A question.

Think for a second and imagine something for me.

You are the leader of a country. You love the country and everything about it, but you have become aware that lately it is not as rich as it once was, not as prosperous. The people of the country are unhappy and star to point the fingers at you.

You spend much time looking inwards, and realise that a lot of what the people say is true, your government is weak and the country is falling apart as a result.

How do you fix it? Do you take charge and make a stand, or do you hope that things will change and get better on their own? Or maybe you would do something differently altogether.

Save your country, how do you do it?

Answer seriously please, spam will be deleted.

 

If I discovered that people were right, and that my country really was starting to crumble, then I would take a stand and do something about it. Waiting doesn't really do anything. If I could find some way to fix my country, and make it a better place for everyone, then I would do it, no questions asked. Sitting around and doing nothing will only allow things to get worse.

However, if people were just pointing fingers at me because I was in charge, and I was already doing everything I could to keep my country alive, then I would just continue what I was doing and know that those people just need someone to blame.

(...I have a feeling this is a metaphor for a certain something... right?)

 

I would most definitely try to reform the country. Though I have little life experience to speak of, I know one thing: 90% of the time, what you want isn't just handed to you. Some things you have to work for, other things come easier. But simply waiting for a change is an irresponsible thing to do, especially if you are the sole ruler.

It always works for me to make a list of what I have to do, and take things one by one. Start with the small, easy tasks. Things will start to fall in place eventually, and the hard tasks will be less daunting if there are already small things catalyzing the big changes that need to be made.

I think it kind of depends on what sort of pit the country is in as well. If the country is facing a revolt, you do things that will boost the morale of the unhappy people [as well as the happy]. Include more people in the government if there already aren't people representing every social class in your country. Listen to the ideas of your people; they are the sole source of your power. Give everyone a fair say, too -- keep an open mind; peasants and nobles may not be equal financially, but they need to be equal in your mind in terms of making their ideas a reality.

Keep in mind that I've been learning about the Middle Ages for the past five months so I might seem to be talking in the point of view of someone from that time period.

 

hmmmm...... Good question. Well which country are you talking about here, because depending on the country, you may have to follow a certain set of rules before properly proceeding. Also just to be clear, exactly by what means would the country be falling apart? One more thing, you said to take if from a leader's stand point, right? that means that what ever you do, you are not acting as a civilian, correct?

 

I can't say for sure what I'd do. I honestly don't think I'd resort to fascist or dictatorial practices, so I'd do the opposite to see if it would work.

I'd encourage the citizens to join together to decide what would be best for them. Of course this would be difficult seeing as how politicians and the like don't like their "intelligence" to be ignored, but I would get rid of the entire "representative" tactic all together.

One thing to keep in mind is that it is very hard to do this without proper economic health (if we are in a depression, this isn't likely to work as well). So instead we would have to look into more sustainable and more efficient means of an economy. If the country is seen as a superpower (like the US or China, for example), then switching wouldn't be too bad. It is likely others would follow if it were successful.

Though if I were a president or leader of sorts, I don't -really- think I'd be a leader. Often times the leader is never the guy right out front. Instead I'd be a spokesperson (since I would have influence over public opinion, discussion, etc., that's it, much like the president these days).

So, something more efficient--I would have to base survival off of a more solid means. Technology would be needed to get this done, after which moving energy and resources to a more efficient means (solar power, geothermal, and the like).

This is incredibly vague but since I live in the U.S. and our economy is really ****** right now, honestly this system has to go if people who were once middle class now have to sleep in the streets or in the parking lot of wal-mart. I really don't think people need those conditions and we can get over it. Since I'm pretty sure we have the resources.

 

Honestly, waiting to see if it gets better is horrible, even though I do it all the time. I would step up and try to fix the problem, though answering your question here would be difficult for me because I don't know what's wrong with the country. You have to know the problem to find the solution.

 

I agree. I need more information before I can make any decision. Is this hypothetical country like America? Does it use our system? What are the values of the people, and what would they put up with? Etc. All these things would need to be found out before any change can occur.

If it is the American system, though, I would say that the entire system is broken. I feel, personally, that the elected officials do not have the time they need (sometimes) to do what needs to be done before another party comes in and grinds their plans into the dirt. Anyone ever heard the phrase "the night is always darkest before the dawn"? I think that may apply, sometimes. Sometimes, things get worse before they get better. Unfortunately, the current administration never gets the chance to finish anything through before a new one wrecks their plans. Now, obviously, if someone is doing something wrong, longer times in office may backfire. But, it would also give the guy a longer time to fix the mistake (as unlikely as admitting guilt may be for politicians).

Now, bear in mind, I don't really follow politics that closely, but I do have a better-than-layman's grasp of how it all works. I also do not particularly like any of the current political parties. I think that just about every politician in existence will lie, cheat, blackmail, and slither his way into office, and then forget most of the campaign promises he ever made, so this would certainly influence my thinking about politics. Please don't crucify me for this.

 

sounds like a metaphor of the whole staff thing right now XD

Well if I were in a leadership role, I would try to figure out ways to gain a better opinion within the light of the people and also if what form of government I had instituted. If it was democratic, I would ask the general populous their thoughts and rationally determine which course of action would be the most cost effective and have the biggest benefit that catered to hopefully the population. I would then start to analyze my 'round table' and see if there could be ways to improve how things are met and handled, and if there is dissent.

However, if it meant invading another country because of any one of a number of scenarios, I would go for the isolationist approach unless allies were in desperate need. I would give it to them, to both help a neighbor and strength possible ties economically and emotionally.

 

I'd abdicate. If I was failing I'd find someone or someones better than me and get out. If I've failed at that point it'd be pointless to go on further than my term of residence because I don't have all the answers and if doing what I thought was right was wrong I wouldn't know what else I'd be wrong about, you don't mess around with global politics and hope that even if you screw up that people will forgive you because you're setting yourself up to be Carter when you do.

 

Well, I would make a huge announcement over the country that we needed a change to make our country better. We should work and prevent the problems happening again with the authorities and try not to make strict rules in the country but not too loose either.

More ideas soon to come tomorrow after my World History Exam.

 

A Holocaust.

Really, I would get my most trusted advisors and work out the problem. I would address my beloved nation, stating that I am aware of the problems occuring and I am doing what I can to heal the nation.Although it might be a slow process, that it would be helpful if I could have the people's patience and trust so I can and hopefully get the country back on track.

 

People start pointing fingers at me, I first go to the economy and fix that as best as I can, because usually you can boil other matters down to money. Seriously, I don't claim to know how these things work in depth, so this is just a vague idea.

 

I would definitely stand up and take charge. Eliminate the weakness I can find in a logical, fair way...Then appoint leaders that the public would look up to a high position. Also, take care of the economy. If the economy is stable, then everything else would probably be easier to take care of.

Make higher rewards for being..."good", and make worse punishments for being "bad" with an amount of fair warning.

I would motivate the people like Hitler did for Germany, and rebuild my great nation without any kind of Holocaust. Though, the people bringing my country down would be punished or at least thoroughly warned before so.

But I think that standing back and watching it all unfold would result in utter chaos and failure.​

 

Well, as I'd be a leader and such, and also care for my country I'd be in charge of, I'd definitely wish to repair things as I could. Due to the fact we are more of a global economy, the fact that the world itself is suffering with economic issues means that focusing inward is important as well as outwardly.

I'd try to work on gaining support of the people by doing some things to make things a bit easier on them and trying to encourage business growth and development. I'd try to look at smaller and mid-size businesses to compete against the bigger businesses that seem to be lagging the system if they are unwilling to do what is necessary by removing some benefits of larger companies if they will not comply with the needs around. I'd definitely be altering the way financing works in my country so that it is not so dependent on a Federal bank fund.

I'd also be encouraged to try speaking with other countries to get better trade established but also not at the cost that it harms local businesses from succeeding, and I'd try to see on keeping businesses local by doing up tariffs for those that decide to go out of the country as they are removing jobs from the people around. Working on making medical care cheaper by getting on pharmaceutical companies etc would be a good idea too so that businesses are more willing to stay and people can have some decent medical insurance and coverage.

I'd also try to check out certain laws and such, restrictions and things and if they are unneeded, I'd remove them to free things up a bit. Sometimes people can be happier if they see that the leadership is working hard and won't tolerate BS but cares enough to get rid of some stupid things that just hinder people and are redundant or silly laws. I'd do some other things like having a way where perhaps on a website or something, people could send emails so that I could answer chosen ones on the site and people could read to know I am 'publicly' involved and that I take the matter seriously. Also, I'd be one to ignore some of the ridiculous lobbyists out there and try to hear some other groups with concerns.

All in all there are more things I would do, but the important thing I would think as a leader of a country, is that action speaks louder than words. Communication, working, and trying to make things better bit by bit is needed and I'd do what I definitely could to try to get things to be better. Sitting around doing the same bureaucratic BS gets nothing done and lets some people who really have hurt countries for years to have the rights to continue doing so. I would find it pretty hard to just watch things crumble and I think the more things I'd do, the less people would be inclined to point fingers at me. With proper motivation and showing that I'd be a 'different sort of leader', I'd hope to also gain others who had some drive to also be inventive with things and assist of course in making things better, because in the end, great ideas happen when people care more.

 

Completely reorganize the country government and socioeconomic structure, transforming it into an libertarian communist state, free of social classes, coercive institutions, authoritarian government, and capitalism. That's how you solve the problems in any country.

 

so... Soviet Russia?

One of the things I would do, for America anyways, still assuming that the hypothetical country being talked about is America, is offer a subsidy to all companies that bring manufacturing back stateside - the amount of subsidy depends on the amount of jobs restored. That would help any country with it's economy, since the long-time factory workers (a large number of people) are no longer out of work, and thus have money to spend.

 

No. Lenin was an authoritarian, totalitarian ******* who wanted all the power for himself and his party. I'm talking about a dictatorship of the proletariat, not a dictatorship of a single party.

 

I would try to reform the country. A failing government makes a failed country. And in real life, failure is the lowest you can sink to. So reunion is my best option here.

 

As a country leader, you should assume the responsibility of taking the blame even if not everything is your fault. If the country begins to weaken under your reign, you must identify those problems and attack them head-on in order to satisfy those people in your country. If you lay back to see what happens, there's always the possibility things may get worse. However at the same time, you want to carefully plan out your next moves and make a list on advantages and disadvantages of that plan. Make the necessary changes to strengthen you government, whether it be the election of new leaders or new policies to be enforced.

 

First of all, I would made a number of cabinet changes that I feel would have a positive effect on the current economy. I would focus slightly more on trade and export to fuel the economy, and even a possible slight tax increase simply to correspond with the possible recession in the case of an economic emergency. In the case of rebellion or possible interest towards it, I would increase the monitoring of the public. If the economic plan is successful, I would fund the branches of government society slightly, although I would strengthen my grip on the public slightly more.

I'll update this post later, hopefully.