Absolute power...

[Technocrat]

Congratulations! You have been installed as part of the new government of a small, West-African state following a military coup by foreign interests. The country has been mismanaged for decades, undergoing successive regimes of corruption and personality-power. It is minerally-rich in platinum, uranium, and other valuable deposits, but has been underutilised in the past. The population are small, and the armed forces now down to a handful of private contractors whom the corporations used to support the coup. Financial supporters in the West have seen fit to bankroll the experiment of this state, to see if it can be run better.

So, the questions are these -

- What position in the new government do you have for yourself? Aside from president, that role is being kept for a local figurehead.

- What projects do you want to pursue in this capacity? Considering you now potentially have a lot of wealth at your disposal.

[Jim Reed]

- What position in the new government do you have for yourself? Aside from president, that role is being kept for a local figurehead.

I'd elect myself to be the sole maker of games, especially turn based war strategies in AGS!

- What projects do you want to pursue in this capacity? Considering you now potentially have a lot of wealth at your disposal.

I'd get cracking on finishing my new game called "Operation Forklift" so the masses can play it, and would not eat, sleep nor post untill I complete it!

=P

[blueskirt]

Our definition of absolute power vary greatly, as for your question, I'd do exactly that.

[Wyz]

I think I would install myself as head of a think-tank which is occupied by the brightest civilians, or the ones every body respects. The goal of the think-tank would not be to govern but to come up with ideas how the land could improve itself. The ideas would still have to be approved by the politics.

Some of the projects I would like to roll out immediately:
- Good housing, but not conglomerated. Small town with cheap easy to build but solid and adequate houses. Each of these towns will also have community houses with are directed by the people themselves.
- Schools. Everybody should be able to read and write, know basic arithmetic and important information about the civilisation. After that they can learn a trade from an experienced craftsman, or roll into one of the universities which will allow anyone to develop their knowledge and help out the country.
- Protection but should focus on the borders, there might be rebels out there. Hazards from within the country should be dealt with by the towns themselves. They should however have a few trained 'policemen' who are loyal to the towns elders.

Well there is more, but this will do for now.

[Ethan D]

There, this time it didn't open a new topic for some reason.

I'm sure a few of these are oversimplified but I didn't want to spend too much time on this. (Not to say I succeeded on that though...)

Projects: (These projects would each be eased into not immediately dropped on the citizens.  Although, many of their base functions would start immediately.)
-First and foremost make sure that a constitution for the country is accepted by it's citizens. (If not, make sure that it is revised.

-Make it illegal to mine the uranium in the country due to the bad PR it would attract from the world at large which generally already consider Africa to be a corrupt place and the local history confirms it.  (If a small African country suddenly started mining Uranium at the very least the press in the U.S. would have a field day.)  (PR for a emerging country is very important if it wants to get assistance from the U.N. which it would do well to do.)

-Set up plans for the government to begin mining the uranium in about 20 years when it would become useful as a power source. (Assuming of course that the country does not collapse.)

-Provide assistance to individuals who want to start a business. (This is one of the most important things to do as capitalism has a way of providing for the essential functions of society.)

-Depending on the infrastructure of the country possibly start construction of main roads.  If the country does not use many cars then adjust depending on how the trend in transportation goes.

-Help specifically set up a few competing mining companies which will mine the areas rich in platinum deposits and 'other minerals.'

-Create labor laws and minimum wage laws. (Obviously not to standard of other countries but of the local standard.)

-Create a governmental group dedicated to finding ways to ensure worker rights be maintained without causing a workers union to form and ultimately become too powerful in the future and causing business collapse. (Like G.M. over here in America.)

-Ensure that governmental policy is to allow total access be given to any U.N. inspectors when the time comes. (which it would, since there is a rich deposit of uranium.)

-Create laws to allow for when publicly owned companies come about that only citizens of the country could own shares of the company. (To ensure that American corporate power cannot gain a stranglehold on the countries economy.)

-Create and enforce laws for public access to information on the actions of companies and government.

-Establish a tax system that is relatively easy to understand and is based on income/land ownership.  It would have to be a progressive tax system so that the poor in the country do not feel as oppressed as under a corrupt government.

-Create a schooling system over the space of 10 years starting with lower educations and moving up.  Give land grants to schools so that they don't have to buy land and give schools an abatement on taxes for the first 15 years of enforcement.

-Attempt to create laws and policies to encourage ubanization rather than having a dispersed populace.

Ask for U.N. ASSISTANCE in the following: (Not total funding but partial funding and some U.N. troops assisting.)

-Establish a national guard that would provide housing and a small salary to those within it that also acts in concert with the police system.

-Immediately divert funds to getting libraries established within the countries with modern computers and of course proper security due to the poverty of the continent as a whole.

-Create a police system.

-NO military actions except to begin programs for a national guard. (Basically, not forming an offensive military just a defensive one.)

-Protecting Uranium deposits.



Position for myself in the new government: (Adviser to the president, not necessarily publicly though)  Considering that I have a lot of money in this scenario I could fund many of these programs while the country adjusts to be able to live on it's tax revenue alone.


The main reason I put ask the U.N. for assistance is that it is much better to be in debt to the U.N. than to a small group of individuals who hold all the purse-strings.  Certainly money from the 'financial supporters in the west' would help but if it was the only source instead of relying on the U.N., inside revenue, and the 'financial supporters'  then it would create undue pressure to allow foreign competition to seep into the country which would as I said earlier create a stranglehold on the economy of the country which would make it difficult for locals to start their own businesses and compete world-wide or even locally.