If you could start the perfect country, what would you do?

I would start with what real estate agents always say matters most -- location, location, location. I would want a mild climate in a location that is not near too many other countries with expansionist views, a location blessed with good weather, arable land and a reasonable amount of natural resources.

[caption id="attachment_1321" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Natural beauty"]<a href="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/road1.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1321" title="road1" src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/road1-300x219.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="219" /></a>[/caption]

I don't want to focus too much on the material part of it, although it's a pretty good bet that Ethiopia would be screwed no matter what the political system was. If you can't feed your people, that's a big handicap.

The economic system matters. We've seen in the last 30 years in this country that an unrestricted,<em> laissez-faire</em> free market system can create an amazing amount of wealth, but when there is no government involvement at all, that wealth seems to gravitate toward the top.

That's where a progressive tax system seems to work the best. The greatest period of egalitarianism -- our strongest middle class -- came in the 1950s, when the top tax rate was 90 percent. We don't judge the success of a country by how rich its richest people are, but by how many of its people are able to raise happy, healthy families and hope for a better future for their children.

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