system has far reaching effects. It can be done by starting a crowdfunded Friendship party whose manifesto is 1 to adopt the idea of working for the common good and 2 shutting down the party system. Difficult but not impossible if people get the idea. It is not just a question of changing who we vote for however. Even changing how the government itself operates in a practical sense is not enough. Fortunately most societies have stable civil service departments working neutrally to do the bidding of government. That is a huge bonus. It will help us ride the storms of change. However up to now all developments in how government and the financial systems operate have occurred piecemeal without any coherent plan. It could hardly be otherwise. Since the event we know as the Renaissance, the rebirth of the ideas of equality first mooted in ancient Greece, fundamental changes in education and thought have gradually taken place. The principal road block to change is how we currently use money. It is a huge problem and involves utterly changing who rules the world. Money moguls and gigantic ‘investment’ groups, who see themselves as currently above the law will have to be unseated. This is not the dismemberment of capitalism, the great and vital driving force of our advances, but the exercise of sensible controls where there are presently none. Money itself is not really understood as the token system for value which it is. People do not understand what it means to have a fiat currency where a government can never run out of money to pay its doctors and teachers properly. Such an idea seems impossible to most folk including most politicians. Even if they understand they will not admit it because it removes their great argument over who is the best custodian of the nation’s wealth. They would not be able to argue over how much to put into the health system for example, who to tax or who to please by relieving them of tax. Above all changing the money system would endanger their route to power. No party can risk it.
Unless we change our system of government we will never be able to change how we use money. Unless we change how we use money and appreciate the value of a fiat currency which can stop at a stroke the destructive effect of inflation for example, then we will never eliminate poverty and offer all members of our society a good quality age related pay which is our honourable share of the national wealth such as it is. This means a good quality of life, the best our nation can offer, for everyone, white black, gay straight, male female, whatever group or division you care to make. Where the market does not pay enough the government makes up the difference automatically. To it the market can also add. This system applies to all nations at whatever stage of development or wealth they find themselves in and it will fundamentally change international relations for the better. We pay for this by a blunt redistribution of wealth. Caps on maximum pay and maximum wealth related to the generous living wage, the undisputed fulcrum of any money system. All this can be done while accepting that some people contribute more to life than others and there will always be a degree of inequality. If they feel they are getting a dignified respect just for being human, society as a whole will willingly tolerate this. Nobody minds their favourite athlete getting a just reward. He or she gives us much joy and the career is short.
Neutocracy is not a creed but simply the result of observing how the world works and seeking to devise a system which will bring into play the talents of our best folk. Not to use them is ridiculous. Anyone can see that. Every idea therein has already been explored somewhere on earth. We will never achieve perfection but we can do better! It also calls for us to give up the idea of being top dog and recognise our own insignificance in a world of billions. Billionaires please note. You just have to get off your silly perch. We need each other most of all. We have no enemies but those we construct in our terrified ignorance. It follows in the footsteps of Aristotle the first person to seriously and systematically attempt to find out how the world works. He was never fool enough to proclaim a manifesto at the end of it! Political Parties and their all encompassing solutions my friends, are very old hat.
Has neutocracy got a future? Try it on your friends and you will find out.
Meanwhile you can buy the book 'Neutocracy - the pathway to neutral government' by Malcolm Hossick in various digital formats whcich explores the whole matter.