My Solution to Corruption

[Circlenaut]

So I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep and thoughts ran through my head. I tried to imagine how a world without corruption could exist. Here's what I came up with:

Complete transparency among public decision making officials

1. All government decision making positions in all levels of government from local to federal are elected whether that be executive, legislative or judicial.

2. There are two classes of citizenship, public and private.

3. Once elected a person becomes a public citizen.

4. All interactions between public officials are tracked, recorded and streamed to the public in real-time.

Technologically the only way I can see this working, maybe, is by implanting some kind of GPS tracking devices within all public officials. All of their communication lines are tapped. So whenever two public citizens come within proximity of each and they start communicating, it's recorded and streamed. Or when one makes a call to another it's recorded and streamed as well, and so on.

The huge problem here is not recording and streaming the communications between private and public citizens. Only the refinement of technology would alleviate this. And of course the technology behind it would need to be extensively tested so that it's not disabled. All aspects of the technology would also be completely open source. Politicians would be forced to only do for the benefit of the people and not themselves.

I can see problems with sensitive information, the only one I believe to be legitimate being war. Maybe if all countries in the world implemented this system at the same time it would work? If war does break out it would be interesting to see the ACTUAL reasons behind it.

- Discuss
- I'll see what you guys have to say in the morning

 

[sandorski]

Republicans would never go for this. The amount of people tuning in to see some Gay Porn would make their lives a living Hell.

 

[Circlenaut]

Seriously, this is all you people have to say? No one here want's to have a theoretical political discussion?

 

[Acanthus]

I think its a fantastic idea.

If you are in the service of the public and supposed to be pursuing their interests, the public should know wtf you are doing.

You give up your privacy for your hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

 

[Fenixgoon]

4) good luck getting people to agree to that, funding it, administrating it, and having a public that actually cares.

you will never have complete transparency in govt. too much bureaucracy.

 

[Mursilis]

It's simple, really. If you don't want people to abuse power, don't give it to them. Lord Acton was right!

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
you will never have complete transparency in govt. too much bureaucracy.

The truth. The gov't employs what, 200K+ civilians, many more military, and many more contractors? How are you going to keep track of all that?!?

 

[Circlenaut]

Originally posted by: Mursilis
It's simple, really. If you don't want people to abuse power, don't give it to them. Lord Acton was right!

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
you will never have complete transparency in govt. too much bureaucracy.

The truth. The gov't employs what, 200K+ civilians, many more military, and many more contractors? How are you going to keep track of all that?!?

This is why I said it's theoretical until technology develops that makes it feasible. As technology advances and takes away more and more of our privacy, perhaps it's best to turn that around and use it against politicians.

Originally posted by: Mursilis
It's simple, really. If you don't want people to abuse power, don't give it to them. Lord Acton was right!

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
you will never have complete transparency in govt. too much bureaucracy.

The truth. The gov't employs what, 200K+ civilians, many more military, and many more contractors? How are you going to keep track of all that?!?

This is true. Perhaps keeping an eye only on the legislative, judicial and highest levels of the executive (cabinet + president) would be sufficient?

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
4) good luck getting people to agree to that, funding it, administrating it, and having a public that actually cares.

you will never have complete transparency in govt. too much bureaucracy.

Oh people would care. The media would be thrilled!

 

[brandonb]

I prefer the old skool method, just hang them from the nearest tree when caught.

When I was in college, there was a discussion in class about morality. The teacher went around class and asked: "What is preventing you from stealing?" Each person answered, and 95% of them said : "Because I might get caught." Because they feared the consequences, going to jail, court, etc. It did not matter that it was right or wrong, or getting something they did not deserve. We need to make sure there are consequences. The people, because corrupt politicians won't police themselves. In the old days, they had ways to fix such problems. But then again, people in the olden days looked at it as being "right or wrong" not "caught or not caught."

 

[waggy]

I have always wondered how this country hell how the world would be in the politicians were not currupt.

 

[Mani]

I love transparency, but some discussions just need to be done behind closed doors.

 

[MovingTarget]

No. When somebody runs for office they do not give up their rights. Besides, some negotiations are sensitive enough in nature and should remain private.

 

[Patranus]

Originally posted by: Pippy
4. All interactions between public officials are tracked, recorded and streamed to the public in real-time.

Technologically the only way I can see this working, maybe, is by implanting some kind of GPS tracking devices within all public officials. All of their communication lines are tapped. So whenever two public citizens come within proximity of each and they start communicating, it's recorded and streamed. Or when one makes a call to another it's recorded and streamed as well, and so on.

Um....We have this for celebrities....Someone in the private sector just needs to start a political TMZ style site and get user generated content.

The thing is that (most) people simply don't care.

 

[TheNoblePlatypus]

GPS tracking? Yeah, that's not insane at all.


All you would need to do to keep politicians honest is public availability of all their financial records. That's it, just follow the money. Lobbyists would vanish and the pool of politicians would shrink substantially.

 

[Patranus]

Originally posted by: TheNoblePlatypus
GPS tracking? Yeah, that's not insane at all.


All you would need to do to keep politicians honest is public availability of all their financial records. That's it, just follow the money. Lobbyists would vanish and the pool of politicians would shrink substantially.

Well, that is fine except for the fact that they police themselves. Just look at those Countrywide Mortgages those senators got. The company admitted to giving them to the senators, the senators denied it, and their friends on the ethics committee decided not to have an investigation.

Like I said before, most people simple don't care. They hear a name on TV and see it on the ballot and vote for it. Its all about name recognition.

 

[TheNoblePlatypus]

Originally posted by: Patranus

Originally posted by: TheNoblePlatypus
GPS tracking? Yeah, that's not insane at all.


All you would need to do to keep politicians honest is public availability of all their financial records. That's it, just follow the money. Lobbyists would vanish and the pool of politicians would shrink substantially.

Well, that is fine except for the fact that they police themselves. Just look at those Countrywide Mortgages those senators got. The company admitted to giving them to the senators, the senators denied it, and their friends on the ethics committee decided not to have an investigation.

Like I said before, most people simple don't care. They hear a name on TV and see it on the ballot and vote for it. Its all about name recognition.

I'm not talking about them volunteering the information up. If they become a public servant, then the financial records become public domain. Without their consent.

Granted we wont get awesome politicians like all of our presidents for the last 28 years, but that's a price I'm willing to live with.

 

[Patranus]

Originally posted by: TheNoblePlatypus

Originally posted by: Patranus

Originally posted by: TheNoblePlatypus
GPS tracking? Yeah, that's not insane at all.


All you would need to do to keep politicians honest is public availability of all their financial records. That's it, just follow the money. Lobbyists would vanish and the pool of politicians would shrink substantially.

Well, that is fine except for the fact that they police themselves. Just look at those Countrywide Mortgages those senators got. The company admitted to giving them to the senators, the senators denied it, and their friends on the ethics committee decided not to have an investigation.

Like I said before, most people simple don't care. They hear a name on TV and see it on the ballot and vote for it. Its all about name recognition.

I'm not talking about them volunteering the information up. If they become a public servant, then the financial records become publi domain. Without their consent.

Granted we wont get awesome politicians like all of our presidents for the last 28 years, but that's a price I'm willing to live with.

But who cares if the documents are public if it is up to them to police themselves?

 

[jackace]

Originally posted by: brandonb
I prefer the old skool method, just hang them from the nearest tree when caught.

When I was in college, there was a discussion in class about morality. The teacher went around class and asked: "What is preventing you from stealing?" Each person answered, and 95% of them said : "Because I might get caught." Because they feared the consequences, going to jail, court, etc. It did not matter that it was right or wrong, or getting something they did not deserve. We need to make sure there are consequences. The people, because corrupt politicians won't police themselves. In the old days, they had ways to fix such problems. But then again, people in the olden days looked at it as being "right or wrong" not "caught or not caught."

I too agree with this method. Most people in this world only respond to punishment and nothing else. Look at places like Las Vegas, people go there from all over the country/world to do things they can't legally do where they live, and Las Vegas promotes and advertises this.

 

[Circlenaut]

Originally posted by: TheNoblePlatypus
GPS tracking? Yeah, that's not insane at all.


All you would need to do to keep politicians honest is public availability of all their financial records. That's it, just follow the money. Lobbyists would vanish and the pool of politicians would shrink substantially.

That would be a good start.

 

[Circlenaut]

Originally posted by: jackace

Originally posted by: brandonb
I prefer the old skool method, just hang them from the nearest tree when caught.

When I was in college, there was a discussion in class about morality. The teacher went around class and asked: "What is preventing you from stealing?" Each person answered, and 95% of them said : "Because I might get caught." Because they feared the consequences, going to jail, court, etc. It did not matter that it was right or wrong, or getting something they did not deserve. We need to make sure there are consequences. The people, because corrupt politicians won't police themselves. In the old days, they had ways to fix such problems. But then again, people in the olden days looked at it as being "right or wrong" not "caught or not caught."

I too agree with this method. Most people in this world only respond to punishment and nothing else. Look at places like Las Vegas, people go there from all over the country/world to do things they can't legally do where they live, and Las Vegas promotes and advertises this.

Yes, but it's hard to punish people when we don't even know, or they are exempt from crimes!