If you really want to create something quite unique in the way of governmental structure for the next civilization, I'd suggest something we never really got but a sniff at back in 1777, a Republic. Yes, I know, many people think we have such a thing already, but just calling it that isn't the same as really having one.
If you'll bare with me a bit I'll try to show you what I mean in as few words as possible.
The elements of republican structure are scattered all over the historical universe, in bits and pieces here and there. First, going back to Exodus 18, you'll find "rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, rulers of tens" in ancient Israel. The word "rulers" may appear as "captains" or "chiefs" or "officers" in various translations I've run across. The basic ten family unit existed in ancient Israel, and latter-day Israel of Saxon England, where it was also referred to as a "tun" or a "tithe", ten "tithes" also forming a "Hundred." Remember that in ancient Israel as in Saxon England there were no legislative bodies, government consisting of an executive branch and a judicial branch. After the times of Judges and of Kings democracy set in and Israel was headed for history's scrap heap. And there was no need for a lawyer class as judges were chosen from the local citizenry who in those times still recognized right from wrong and could judge accordingly.
Moving across the water to the new world, there were apparently Lost Tribes descendents who lived under what was know as the Iroquois Confederation, composed of five indian tribes. In that case it was the women of the family units who picked one man who in that confederation held his office hereditarily upon good behavior, being clubbed to death the penalty for bad. (Would that that still held sway during the last administration).
Supposedly it was Benjamin Franklin who received inspiration from the Iroquois Confederation for the Articles of Confederation, though he wasn't even there, being off in France at the time trying to lure the French into supporting the American rebellion against British rule. But in 1777 the Articles of Confederation were agreed upon, creating a pretty good Republic, "if you can keep it."
No one ever reads or even refers to the Articles of Confederation anymore. Just the Declaration of Independence of 1776, and the Constitution of 1787. If you read the Articles, you'll see that the Constitution was not even a legal document, converting the original Republic into a democratic-Republic, creating a political free-for-all that would eventually be our un-doing as a nation. If you read the notes from the Constitutional convention, you see that many delegates refused to attend, one state never attended at all, many refused to sign until a list of personal inviolate rights might be appended, and still others refused to sign even then.
So the Republic of 1777 was converted into a democratic-Republic in 1787 and eventually that was abolished by the 17th Amendment which like the document it amended was never properly ratified. I know many would disagree with me, but the last Republican president this nation had was William Howard Taft, for shortly after he left office in 1913 the pseudo-Republic was abolished, once and for all. From there it devolved into a short-lived Democracy, until about 1933 when it became a Social-Democracy. It is now another hybrid: Fascist/Communist.
So here's what a real Republic looks like. I realize that others will write up long lists of what a Republic would stand for, but please realize that those are but attributes of a Republic. It is the structure that makes them possible; it is the structure that is all important. So you start with an autonomous ten-family unit which selects one person to sit at the next higher level. That level should never exceed fifty persons (one delegate to the Const. convention expressed the fear that what they were creating would one day exceed fifty persons, and degenerate into a democratic chaos). One member from that level is selected to sit at the next level, and so forth. You can go from the family to the White House in five or six levels, various levels along the way serving as city, county and state governments. Judges and presiding officers are selected from among the fifty-man groups (read the Articles).
No multi-million dollar election extravaganzas (which serve only to funnel hundreds of millions, billions, into the pockets of party faithful). No political parties (remember, Washington even warned against them). No need for 20,000 registered, vote-buying lobyists in DC (to say nothing of the thousands more in the states) or for all the un-registered ones who hand out the big money.
Every delegate at each level of government is intimately familiar with the 49 with whom he serves, and the 49 who put him there are intimately familiar with him. No one gets away with anything. Each level exercises autonomy only at their level, no need for edicts and taxes imposed from above. And I dare say that at the top, government might well finance its legitimate activities from the collection of duties, imposts and excises, and nothing more. It did so for 125 years, even as a democratic-Republic. And as for war financing, had we a Republic, would there have been any wars?
I urge everyone reading this to please READ the Articles of Confederation. Truth is very, very simple. It is the lie that is complex. Anyone can understand the simplicity of truth. It takes a Philadelphia lawyer to understand the lie; that's why we have so many of them.
Localism For A Free Republic
F.A. Hayek’s stance to combat the leviathan monster of the State is to go local. Lew Rockwell continues: “We need a Hayekian solution to the US. We need small states trading with each other. How many? It really doesn't matter so long as one is not overly large geographically or in terms of population. It could be 10 states or 100. At some point, the number of political units created would have to be left to the people themselves, to be decided by local plebiscite. After all, at that point, all political alliances between units would have to be voluntary and clearly dissolvable.”
…Surely genuine conservatives can agreed that localism is at the core of self-determination! Such credentialed stalwarts like Free Congress Foundation President Paul M. Weyrich have long championed the clout of local empowerment. With the passing of Harry Brown, would this not be an advantageous time to rally libertarians and populist conservatives to focus on their common interests, which all start and reside within their most local of governmental jurisdictions?
Full commentary at http://batr.org/autonomy/030606.html
Thomas Jefferson Is Rolling Over In His Grave
Bush might as well walk into the National Archives, break the glass case where the original Constitution is preserved, and take a Bic lighter to it. Bush should invite virtually the whole of Congress, so they can whoop and cheer at the physical destruction of our founding document.-Kurt Nimmo/Prison Planet
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/march2006/070306_b_Jefferson.htm