cactuspete wrote:Privately I've been involved in a few discussions with other members of this board and some of what we've talked about could fit here. Feel free to join in!
IDEA ONE: Citizenship should not be automatically conferred on all residents. It must be earned. Further, there should be three tiers of citizenship:
1) TIER ONE - Entitles the individual to one vote in local, statewide, and national elections. To earn this right one must either successfully complete four years of military service, four years of service in the CCC, or earn a bachelor's degree at an accredited university within the USA.
2) TIER TWO - To advance to the second tier an individual must complete a master's degree at an accredited university within the USA or successfully pay taxes for ten years. Only those who earn Tier One status can advance to Tier Two. (Entitles the individual to two votes.)
3) TIER THREE - To advance to the third tier an individual must complete a doctorate or successfully pay taxes for an additional ten years. Only those who earn Tier Two status can advance to Tier Three. (Entitles the individual to three votes.)
For this to work the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) would need to be reactivated. Also it should be noted that citizenship could not be earned until on or after an individual's twenty-second birthday. There are lots of details we've discussed, but I'll just add one more. In order for the university degrees to have any value, major reform of the university system would be necessary. There could be no frivolous courses of study or any courses focused on advocacy for a cause or any other garbage courses. Reforming the universities would be a lot of work, but it's an important part of social reform. On top of that our legal system would need a major overhaul for an meaningful change to be achieved.
I like this, but I would move the four years of service up a couple years so that people are eligible for citizenship by the time they are twenty. Let's face it, those who cannot finish high school by the time they are sixteen are not really college material. They should complete algebra/geometry/trig so that they are ready for calculus by the time they are sixteen. Those who can't do that should go into the military or CCC. Besides a strong math background, high school graduates should have a strong science and history background and they should be able to read and write at a reasonably high level of proficiency. Those going into the military or CCC can finish high school on their free time, but everyone should be held to high academic standards before being awarded a high school diploma and citizenship should not be given to anyone who has not earned that diploma!