Elections, term limits, and local optimizations

At the GNU Public Dictatorship we are nothing if not concerned for the future, which is why we take a great deal of time planning for the New Future and deciding how and when to inaugurate it.  Recent elections in the US and other countries have highlighted some of the shortcomings of other forms of government, and we will take this space to elaborate.

The GPD advocates for government by a Board of Dictators who have the best interests of society at heart.  We provide checks and balances to each other and our collective minds have proven adequate for every task we have been presented with as yet.  We know that you know that we have your interests at heart and that you trust us to do what is right, and due to the open nature of our government we know that you will find out and complain if we ever deviate from your high expectations.  We have the correct motivations and the correct checks and balances in place to have you trust us to rule the world.  New members of the Board of Dictators must be vetted by the current members of the Board, which means that our government can exist in perpetuity and is the most ideal form possible.

Democracies, by contrast, have elected leaders who are chosen directly by the public.  We have elaborated in the past on different forms of democratic rule, but the differences among these forms are not particularly salient at this point.  These leaders that are chosen by the people are often chosen not because of their intellect or their desires to improve the world, but because they can create television ads that portray them as less undesirable than their opponents.  In general, people are chosen for arbitrary reasons such as that they looked less pale during a televised debate, or that they acted confident during a campaign.  Because the reasons such people are chosen are so arbitrary, the kind of person that is generally attracted to running for office is a strange one.  Most of them are egotistical and arrogant, and many of them simply want the power that elected office affords them.  Many abuse their positions to improve their own financial or romantic situations and many simply enjoy the perks of respect and paid expenses.  These people also cannot be expected to address the real problems society faces as they generally are not elected for life, but have to face their constituents as soon as two years later to ask them to re-elect them.  This bias toward short-term returns prevents most elected officials from tackling any of the real problems, as there are no easy solutions to them that do not take significant amounts of time.

The Board of Dictators is superior to democracies because

1. We are not beholden to arbitrary measures of fitness for office.  Our supporters support us because we are clearly worthy of their respect.  The open-source government model encourages citizens to audit our actions and enables them to know that we are the best choice.  If someone disagrees with the way we are doing things they are welcome to change it and submit it for review.  Every member of the Board of Dictators has been thoroughly checked out and declared fit for office by the other members of the Board, so there is no doubt that they are fit for their office.
2. The GPD does not attract people who want power, money, or fame.  The work of the Board of Dictators is thankless and tiring, and only those truly concerned with making the world a better place tend to apply.
3. The GPD does not require member of the Board of Dictators to continually keep themselves popular.  This allows us to address the real problems society faces regardless of the short-term costs.  We could never have manipulated the financial markets to restructure everything to lay the foundations for the New Future and been reelected the next year, it just wouldn't be possible