What Should America Become?

If you've read my other articles and are still with me, one thing should be getting pretty clear: Our country cannot go on like this.  Our Founding Fathers would already be horrified to see what this once-great nation has become.  After all, they started a revolution over a breakfast beverage.  And it wasn't even coffee.  If we continue to spiral down this path, the Land of the Free will cease to exist, replaced instead with the land of corporate profits, mass starvation, out-of-control government, and constant police-state oppression.

One thing is certain: There is a storm coming.  This storm has already sparked what can only be described as the next American Revolution.  A government far more corrupt than the one we worked to throw off in 1776 has crept into our lives and is tightening its grip on us.  But what should America become?  It will not be enough to simply remove the current set of leaders and replace them with new puppets.  For as long as the government is able to be controlled by the Federal Reserves and Monsantos of the world, the system itself will be the greatest enemy of the People.

Many people believe it is too dangerous to have any form of central government; it is too vulnerable to corruption and growing out of control, as has happened in our case.  These people believe that nothing less than the total abolition of the central Federal Government is necessary.  From there, local governments (that don't all have to abide by the same principles) could make decisions at the local level, and edicts from a central power would not override the values of the people living under that local system.  This could work, but we would have to unanimously agree on one thing: Nonviolence.  Nobody is to initiate violence against another person for any reason, especially in order to force their beliefs (be they political, religious, ideological, etc.) on them.  Any acts of violence would need to be met with overwhelming response from all nearby communities.  This, coupled with a universally accepted basic bill of human rights (Life, Liberty, Self-Determination, Trial By Jury, etc.) would allow us to choose the type of community we want to live in without having to force everyone in the country into the same mold.  You like socialism?  Great!  Settle in with the people who also like socialism and form a community.  Is a Constitutional Republic for you?  Awesome!  Do the same.  Prefer to live without any form of government?  Join the Anarchists!  But understand that other ideologies exist, and accept that they are allowed to do so.

I would choose to live in a Constitutional Republic, much like the one the Framers intended.  However, I would remove many of the laws now on the books and replace them with a simple idea: You can do anything you want to do, just don't hurt anybody else.  Who determines what constitutes "Hurt?"  A jury.  Everything else would be procedural.  However, I would make some changes to the ideas behind the Constitution and our current situation:

1. We should transition back into a gold and silver-backed currency; fiat money should be permanently outlawed once this transition is complete
2. Term limits should be instituted for all Representatives; this would ensure a steady flow of new people and ideas and phase out the (inevitably corrupt) career politician
3. All corporate campaign contributions should be outlawed; only individual contributions from the constituents themselves should be allowed
4. The process to pass new laws should be drastically simplified and made 100% transparent to the public:
• No new bills should exceed 10 pages in length
• New bills should be written in plainly understandable English and avoid jargon
• All sections of a new bill should be directly related to the title of the bill (For an example of what NOT to do, see The Patriot Act, which was the most unpatriotic piece of law ever written)
• All new bills should be published and freely accessible (on the Internet) for 14 days prior to being brought up for debate in the House or the Senate

Sound like the kind of system you might like to live in?  Well lets link up after and make it happen!

When this storm hits, a lot of people will lose their lives.  What happens next will be up to us.  It's absolutely critical that we are on the same page, working towards the same goal.  If we are not, the American Ideal will truly cease to exist, and the revolution will have been for nothing.  Do you agree?  What kind of community would you choose to live in?

Related Video:
Revolution: An Instruction Manual