Here is my take on this.. playing devils advocate on quite a few
America is too big. It would be great if we could form four or five seperate nations from the Union, but that simply is not going to happen and would be dangerous. So, I say...de-federalize. Give more authority to state and local government within a broad framework. This would make voting more important than ever and would aid the democratic process.
I would love to see california cecede from the union, the rest of the country can really drag us down sometimes. However none of this will happen. The trend almost certainly has to go in the direction of unification and globalazation instead of the reverse. I would expect in our lifetimes to see other regions do what the US has done and what the European Union has recently done. Nation-States will band together under a federal system which will be under some global authority.
Stop all immigration to this country. Close the borders. If people want freedom and opportunity let them work for this in their own countries. We do them a disservice in the long-run by letting them come here
I don't know if this is a good idea, but it I don't think it is possible. The world is too small of a place and no one can live in isolation.
We have a wall of seperation between Church and State, how about an even bigger wall between Corporations and State? Corporations aren't necessarily evil but their power in politics is way too strong. Make large donations to political parties a thing of the past. Stop corporate welfare.
I agree, more regulations need to keep these corporations from getting out of control. I would like corporations get much stiffer penalties for the crap they do, we jail a person for years and slap a corporation on the wrist for the same crimes.
Americans are too dumb. We need smaller schools. Fire the goofy public school teachers and let their pay be based on performance, not tenure. Have standardized testing and let competition reign. Raise the standards for teachers by eliminating unions. Do lawyers and doctors have unions? No. Make getting a masters degree a minimal requirement and pay them gobs of money if they earn it. Take advantage of new technologies by having classrooms linked by the internet in conference lessons.
I think this is just a fundamental change in how things are being done. Public schools are dying, maybe this is just a bubble in the area I live, but almost everyone I know sends their children to a private school. I think public schools might have outlived their usefullness, at first the education system was made mandatory to ensure everyone got a basic education. Now many realize that a basic education is not enough. Parents can choose a school that teaches them how they would like to be taught, no longer any arguement about prayer or evolution vs creation. You don't like is being taught at the school, then send them to a diffferent school. Not only that, but it is becoming a huge indunstry, for good or bad.
American television is banal, idiotic, crass and boring. People are getting dumber, more violent and wasting time. Tighten controls over the networks. Force them to quadruple the amount of programing in educational and news programs to be produced by independent councils of academics. Yes, this sounds draconian. So was your mother forcing you to eat spinach
I don't think the flow of information can easily be stemmed. Besides I think the internet will shortly overtake TV as the prime source of education ,entertainment and news. How many people do you know who spend much more time on the internet, than watching TV? The internet can be just as dumb, even dumber than television if used in that way, but it can be vastly educational and best of all is interactive. TV is non-active.
Pass a constitutional amendment calling for a balanced budget. Slash defense spending. Get rid of stupid programs that promote "family values." (that would be taken care of if you improved the quality of TV dummies!)
Sounds like a good idea to me, but then again, I really don't know all the intricacies of running of running a country. Corporations and individuals use debt as a means to and end all the time, why not the governement. Defense spending? bah. Don't get me started, if we acted more like the 'caring' big brother to world instead of the 'i will crush your head in if you f*ck with me' big brother, we would have a lot less to defend against.
Tax religions. Offer deductions based on their humanitarian programs and charity work.
Never heard of that one, I love it, but I am a bit biased because I think organized religion is a scourge on humanity.
End the antiquated electoral college and the silliness over "primaries." Shorten the entire campaign season drastically. Allow voting to take place over the internet.
Brilliant!! :D
End corporate taxation but fine them mercilessly for enviornmental and humanitarian offenses. Yes this includes oversea operations boys.
End corporate taxation? Why the hell would you want to do that?
Let consumers buy prescriptions from Canada and elsewhere. That would be free trad for everyone.
Good idea, but how about the pharmaceutical companies stop price gouging us selling the same drugs to the rest of the world at discount prices.
Get us over of Arab oil and promote nuclear energy. Why people are so phobic of that is beyond me.
Good point. We need alternative energy solutions. Burning wood, coal and oil? Haven't we gone beyond being cavemen yet? Fire Good!
Have a public service draft for young people who don't have extenuating circumstances (which would be the majority). I think that would go a long way towards instilling compassion and community responsibility in young people. And the public would benefit from this service. What more could you ask for!
I like this idea.
Legalize and regulate marijuana, de-criminalize possession of other drugs.
Good idea, but the repercussions to society could be overwhelming at first. Education programs would be to be increased 10 fold in schools if this is to be successfully intergrated.
Put our enormous prison population to work. Let them labor their way through their terms.
Horray! But then again, didn't we abolish slavery?
Give people the right to invest some of their social-security money in personal retirement accounts.
Hmmm. Good for some people, bad for others. What about all those who lose their money from playing with it?
I would also decriminalize prostitution - -so the drug pushers/gangsters/pimps etc did not make as much money
I agree, there will be demand for the trade of sex and money. It can at least be made more respectable, like in some other countries.
Reward good grades and behavior with drivers licenses. No diploma, no license -- at least not till you pass a certain age. Getting in trouble in school or with the authorities? You can kiss your driving priveleges goodbye.
I like it.
Have a maximum driving age. We have a minimum driving age for safety reasons the same should be true with senior citizens. Sorry, I've seen too many grandma's endanger people with her incompetency.
I don't think a maximum age would work, especially with people living longer every year. Maybe once you get past a certain age they have to go through a more rigorous serious of tests to determine if they should be driving. Test their eyesight, concentration, reactions, etc...
End the two-party system by altering the constitution so that the President does not need 51% of the electoral vote. That's the major reason why we are bogged down in this false dichotomy.The only problem is, without at least the feeling of majority consent, the chances of civil war greatly increase.