Category: Let's talk
Here are some of the changes I'd institute if I were made prime minister of the Hellenic Republic. I tried to keep it as realistic as possible, though I'm sure some of these things could never come to pass.
1. Make sure that the ministers in the cabinet actually gave a damn about the country not just their own pockets. Remove those who were clearly corrupt. I'd choose the new ones based not only on experience but on how clearly they could handle issues thrown at them.
2. Insure that the level of education in schools was raised dramatically.
3. Keep education socialised. If universities etc wanted to privatise, I'd let them, but this would be an option, not a requirement. What would be is free education in the ones that stayed government-controled.
4. Provide work projects for the unemployed who had no other means of finding a job. These could range from construction, to cooking to working at home and everything in between that wouldn't require high levels of education.
5. Provide doctors with sufficient time between shifts. Make sure that more of them were hired to staff the various health facilities. Insure that the quality of such facilities was raised dramatically via public inspection. Allow alternative healthcare providers and physicians to be licensed.
6. Insure that Greek stay in the country's control via a bill made to Parliament.
7. Since we unfortunately can't have the death penalty due to EU involvement, I'd pass a new law stating that anyone convicted of crimes involving explosives, serious fires or anything which could harm the country would banished to a tiny uninhabited island surrounded by guards for the rest of their natural lives.
8. Insure that all public schools, regardless of the grade level, had at least one computer equipped with adaptive technology for people with disabilities. Also insure that teachers were properly trained in dealing with them (i.e. modifying lessons etc).
9. Find some kind of feasible way to return the money to the people that has been stolen over the years. This could never be done within my lifetime, let alone my term as PM. But I'd try to lay the groundwork.
10. Return some manufacturing to Greece, thereby providing jobs and also higher levels of exports. Hopefully, this would also reduce dependency on so many imports. Provide incentives for employers who do not outsource. I'm not sure how this would all work due to EU involvement.
11. Insure that all pre-existing buildings in heavy earthquake zons were properly supported if at all possible, so that the damage could be minimised. Insure that all future buildings in such zones had the proper structural support to withstand these quakes.
11. Put some kind of safety and preparitory measures in place for the anual summer fires and give more money to fire departments to do so.
12. Insure better treatment of the elderly in nursing homes and care facilities. If it is found that they are malnurished, abused or otherwise harmed, heavy fines would be imposed on the facility and harsh prison sentences would be given to those responsible.
13. Make same sex marriages, or at least civil unions with the same rights as heterosexual marriages, legal. Not sure how I'd get that one passed The Church. Unfortunately, I think it would be impossible to break ties with them and create separation of church and state. If it were, though, it would be ideal.
14. Remove plans for smoking bans in the future, as well as those in place now. Let the establishments in question decide what to do.
15. Give equal access and rights to all religions, particularly Hellenic Polytheism. Give rights for Hellenic Polytheists to worship peacefully in designated ancient sites and to build modern temples. (Part of this has already been done.)
16. Tighten controls on illegal immigrants. Keep high standards of linguistic and cultural knowledge for residency and citizenship. At the same time, I'd limit the time it takes to be a citizen to residency for five years.
So, here's the question for you. What would you do if you were made ruler of your country? What issues seem to stick out in your mind about your current political situation?
the only thing i'd really like to do is give everyone equal rights to education, healthcare, voting in elections etc. no matter your age, your disability you would be given the same oppotunities and you will be respected.
hmm, i guess another thing i would do, is make sure there is enough nursing homes, hospitals etc and that they do not get over crouded. there would be no waiting list because everyone would be able to have a place when they need it, because there would be enough money to do so.
i think that's it for now
Very good aspirations. I suppose enough money would necessitate higher taxes. the only thing that concerns me about your ideas is anyone of any age having a voting right. Where do we draw the line? I mean, we can't have little children voting right?
I would not think so because of the idea that the parrents could just tell them who to vote for and they could not make an informed decission.
If I was put in charge of a country, many things would happen in no particular order.
Business
The government will not nationalise struggling businesses or impose rediculous licencing costs on them that cripple their chances of succeeding.
Health
Healthcare will be free to all ill people who have not caused harm or illness to themselves. Those who are ill as a result of choosing to be unhealthy or harming themselves will be made to pay for their treatment and will not be treated in public hospitals unless there are no ill people in those hospitals who are ill through no fault of their own.
Children will not be forced to eat healthily at school.
There will not be a smoking ban. Companies that wish to allow smoking on their premises will have to have a sign outside their premises in public view indicating that they allow people to smoke on their premises. People who become ill as a result of breathing in passive smoke will be able to sue people who smoked near them. People who kill others by causing them to become ill by smoking near them will be treated as murderers.
Education
Education at all levels would be free to people under the age of 22. People who are older would have to pay for their education, unless they demonstrated that the courses they wanted to study would significantly increase their chances of employment in the career they are pursuing. People would not be able to go from one course to another unrelated course.
All schools will be equal in quality. From the age of 14, children will be able to choose schools which provide courses related to the careers they are pursuing.
Schools will not be allowed to teach anything to children that has not been proven to be factually correct.
Social Security
The benefits system will be revolutionised. Those who doctors prove are physically/mentally incapable of employment will receive enough money to fund their eating costs, bills and any care costs. Those who can work will be put on an employment waiting list. They will be assessed to see what they can do, then they will be held at the Job Centre every day. When employers go to the Job Centre in search of an employee, the Job Centre will select the most suitable person from the employment waiting list. Deliberately trying to avoid work will be a criminal offence if you are incapable of working, and those found guilty will be banned from receiving public money or accessing public services for ever.
People will not be allowed to claim benefits for their children if they were economically incapable of supporting them before or during pregnancy.
People will not be allowed to live alone unless there are no homeless people.
Imigration
People wishing to move to the country I rule must go to that country's embassy in the country where they live. At each embassy will be a list of jobs no unemployed person in my country is capable of doing. If the people wishing to live in my country can prove that they is capable of doing the job, they will be allowed to move to the country along with their partners and children.
People who don't wish to eat but can eat will be expelled from the country. They will be sent to a poor country where there is famine or food shortage. Starving people from that country will be allowed to replace the expelled people and eat the food the expelled people didn't want to eat.
Asylum seekers who enter my country but cannot prove it is the nearest safe country to that they are fleeing will be sent back to the country they are fleeing.
Foreigners who commit crimes in my country will serve their sentences in my country, unless the country they are originally from agrees to punish them more severely.
Crime
People will not be able to use alcohol or drugs to excuse their behaviour. People who behave in an abusive, violent, or destructive manner while under the influence of alcohol will be sent to prison for a minimum of one year.
Murderers will serve 20 years per murder. It doesn't matter why they committed the murder. Murders are equally as bad no matter why they were committed.
People guilty of sexual abuse will serve a minimum of 10 years per incident of sexual abuse. Paedophiles will also serve a minimum of ten years.
Thieves will serve a minimum of five years. People who sell or take illegal drugs will serve a minimum of five years.
After minimum sentences have expired, criminals will only be released if they present absolutely no risk to the public. People who decide to release criminals who then go on to reoffend will be jailed for as long as the reoffending criminals.
Bullying and most discrimination (including social exclusion) will be illegal and those companies and people who are guilty must pay a minimum of £10000 per month of discrimination.
Prisons will be harsh labour camps where criminals work 14 hours a day, sleep for 8 hours a day, have two 45-minute meals and excersize for the rest of the time.
People can only be found guilty if there is concrete evidence against them. This may include online content they have published.
Ideology
Though people will be allowed to believe what they want, they will not be allowed to impose their ideologies on other people (including their children). Those who are found guilty of imposing oppressive ideologies on people will be sent to mind reparation camps.
Divorce will not be allowed unliss the person being divorced is guilty of a crime. Crimes that cause familial disruption to the families of those who have broken the law are punished with an eighteen-year prison sentence.
Media
There will be two types of broadcasting. Restrictions on commercial broadcasting will only relate to coverage areas. Public service broadcasters will have to broadcast public service content. Trying to compete against commercial broadcasts will be forbidden.
The media will not be allowed to report or record on the private lives of people without receiving their prior consent at least a week in advance of the reporting/recording. Violations of this law will result in guilty media organisations being closed down, those within the organisation who are guilty in the matter being jailed for five years, and all their other employees being jailed for one year.
The media will not be allowed to publish factually incorrect material. During elections, all media will have to give all candidates equal and impartial publicity.
My government will not use the media to broadcast messages about how people should live their lives.
Environment
My government will not protect endangered species unless they are eaten by people.
Rubbish will be collected weekly and disposed of.
People who cause problems to their neighbours will be evicted and forced to find homes for themselves.
Travellers will not be allowed to live on land that hasn't been reserved for them. Illegal travelling sites will be destroyed with no regard for the lives of those who are on the sites at the time of destruction.
Foreign Policy
My country will liberate countries that are ruled by dictators if it is likely my country will win the war. My country will ensure that the people in the liberated countries are as free as the people in my country.
My country will not provide aid to other nations. Instead it will encourage them to sort out their economic problems internally. If they cannot do that, they will have the option of becoming a colony of my country.
I'd kick Tiffanitsa out of my country.
As for voting, I think eighteen is a pretty sufficient age.
Senior, I've quite a few comments on how you'd like to run your country.
First, how can you charge a smoker with murder? How will you know which smoker killed what person?
Also, those who exhibit abusive, violent, or destructive behavior while using alcohol should be jailed for a year on the third offense, being fined on the first and jailed for a month on the second.
The reason why a person committed murder should always matter. If a person killed someone in self-defense, that certainly doesn't call for any kind of jail term.
I do agree with you that prisons should be labor camps. I also believe that prisoners should be recruited to be in the service.
I totally agree with you on prohibiting the publishing of factually incorrect material.
I do believe that any endangered species that is threatened in any way by humans should be protected by the government. Eating an endangered species is not the only way of harming its existence.
And when it comes to governmental issues, countries need to mind their own business unless one country is threatening or turning its people against another or other nations.