Give Yourselves a Great Christmas Present:  Demand Cooperation and Repeal the 5th Amendment!

Competition is Highly Overrated

We've been brainwashed all our lives as to the virtues of "competition," how it stimulates and brings out the best in people and allows society to progress. That's just capitalist pig running dog propaganda ;-)  Cooperation, not competition, is responsible for (most) social progress.  Cooperation is the key to everything.  I would call cooperation our first, foremost, and  greatest invention of all time.  Without it, we'd still be swinging through the trees.  Even the dumbest of animals knows how to compete.  It's our unparalleled ability to cooperate that has allowed us to rise to the preeminent species on this planet, build great societies, truly appreciate the world around us, and explore the mysteries of the universe.

I see social evolution as the transition from pure competition to pure cooperation. Competition is the Law of the Jungle, whose individuals ask "What's in it for me?" Cooperation is the Law of an Enlightened Society whose denizens ask "What's in it for we?" They know that if everyone puts the needs of society above their own, the resulting society will be so properous, everybody will be ensured of a good life.

There is no proof that competition is necessary, certainly not for an enlightened society.  Uncontrolled it can be counterproductive:  brutal, wasteful, and destructive.  It's a curse seeking to drag us back to the jungle.  If we don't learn to curb competiton, control it, and eventually eliminate it all together; I foresee a grim dystopian future.  Cooperation, on the other hand, is the road to Utopia. 

It's Time for the 5th Amendment to Go

[I've written this with the criminal justice system in mind, but it applies in general to any judicial proceeding.]  My view of justice is very simple:  the innocent should be exonerated and the guilty convicted. This should be accomplished by the most efficient and effective means at our disposal.  So----  It's time to require testimony from the most import witness of all:  the suspect; and to use a lie detection system (hereafter called "the Box") to evaluate the testimony.  Of course, we'll have to repeal the 5th Amendment to do this.  [I use repeal because it sounds catchy, I actually mean amend, see below.]

I suspect that current lie detectors are more accurate, and that juries are a lot less accurate, than people would like to believe.  Given the mountain of data on psychology and psychological response we possess, combined with the ability to measure the slightest of physical and physiological changes, there is no doubt in my mind that we could quickly develop a Box that would be 100% accurate.  Acutally, I suspect we already have, but the 1% are keeping it under wraps.  Can you imagine what terror the Box must strike in their shrunken fiendish hearts?

The Box may be the only way to achieve efficient, effective, and truly fair justice, regardless of circumstance.  The Box will dispense blind justice:  it will consider only your responses to questions.  It will not consider who you are, your title, position, or how much money you have.  It can't be bought, bribed, or intimidated.  A plethora of $1000 an hour lawyers can't protect you.  You could nickname the Box "Santa"  it knows who's been naughty and who's been nice.  What more do you need?

I'll be blunt, I'm not the least bit concerned with the protecting the rights of the guilty (don't jump to conclusions, think about it).  I am extremely concerned with protecting the rights of the innocent (and also protecting the rest of the public from the guilty). The innocent often lose regardless.  They're slowly "hanged" under a cloud of suspicion rendered by the court of public opinion while their cases wend their way slowly through the courts.  They may lose their spouse, their friends, their job, and all their money in the process.  When exoneration finally comes, it may be but a hollow victory, their lives have been ruined. 

Using the Box, the innocent are questioned and immediately released.  No one knows they were ever under suspicion.  The guilty are questioned and immediately jailed, protecting the public from any further nefarious deeds on their part.  This is as it should be.

As stated above, we'll have to amend the 5th Amendment.  Specifically, strike out the clause "nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." I don't have a problem with that.  I don't see why any law abiding citizen would.  When you were a child getting grilled as to who broke the cookie jar, did you/could you get away with pleading the 5th?  We have nothing to lose but the thousands of criminals walking the streets!