We are working on a brand new version of the game! If you want to stay informed, read our blog and register for our mailing list.
Bill: National Libraries
Details
Submitted by[?]: Grand Republican Party
Status[?]: passed
Votes: This is an ordinary bill. It requires more yes votes than no votes. This bill will not pass any sooner than the deadline.
Voting deadline: February 2089
Description[?]:
| At the moment, the law of the land states that the national government provides local governments with funding to operate libraries. The Grand Republican Party believes that this should be changed so that the national government operates every library in the land for ease of use, cutting costs and ensuring that the public has greater access for literature. |
Proposals
Article 1
Proposal[?] to change The government's policy towards the funding of libraries.
Old value:: The national government provides local governments with funding to operate libraries.
Current: Funding and operation of libraries is left entirely to local governments.
Proposed: The national government controls a vast and comprehensive system of public libraries.
Debate
These messages have been posted to debate on this bill:
| Date | 21:53:52, July 28, 2005 CET | From |  RSDP - Democratic Front | To | Debating the National Libraries |
| Message | In favour, this will help make knowledge available to all people, even the poorest. |
| Date | 23:21:21, July 29, 2005 CET | From | Freedom Party | To | Debating the National Libraries |
| Message | Against. We believe the private sector should work with government to provide libraries. |
| Date | 09:25:41, July 30, 2005 CET | From | RSDP - Democratic Front | To | Debating the National Libraries |
| Message | So we should leave the spreading of knowledge up to the benevolence of the multinationals? |
| Date | 11:34:41, July 30, 2005 CET | From | Freedom Party | To | Debating the National Libraries |
| Message | Who said it will be a multinationals? Socialists are always assuming it will be a multinational, what about a small family setting up a library and running it well, then getting bigger, opening a new one in a different town, and a new one. Eventually becoming a big Rutanian business. Why wouldnt multinationals spread knowledge? If they dont, noone uses their libraries, therefore they make no profit. I find it better to use the private sector than government, what makes socialists so certain that government can always do it better? I find they cannot, why do you think that private hospitals and private schools are better than public ones? Because the private sector does things better than the public sector. |
| Date | 12:10:36, July 30, 2005 CET | From | Humanist Socialist Party | To | Debating the National Libraries |
| Message | Private hospitals and schools are better than public ones because: * they can afford to be very selective in what cases they take on (hospitals, for example, will take on lucrative cosmetic work and "easy" operations, while leaving complicated stuff to the state sector; private schools by definition only take on children of well-off parents, who tend to have a comfortable middle-class home environment more conducive to studying) * they can poach staff trained in the public sector (especially hospitals) * the waiting lists for hospitals and the class sizes for schools are smaller because fewer can afford the services. It's nothing to do with any inherent ability of the private sector to do it "better". As socialists we support the public sector because we think it is wrong to be getting profit out of providing basic human rights, i.e. health and education. But anyway, having said that, this bill would seem to me to be creating a rather large centralised bureaucracy. Won't the state governments/local governments have a better idea of where library funding needs to go in any given area? |
| Date | 13:13:53, July 30, 2005 CET | From | RSDP - Democratic Front | To | Debating the National Libraries |
| Message | "As socialists we support the public sector because we think it is wrong to be getting profit out of providing basic human rights, i.e. health and education." And because we want to provide free health care and education to the poor. ;-) The private sector can't afford to run hospitals or schools for free, can they? |
| Date | 13:17:20, July 30, 2005 CET | From | RSDP - Democratic Front | To | Debating the National Libraries |
| Message | I also have another argument against "private" libraries: If in a public library you can't find the book you're looking for, they can see on their computer which library in the vicinity still has got that book left and tell you where to go, or they could even "order" it in that library so you can pick it up in your local library the following day. There is no way a private library is going to recommend a "customer" to go to the competition. |
| Date | 18:54:22, July 30, 2005 CET | From | Freedom Party | To | Debating the National Libraries |
| Message | Not the case at all. To ensure they get customers and that the customers have a good experience, private library companies are likely to operate an alliance of sorts that shares books and information etc. That way customers get a good experience. |
| Date | 02:11:57, July 31, 2005 CET | From | RSDP - Democratic Front | To | Debating the National Libraries |
| Message | Come on, do you actually believe that yourself? If a large company has to compete with a smaller private library in some area, it will ruin that smaller library completely, and then an entire village may very well not have a library. |
| Date | 15:02:33, July 31, 2005 CET | From | Liberal Imperialist Party | To | Debating the National Libraries |
| Message | I dont honestly believe that libraries are hugely profitable businesses that will actually spring up around the nation (based on my personal experience). I will probably vote in favour of this, but I'll consider it carefully first. |
subscribe to this discussion - unsubscribe
Voting
| Vote | Seats | ||||
| yes |
Total Seats: 343 | ||||
| no |
Total Seats: 194 | ||||
| abstain |
Total Seats: 62 |
| Random fact: When forming a cabinet, try to include as few parties as possible, while still obtaining a majority of the seats. |
| Random quote: "The only thing that saves us from bureaucracy is its inefficiency." - Eugene McCarthy |