Political ideology vs Powermongering

[castille]

Can anyone name a single political ideology that has existed, and wasn't twisted by powermongers to serve their own purposes?

Free market capitalism was supposed to bring people wealth, but governments that didn't even implement it used "free market" as an excuse to attack other countries that weren't "free market".

Socialism/communism was supposed to be about making everyone equal in every aspect. Actually it sort of worked - everyone did become equal. Equally poor, equally miserable.

Fascism was supposed to be about inspiring patriotism and love for one's country, but it sort of ended up with inspiring people to love their leader, rather than the country.

Even with religion...Buddhist states were supposed to be about humble devotion, but it ended up with fat monks getting rich off the peasant's back.


So....any ideologies that haven't been corrupted yet?

[castille]

As a note - to anyone who starts shouting "But real socialism/free market/fascism never existed!", well technically they did exist, but their definitions were just twisted to serve the purposes of the leaders.

[Morgan_Freeman]

Power corrupts. That simple.

[castille]

Yet without leadership; without handing decision-making power to [i]someone[/b], we would be an anarchic society that can never get anything done.

The only way to get things done with minimal corruption would be to elect a computer as president...

[Rainbow]

Quote by: castille Can anyone name a single political ideology that has existed, and wasn't twisted by powermongers to serve their own purposes?

More or less but all the ideologies have been good on a paper, only.

[Osborn F Enready]

Castille said:
As a note - to anyone who starts shouting "But real socialism/free market/fascism never existed!", well technically they did exist, but their definitions were just twisted to serve the purposes of the leaders.

Morgan Freeman said:
Power corrupts. That simple.

I say:
This is exactly why, and I mean EXACTLY why, the forefathers created the Constitution in a way to allow the least amount of power in any small group of mens hands. The goal was to work to a point of almost non-existant government, except for the minimum required to maintain security in the world in which it existed. In this modern world, yes, the need for security is high. However, almost all of the "aggressors" against the United States were (made) enemies by one of the biggest factors Washington warned us about.... entangling alliances. Our foreign manipulation is probably the most extensive in history, just by sheer volume, even though our country is only 229 years old. The only thing missing from the Constitution, that would have prevented this is a designated public oversight committee, operated similar to selection of jury duty but with longer periods of service, and actual wage matching (within reason) for participants.

A group of citizens randomly selected, should have the ability to veto any bill back to the proposal stage for public vote, based on Constitutional principle or rights issues. The people run this system, and electing representatives is a flaw, since they have long terms in office with which to form cliques, and "old boy" networks. Regardless of the purpose, intent or motive of the bill, the citizens should be able to DEMAND a public vote for any bill, to see if THEY will ALLOW the government to enforce it once made into law.

This one small change could have prevented almost all of the corruption we see today, and would have furthered the goals of all people in this nation to a standard unseen in the history of the world.

The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are probably the most noble, sincere expressions of man I have ever seen put to paper, in preparation for the betterment of mankind.

Yes, this is my opinion, and acheiveing those goals are still possible. We just have to remember a few things....

``The characteristic of genuine heroism is its persistency. All men have wandering impulses, fits and starts of generosity. But when you have resolved to be great, abide by yourself, and do not try to reconcile yourself with the world. The heroic cannot be common, nor the common heroic.''
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

``Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.''
-John F. Kennedy, 1962

''No matter how far you've gone down the wrong road, turn back.''
-Turkish proverb

``To ignore the evidence, and hope that it cannot be true, is more an evidence of mental illness.''
-William Blase

``Logical consequences are the scarecrows of fools and the beacons of wise men.''-Thomas Henry Huxley (1825 - 1895)

[PatrickHenry]

Hey Osborn. One thing I didn't get much response to was a proposal for the permanent Office of Special Prosecutor, to be selected from the opposition to a President, so that he could be hounded all his days in office. I thought it was a helluva good idea, but nobody seemed to notice. I was serious(well, semi-serious)

[Vee]

I think Castille has confused Nationalism with Fascism