Forum Post: Real Solutions

First and most importantly, use only legal and peaceful ways to improve things.

Problem #1: Corruption of Democracy. SOLUTIONS: Continuously invent and conduct new experiments in democracy — and see which ones work best. First try them in a few cities, and try the best of these at higher levels. Residents of places trying them can vote on the results. In conducting new experiments, try some of the following. Use combinations of lotteries and elections to select officials. Have term limits for more offices. Strictly limit campaign contributions and give equal mass media time to all qualified candidates. Require candidates to advance through government one level at a time. - - In the first representative democracy (Athenian democracy), people used mainly lotteries (sortition) to select their representatives, as the best way to protect democracy from corruption. Today democracy is much more at risk because: the rich are many times richer (51 of the world’s largest 100 economies are those of corporations); election campaigns cost much more; and modern mass media has much power. Today people still use lotteries to select trial jurors. Why is it still good for personal justice but not social justice?

Problem #2: Ignorance. More than 80% of adults in the world can read. But many are ignorant. They don’t use their freedoms to question, reason, invent, speak out, think for themselves, and act on their own healthy ideas to make things better. Many are still learning that societies can’t be ignorant and free at the same time. Societies and governments are made of individuals. - - SOLUTIONS: Education, access to information, and self-improvement. - Spend more tax money to make all kinds of post-high school education at very low cost for all. - Make access to the Internet free — or at very low cost — for all. - Self-improvement begins with your thoughts.

Problems #3: Overpopulation. As overpopulation worsens, around the world wages remain low and prices rise for almost everything. In countries losing jobs to places paying lower wages, unemployment increases, more lose their homes and go bankrupt, and more fall into poverty. Taxes rise to make up for lost income tax, property tax and business tax. The gap between rich and everyone else becomes more visible. Public protests grow and become violent. There can be more war to enlist the poor and distract the rest. - - SOLUTIONS: - Keep religions, cultures and governments accountable for approving and promoting overpopulation. - Boycott products made in countries with the fastest growing populations. You will likely pay more for products made elsewhere. So, people on limited budgets should be willing to consume less. Spend more tax money on education for all; some overpopulation is due to ignorance. - Reform democracies to enable the passage of laws to: reduce trade with overpopulated countries until they reduce their birth rates; have a global minimum wage of $5 per hour for people employed by companies based in nations having an equal or greater minimum wage — to discourage companies from moving jobs to overpopulated countries with lower wages. As a result, prices of goods and services will rise. So, people on limited budgets should be willing to consume less.

Problem #4: Corporate Greed. In a selfish and often reckless way, it makes as much money as fast as it can. And it uses money and mass media to take away people’s power to govern and protect themselves. - - SOLUTIONS: - Boycott the greediest corporations. - Reform democracies to enable the passage of laws to require corporations to rewrite priorities in their corporate charters, so that the public interest is placed ahead of profit — as it was in the first charters made in the 1800s.

Problems #5: War. Today there are wars over oil. Next there may be war over clean water and farm land. And as the gap between rich and everyone else widens, there may be outright class war within nations. Currently, a low grade "class war" is starting in some nations, with increasing crime by some of the poor against people with assets. - - SOLUTION: Reform democracies to enable people to have a greater voice in preventing illegal wars.

More info at www.improvingourworld.com.