The Rand Corporation has done more than basically any group in the twentieth century to shape what kind of world we’re living in now, and they’re weirdly unrecognized for that
the fact they’re responsible for the MAD nuclear deterrence doctrine alone is mind boggling
Did you know they were aware that the Iraq War would be, well, more like it actually was and less lile the Bush administration thought it would be? Which is less impressive by itself, but more impressive relative to the cluelessness of various other US government institutions.
After that, I began to wonder if government quality could be improved by replacing the legislature with think tanks.
at the same time, RAND also made a doctrine for waging a “victorious” thermonuclear war against the Soviets. A large number of think tanks also pushed for a war with Iraq, which is why Gore was hore hawkish compared to Bush on this.
Tom Schelling, who’s undoubtedly a genius, is responsible in part for the Vietnam war.
National Review, Heritage Institute and a bunch of Kochtopus’s tentacles that all shill for the “global warming doesn’t exist because there was winter once” meme are technically think tanks as well.
Replacing the legislature with think tanks would delegitimize their rule in the eye of people (which is the primary reason for democracy, the idea of legitimate control) while these tanks are frequently wrong and not free of bias.
That’s why you make them bet on the outcomes of their legislation. Some think tanks are significantly more ideology-huffing than others, so you have to weed out the weak “this liberal democracy thing will totally work out in a nation with such high illiteracy” ones. Eventually what you’ll have left, after they all lose huge standing in the market or massively adjust policy to actually fit the situation (oh hey let’s try a 20yr mil governorship to actually make the necessary conditions for democracy before doing the democracy) will be less stupid.
And actually my plan is for elected thinktankparties, see my National Delegation post.
