View Single Post
Old 09-20-2005, 09:09 PM   #5 (permalink)
MichaelFarker
2+2=5? Not again!
 
MichaelFarker's Avatar
 
Location: Dallas, Texas
Thank you for your insight.

To clarify, by firm rule I am thinking of both stability and security. This does not usually mean using soldiers against your own people.
If everyone is afraid of attacking your country and there is no threat of civil war, your rule is more firm.
On the other hand, secret warrants and secret trials might be part of a firm rule too.

As for fairness, do the rich and poor have equal standing before the law? Are they taxed in an equitable way? Do equally capable and connected people have equal opportunity? As powerclown suggests, civil rights are a significant part of this.

And powerclown I almost agree that the style of leadership is a key factor. I would rather say the legitimacy of the leadership, which seems similar to what you are saying. I do not know if the form of government is important, whether it is a democracy or established monarchy for example.

dksuddeth, I agree that the fairness of the rule depends on the character of the ruler. I feel that some circumstances must by nature limit the options of a ruler though. In the US circumstances and public opinion may have more effect than character since decisions are made by compromise. If we could somehow find enough people of unshakable character to fill all the roles of our government they still might be swayed by the wishes of those who elected them.
MichaelFarker is offline  
 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360