The system of government matters far less than the character of the people being governed.
Explanation
The world is destroying itself and, believe it or not, it is not because of the amount of lead in the atmosphere. For the past few centuries, Christianity has worked to lift society away from the barbarism of the past and draw people toward the light. However, each new generation creates new forms of barbarism that need to be faced and dealt with. The Christian church sometimes wanes in influence, as it is doing today. These all influence culture and the character of our people, regardless of what systems they live under.
Character is what truly matters to form a useful and good society. Cultures all over the world and in many different times have had good and godly character even when they haven’t known or worshiped the one true God. However, to create a lasting culture of character, you need something special.
No amount of law or government programs will heal the divide that exists between each fallen man and the righteous man he could be. Government or anarchy or communism or capitalism or whatever social system you most like cannot save your people from themselves.
That is not to say that all political and economic systems are created equal, but that these are not the primary determinant of what makes a society good and successful. A good and successful society is defined by its character. For a good and godly character to last across generations, you need a standard by which to judge character and you need the fortitude to actually and faithfully apply that standard. Christianity provides the best and clearest standard for such character and I think this can be empirically verified.
Regarding character, consider these examples…
Every society has private property, even under socialist and communist systems. At the very least, your clothes and your toothbrush and whatever else you keep close to yourself belong to you and no one else. If your culture is one of greed and jealousy, then it won’t matter what notions of private property your political system defines because the people of that culture will be thieves. They will be in the habit of taking items from one another without regard for society’s rules.
Every society has public officials, even feudalism and anarchy will have agreed upon people who control access to certain places and resources. If your culture is one of corruption, then it won’t matter what rules and regulations are in place to ensure that people are fairly treated. Your officials will only act when they’ve been bribed enough to consider you worthy of favor.
Every society needs to provide safety and preserve the lives of its people to thrive. If your culture is a culture of death and appeals to utilitarianism that routinely treats some people as worthy of life and others as non-persons, your society’s violent crime and murder rates will climb. This will continue until your people decide to value life and treat all people as persons again.
You cannot fix any of these problems systematically if your culture lacks character. A political and economic system can only work with the material available and if the people are garbage people, selfish, corrupt, and dehumanizing, all systemic fixes will lead to garbage results. If, however, the people are respectful, law abiding, and peace seeking, you can debate which system would work to create a good and thriving society.
The ills of the world today, the increase in crime and suffering, are borne not of a bad system, but of people who have poor character. Our culture prefers to tolerate people who lack integrity, people who are violent, and those who are greedy. If you want a good and gracious society, you must build it out of people of character.