School vouchers are a completely insane concept that ignores all rules of not only society, but market economics. The application of a policy involving school vouchers would serve only to deepen the class disparity in the United States.
The Gaping Hole in American Health Care
There is a huge hole in the design of our nation’s medical system. That hole is in the presence and role of public clinics. In almost all US markets, right now, if something happens, you can call a doctor and schedule an appointment, or, as almost all of their off-hour phone messages say, “hang up and dial 911″ (That is costly in two ways; you’re paying for an ambulance – another hole in our service – and going to a hospital). Shuffling patients off to hospitals for non-emergency or vital needs does one thing really well: clog the hell out of hospitals and raise costs. If patients cannot pay hospitals, they usually end up just eating the bill, adding more cost to their overhead. It also leaves hospitals overcrowded, as is very commonly shown in American media (the crowded emergency room with people with horrible injuries waiting for hours is a common scene).
The Long, Slow Path to Syndicalism
For well over a century, the rallying cry has been to overthrow capitalism in a glorious revolution, to recast society overnight into a paradise. This, obviously, is an entirely stupid idea. Some revolutions do happen, relatively, overnight, but these are rarely stable, and usually revert back to accepting some of the old system. A complete overhaul of America’s capitalist system would just be lost in the dregs. There aren’t enough people to overthrow the system, and the “the system” is too large to crumble to opposition, as large and tied into foreign markets as it is.
The path to changing our system to be in any scale based on syndicalism is a slow one. It works best in small companies, and is not an overnight transition, nor a salvation for the working person. It requires dedication, proof of concept, and a complicated change to corporate philosophy.
Transplanting Freedom
To the patriotic American through out history, it seems like we are expected to represent Freedom and Democracy. Focusing on the past few decades, we have seen it our duty to bring Freedom to the Repressed People (when it meets our interests). I am not here to question democracy or our freedoms; I am grateful to live in a country that grants us the rights and stability we enjoy, even in times of difficulty – because no matter how bad it is, we can still vote. Our system is not perfect, but it is a very good compromise.
The Libyan Quagmire
President Obama is dancing on the coals these days regarding our involvement in the Libyan uprising. His originally well-intentioned support of the rebels comes from the glimmer of hope that the people of the Middle East can sustain uprisings against their governments, and the desire that this would be a “domino effect” in our favor. Certainly, that is laudable and many were excited to see the regimes begin to be challenged.
Reform Immigration
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Every year, some 10 million immigrants enter the United States illegally. Our border security captures approximately 700,000. Many of those that make it endure a dangerous trek, from dealing with often giving most of what they own to frequenlty fradulant human traffickers. Many venture out through the unpopulated desert, hundreds of miles of wilderness. All of this, so they can be on the bottom rung of the people in the United States.
Do you want the government in health care or not?
The entire health care debate has been radiating sheer stupidity for some time now. Skipping past the usual idiots on both sides and their insane fundamentalist rhetoric… vaccines. It seems like, on average, there is less than 3.2 seconds between someone screaming about an optional government health plan because the government is evil and Obama would run death panels, and then wailing about the lack of H1N1 vaccine. I have to ask, while my mind is trying to process the thought pattern (if any) here… do you want the government involved or not? Since it seems that about 49% of the country doesn’t want the government involved in health care (because it will kill them, obviously), they shouldn’t be able to get the vaccine. I’m sure private industry will step in and provide an affordable and widely available vaccine any day now, since they have been at liberty to have been doing that all along.
Obama’s Mistake
Now, I should note at the start that I am pro-”socialized medicine”, at the very least the public option plan, and I’m glad this is a serious public conversation we’re even having.
However, I think Obama has horribly, horribly mistimed his proposal. The main problem is that in light of dealing with the economy and the wars, public healthcare is a hard sell. We are still in the recession, and Obama is juggling too many initiatives at once. The Dow is steadily just below 9500, which is good, but unemployment is high and we’re just getting into debt. Public option healthcare would be nice for the unemployed if it were already in place, but the startup costs just make it a stupid thing to be pushing in this economy.
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Pork
I mean to speak of economic/political pork projects. One man’s pork is another man’s project. People like John McCain have come out to protest pork, which is fine… however, we have to be careful what we label pork. Pork in a bill may be a waste of money, or it may finance a bridge retrofit that can save lives or enliven a community. Funds “wasted” on things like researching pig pheromones can actually be funds leading to important medical discoveries, new chemicals, or new ways of understanding and approaching problems. Very little, I think, is actually useless. Occasional projects like the Bridge to Nowhere are probably involved, and given the number of bills and projects done, this probably results in a lot of waste, indeed… but I think, not as much waste as is being proclaimed.
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I have to speak regarding gun rights
You should note that I am all for rewriting the entire Constitution, so bear that in mind (me being liberal nut job).
The Second Amendment serves no purpose at all in modern society. In fact, it serves a a disservice by being unclear and mucking up the entire issue. There are many things that make it downright retarded, but I’ll focus on two; technology and scope. Having said that, I’ll go in reverse order. Continue reading