In Book VII of The Republic, Plato lays out his vision of the ideal governing structure. His hypothetical utopia, which he calls Kallipolis, is governed by a philosopher king who pays attention to “the seasons, the heavens, the stars, the winds, and everything proper to the craft if he is really to rule the ship.”
Plato is on to something here, but I think we can improve on his idea. In fact, perhaps the only philosopher king in history, Marcus Aurelius, laid the foundation for the fall of the Roman Empire because of his indecisiveness and unwillingness to make tough choices.
No, the U.S. would need someone a little more practical and impartial. Someone from the social sciences, but with a quantitative bent on reality.
What the U.S. needs is an economist king. A representative of the “dismal science” might be the only type of person capable of weighing fairly the costs and benefits of every situation without becoming bogged down by emotions.
The idea is not as radical as it sounds. The areas of government that have the highest approval rating year in and year out are the functions that are not democratically elected. The Supreme Court is the most obvious example. A lesser-known but highly effective process is the Base Realignment and Closure procedure, or BRAC. An independent nine-member commission evaluates a list of military bases to consider closing. The panel presents its findings to Congress and a yes/no vote ensues. The effect is that congressmen aren’t allowed the opportunity to put their grubby little fingers all over the bill. The public is thus spared the teary-eyed representative on TV imploring his comrades to save the small military base in his district. What is the end result? The bases that need to be closed are closed.
But an up-or-down vote can still fail. Our illustrious elected leaders still might vote “nay.”
No, what we need is one person in charge. Circumventing the legislature in making policy decisions would allow the best solutions to be implemented, not just the most politically expedient. As it stands now, the halls of Congress are where practical ideas go to die.
Once in charge of domestic policy in the United States, our benevolent ruler would tackle the most pressing issues.
First, he would take a look at our tax policy. Of the myriad possible tax systems, including the FairTax, negative income tax, flat tax and VAT, our current system is by far the worst. It’s so complicated there is a whole industry devoted to understanding and manipulating it. Free from the pulls of the mob in a democratic system, our charitable king could focus on a simple, efficient solution.
Another pressing issue is health care reform. The United States could implement a system identical to Britain’s NHS and still pay less than the federal government currently squanders. All told, the United States spends nearly twice as much on health care as the country in second place (Switzerland). Instead of allowing Congress to craft its own health care bill, which would be rife with loopholes and handouts to especially persuasive companies, our economist king could come up with the proposal that would actually be best for the country.
Our generous leader would also understand the importance of preserving perhaps our most sacred tradition: the sovereignty of bowl games in college football. He would move quickly to put a stop to the meddling currently going on in Congress to replace our efficient Bowl Championship Series with a playoff (gross!). He would understand that when it comes to college sports, playoffs are for basketball and Division II hockey, not our beloved college football.
This end-all policy fix is all well and good until you step back a bit. The problem is obvious, the solution is foolproof, but the implementation is impossible. Show me a congressman who would be willing to give up policy-making power, and I’ll show you a pig that can fly.
Oh well, it was a thought.
-Elijah Laviky is a finance senior.
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chas036 2 years, 10 months ago
I believe that your propsoed utopia has already been tried before and failed,,,,,,it's called communism.