Politicians, can we do without???

What is a politicians job? Wikipedia says that what a politician does is influencing the public policy and decision making. This is correct, that is exactly what a politician does. I think that already right here we are at a very questionable point.
There are immediately two dilemma's:
1-Why isn't a politician not limited to just executing what the public wants? No influence needed.
2- How, with whom and why is this politician influencing? (It's the best for the people? Personal gain? Both? Or mostly personal gain? And what is in it for the person he tries to influence?)

The biggest problem I have with politicians is that they represent a small group of people that has absolute power over everything and we have to hope that they will equally distribute our wealth and basic needs of life. I don't think that works very well at this moment of writing. The impression I get from websites concerning politicians leaves a lot to desire. It makes you wonder if people go into politics because they want to do something for their country and the people or if they just want to fill their pockets. Mind you, we are talking here about democratic countries with a system enabling people to elect someone to be their leader. Well a sort of a leader, this person may well turn out to be a representative, more ore less used as a marionette by ,very rich, others, pulling the strings from behind the curtains, of course. (Names like the Bilderberg Group jump to mind but I'm not stating that this group controls any government. I dare say that at least they have a "certain" influence...)

Every head of state who came to power, even by election (And elections are not a synonym for: honestly obtaining the most votes or representing the choice of the people.) is in  my humble opinion, out on personal gain. And the people chosen by the head of state to help him, do not strike me as the people who first think what the best interests are for the people, especially if, for example, it would be best that their salaries would be lowered and that they would have to give up their privileges, I doubt very much that a lot of people, actually being part of the government, still would do the job. What would happen if a government would held accountable for everything that is paid out of the big, piggy bank called taxes?

And don't think about government as something that just rules your country, you will have to see it larger than that. Besides of the government and the staff residing nationally there is also the international staff. Ambassadors and such. 
For example, England (Read England, not the UK.) has roughly 200 embassies and consulates spread out all over the world.
In an embassy of an average size you will find a consular section, a visa section, a commercial section, a cultural section a political section and sometimes a department for the army, navy and air force. Say that on average there are at least 3 people working in every department (It's rather low counting but don't worry, it will still be expensive enough for the taxpayer.) So that is an average 18 people x 200 = 3600 people

Now these 3600 people need a place to stay. That's paid by the taxpayer. And again, let's keep prices on the low: 500 a month x 3600  x 12 = 21.600.000 per year.

An ambassador needs transport and that means a car. A luxury car because you are transporting heads of states, kings, queens, princes and prime ministers. So also a car that can drive fast, and has excessive acceleration power, it has to have space, enough head space for ladies to sit comfortably and keeping their hats on,  special tyres for extra grip, the car has to be more or less fire resistant and bullet proof. And of course all the obligatory gadgets like radio, telephone, navigator, cruise control, fridge, etc. etc. A fair estimation would be somewhere around 125.000 per car x 200 = 25.000.000 Let's say that these cars last 5 years that comes to 5.000.000 per year so we have now 21.600.000 + 5.000.000 = 26.600.000 per year. 
And an embassy has not only this one car of course at least two other cars and a van are needed. Say for the three cars this costs an average of 30.000 per year x 200 = 6.000.000 + the 26.600.000 we already had, brings us on 32.600.000 per year.

In an embassy you find: computers, servers, phones, faxes etc, a cold-room, a safe or two, an alarm system, offices, waiting rooms, meeting rooms, bath rooms and that all has to be decorated, furnished and kept tidy and clean. This represents your country, remember, so it has to be comfortable, it has to make a good impression, it has to be safe, and  look and smell nice. Costs per year, I'll be optimistic and say 1.000.000 a year x 200 brings us to a total of 232.600.000 per year. 

And nobody has done the tiniest bit of work because we haven't paid anyone yet.
Here we go and keep in mind this is all kept on the very low side. From the average 18 people present, imagine there are 14 "ordinary" office people and they earn 1000 per month. So 14 x 12 x 1000 x 200 = 33.600.000 for the ordinary office employees.
That leaves us with 4 people per embassy left.
Estimate 3 diplomats at 2000 (Don't laugh.) a month. 3 x 12 x 2000 x 200 = 14.400.000 a year for diplomats. 
Are we left with  an ambassador per embassy for 3000 per month. (Again, don't laugh,) 1 x 12 x 3000 x 200 = 7.200.000 for the ambassadors.

And than, on average, an embassy employs local people from the country where they are, somebody who knows the laying of the land, the local customs, the shops, the entertainment places, somebody you can send to do some shopping, to do some gardening, the odd paint job etc. (And this also shows that you are willing to let the local peeps make some money, too. Good will, and that sort of terms.) How about on average 3 per embassy for 500 per month? 3 x 12 x 500 x 200 = 3.600.000 for the local employees.
33.600.000 + 14.400.000 + 7.200.000 + 3.600.000 = 58.800.000
58.800.000 + 232.600.000 = 291.400.000 per year. 

Don't forget things like: gifts, business lunches, dinners, international house moving companies, taxis, over night trips, clothes, courses to learn the local language, promotional evenings, first aid courses, hotel costs, expenses for family members of the staff, and but that is depending on how far away you are, the free trip to the homeland once a year. And I almost forgot: entertainment for the staff.
Let's put this all together and say this costs again 1.000.000 per embassy, per year, so that is another 200.000.000 per year + the other 291.400.000 brings us to almost half a billion per year to keep 3600 people at work.
And I dare say that I have estimated very, very low.

We have now talked about the cost of the political part that doesn't take place in your country. You pay your taxes and almost half a billion of it is used and you can't check what it is all about unless you go to an embassy in a country and ask to visit the embassy, have a little trip in the ambassadors car, check out a house or two of some staff members and see that you get invited for a party. ( It is highly unlikely that you will be able to do this but yet you have paid for it.) 
On top of that these at the embassy working people, send by their government have the rights to buy certain things tax free: cars, cigarettes, alcohol, tools, entertaining equipment, computers, food, etc... So not only is a large part of their daily life costs paid by the taxpayer, they contribute less to society on top of that because they pay less or no v.a.t.

Now what would your average government cost? More than you will ever know. It will be impossible to track down the costs of a government and it's civil servants. You can not simply ask how much the employees of a government do cost a country and receive an honest answer. (You wonder why? I'll show you later.) You are asking the people who make the rules, the regulations... well, the law of a country, to be open and honest about their incomes and privileges.(Why do they have to have these privileges in the first place?) I have serious doubts that there'll be a civil servant (Who earns more than 3000.-  a month.) willing to give you an answer. 
There are several reasons for that: 
Reason 01, Reason 02, Reason 03, and I can go on and on and on.

Here is another reason why you won't be able to find out how expensive a government is.

This video clip is exposing people in the european parlement who are abusing the sytem. The costs of this European Parliament are about 1.500.000.000 Euros per year, paid by the taxpayers of 27 countries. (Roughly 55,5 million per country per year and it seems not to be enough.) In the beginning of the video clip you see how the journalists are put outside the building, so if you want to investigate how much a government costs the taxpayer, honestly asking questions is apparently not the way to obtain answers about the wheeling and dealing with your tax money.
In the video is explained how the people, who represent your country, in this European Parliament abuse on the payment regulations.
Bear in mind that these politicians have already a basic wages packet of about 84.000 Euros per year.

Here are quotes from the video:
These people are already (as they say in the video) the most expensive people in their line of work.(01.13 min) On top of their wages they receive per year: 7339 Euros, whether they are present in parliament or not. (01.19 min) (I can't help but wonder why they need to be paid that money if they aren't there and otherwise, why they are paid that money at all, does the 84.000 not suffice?) 
Plus a tax free indemnity per year of 3980 Euros. 
(For what? And they still do not have to be there to receive that.) 
And on top of that, when they are in session and present in the parliament they receive an extra of 284 Euros per day. And they are there in session about at least 1 day per month (1.38 min) so 12 x 284 =  3408 Euros. Makes a nice sum of 7339 + 3980 + 3408 = 14.727 Euros on top of their wages, per minister in the European parliament.
Something is wrong with the presentations and responsibilities and that is kept a secret from the voting public. (01.55 min).And that is why it is bad to come here and ask for explanations. (02.00 min)
It appears that for years, every Friday morning, certain ministers of parliament arrive here at 07.00 am to register on the presence lists and than disappear. (2.05 min). 
Are you here to register to cash in on the daily presence money? That's none of your business? (02.23 min).
At the floor where you can register yourself a queue has formed of people with suitcases awaiting their turn.(02.31) 
From the 02.40 min you see ministers running away from the camera, or ministers coming up with excuses as, we have worked all night ( but that still does not allow you to go register yourself and leave!!!) or try to hide from the camera in the lift. 
So when journalists inquire about this stealing, the security and the Secretary-General order the journalists to leave the building.(05.38 min.)
When it concerns money, our elected representatives have their own priorities and the freedom of the press has to step down. (06.01 min.)

Please, dear reader, do realise that these people decide how much tax money is to be used for their wages, these people make the deals with oil companies and cigarette companies on the prices of their goods and how much tax will be taken from it and that is all paid by the ordinary hard working people, who make just a few hundred more than minimum wages, people like yourselves. This, dear ordinary people, is how your elected representatives in the European Parliament behave, stealing and abusing the laws that they have created and these laws should be the same for everybody. This video clip dates from 26 - 10 - 2011 and yet there are not even 40.000 viewers. It means ignorance is bliss and your elected government counts on that and continues to steal from you.

So what does this mean? It means that we can not trust humans gathered in small groups being responsible for the worlds well being. It means that we have to replace this system of governing because it is not fair and it enables too many elected people to abuse the system and steal money from hard working people. 
On top of that, the amount of rules and regulations are too abundant in numbers. It's impossible to keep control on it, so you are asking for people to abuse this system. This governing system also enables this small group of people to ignore the needs of the many and help themselves and their associates to lucrative contracts and payouts. Again all of this is paid by the ordinary working man/woman.

What to do? 
We have to unite and create a different system. A system that will make governments obsolete. And we can do that. How, you wonder. Actually, it is not that difficult to do. We need to use open source software to replace any form of governing and make this software accessible by everybody who wants to contribute something, following the principles of Github. Have a look at this video of Mr. Clay Shirky.

This is the way to go about it. Here we have the opportunity to create a system that will not understand greed, can't be blackmailed and uses the same rules and regulations for everybody. It won't understand things like religion, titles like, king, queen, pope, diplomatic immunity or anything that will enable anybody to get away with anything criminal because they have some title or rank. Everybody will be considered the same and equal. It will be transparent because everybody will have access and everybody can see what has been done. 
On top of that, this is the ultimate way to go for a democracy because there isn't a small (yes, yes, elected) group of people anymore, deciding what, where, when and how but it will be everybody connected individually forming just one group. This does not mean that we do not need people to execute tasks as civil servants are doing now but it will make it impossible to commit fraud because we have access to all the information. 

As an enormous group we can create the rules and as a group we will be able to control this. It means that issues like racism will become obsolete because the majority will be against it. It means that people becoming rich because the products are fabricated in a country where the wages are lower and the laws concerning work regulations are unclear or non existent will become obsolete because the majority will be against it. Poverty will disappear because the majority will be against it. Equality for all will happen because it is what the majority wants. 
The result can be something like a website where you can look up all the rules and regulations that you are concerned with and try to change them the way you see fit. If the majority of people agree with you or propose something exactly the same as you do, a new regulation, punishment, rule, law or reward is in place and effective. Thanks to you.
However, rich people, state leaders, top politicians and their parties will be against this. They will try to prove by all means that this is wrong because they will lose power and money and as they have control over the army there is a strong chance that the end of this evolution will be violent. In the end, it doesn't matter. Thousands of people have already started to work on this. The only way to block this now is to take away the internet and who knows... If you wake up one day and the internet is gone, you know what to expect...

Things that can be done in order for a government to function better: 

Instead of trying to point out what is wrong with the opposition they could try and work together instead against each other.

Every proposition has to be proven right. Telling what is wrong with any proposition of the opposition without proving that it is wrong and not offering another proposition without proving that it is better should be punishable by fines of 40 % of monthly wages.

Any form of stealing by government employees should be fined by returning 70% of the total amount of his/hers earned wages while having a civil servant job and handing over 70% of his/hers possessions. If these possesions are put in the name of the spouse/partner or children, they still have to be handed over. And of course banned for life of any managerial position or office job. After all, you are abusing the trust of the people.

Promising things in the election campaign and not fulfilling these promises should be punishable by a 500% fine of the earned wages. ( So if you earn 1000 you will have to pay 5000.)

All privileges abolished. One standard salary. With that salary government members will have to pay for every cost they make or everything they buy. 60.000 a year would do nicely, it will not get them incredibly rich so they stay in touch with the real costs of things but they still earn more than enough to survive.

Diplomatic immunity is to be abolished. This only serves to do things secretly and we want things to be clear, open and understandable.

All politicians have to travel with public transport and pay for it themselves. They are not allowed to travel in any other way. This will help to keep them in touch with the poor peoples way of travelling and at the same time it is a nice way of controlling how good things function in the country they govern.

And these are just a few of the improvements that can be made. Of course when the recent governing system finally will be replaced by people controlled software, we will wonder, why we haven't done this earlier. All of a sudden we will be able to spend our creativity and intelligence towards real progress... and to overcome the ultimate problem...How to let our species survive if our planet would cease to be hospitable for the human race?