What are your top 5 suggestions to the Government of our country?
Answers
Explanation:
There are a number of fundamental elements that can accelerate and enhance the development of a nation>
Provide universal education. It is well-established that an educated population will enhance the attractiveness of a country to investment and development. In addition, such education can create the bases and conditions required for developing a more moderate and enlightened population.
Create a strong and credible independent legal and police system. One of the greatest impediments to development is the inability of people to trust the legal system. If the legal system is not credible and independent then it is vulnerable to corruption and influence. People will not bring their issues to the courts and the courts will not enforce or have the ability to enforce contracts and laws. Additionally, the corrupt will not fear prosecution without a strong and credible legal system, will break contracts, steal and commit other abuses.
Create a stable government (including neutral and compliant military and police forces). Development requires taking risk and protection of property rights. In the absence of stable government, individuals will not take the risks, invest, or engage in the kinds of activities necessary for development. Stable government does not mean or need to mean a dictatorship or single party state. Indeed, such single party and dictatorships will ultimately fail. Rather, it means a common system of governance that tolerates change and flexibility and is able to adapt and evolve. I do not doubt that this can be accomplished even in a monarchy, but it has generally been seen most successfully in some form of constitutional, representative government in more modern times.
Create a moral environment intolerant of corruption but tolerant of independent and dissenting voices. In societies where corruption is widespread and generally accepted, development is stagnated. If a person were to attempt to develop a business, the fear would be that corruption would take it away without fair compensation or tax it to the extent that no one would take such risks without substantial compensation. Worse, yet, as has been seen too often, corruption often wastes much of the resources of a society and dissipates the energy and funds devoted to attempts at development. The importance of allowing and tolerating differing opinions and views in exposing and dealing with corruption and in creating a moral consensus cannot be overlooked. Societies that restrict such freedoms of the press and speech and repress alternative views may develop to a certain level if they adopt the first three elements mentioned but that development will ultimately be arrested and limited relative to the potential that could be realized in a society that respects human rights and also creates a sense of social responsibility. As stated by Sir Abbas Effendi (aka ‘Abdu’l-Baha) in Secret of Divine Civilization (written in the 1870′s ), “ Furthermore, any agency whatever, though it be the instrument of mankind’s greatest good, is capable of misuse. Its proper use or abuse depends on the varying degrees of enlightenment, capacity, faith, honesty, devotion and high-mindedness of the leaders of public opinion.”
Allow private property rights and incentives and limit the “control” based government provisions of goods and services to those activities where their are logical common public goods, natural monopolies, and where material failures mean that public needs cannot be met adequately in the absence of a government. If the government “competes” in the economy, then it will have an unfair advantage and potential to crowd out and inhibit private investment and development. The complexity and difficulty of modern economic systems is such that government production and provision of goods and services tends to lead to rationing and can lead to greater corruption due to the concentration of economic power and control.