Today starts a new series of posts here on the Workshopium, that will be called “The Weekly Grind”.

The main topic will be random ideas, and going into detail about them, even if I don’t personally believe they are that feasible to be accomplished.

The idea is to share ideas, write new content, and eventually publish it all into a book of Ideas called “Future Imperfect”. Perhaps if this is successful, we can make more ‘idea’ books in the future. But without further ado:

A Wheel System of Governance

There is a never ending swarm of academics who wish to provide their ideas on how to improve government structures, be it Capitalists or Marxists (Who ultimately are two sides of the same coin, as they both squabble over who will control what), but the ultimate goal of all of them is the same: To envision a better world in their image.

Let me be frank: Telling people how they should live is arrogance at it’s finest, and pure insufferable hostility at it’s base. The sort of men who sit around and argue over their particular conceptions of political discourse have in essence become miniature dictators of their own imagined worlds, where they can only see their tribe emerging from the bloodbath as the victors.

In other words, I don’t have much respect for the academics who imagine themselves king, thinking that they will be the leaders when the dust settles. I hate to remind them of history, but often it is not those who start the revolution who finish it; Eventually the common man steps in and retaliates with savage bravado, leaving the Academics to be the first to be pressed against the wall.

So it may be odd that I will now advocate for a new conception in how society should be fashioned, to suggest a form of government that may come to exist in a future society. But I am doing this solely as a thought exercise, to show what a meritcratic style government may look like.

This shall be called the “Wheel” form of government, as it works with four corners of society. It is a form of republic, where people enter a free moving caste system, in which they can change quadrants for employment freely, but must remain in one quadrant for a period of 4 years to become eligible to vote.

The four quadrants of society in a “Wheel” government are as follows:

Military: The Military quadrant is one of the most inclusive branches, as compared to traditional military structures, there will be a job provided for anyone, all in the interest of the Nation. There shall be groups that will act as the Worker class, and the Academic class, but will be merely a part of a greater whole of the military structure. However, many of these professions may be less pleasant compared to the accompanying quadrants. 

Academic: Doctors, Researchers, Teachers, and any profession that requires additional education outside of the Apprentice system will fall into the Academic class.

Free Market: Restaurants, Business Owners, Employees, Artists, and all other professions that would not traditionally fall into one of the other 3 quadrants will be categorized within this. Academics and Workers can be employed by the Free Market, but there will be safeguards protecting their rights and preventing their employers from determining their votes.

Workers: Architects, Engineers, Laborers, Workers and Craftsmen of all types fall into this category. They may be employed by both the Free Market and the Academics, but there will be safeguards to prevent any electoral interference.

The idea behind creating these four branches of society is to make sure the interests of the individual are fairly represented and protected, instead of the current free for all we see in our modern society. Upon leaving a job in one quadrant, you may seek a job in the same quadrant or the neighboring ones. However you can only fully transition into another quadrant after 2 years. 

This is to prevent the abuse of one’s status in one quadrant to influence the voters within another quadrant without acquiring the appropriate skill sets first. 

This system of organization for the citizenry will allow greater flexibility for the society, but also allow the government to have certain safeguards against outside interference, while maintaining a free market structure as well. 

The core of this system is both in its system of education, and in how the governed will choose their leadership.

There will be a generalized test that will assign the citizen a certain number that determines their ability in each class. Members of that class will then be eligible for election if they are within the top ten percentile of their class, locally. The election will be for Captains (An example would be a Worker Captain from the town of Greenville), and in turn the Captains will vote their state representative (Representative Free Market from so and so state).

There will also be elections for Judges, who will be chosen by the people, and then elect for the higher justices. Judges shall serve for a period of 11 years, and cannot determine laws arbitrarily. Judges will be voted upon every 5 years, allowing more members into their ranks. Captains and Reps can only serve for 6 years, and cannot serve two adjunct roles in governance.

The education system will be based upon a Apprenticeship model rather then the current structure. So for the first 5 years, a child will study at a school to learn the basics. Following this, they will then go into the Academic Class as apprentices for 4 years, spend 4 years in the Worker Class, spend 4 years in the Military Class and finish out their education in the Free Market Class. 

By Age 24, they will be allowed to take the generalized aptitude assessment test, which will allow them to freely choose which quadrant they would like to enter. 

Please note that just because their education ends at age 24, does not prevent them from pursuing more education to acquire a more advanced job in the Academic Class. Nor does one’s education determine their adult status (A Topic I refuse to get into, as I think 18 is a fine number for both the ability to use substances and pursue romantic interests. There are too many strange people in the world that I would rather not have this conversation with!).

The final concept for this government structure is how the leader of the country shall be determined. The President will be voted upon by the top 4 representatives of the nation, who will elect him from one of the state representatives. He will be the facing man for the country, but his power will be exactly equal to any one of the 4 top reps. This will create a system where issues on the highest levels will be determined by people who have worked their way up the system, and create a gridlock system where there will be 5 people deliberating over national policy (Which should result in a 3-2 vote) to make the system more fair.

The Military Quadrant will have two halves, the officer core and the enlisted. The Enlisted may enter a officer’s academy after 4 years of service (based on their aptitude test results). Unlike the other classes, they will maintain their rank structure, with additional ranks being added for auxiliary labor/academics that will work within their ranks. Police will be a part of the military class, but strictly regulated to prevent them from using military weaponry and tactics on thier own citizenry (Something that I strongly believe needs to be done as well.).


While I seriously think this system will never be adopted by any future society, I merely suggest it as a jumping point for future ruminations, as well as a scathing critique of credentialism as a whole. I agree that we need professionals, but they should not be determined based on monetary holdings, which establishes the oligarchy we currency live within.

As such, every class shall have apprentices whose experience will equal those credentials, or depending on the amount of years served, exceed them. This is to prevent the current failures with the american system of governance.

And there you have it, the first of the new Weekly Grind posts for your reading pleasure.

I know this one was a bit dry, and inventing theoretical future governments may not be everyone’s thing, but it’s important to discuss and consider new approaches to this changing world.

Next week, we will be posting a article about Square Word Calligraphy, namely the usage of it in a digital society.

See you soon! -JER