[quote]countingbeans wrote:
Now we’re getting somewhere.
Before I’d even say that my idea of a good mix is more market friendly, I would ask you:
How would you counterbalance the ills of powerful government which historically is known to be a problem with government?
[/quote]
Well my take on that is plentyfull.
First we need to set it up in such away that it is difficult for a small group of people to
controll it. My suggestion is not original, but it is parlamentarianism. I understand that its always a risk that a coup by powerhungry authoritarians can happen, trough violence or corruption. But it is in my opinion the best solution.
Secondly its area of control should not be to big, USSR or USA for that matter is an example of how that make things difficult. So small government in the sense of its geographical reach.
Thirdly the government must be limited in the sense that it is some things it cannot do against any person. Like execute people, torturing people, jailing people for saying or writing something, denie people to form churces, labour unions, political partys etc, send people to death camps, force them to fight wars( as in drafts ) etc. In essence a liberal constitutional state. Stalins Russia did not suck because of public programs, but because the state and its ideology didnt see basic human rights as important and acted accordingly.
4th by being constituted as an entity for the general welfare of the populace. This means that the state is not understood as the private property of a king, or that it exist to serve a allknowing party or a priestclass, but that it in its core is a collectivist tool to solve and do things that can only be done collectively and with the aim of bettering the life of every individual that constitutes the collective.
5th. Here is where the market or the “private property” comes in. Its important as an counterbalance to the government that it exist private entities outside of government. Offcourse I prefer this too be non-profit organizations or for-profit cooperatives or small companys( as in actually small, like a small restuarant ). Ergo there must be laws that make private enterprises possible, but offcourse I am okay with a restriction on how much a person can own and that government should give incentives for people to rather start a cooperative, rather than a company with a authoritarian structure( both in decision power over said company and share of the profits ). This will also make it harder for a psuedo-aristocacry to form, wich if existing could gain control over the government by using their money-power to influence the government and put democary in danger.
6th. A proper universal educational system. A premiss for a living and healthy democracy that actually is democratic on more than paper, is a educated populace. That means that the collective trough taxation should make shure everyone have acces to all levels of education from kinder garden to the university and that it is a high priority to have a quality educational system that for one give people the proper tools for critical thinking.
( This doesnt mean that I think everyone should get a Phd, but I think it should be purely tax financed. Also it does not mean I want to ban private schools )
7th. A welfare system( pensions, universal healthcare, unemployment, sick pay etc ). I know this sounds like the opposit of a argument for where the government should be limited, but it is easier to supress and oppress a starving and desperate populace. Here strict laws for workers protection also comes in.
hm that did become a bit long.
[quote]
I’m not anti-welfare to the point were I’m ripping off the safety net. (I would assume my idea of a safety net is much more narrow than yours though.) I’m also not anti-regulation. Some regulations are good. Regulation is just law that dictates behavior. The law that dictates no one is allowed to enter my home and take my things, is a good regulation. [/quote]
I understand that you are not anti-welfare, you said balance after all. By more market-friendly I only ment that you want less regulations on business than me, but even a american left-liberal want that compared to me 
