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> The problem is money = power and society is hell bent on gaining power. A major source of trouble now is that money is tightly coupled with politics. It bogg

> The problem is money = power and society is hell bent on gaining power. A major source of trouble now is that money is tightly coupled with politics. It boggles the mind how it's not universally understood that politics should be entirely de-coupled from private money. All of politics should run 100% (including elections) on a public fund. Unless this is done, very few things of true substance will be fixed. > The real solution is to move to a resource managed economy that eliminates money all together. I don't think that's doable unless we've made work entirely optional. When AI and robots could do any job we don't want to do, then you could instate some form of basic income, or even your more radical idea. But until then, it's going to be very, very hard to change things in a fundamental way.

iopq 13y ago
100% on a public fund? So I should be paying for the elections of Republicans and Democrats even though they are private parties that may for no reason exclude me?
- justinreeves 13y ago
  Or.... you could still run, but not as a Republican or a Democrat?
  - iopq 13y ago
    And lose, like everyone else who tried. When was the last time a president wasn't a Republican or a Democrat? That's right, when he was a Whig.
    - justinreeves 13y ago
      >And lose, like everyone else who tried. You mean like everyone else who's tried before moving to public funded elections, with restrictions on campaign donations? Of course I can't guarantee that one change will result in a third-party getting meaningful representation, but it's at least a start.
- bryanlarsen 13y ago
  It's done this way in many other countries. For example, in Canada, each party receives $2 per vote received in the last election to campaign in the next election. Corporate donations are banned, although small donations by individuals are still allowed. You're paying now through the distortion of the electoral process and the indirect increase in your cost of goods and services (the hundreds of billions spent on elections comes from somewhere). Don't you think it's worth it for your taxes to go up $2 to eliminate those costs?
  - sp332 13y ago
    We can ban corporate donations without raising taxes, and without giving people's money to parties they don't support.
Houshalter 13y ago
>All of politics should run 100% (including elections) on a public fund. That's a horrible idea. The dominate parties would become even more dominate with the backing of the government. I do not approve of my tax money being spent on ridiculous political commercials either.

iopq 13y ago

100% on a public fund? So I should be paying for the elections of Republicans and Democrats even though they are private parties that may for no reason exclude me?

justinreeves 13y ago
Or.... you could still run, but not as a Republican or a Democrat?
- iopq 13y ago
  And lose, like everyone else who tried. When was the last time a president wasn't a Republican or a Democrat? That's right, when he was a Whig.
  - justinreeves 13y ago
    >And lose, like everyone else who tried. You mean like everyone else who's tried before moving to public funded elections, with restrictions on campaign donations? Of course I can't guarantee that one change will result in a third-party getting meaningful representation, but it's at least a start.
bryanlarsen 13y ago
It's done this way in many other countries. For example, in Canada, each party receives $2 per vote received in the last election to campaign in the next election. Corporate donations are banned, although small donations by individuals are still allowed. You're paying now through the distortion of the electoral process and the indirect increase in your cost of goods and services (the hundreds of billions spent on elections comes from somewhere). Don't you think it's worth it for your taxes to go up $2 to eliminate those costs?
- sp332 13y ago
  We can ban corporate donations without raising taxes, and without giving people's money to parties they don't support.

Houshalter 13y ago

>All of politics should run 100% (including elections) on a public fund. That's a horrible idea. The dominate parties would become even more dominate with the backing of the government. I do not approve of my tax money being spent on ridiculous political commercials either.