Re:United States loses AAA credit rating from S&P
by noblethrasher on Friday August 05, 2011 @10:46PM
(#2852780)
I'm tempted to extend the analogy by pointing out that we already have a unit testing framework: a constitution and judicial review. Test only work if you have an idea of how the system is supposed to run and assertions that respect that idea.
Another analogy that I like to use is one that relates governments to operating systems:
Federalism is a microkernel operating system. The states are user land processes where we can experiment with the code without taking down the entire system. When we discover something that is a universally good principle, we implement it at the kernel/federal level. After all, another name for the states is "Laboratories of Democracy".
Re:United States loses AAA credit rating from S&P
by keyle on Friday August 05, 2011 @10:32PM
(#2852737)
Look, I get it, you're pissed. But the real world isn't a framework, and that's all I'm saying.
Re:United States loses AAA credit rating from S&P
by noblethrasher on Friday August 05, 2011 @10:49PM
(#2852790)
The real world isn't a framework but we only understand it in terms of frameworks.
You ABSOLUTELY audit and refactor a society. Every time the country has gotten a bit more free with a new law or court decision, that's a refactor that improves the system.
Sometimes people have added parts to the system or revised bits that end up for the worse. Examples include Prohibition, Jim Crow laws, Defense of Marriage Act, software patents, etc.
One thing that would help society out a lot would be societal unit tests. Set baselines as to what works and doesn't, and if some new changes breaks the tests you go back and refactor again.