My views on things 2.0
Basically, as a reply to a discussion on geeks, which was long enough to qualify as a blog post I guess, I have decided to basically copy/paste it into a blog post as well (not just on geeks but also on my personal website's blog)
My view? I think we should do something we haven't done in a long time, actually follow the wishes of our forefathers, and follow the constitution that they have actually written.
I would like to live in a country where the media isn't controlled by corporations or the two major parties, but by the people. We have this illusion that we have control, but we truly don't. Only place we do have freedom to express our true opinions anymore is online, but how long is that going to last? The stimulus package almost passed with a section giving ISPs exclusive rights to do more in-depth spying on the American people, luckily that part was removed.
The root of our economic problem. The problem is our current tax and currency system. There is nothing Federal about the Federal Reserve, and Ben Bernanke and previously Alan Greenspan have had more control than Clinton, Bush, and now Obama has and will ever have when it comes to the economy. Basically because one, its not truly controlled by the government (actually, the Federal Reserve controls the government and the two major parties), and secondly, they can print money at the whim. There used to be a point where our money was backed by something, and had real value to it. Then FDR destroyed that and took us off of gold. (Obama, btw, is reminding me a lot of FDR, and that scares me in a way).
We've been stuck with a private bank controlling our currency since 1913. I will never forgive Woodrow Wilson for that. Then came income tax, though most people at the time didn't have to pay it because they didn't work for the government/weren't part of an entitlement program, that was soon fixed by creating Social Security. You can opt to get out of Social security, but than you are stuck with a Tax payers card, but thats too much hassle. I mean if we cut government spending and all of these programs that just don't work, or, just plain illegal according to the constitution because some are powers supposed to be reserved to states. Then you've got the issue that, the IRS isn't even a true governmental organization, or that amendment 16 was it, never was truly ratified. So we are basically paying an illegal income tax, which the founding fathers never wished to have. Originally, in the Constitution, it said that the Government could not tax a mans fair days wage. I think we should replace it with possibly a National Sales tax, something that isn't too high, and reflects the different levels of consumers. Those that have more money tend to buy more, and throw more of their money around, and those that have less, tend to buy less. If that trend keeps true, people may pay a more fair percentage of tax, we'd be able to fund the government, and with such a tax reform, we may actually allow the government to actually control the taxes. (you may have a couple variations here and there, but for the most part, those that have more money tend to more recklessly spend their money. Plus, it'd be much harder to get around a national sales tax when you buy retail.)
I also believe, as Ron Paul says, we shouldn't be the police of the world. Obama wants to pull us out of Iraq, ok, but he still wants us to go into Afghanistan. Also, what about the 100 other countries we almost basically have no purpose of being in. World War II ended in 1945, its 2009, we still have troops in Japan, is Obama going to do anything about that? I also very heavily agree that we shouldn't be working on our offense, but more or less on our defense. Though, we also have to remember to not cross the line from freedom to tyranny. I mean for example, the Patriot Act basically gave the government the right to tap our calls, read our e-mails, etc, etc, and for what, security? I mean sure, we haven't had an attack since 2001, but we trade freedom for security? I mean wouldn't a better security measure be just get the hell out of the Middle East, the rest of the world, and stop intervening with the rest of the worlds business. They aren't mad at us for being "free", they're mad at us for trying to control them. More of it was just going to be added to the Stimulus package. Up until just recently, there are a part in there that would have given ISPs full authority to spy on our data pretty much.
When it comes to abortion, I do agree with you that the argument that is religious backed is basically not valid. Though, I think it should be regulated. I mean somebody that is constantly working at a whore-house shouldn't be getting 5-10 abortions a year (though I do guess they contribute to stem-cell research.) Though, if you feel you aren't ready to be a parent, or some other valid reason to get one, than why should I care?
As far as Gun ownship, there are some points I agree with you on, and don't. I agree that we shouldn't own these powerful weapons that should be only for military use, and I also agree we should be able to own rifles, hand-guns, etc. For our own defense, or for hunting if one pleases to do so.
I half-agree with you on the driving issue. I think once you hit a certain age, you should have your health tests, eyesight, etc. to see if you are fit for driving, though, not ban all of it alltogether. Though, I see where you're coming from when it comes to the whole deal with Accidents. As far as getting a license taken away after an accident, in a lot of locations thats already happening, and they are making rules for teens stricter (hence why I'm waiting till I'm 18 to get my license. probably learn from my Dad), though yes, they can probably get even stricter. Hell, here in KY, if you don't keep grades up, you don't drive.
(I know I'm doing these out of order, so deal with me)
As far as legalizing pot, I totally agree with you, and I do agree with you on the driving issue. Though it'd be hard to determine sometimes without testing their breath of something. One odd thing about marijuana use is that it effects different people in different ways. Its not gonna be the same for everybody. Some people may smoke pot and be as you described, impaired thinking, etc, as if they are somewhat drunk, and other people may smoke the stuff, and may be as alert as ever.
I also agree that we are not a Christian Nation. I'm agnostic/verge of being atheist. (I'm still trying to stick under the belief of you can't prove it either way to screw it), but, yeah. I mean we were founded on the principles of religious freedoms. Problem is, religion in some areas ended up getting as bad, and as intolerant as it was back in Europe to cause them to come here. I have this belief that those that wrote the constitution, weren't that religious. I think some of them knew more than most people even know today.
Now, what about nationalizing some things? I don't really agree with that completely, though I think regulation could do a lot to improve the situation than nationalizing certain things would, primarily because of cost. Healthcare is the biggie. I mean we're already in debt, the IRS gets away with taking most of the tax money which doesn't even make it to the government, how are we going to pay for it? (Maybe the National Sales tax could help since its harder to avoid, and couple provide more than enough to pay for government functions if we cut all the crap we don't need/is illegal). Though, one thing I do believe the US government should take into their hands, and at least heavily regulate, and modify, is our energy grid. I mean, being from the state of Kentucky, we have coal mines, use coal power plants, all that stuff. You'd expect us to have some of the cheapest power bills in the country as we have some of the cheapest cigarette prices. Wrong. The state is really making no money from it, the power companies are basically paying politicians to shut up, LG&E (Louisville Gas and Electric) is owned by some company in Germany, which doesn't even really make any sense. I think what we need to do to our power infrastructure, is basically put solar panels in the Mojave (with improved solar panel tech of course), and Wind turbines in the mid-west, and we could power the whole nation. In great numbers, and creating the jobs for maintenance (which won't even cost that much, especially for solar), the whole Nation has greener energy, cleaner air, and people in the mid-west and Southwest have more jobs. I mean even Obama (one of the few things I actually agree with him on) realizes we have these untapped resources we need to get into.
Cleaning the air up, brings me onto my next point, the auto industry. The problem right now, is both parties are heavily influenced by the auto industry, and there are actually restrictions which only keeps innovation within the big three. Not to mention all the good battery technology, and alternatives which could replace our entire fuel infrastructure within a few years if we wanted to, is owned by the big three and the oil companies. If the government could only crack down on this, and then lift the restrictions that could allow more individual innovation in the auto industry, we could quickly transition to electric cars, hydrogen fuel cell cars, and many other alternatives. I don't believe we should switch to diesel because despite there being Biodiesel, and it having better MPG and such, its not a completely clean source, and still contributes to dirty air.
The primary reasons I have for supporting the two would be for cheaper power bills for one, cleaner air to breath, and more economic freedom in the auto industry.
Thats basically what I think should be done about some of the problems we face Today, and what the causes are, and what we should do to fix/get rid of those causes.