I'd start working on ways to make less-developed countries more advanced agrarian economies, and:
- socialize medicine
- teach each student at least three languages in school - their native language, and two of their parents' choosing
- replace the age of consent with consent based on passing sex ed
- legalize gay marriage and polygamy, but require all parties to live together for a year first. That way celebrities would never get married.
- give everyone an animated button with this smiley on it
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
because it's so hilarious the way his upper lip moves but his teeth don't
- I'd unify the militaries, with each branch being headed by the most successful officers from around the world in that specific field
- legislate gas mileage, and set huge prizes (in the billions of dollars) for whoever builds the first engine of a given efficiency, with the prizes increasing depending on the goal in miles/gallon.
- ban all forms of genital mutilation, with sentences of 15 years hard labor per victim
- ban the death penalty
- make Darth Wong the secretary of education, assuming he doesn't want a talk show
- allow nudity and profanity on TV (in case Darth Wong does want a talk show)
- start discouraging the consumption of meat, and funding research into alternate foodstuffs that can still sustain people and be made into enjoyable food
- replace the phone system with broadband connections, and work on a way to make the next upgrade easier
- give SETI government funding, and pay for the entire sky to be scanned for asteroids and such (right now it's supposedly 1% covered)
- fund research into better and safer sex and recreational drug use
- legalize drugs, but require labelling and ingredients, and establish a national directory of ingredients (in drugs and food) that lists the known effects of EVERYTHING people take into their bodies.
- allow people to carry firearms, just not concealed. (cue wild west music)
- make Geneva the capital of Earth, and build a lovely capitol there (lots of lit glass and big statues and water)
I'd also draft a Canon of Sentients' Rights, clarifying the following:
- the right to free speech and communicaion
- the freedom of religious practice
- the right to peaceful assembly
- the right to bodily autonomy (bans circumcision, keeps abortion legal up to a point)
- the right to privacy (consensual sex, internet, purchases, travel, etc. - no "Minority Report" eyescanners, and web browsers have to let you hide your IP)
- the right to control of personal property (unlawful search and seizure, quartering of troops, etc.)
- the right to self-defense (as needed to repel criminal attacks, not wage war)
- contradiction of rights (one person's rights cannot override another person's)
Um...that's all I can think of. Oh, and the military would get cooler uniforms.