STOP THE GOVERNMENT MADNESS

Today's governments are riddled by division, hatred, factions, dissent, extremism, and widely differing beliefs. People are now expressing hate toward people with other beliefs, and against their political parties. People see the other parties as trying to deprive them of what they want most. If this continues, many countries will be torn apart by civil wars.

The real problem is that some of this extremism is caused by defects in the way government is run. The following are ways to get rid of the divisions, extremism, and factions:

1. FIX THE ELECTIONS

   The Plurality Voting System has built-in biases:

   • When more than two candidates run, Plurality Voting favors the candidate most different from the others. This usually chooses the most extreme candidates in primary elections.
   • Voters can't vote their true preference. They can't indicate that they like more than one candidate, or dislike all of them.
   • A NO vote has less weight than a yes vote.
   • A candidate entering or leaving the race can greatly change the outcome.
   • The biases in the Plurality Voting System make people think the vote was in some way dishonest.

   Use the Independent Voting System. It has none of these problems.

2. FIX THE ELECTIONS II

   The elections are mathematically broken in several other ways:

   • The precincts are too large. Each precinct shall have between 250 and 500 voters.
   • Districts are reapportioned with boundaries set for political purposes by those in office at the time. There should be a formula that makes districts as close to squares or rectangles as is possible, with a computer program drawing the lines along the closest county lines.
   • Electoral votes need to use the Independent Voting System, and must not be winner-take-all.
   • The straight party voting device is biased against local candidates. It should be banned.
3. FIX THE ELECTIONS III

   The elections are also biased on purpose:

   • Politicians promise that, if they win, they will vote for programs giving people money. This is buying votes.
   • The media slant the news about the candidates because they want something for themselves.
   • Labor unions coerce their members to vote for certain candidates.
   • Schoolteachers bias their students to their own political views.
   • Employers often try to coerce employees to certain political views. Some find "legitimate" reasons to fire employees having the "wrong" political beliefs.
   • People lie to voters to get their own selfish ways. Lying to voters should be a crime.

   Abolish all activity that biases voters.

   Put the controversial items on the ballot, separated from the candidates.

4. STOP OFFENDING PEOPLE

   Too many political positions offend others:

   • Don't desire anything that is offensive to others.
   • Government wrongly takes sides in cases of personal belief.
   • Many proposed policies violate religious beliefs, offending members of those religions.
   • Other people have the unreasonable expectation of not being exposed to anything religious.
   • Many people feel that some government policies discriminate against them.
   • Preventing discrimination against some people often causes discrimination against others.
   • Different people have different opinions of how the economy works. Some of them are mathematically impossible theories, but people believe in them anyway.
5. DON'T DO ANYTHING THAT CAUSES OTHERS TO VIOLATE THEIR OWN RELIGIONS

   Too many people want to do things that violate the religions of others. Don't do any of the following:

   • Government must not do anything that violates any religion.
   • Nobody shall be required to obey any religion or to do anything that violates any religion.
   • Nobody shall be prohibited from doing anything required by any religion, other than acts that physically harm people or their property.
   • Things needed for religious observances shall not be prohibited.
   • No person shall be required to enter any long-term relationship that disobeys any religion.
   • No person or government shall attempt to change, interfere with, or prohibit any religious belief or texts.
   • No discrimination due to any person's religious associations.
   • People shall not be required to pay double to use schools other than public schools.
   • No required course shall teach anything that violates or contradicts any religion.
   • Religious organizations shall not be taxed or required to hire nonmembers.
   • No religious belief (other than civil rights) shall become part of any law.
   • Government must be neutral and indifferent to religion, not anti-religion.
   • Identification numbers, Abortion, and Homosexuality violate many religions.
   • There cannot be such a thing as freedom from religion. Incidental exposure is not forcing religion on anyone.
   • The following must be treated as religious beliefs:

     worshiping anything	political beliefs	unproved environmental or scientific beliefs
     space aliens fly UFOs*	astrology	man causes Global Warming*
     anything from bad science	Parts of other religions	(e.g. Yoga, TM, Indian lore, Mandala creation)
     Humanism	Secular Humanism	Humanitarianism
     Statism	Evolution as origin of life	Political Correctness (plagiarized from Baha'i)

     * Unless verified proof is found to confirm this is true.

   • People who want the right to violate the religious beliefs of others shall be given a choice:
     1. Keep all violations of religious beliefs secret, and keep full equal opportunity rights.
     2. Reveal religious violations, but lose equal opportunity rights to religious objections.
6. STOP TAXING PEOPLE TO DEATH

   Overtaxation harms people and the economy:

   • All taxation takes wealth away from the economy.
   • A maximum taxation limit is needed. Nobody shall be taxed over 10 percent.
   • No person under twice the poverty level shall pay any tax, unless he buys luxuries.
   • Property ownership, border crossings, and incomes shall not be taxed.
   • Sales of new, but not used, nonessential products shall be taxed at 10%.
   • Services provided by individuals and businesses shall not be taxed.
   • Government shall not charge for the use of government services that are necessary or required to be used.
   • There shall be no charge for justice or voting.
   • Government shall charge user fees to cover the costs of nonessential government services.
   • Fuel taxes shall be the only user fee for roads. There shall be no tolls or parking fees.
7. STOP EXPECTING TO GET SOMETHING FOR NOTHING

   Too many people expect to get something free from government:

   • It hurts the economy as a whole every time someone gets something for nothing.
   • Government does not have the power to create any wealth to give anything away. Only work creates wealth.
   • Any free benefit that one person gets is work stolen from someone else.
   • Every person who can work should be working to earn a living.
   • If the tax rate is kept as low as required above and government incurs no debts, there should be no unemployment.
   • Minimum wage is a scam. You get higher wages, but the product prices have to go up so the employer has enough to pay the higher wages. Net gain = ZERO.
   • Striking for higher wages is a scam for the same reason. It just drives product prices up.
   • Living wage is a scam for the same reason. Only cutting taxes gives people real wage gains.
   • Universal health insurance is also a scam. The premiums will be a lot higher ($2000/month).

   Nothing is free. Someone or something had to work to produce it.

8. STOP THE HATE

   Too many people hate people with different beliefs:

   • Don't hate religions. All people have the right to their own beliefs.
   • Don't hate people of different races. They can't control how they were born.
   • Don't hate people from other countries. They can't control where they were born.
   • Don't hate the rich or the poor. Treat all people fairly.
   • Don't hate work. Hating work is the surest way to become poor. Work creates wealth.
   • Don't hate people who have political beliefs different than yours. Find out why they believe what they believe.
   • NEVER assign motives to other people for the beliefs they have. You are probably wrong.
   • NEVER assume that people (except politicians and thieves) want to deprive you of something.
9. STOP THE WRONGDOING

   All of the wrongdoing in this world costs the rest of us:

   • Do not murder or maim.
   • Do not have more than one sex partner. Promiscuity causes fights and diseases.
   • Do not steal what belongs to others. Work for what you want to have.
   • Do not lie. Especially do not lie in court, in elections, and in advertising.
   • Do not envy others for what they have. Work for what you want to have.
   • Do not buy up property to rent it to others. It drives up prices.
   • Most crime is attempting to get wealth without working for it. All crime destroys wealth.
10. STOP THE STUPIDITY

    Too many people believe stupid things, and insist that they are true:

    • Some believe that we should return to the Greek utopia. They forget that the ancient Greek economy ran on slave labor.
    • Some believe that, if all of the money in the world could be evenly distributed, everyone would have enough to not have to work. But the math says that each person would get $2500 - once. Not only is that not enough to live on, but with nobody working, there would be no products. Too many people do not understand the scale of the numbers involved.
    • Too many people believe the high school version of Keynesian Economics pushed by union schoolteachers. Keynesian Economics teaches that government can create wealth by spending money. But only work can create real wealth. Keynesian Economics has been refuted several times.
    • A large number of anti-war people believe that a country can pull its troops out of a war and the war will end. But if the other side still wants to fight, the war will not end.
    • A number of anti-war people have the belief that the 9/11 attacks were staged by the US government. Their arguments are based on bad science. They also believed that impeaching President Bush would make John Kerry the president, showing their lack of logical thinking.
    • Too many people believe that government, politicians, and/or businesses are deliberately trying to keep them poor. This is a ridiculous claim. Nobody is deliberately trying to keep anyone poor. The truth is that the government, politicians, or businesses probably can't afford to do the things the poor are demanding.

STUPID GOVERNMENT TRICKS