Keystone Proposals
These Relatively Few Proposals Will Solve Most Problems
Many of the following policy proposals have been created and revised over time to address some of the most common threads that run through several different families of policy problems and social ills. Implementing these ‘keystone’ proposals will often virtually solve or at least significantly reduce the size and scope of whatever problems are affected by them.
Please read through the following proposals with a critical eye, watching for ways in which, you think, these proposals could be changed in order to improve their effectiveness, while yet keeping them simple and fair. Please submit your relevant comments in the specific blog at the bottom of each post. Resist the urge to over-engineer unnatural or illogical mitigations to any secondary effects these proposals may cause, as this would reduce the effectiveness of the primary goals. The complexity resulting from such improper policy-making is the prime cause of loopholes through which much effectiveness is lost and through which much frustration is generated.
In general, these ‘keystone’ proposals are listed below in order of the impotance of the impact they would have in the world and on the quality of life. For the complete list of policy proposals, please refer to the Table of Contents on the homepage.
1. Defense and Sovereignty
Correcting this one policy principle, which directly affects the most fundamental macro-level unit of human relations, will result in a tendency for a sort of self-stabilizing peace that will inevitably yield beneficial effects for practically every other area of human activity. The perpetually expanding discovery that the costs of war so thoroughly pervade so many facets of human activities, makes it no exaggeration to say that war is the single most destructive and expensive behavior in which humans engage. The benefits of peace are so vast and wide-ranging, that efforts to ensure that each distinct people group securely have their own sovereign territory should be at the very top of anyone’s list of how to make this world a better place.
A secondary, but almost equally important element, is to have a properly organized, but narrowly focused, international body assume the responsibility of providing for the defense of only the international borders of every member country who agrees to shed their responsibility to own any major weapon system designed for international battle.
2. Public Policing of Published Materials
This would help ensure a much greater accuracy of information everywhere.
3. Monetary Policy
Eliminate fractional reserve banking, the primary cause of inflation.
4. Costs of a Crime & Punitive Penalties
Accurately require criminals to incur all the costs of their crimes, including ‘pain and suffering’.
5. Widespread Use of Video Cameras in Public
We would be able to rely more on unbiased videos rather than testimonies.
6. Governments Have Two Primary Purposes
Understanding these purposes would justify and limit government’s authority.
7. Victims Get Compensated Immediately
Victims should never suffer losses for extended periods of time.
8. Jury Reform
Smart people, rather than our peers, would be better qualified to understand the evidence and see through lawyer trickery.
9. Informants
Financial incentives would result in much more effective transfer of useful information to law enforcement.
10. Open Data Standardization
Unlocking the massive amounts of data already commonly collected (especially by governments) will result in an amazing increase in the degree of clarity that will benefit virtually every field of study, enabling breakthroughs especially for things like the proper prioritization of policies which determine resource allocation and the far clearer cause and effect relationships for all kinds of data, include healthcare and medicine.
11. Progressive Taxation
Those who earn more, should pay higher tax rates due to the fundamental economic realities of need and benefits.
12. Tax Only Active Economic Activity
Taxes should only be levied when some transaction is occurring, not yearly, for example, due to the mere ownership of something, such as property.
13. Tax Trade Across Political Boundaries
Such taxes would increase the ability of local businesses to survive under the ‘economies of scale’ efficiencies of larger, often more distant firms.
14. Bill Introduction/Procedures/Final Resolution in Congress
This would tend to allow the efficient progress and passage of only the more moderate legislation.
15. Income Tax
Tax schedule for a progressive income tax.
17. Election System (Single-Winner & Multi-Winner)
A fairer election system in which many more parties (thus points of view) actually win a percentage of the seats.
19. Natural Environmental Harvest Tax
This tax would encourage the reduction of consumption and the use of more recycled materials.
20 Waste Poundage Fee
This fee would efficiently encourage the reduction of waste generation as well as greater waste stream separation.
21. Mass Transportation System Infrastructure Design
Monorail systems are the more economical, fuel efficient and least aesthetically intrusive.
22. Business Relationship to the Environment
As long as operations are in a virtual ‘closed system’, the environment will not be damaged.
23. Product Pricing Court
Life isn’t fair if people can’t earn a living due to other people flooding the market with below-cost items.
24. Voluntary Sterilization of Drug Addicts, Criminals & Other Undesirable People
A purely voluntary way to reduce the conception of children who would otherwise be born with most cards stacked against them.
25. Ban Tax Deductions, Credits, Exemptions, Pre-Tax Money & Other Tax Tricks
These ‘tax tricks’ do benefit some, but the cost on all is increased frustration (time and energy) in dealing with the complexity. We can definitely make the tax code much simpler without sacrificing many of these benefits.
26. Abortion & Euthanasia
After conception, these terms should be used interchangeably. The same standards should be applied to prenatal as well as born people.
29. Profit Tax
This tax, as part of a progressive tax system, would also limit the extreme profitability of firms operating in markets which may not be mature enough for significant competitors to have developed.
30. Patent Protection Limitations and Compensation Schedule
Patents should not offer exclusive rights for many years. Instead, anyone should be allowed to produce the patented product, so long as they are willing to pay the original patent holder according to a depreciating schedule.
31. Raise the Price of a Resource to Conserve It
The surest way to reduce the consumption of anything is to increase its cost. First, make sure that all negative externalities are accounted for, and if demand is still deemed to be too high, then taxes could be applied or increased.
32. Self-Paced Flexible Packaged Courses
Everyone knows that children all learn at different speeds. Let them.
33. Tuition for Public School Attendance
It is only fair for everyone with children in the public school system to help pay directly for at least a fraction of the cost of their child’s education.
34. Adopt the Metric System
We need to dive in and commit ourselves to a complete switch over to this much more logical system of measurements.
35. English Language Simplification
We could shave at least several month or even years off our children’s educational career by simplifying our language. In additions, we could save a lifetime of the unnecessary overhead costs involved with remembering unusual spellings, researching misspellings and suffering embarrassment due to misspellings caught by others.
36. Adopt the 13-Month Calendar
We would never have to ask if the 12th is on a Thursday or Friday or if next Wednesday is the 6th or 7th. Every date number, regardless of the month, would always correspond to a certain day of the week. Furthermore, each month would always begin on the same day of the week and each month would have exactly 4 weeks!
37. Product Standardizations
Do we really need so many different kinds of batteries or power adapters! And if I buy a size 32 waist pants, I expect all manufactures’ clothes labeled as 32 waist to fit the same! Or is this physically impossible?
38. Consumer Research Database
There has got to be a better way to research products before buying them. All the relevant information exists, but having it diluted over thousands of different review sites is not efficient. Searches should be made using any variable of a product.
39. Document Clarity/Simplification
You could save hours of frustration each year if all documents were simplified and written with greater clarity. Competitions should be held and rewards offered for anyone coming up with simpler document ideas.