The Student Room Group

Your Perfect Country

If you could create a country from scratch today, what would you do? Some questions worth considering include:

What laws would you have? (if any?)

Where on Earth / in space / virtually would you want your country to be?

Also, would you have a dictatorship or a democracy, or something in-between?


* This is inspired by the BBC World Service's "My Perfect Country" show:https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03gsc50/episodes/player?page=3 *
(edited 1 year ago)
new zealand looks like it would tick a few boxes, looks warm and clean and safe
Land - USA
Great Natural borders, lot's of natural minerals and stuff to mine and trade almost impenetrable from the outside.
Government - Monarchy with parliament which has representatives from every form of class In fact it would be law for everyone to attend once in their life time.
Culture - Roman(Republic)
List of Laws I would Pass
- Gun Ownership allowed if you have permit only handguns
- Self Defence Laws
- No Car Dependency no town or city is to be entirely car dependent it should be walkable or have public transport.

I could write a book on this but I'll stick to my paradox games
Original post by username001345
Land - USA
Great Natural borders, lot's of natural minerals and stuff to mine and trade almost impenetrable from the outside.
Government - Monarchy with parliament which has representatives from every form of class In fact it would be law for everyone to attend once in their life time.
Culture - Roman(Republic)
List of Laws I would Pass
- Gun Ownership allowed if you have permit only handguns
- Self Defence Laws
- No Car Dependency no town or city is to be entirely car dependent it should be walkable or have public transport.

I could write a book on this but I'll stick to my paradox games

Woe. You want the old roman culture?
Do you see a difference between the culture of rome through out the ages?

Well obvioualy that answer is yes but consider only the republic vs empire. Not sure any other way to articulate that. ....



Also what you mean by walkable?
(edited 1 year ago)
Original post by da_nolo
Woe. You want the old roman culture?
Do you see a difference between the culture of rome through out the ages?

Well obvioualy that answer is yes but consider only the republic vs empire. Not sure any other way to articulate that. ....



Also what you mean by walkable?

Walkable infrastructure similar to amsterdam and not the disgusting mess that is Houston.America or LA America
Reply 5
Original post by username001345
Walkable infrastructure similar to amsterdam and not the disgusting mess that is Houston.America or LA America


Oh I was thinking culture culture. Like what the people do and like
Rather than a country, from my perspective the ideal country is the entire world being united under one government to maximize peace, productivity, and overall well being. The following will thus address the "ideal government" rather than the "ideal country". Additionally, the definition of my ideal government is a government that allows the people to be happy rather than "rich".


Government Structure:
Socialism + Democracy (looking something like Germany, Finland, etc.)

Economic Structure:
Controlled Free Market (prevention of conglomerates, market monopolies, economic bubbles. Albeit easier said than done)

Education System:
Although schools exist, these schools will look nothing like our modern day counterparts. Rather than schools "teaching" the students, schools will be helping the students find their true passion and aid them in both the process of finding their passion as well as the mastery and education of the passion. (individualistic learning, autonomy) Additionally, all higher forms of education (uni/college) would be covered by the government welfare.

Law Enforcement & Military:
With the entire world being under one government, the military's purpose would greatly decrease. Additionally with the existence of a great Education system and great government welfare system, rebellions& crime rates will greatly decrease. Thus allowing a smaller police workforce. (military would be converted into the police)

Taxation:
Similarly to Europe, the tax rates would be very high in order to guarantee every citizen the best welfare possible. (40~50% tax rates) The tax would mainly be used on education, welfare (includes heatlhcare), research on several important studies to live a better life (ex. philosophy, sociology, healthcare, etc.)



After Thoughts:
Formulating what an ideal country would need is something that is far too sophisticated for even an expert, let alone a student to do. Despite this, these are some key traits I believe an ideal country should have. Anyways, if you agree with my opinions, feel free to articulate further. If not, it'd be appreciated if you could write down the reasoning behind the thought.
A cat based dictatorship. I’ll be called top cat
One full of hot anime babes
Original post by altum cogitatio
Rather than a country, from my perspective the ideal country is the entire world being united under one government to maximize peace, productivity, and overall well being. The following will thus address the "ideal government" rather than the "ideal country". Additionally, the definition of my ideal government is a government that allows the people to be happy rather than "rich".


Government Structure:
Socialism + Democracy (looking something like Germany, Finland, etc.)

Economic Structure:
Controlled Free Market (prevention of conglomerates, market monopolies, economic bubbles. Albeit easier said than done)

Education System:
Although schools exist, these schools will look nothing like our modern day counterparts. Rather than schools "teaching" the students, schools will be helping the students find their true passion and aid them in both the process of finding their passion as well as the mastery and education of the passion. (individualistic learning, autonomy) Additionally, all higher forms of education (uni/college) would be covered by the government welfare.

Law Enforcement & Military:
With the entire world being under one government, the military's purpose would greatly decrease. Additionally with the existence of a great Education system and great government welfare system, rebellions& crime rates will greatly decrease. Thus allowing a smaller police workforce. (military would be converted into the police)

Taxation:
Similarly to Europe, the tax rates would be very high in order to guarantee every citizen the best welfare possible. (40~50% tax rates) The tax would mainly be used on education, welfare (includes heatlhcare), research on several important studies to live a better life (ex. philosophy, sociology, healthcare, etc.)



After Thoughts:
Formulating what an ideal country would need is something that is far too sophisticated for even an expert, let alone a student to do. Despite this, these are some key traits I believe an ideal country should have. Anyways, if you agree with my opinions, feel free to articulate further. If not, it'd be appreciated if you could write down the reasoning behind the thought.

- Wants a Globalist Society
- Wants to Practice Socialism
Makes no sense.

What you described is literally a nightmare just give a single small group of people the power to run the whole globe and the 8 billion people that reside in it.

Majority of humans are materialistic so their happiness relies in having excess money to spend on goods and commodities.
Country would be in Europe and in the EU.
Must be a democracy with no monarchy and must be secular.

Things (some are really specific here), not going to include everything:

-Would have it so that online companies are legally obliged to give a reason when moderating posts (as in they have to explain why a post got removed, what exact guideline did the post break and how the post broke that specific guideline. Too many websites (I won’t give names here but 2 instantly spring to mind) fail to do this).

- Have cheap and reliable public transport, one company for the whole country

- Maybe make going to university free/more affordable but some degrees wouldn’t be offered as university degrees

-Smoking and vaping would be illegal

-Education system similar to the Scandinavian one or keep the British one but I’d make tweaks to it. Make learning a second language mandatory from the moment you start going to school but have exceptions.

- Consistency when it comes to the age of legally being able do things. So the age of consent, drinking age, age you can legally drive, age you can legally adopt a child, vote etc would all be 18 years old rather than it being 16/18 to vote, 21 to adopt, 17 to drive, 16 to give consent etc

- Religion and PHSE would not be taught in primary schools and the school would have to be secular, teach that stuff in secondary school and beyond. Religious clothing would still be allowed to be worn in primary schools.

- Healthcare system similar to the French or German one. The difference in quality of healthcare in the UK (GOSH gets the exception) compared to France is stark, at least in my experience.

Would say more but better if I didn’t and have got nothing else for now.
Original post by username001345
- Wants a Globalist Society
- Wants to Practice Socialism
Makes no sense.

What you described is literally a nightmare just give a single small group of people the power to run the whole globe and the 8 billion people that reside in it.

Majority of humans are materialistic so their happiness relies in having excess money to spend on goods and commodities.


So society tends towards cycles:
1) Societies tend to begin as monarchies - That is: Someone with the intelligence, strength, charisma and ruthlessness manages to take control of a large area. These societies tend to be solely designed to please their leader. He(Or she) has absolute power to do anything. They might make Pyramids. They might build libraries and pave the streets with marble. They may simply indulge whatever desire they have. See: Hammurabi, Frederick the Great, Alexander the Great.

2) The Monarch ceases to have the intelligence, strength, charisma or ruthlessness necessary to take control. There is a rebellion forcing limitations to the government to safeguard the happiness and health of the citizens. This results in a more limited State, a Constitutional Monarchy. See: King John,
King Charles I, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus).

3) The moment the idea that the purpose of government is to safeguard the happiness and safety of the citizens comes about, it is inevitable that that system will move towards a democracy of a type(Yes, all representative democracies count for this: Even Constitutional Republics for you Americans out there. That IS a type of democracy.)(See the United States, France, Canada, and most of the world that is currently democratic)

4) Under a Democracy, you will have a few problems. The first is that instead of one king, you will often have many kings. This is because it is anarchistic and people will realize that, under a democracy, a few friends and a few dupes grants you a huge amount of power. As the government is limited, wealth becomes much more unequally distributed. (Usually because wealth becomes much more prevalent and the King doesn't take it all and redistribute it). These hidden tyrants are usually just as bad as the other type, but have to remain hidden.

The second problem under a Democracy is that people realize they can vote themselves all sorts of benefits and take whatever people want. "There should be no such thing as a billionaire!", "Tax the rich!" are all rallying cries just as likely to be heard in Athens or late 19th century/early 20th century Italy as they are today. They are not new ideas

5) When people realize that the purpose of government is to safeguard happiness and safety, they centralize power to the government and vote for more and more benefits. This is a move towards Socialism and/or Communism and this centralized power is the death knell of Democracy. See: Pisistratus.

6) With power centralized, there is no defence when someone realizes that they just need to take control of a few people to run everything. See: Mussolini, Stalin, Xi Jinping.

Number 6 is just Monarchy with extra steps. The third option is Fascism, which is what most people believe in right now and is the most likely outcome to current government. That requires a whole post on its own to explain, though.
Reply 12
The most perfect countries must necessarily nurture the most perfect people. But if this leaves behind the not so perfect, those not so perfect people then pose a threat to the perfectness of the country. Logically, it would seem reasonable to expect that it means working hard to be the best you can be. Unfortunately, many fed so long on the dual, incompatible, mindsets of capitalism and welfarism would use this as a reason to work against others, regardless of the merits of those others. Only a kind of socialism could work but it relies on those socialists each working both hard and in cooperation with each other, something I think has become practically alien to many British people. Ironically, somewhere like Germany, or the peaceful yet prosperous Canada, probably has the best chance of achieving this character.
(edited 4 months ago)
Original post by ThatOldGuy
So society tends towards cycles:
1) Societies tend to begin as monarchies - That is: Someone with the intelligence, strength, charisma and ruthlessness manages to take control of a large area. These societies tend to be solely designed to please their leader. He(Or she) has absolute power to do anything. They might make Pyramids. They might build libraries and pave the streets with marble. They may simply indulge whatever desire they have. See: Hammurabi, Frederick the Great, Alexander the Great.
2) The Monarch ceases to have the intelligence, strength, charisma or ruthlessness necessary to take control. There is a rebellion forcing limitations to the government to safeguard the happiness and health of the citizens. This results in a more limited State, a Constitutional Monarchy. See: King John,
King Charles I, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus).
3) The moment the idea that the purpose of government is to safeguard the happiness and safety of the citizens comes about, it is inevitable that that system will move towards a democracy of a type(Yes, all representative democracies count for this: Even Constitutional Republics for you Americans out there. That IS a type of democracy.)(See the United States, France, Canada, and most of the world that is currently democratic)
4) Under a Democracy, you will have a few problems. The first is that instead of one king, you will often have many kings. This is because it is anarchistic and people will realize that, under a democracy, a few friends and a few dupes grants you a huge amount of power. As the government is limited, wealth becomes much more unequally distributed. (Usually because wealth becomes much more prevalent and the King doesn't take it all and redistribute it). These hidden tyrants are usually just as bad as the other type, but have to remain hidden.
The second problem under a Democracy is that people realize they can vote themselves all sorts of benefits and take whatever people want. "There should be no such thing as a billionaire!", "Tax the rich!" are all rallying cries just as likely to be heard in Athens or late 19th century/early 20th century Italy as they are today. They are not new ideas
5) When people realize that the purpose of government is to safeguard happiness and safety, they centralize power to the government and vote for more and more benefits. This is a move towards Socialism and/or Communism and this centralized power is the death knell of Democracy. See: Pisistratus.
6) With power centralized, there is no defence when someone realizes that they just need to take control of a few people to run everything. See: Mussolini, Stalin, Xi Jinping.
Number 6 is just Monarchy with extra steps. The third option is Fascism, which is what most people believe in right now and is the most likely outcome to current government. That requires a whole post on its own to explain, though.
Number 5 isnt a move toward socialism or communism its just dictatorship.

Did you get this from Platos Republic? As he says something similar that Governments go from Aristocracy to Democracy then to Tyranny/Dictatorship

If we look at history hes fairly close.

Rome when it was a city state had a king
Roman Republic a Democracy
Roman Empire a Dictator

This can also be observed in Italy and Germany
Original post by Andrew97
A cat based dictatorship. I’ll be called top cat


That reminds me of a Hannah Barbera cartoon what has been for a long time.

Original post by ICEcold_Stoic
One full of hot anime babes


...at a place where a warm climate always exist to see them half-naked or light dresses everytime. Hmmm... maybe too pervert.

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