Radical Mix

In 21st century it might be a good idea to combine radical ideas from each side, instead of trying to find that mushy middleground. Older political methods of the machine age assume unchanging, solid blocks who fight for votes, then compromise, somehow reaching a consensus. US politics with its sophisticated machinery and hot-shot slice-and-dice political consultants are the worst example of this now; “The operators” will piece together any kind of voter block for you, the candidate only needs to say blah, and gets X votes, or says another blah and gets Y votes. You simply pile this stuff hoping that it will get you to your goal.

The problem is that both sides play this game, with the result that in most recent elections the winning side can beat the opposition only by a small margin. The worst part is ideologically the candidates start looking a lot like the postmodern version of Frankenstein – pieced together from incompatible dead meat that is only able to exercise basic functions such as walking, and babbling some words, but no good for anything else.

Maybe we need to combine radical new ideas instead of finding the middle ground of archaic ones. We would give all kids tablets for educational videos, and fire all teachers. Radical, and radical. We would have state everyone hand out money, but offering no other services. Radical^2. We would close all prisons, and execute major offenders [1]. US Tax code is abolished / simplified, and rich people pay tax at a higher rate.

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[1] .. after a long waiting period, and due process, minor offenders walk around dressed in orange jumpsuits, with an electronic bracelet. All radical.