(in the voice of Harry Caray): Hey! What about this?!

Get rid of the centralized government (for most things). It is fat, bloated, and so inefficient that it's leading the charge to our graves. Distribute power so that communities/regions/cities are the masters of their own domain.

Let local governments tax their own people, and have that tax money go right back into the community. The way the world is connected now, it is so easy to move people, share information, and trade goods and services. We don't need a big bureaucracy making decisions, and there are so many benefits to having local government make the decisions. First of all, transparency - you can actually see the lifestyle of your local leaders, have a say in their decisions, and see the effects of decisions. Second, if people know that the money they give the government is the same money that is going back into the community, they will have goodwill towards the government. They will pay taxes (maybe even on under the table transactions) because they know that it's paying for their hospital bills, kid's education, roads being paved and plowed, etc. Third, culture - people get to live the way they want to. Sure, there would be a minimum standard of laws for everyone that protects property and against crime, but other than the important laws, people could determine how they want to live.

This country's infrastructure has been built, and now the centralized government is unnecessary because it is just ripping us off while living the high life and skim the fat for their corporate "real" constituents.

I guess a centralized government is necessary for regulatory bodies - stock market, media, etc. But then again, these bodies aren't doing jack shit. Centralized ownership of the media gives us the same news wherever you go, dissenting points of view are hard to find in the mainstream.

So let's move to what all the right-wing pinheads say they want - a free market (unless they REALLY screw up, then please bail us out). But instead of bailing people out when they make mistakes, let the market dictate where money flow. All the government should be doing is creating the playing field - make the rules and enforce them, but stay out of the game.

There are obviously questions with this, economically is it feasible for example. Well shit, look at the waste. We pay 18 billion for the war in Afghanistan, for what? So we can stop the Taliban? Bullshit. Sure, there is progress, but it's not lasting. Stop the Taliban by cutting off their money - I just heard we need the opium produced there for morphine in our hospitals, so why don't we just pay the farmers directly? But that's getting beside the point.

The point is, we are wasting so much money that we are powerless to stop the flow of, other than in freaking elections to elect leaders who probably aren't going to make enough change. Not only that, but a big chunk of the population is uneducated and gets their political views from 30 second sound bites and marketing style commercials. Either that or they base who they want to lead the country, on what their local leader will do for them. So we end up with impotent minority governments and waste another 1-4 years of country's life. We need to break this system apart.