The Perfect Presidency

[Kazuha Vinland]

"Dear American citizens,

Today will be a breaking point from all the suffering we, the government, has put you through. There will be a change that historians will place on par with the rise of George Washington, since we are changing our country indefinitely and permanently.

Among the actions that will be made, is the end to all wars. While it was us, the government, who approached them under the sound belief that it would prevent terror attacks, we have had a heavy change of heart. There only has to be one man with ill intentions to breach through our border security. Fighting them all will not succeed, as you simply cannot starve an ideology with violence. Instead we will focus on border security, enhancing every measure to catch the individuals that wants us harm. We will also improve our relationship to the world through dialogue. Thus, it is unfortunate that we must pull out of these wars. Afghanistan, Iran, they will be no more. It is not fair to the population there. To be honest, we are likely killing many men in the hands of fundamentalism. Yet we can no longer afford to be the protector of anything but the United States of America. We have our own crisis to attend to, and we need to do it now. If anyone doubts the benefits of this, then merely look at the statistics that tell we've used $2.3 trillion on Iraq, or $6.300 for every U.S. citizen each. That cannot be sustained. For the victims of 9/11, we apologize, but would like to ask you this: what is more important? Avenge our dead, or save our living?

Next up is something that will affect us to an even greater degree. It is the disparity between economical classes. Till this date the reward for achieving the American dream has been perverted luxury. Single men profit millions, billions even, in the face of their multinational corporations. We have decided, despite the same men's great influence on our government, to violently shoot down this process. From here on we make cuts to the top salary men can have, with a law-enforced percentage be entitled to the corporations' employees. And do reckon the percentage part of this, as we still wishes it to be advantageous to be a successful business man, but not to such extremes as has currently been.

The reactions to this among the top class will be tremendous and has already been predicted and taken care of. I, the president, will serve as an example by leading a salary of just $200.000. Similar cuts will apply to all our congress men and government staff. It is a sign of good will, as we believe you feel cheated by your own men.

I am not naive or conceited in the way that I think people will not try to avoid these measures. Therefore I put up high customs barriers to keep production within the borders, and I will personally see through to highlight any person who flees the country to gain more profit, as a person who betrayed our country. In such a scenario, your ties and benefits having been born in the United States, will be demolished. We will make it so that staying here will be way less profitable than in the past for the top brass, but that leaving will be much, much worse. All of this is for the sake of the people. You are among it, so I hope for appreciation rather than frustration.

To highlight the importance of such a call, I will once again refer to statistics. With 10% of the population reigning over 75% of our gross domestic product, these changes will be all-deciding for our economy. With the enforcements in place, wealth distribution will be made more even. People will be able to afford taxes to a much larger extent. The increased taxes the government will use to wisely support the people back; Hospital treatment will be free. Education up till university level will be free. A good insurance will be forced upon everyone, with a minimum cost to you. We will take care of the poor, the abused and the illfated. Some are out of our hands and we cannot save, but with the generation change, we hope that less and less people will fall into the same situation of despair.

We will also work on a common set of laws for the entirety of the U.S. The current system is outdated and broken, and warrants a suing culture that is not healthy for our economy. So many money are spent on case treatments with a court and lawyers. Sometimes it is necessary, but other times it is a case where the law should be clear. Paper work will become more important between individuals, to make certain that less people are treated unfairly or cheated.

The death row will be dismissed, personal firearms will be banished, and the prisons will be rebuilt to primarily rehabilitate, secondarily punishing. While many sees the prisons as vengenace for committing a crime, we would like to point out that hatred breeds only more hatred. With treatment, the return to crime will be decreased significantly.

Finally I want to say that Rome was not built over night, but it didn't take centuries either. These changes will come into action right now. Next time you open a paycheck you will be positively surprised to see it increased. As we pay off our debts to international countries, it will be increased even more. Leaving your kids at school hoping for a higher education will not be a worry anymore, and if she or him breaks a leg while skating, it won't mean personal bankruptcy. In turn we will demand more cooperation from you, a healthy mindset toward change and enlightenment. Without any slogans or further ado, I declare America changed."

While awfully rough, think of it as an appeal to the people, while leaving all the administration to the people wearing gray suits. Couldn't this be the necessary measurements?

[Loki]

Lots of empty rhetoric and utopian proposals, with no mention of how they would be implemented. It seems to be the perfect presidency for a lefty who wants to hear things he likes without giving a damn about consequences or implementation.

[Nessus]

Lots of empty rhetoric and utopian proposals, with no mention of how they would be implemented. It seems to be the perfect presidency for a lefty who wants to hear things he likes without giving a damn about consequences or implementation.

Does this mean only a righty cares about consequences?

[Wraith]

I would not be able to flee the country fast enough. The attempt to completely shred the economy while at the same time increasing expenditures and making everything more expensive? While not all the goals are bad, implementation and side-effects are poorly thought out, and the thought processes behind this are disturbingly naive.

[Nessus]

I would not be able to flee the country fast enough. The attempt to completely shred the economy while at the same time increasing expenditures and making everything more expensive? While not all the goals are bad, implementation and side-effects are poorly thought out, and the thought processes behind this are disturbingly naive.

Where would you go?

[Loki]

Does this mean only a righty cares about consequences?

The implication there was that this would be great for a certain type of lefty, not that all lefties are this stupid.

Missed this part:

"and I will personally see through to highlight any person who flees the country to gain more profit, as a person who betrayed our country. In such a scenario, your ties and benefits having been born in the United States, will be demolished. We will make it so that staying here will be way less profitable than in the past for the top brass, but that leaving will be much, much worse. All of this is for the sake of the people. You are among it, so I hope for appreciation rather than frustration."

Yay for fascism.

[Kazuha Vinland]

Okay, what is good and what is bad?

[Nessus]

The implication there was that this would be great for a certain type of lefty, not that all lefties are this stupid.

Missed this part:

"and I will personally see through to highlight any person who flees the country to gain more profit, as a person who betrayed our country. In such a scenario, your ties and benefits having been born in the United States, will be demolished. We will make it so that staying here will be way less profitable than in the past for the top brass, but that leaving will be much, much worse. All of this is for the sake of the people. You are among it, so I hope for appreciation rather than frustration."

Yay for fascism.

Well, your "righty" government kind of does want to regulate what people do in their bed rooms. It's not fascist per se.

[Loki]

Well, your "righty" government kind of does want to regulate what people do in their bed rooms. It's not fascist per se.

Which government is that? I don't recall homosexuality being illegal...

Okay, what is good and what is bad?

The fact that someone wrote it = bad
The fact that you like it = bad

The "project" is little more than economic populism with a heavy dose of nationalism. Wasn't there some movement that fused those ideologies or something...

[Wraith]

Where would you go?

No idea! Canada's probably easiest, since I couldn't imagine that booking a flight abroad would be easy after this, and they're only a few miles from me. The entire global economy would probably crash hard, so everwhere would be pretty shitty, but I'd expect any Western country would be better off than the US after something like this.

[Nessus]

Which government is that? I don't recall homosexuality being illegal...

Oh, Texas v. Lawrence was just a dream?

Look, Loki. There is, I suppose, a toll to be had. How many faggots will you wish arrested for the expedience for fiscal austerity?

It is a simple question, with a numerical answer.

[Nessus]

No idea! Canada's probably easiest, since I couldn't imagine that booking a flight abroad would be easy after this, and they're only a few miles from me. The entire global economy would probably crash hard, so everwhere would be pretty shitty, but I'd expect any Western country would be better off than the US after something like this.

I do not suppose Canada would look at you much more favourably.

[Loki]

Oh, Texas v. Lawrence was just a dream?

Look, Loki. There is, I suppose, a toll to be had. How many faggots will you wish arrested for the expedience for fiscal austerity?

It is a simple question, with a numerical answer.

But that struck down the last law against homosexuality (which wasn't really enforced to start with)...

How many children do you want killed and eaten to please Al Gore?

I do not suppose Canada would look at you much more favourably.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier...Stephen_Harper

[Nessus]

But that struck down the last law against homosexuality (which wasn't really enforced to start with)...

And what a bang up job! That it wasn't even enforced!

So how many faggots, Loki?

[Loki]

And what a bang up job! That it wasn't even enforced!

So how many faggots, Loki?

Have you seen what other great laws are still on the books? And not just in the US?

[Nessus]

Have you seen what other great laws are still on the books? And not just in the US?

Why are you then a proponent of legislation in the first place? If you only wish that the laws you agree with are acted upon?

How many, Loki?

[Loki]

http://www.dumblaws.com/laws/united-states

[Nessus]

http://www.dumblaws.com/laws/united-states

Really? The Lewkowski defence?

[Wraith]

I do not suppose Canada would look at you much more favourably.

No, I don't imagine so, at least in the wake of this, but pretty much anything would better for me. They'd certainly have a lot of problems with the sudden influx of immigrants, all presumably arriving poor or with mostly inaccessible funds, but if their government at the time is at all clever, that could be turned into an asset eventually, as these would also largely be highly skilled and educated immigrants relative to normal immigration.

[Nessus]

No, I don't imagine so, at least in the wake of this, but pretty much anything would better for me. They'd certainly have a lot of problems with the sudden influx of immigrants, all presumably arriving poor or with mostly inaccessible funds, but if their government at the time is at all clever, that could be turned into an asset eventually, as these would also largely be highly skilled and educated immigrants relative to normal immigration.

I think it would be a wondrous social experiment. Do you know how many people moved into Stalin's USSR in the 30s? After false promises of good gains? This might be a bit like that.

[Wraith]

I think it would be a wondrous social experiment. Do you know how many people moved into Stalin's USSR in the 30s? After false promises of good gains? This might be a bit like that.

The OP led me to many thoughts of the USSR! I also think it'd be interesting to see what happens. I wouldn't want to live through it, though.

[Kazuha Vinland]

Lol, I can totally see the resemblance to the USSR when I think about it, but at the same time I can't help but think that with some tweaks to that failed regime, it could have worked pretty well for the U.S. Abandoning free trade for high customs barriers is very iffy, but more thought of as a countermeasure to rich selfish bastards establishing productions elsewhere, rather than a totalitarian isolated regime. If anything, pride would be the best solution to have them keep working for the U.S., but naturally that doesn't work very well in terms of capitalism. So yeah, it's kinda hard to predict. Would billionaries really abandon the U.S. if their personal salary was cut by 80%? Or would they realize that they got enough money to pay for 10 lifetimes either way?

[Wraith]

Haha, I can totally see the resemblance now too. Yet theoretically, why would it be so bad? To end all wars? To strive for a more equal wealth distribution by stripping the top brass of some of their personal value? To increase taxes to be able to financiate the public support that is clearly needed? To get rid of silly laws?

All you're looking at are the goals, and assuming that's all that would happen. It's not. The consequences of the actions suggested would be severe. Even if the fictional President who gave this speech was immediately impeached (not at all unlikely), the simple act of giving the speech would likely cause irrevocable damage to the US economy. The economic parts of this are undoubtedly the worst.

There's a lot to explain here, and I don't want to be the one who has to take all the time to type it all out. I'll give you a start though. Let's just consider the global income cap and implied heavily progressive taxes.

You complain about the relatively small number of people responsible for a relatively large portion of the economy. Removing them unfortunately also removes that part of the economy that they are responsible for. It's often said that economics are not zero-sum, and this is true, but it cuts both ways. Just as everybody in a deal can see gains, so can everybody in a deal see losses. This would be an example of that.

You're destroying the profit motive. The income cap of 200k placed is fairly low. You might be dismissive of this, after all it's still possible to make some profit, right? Just not much of it. But the effects of this would be huge. Suddenly, everyone who could contribute more to the economy past your cut-off point will have no incentive to do so. So they won't. All that potential benefit will be lost. But this is only the start of things, as what's outlined in the speech all compounds with everything else leading to a monumental catastrophe.

Removing the ability to hold real wealth destroys and dries up all the funding that the US economy relies on. You know what rich people typically do with their money? They give it to other people. It's not charity by any means, they expect that money to come back to them later with more on top. But this activity, done through venture capital, stocks, bonds, and other means, funds people and groups to build their own wealth, people who wouldn't be able to do this on their own. Nobody with the wealth to invest means no more loans, no more startup capital, no more new startups that quickly grow and become major economic forces.

Another thing is that the people you're targeting, the wealthy, are also the same people who are most able to make themselves scarce. They can easily simply go to another country, and are most likely to have their wealth spread around globally. Many countries would welcome them. In general, countries love having more wealthy people around paying taxes and spending money to improve the local economy. Even though you're using the threat of implied force to try to keep them here, they will be able to get around this and wind up being among the least affected by the coming economic cataclysm. The extremely hostile environment you're setting up will mean that they have every incentive to escape, even if they have to give up significant assets to do so.

Corporations, and thus jobs and more of the economy, will also have every incentive to flee. After all, you've destroyed the profit motive for them staying, and just as a kick in the teeth you've completely crippled their ability to seek funding or expand rapidly. Any company that imagines itself or wishes to imagine itself as at all agile would be unable to respond to changing market dynamics as long as they stayed in the US. You've set up a situation where corporate agility is more needed than it's ever been in the past, and simultaneously made sure that no US corporation has the capability.

So we now have the flight of the corporations and the wealthy. This doesn't mean that just they'll be gone, though. They're also taking with them all their spending power, and thus all their demand for goods and services, and their jobs. This will wreak havoc on everybody left in ways that hopefully don't need to be explained. The middle class will rapidly shrink as jobs dry up. Even those who are left in that segment will have to deal with a reduced standard of living as nobody can get loans because nobody has the cash to loan. Need consumer credit, an auto loan, or a home loan? Too bad, nothing to be found. This of course builds on the previously mentioned effects, further decreasing the demand for vehicles, homes, and goods across the board since nobody can afford them, destroying more jobs and condemning more of the population to poverty. The US will quickly become a third world country, adding more incentive for anyone with the means to do so to GTFO. Which, of course, just makes matters even worse. I doubt the threats made will be enough to strongly curtail the resulting exodus.

There's more, of course, and maybe somebody else will be around to start listing more of the problems that will occur. There's many, and I don't have the huge span of time necessary to fully enumerate them all. This is only one small part of things though, and everything else serves to compound and increase the problems caused. The heavy protectionism promised, for example, will serve to increase the price on all goods for a population who couldn't afford it anyways - protectionism that probably isn't even necessary as the value of the USD would quickly plummet anyways and even without the promised high tariffs Americans wouldn't have anywhere near the buying power they once did. This further erodes the standards of living. Suddenly, that 200k salary cap won't seem very high when the price of everything that remains skyrockets due to tarrifs and the worthless USD. Which, by the way, will further destroy the demand for goods as people need to save all their money up for basic necessities.

One other thing worth mentioning that might not be as obvious are the implications of such a policy about future policies. Economies hate fear and uncertainty, and this is going to produce a great deal of both. Even if it might not be intended at the start, the sudden threat of even worse policies is going to cause even more damage in anticipation of it. There's going to be an expectiation of further policies along the lines already described, and that will provoke more fear and flight.

Really, I'm only scratching the surface here. The compounding effect here is huge. On their own and made less severely punitive, some of the things mentioned might be survivable, but in sum, it's incredibly destructive.

I'm just throwing out wild ideas here, not trying to enact upon them or anything. If disproved through actual logic, then I'd be short to abandon them. The reply "look at history" won't cut it though, as it could play out differently in the U.S., no? So straight points please.

No, the look at history argument is woefully inadequate. In other places where similar things played out, the country had very little to start with, was not as involved in the global economy. The current wealth and success of the US would make things here much more catastrophic. Most other countries who've tried something like this started out heavily impoverished, and didn't have as far to fall. The current levels of wealth, education, individual empowerment, and global connections in the US would serve to compound all the negative effects.

Just one other thing:

Education up till university level will be free.

You know we already have this, right?

[Nessus]

The revenge of the job creators. That is fine. Let us see how that works out. After all, the GOP cannot win itself what it needs to placate the job creators. Can it? And so, the job creators must flee, as per your plan. Where will they land, I wonder? To create all those wonderful jobs.

[Wraith]

The revenge of the job creators. That is fine. Let us see how that works out. After all, the GOP cannot win itself what it needs to placate the job creators. Can it? And so, the job creators must flee, as per your plan. Where will they land, I wonder? To create all those wonderful jobs.

They'll flee to try to protect themselves, but I didn't even touch on the havoc it'd wreak on the global economy. I don't think that wherever they land will see any big gain in jobs. Those countries would be fortunate to have the same number of jobs to allocate out to the higher number of job seekers resulting from American refugees. Any fleeing corporation would likely be decimated as a result, but probably less destroyed and in a better position than if they hadn't fled.

Something like this wouldn't be good for anybody.

[Nessus]

And what is happening now, is that good for anybody? I suppose it is. There are many who gain. Not very many, but some. And gain they do! And you think them the wisest of us.

[Wraith]

Difference of perspective. If you look at it in absolute terms, it's good for almost everybody. Certainly better for some than others, but the standard of living is on a constant upwards climb almost across the board. I certainly wouldn't want to return to the middle ages, or even fifty years ago. You can complain that some are benefiting too much compared to others, and maybe there's some validity in that complaint, perhaps it's possible to reallocate gains more evenly without significantly reducing the sum magnitude, but tearing yourself and everyone else down to get your revenge on them is just silly.

[Nessus]

Very well. I make no presumption on what it is you profit, Wraith. I speak to all these people on your dime, after all. It is my vested belief you make that dime in a way that is morally acceptable. I can not truly assault you. How could I dare to?

It is a very disheartening thing, to me, that you think people are better off now that they are chained to a smart phone as much as they are chained to educational loans, and housing. It is certainly a marvelous thing, that they can watch My Little Pony on their smart phones. What a wondrous, upwards climb that was. I wonder who you talk to, about the standard of living. I think it not unrealistic that soon there will be an ever-growing component of your population existing upon guarding another component. So they can watch My Little Pony in the rest room. After they are, for the moment, done with beating those members of your population who did not possess the right to watch My Little Pony.

What a happy society you propose.

[Wraith]

Very well. I make no presumption on what it is you profit, Wraith. I speak to all these people on your dime, after all. It is my vested belief you make that dime in a way that is morally acceptable. I can not truly assault you. How could I dare to?

It is a very disheartening thing, to me, that you think people are better off now that they are chained to a smart phone as much as they are chained to educational loans, and housing. It is certainly a marvelous thing, that they can watch My Little Pony on their smart phones. What a wondrous, upwards climb that was. I wonder who you talk to, about the standard of living. I think it not unrealistic that soon there will be an ever-growing component of your population existing upon guarding another component. So they can watch My Little Pony in the rest room. After they are, for the moment, done with beating those members of your population who did not possess the right to watch My Little Pony.

What a happy society you propose.

I thought we were speaking strictly of economics. If you're complaining about cultural degradation, that's an entirely different beast. I'd still disagree with you, but perhaps not as strongly. I also don't see things headed to the same place you do.

There are some segments of the population that seek things that could help pave the way to what you fear, but I don't agree with them any more than I agree with the desires of the OP.

[Nessus]

What a lovely place to be in, isn't it? You do not profess to any of the wrongness about you, nor do you disown it. It simply happens. I think you are right. Whatever happens, it was the winner who wrote the story. Fuck you, I got mine. Isn't that so?