This is a revised version of the submission I made to RTE’s 2116 Vision for Ireland competition http://2116vision.ie/
Sadly not shortlisted, so here it is - how to change the party political system and put more women in power - for the world wide web to ponder…..
2116 Vision
My vision for Ireland in a hundred years is this: a country where it is normal for fifty percent of the elected politicians to be women; a country where growth and corporate profit are not the main drivers and measures of our success; a country where state education is secular and religious belief, while respected, is an after school activity; a country where the children at primary school level are allocated places in the schools in their locality; a country with a progressive tax system, in particular one where corporate tax is not artificially low and indirect taxes artificially high; a country where afflictions such as gambling, alcoholism, depression and drug addiction become problems of the few as the majority have adopted healthier options such as the dignity of work, exercise, community spirit, life-long learning and philosophical thinking; a country that retains ownership of its water, airports, airlines, gas supplies, coastline, public parks and cultural heritage; a country which is not overly reliant on carbon energy sources; a country that understands the world has finite resources and the need to share them with our fellow human beings; a country where the majority of citizens are actively engaged - a country with a vision for the future.
To set the tone I have chosen the following quotes from The School of Life founded (with colleagues) by Alain de Botton (http://alaindebotton.com/the-school-of-life/):
“The world as it currently stands isn’t held together simply by ideas: it is made up of laws, practices, institutions, financial arrangements, businesses and governments. In other words, its muscles are made up of institutions and therefore, the only way to bring about real change is to act through competing institutions. Revolutions in consciousness cannot be made lasting and effective until legions of people start to work together in concert for a common aim and, rather than relying on the intermittent pronouncements of mountain-top prophets, begin the unglamorous and deeply boring task of wrestling with issues of law, money, long-term mass communication, advocacy and administration.”
“In the Republic, Plato confessed to a profound and melancholy understanding (gathered from bitter experience) of the limits of intellectuals, when he remarked that the world would never be set right until, in his words, ‘philosophers became kings, or kings philosophers’. By which he meant that thinkers should stop imagining that ideas can change reality and recognise that only institutions, ‘kingship’ in this context, have any chance of working a proper influence on the world.”
“The mightiest institutions are commercial corporations with unparalleled power, scores of employees, a ruthless focus on profit and a single-minded interest in the material side of life.”
TWO BIG IDEAS
1. WOMEN-MEN EQUALLY REPRESENTED IN GOVERNANCE – one electoral candidate list for men and one list for women.
The full electorate votes for their preferences on each list (one male list one female list) and the top candidates on each list are elected. For example the top two women and the top two men in a four-seater constituency. This would ensure we had 50% representation male and 50% female. Example as follows:
Sadly not shortlisted, so here it is - how to change the party political system and put more women in power - for the world wide web to ponder…..
2116 Vision
My vision for Ireland in a hundred years is this: a country where it is normal for fifty percent of the elected politicians to be women; a country where growth and corporate profit are not the main drivers and measures of our success; a country where state education is secular and religious belief, while respected, is an after school activity; a country where the children at primary school level are allocated places in the schools in their locality; a country with a progressive tax system, in particular one where corporate tax is not artificially low and indirect taxes artificially high; a country where afflictions such as gambling, alcoholism, depression and drug addiction become problems of the few as the majority have adopted healthier options such as the dignity of work, exercise, community spirit, life-long learning and philosophical thinking; a country that retains ownership of its water, airports, airlines, gas supplies, coastline, public parks and cultural heritage; a country which is not overly reliant on carbon energy sources; a country that understands the world has finite resources and the need to share them with our fellow human beings; a country where the majority of citizens are actively engaged - a country with a vision for the future.
To set the tone I have chosen the following quotes from The School of Life founded (with colleagues) by Alain de Botton (http://alaindebotton.com/the-school-of-life/):
“The world as it currently stands isn’t held together simply by ideas: it is made up of laws, practices, institutions, financial arrangements, businesses and governments. In other words, its muscles are made up of institutions and therefore, the only way to bring about real change is to act through competing institutions. Revolutions in consciousness cannot be made lasting and effective until legions of people start to work together in concert for a common aim and, rather than relying on the intermittent pronouncements of mountain-top prophets, begin the unglamorous and deeply boring task of wrestling with issues of law, money, long-term mass communication, advocacy and administration.”
“In the Republic, Plato confessed to a profound and melancholy understanding (gathered from bitter experience) of the limits of intellectuals, when he remarked that the world would never be set right until, in his words, ‘philosophers became kings, or kings philosophers’. By which he meant that thinkers should stop imagining that ideas can change reality and recognise that only institutions, ‘kingship’ in this context, have any chance of working a proper influence on the world.”
“The mightiest institutions are commercial corporations with unparalleled power, scores of employees, a ruthless focus on profit and a single-minded interest in the material side of life.”
TWO BIG IDEAS
1. WOMEN-MEN EQUALLY REPRESENTED IN GOVERNANCE – one electoral candidate list for men and one list for women.
The full electorate votes for their preferences on each list (one male list one female list) and the top candidates on each list are elected. For example the top two women and the top two men in a four-seater constituency. This would ensure we had 50% representation male and 50% female. Example as follows:
voting for a female list and a male list with the top candidates in each list winning seats
2. THE CANDIDATE’S FISCAL PLAN IS PUBLISHED WITH THE VOTING PAPERS. Any candidate presenting himself or herself for election must indicate if they propose changes in the tax rates and their proposed changes in the redistribution of the tax take, examples follow -
Candidate's tax and redistribution choices
ALISON HACKETT First draft 16 March 2015; this draft 28 April 2015
© Alison Hackett
Any commentator, political party, speech writer, polemicist etc. “borrowing” from this article I would be grateful if you could acknowledge the source.