Every administration duly elected by the people must also answer to the people. The impeachment of George W. Bush can't undo the last 8 years, but it could restore the balance of power and allow the executive branch to not only be reined in by the legislative branch, but also be forced to do what is right by the people of the United States.
I cannot in this letter express the actual case for George W. Bush being impeached, we're all aware of the reasons, the people of this nation are already aware of what makes the current president liable for impeachment. An investigation could probably get him hanged for treason -- but you know Obama would have to pardon him if so, and even if not, so what? All I'm trying to do is lay out my reasons for believing that George W. Bush, and much of his cabinet perhaps, /deserves/ to be charged and held accountable.
I believe that this outgoing administration has willingly and deliberately pushed the United States into a recession, that they did willingly and deliberately alienate the American people from their government by lying, cajoling, and bribing us by encouraging bad loans and bad stimulus packages that resulted in businesses not being paid for work rendered.
My mother works for a company, ((changed to protect blogdentity)) Incorporated over in Salmon Creek, Washington, and this company has made several 'electro fishing' boats for work in nature conservancy for the state and/or federal government, and have not been paid. This small but important company has eked a position for itself out of developing technologies here in the U.S., with U.S. manpower and minds, that simply can't be found anywhere else. That they have not been paid for production, I believe, has a lot to do with how our country has gone from a record surplus to a record deficit in such a short time. So I do feel personally slighted, but this goes beyond that.
Tax breaks for a business are, in a word, socialism. You are paying a business in order to encourage them to keep employing U.S. workers. Small companies that are working hard to produce an actual product are not the real beneficiaries here, big companies that don't do much of anything but simply employ a lot of people, are. Corporate welfare doesn't help companies that produce a product who aren't being paid for their materials and manhours involved, because government money has already evaporated thanks to corporate taxcuts.
I'm aware you and I are not in the same political party, but you and I are both going to have to live in this country for the next 8 years, and if we're lucky, the 8 years after that, and so on. Now, in these difficult times, is an opportunity to strike a blow for government accountability. If Obama goes on to turn this country around (as I should hope he does), he will be much, much harder to stop or limit than George W. Bush is right now, and could do anything he wants with the country.
If a blow is not struck to show that the executive branch can and will be taken to task for what it does to the United States of America, if we do not act to show that weakening the U.S. here and abroad, both maliciously and deliberately, can and will result in harsh measures against those responsible, then we could see life and liberty get very difficult in the times ahead. I don't want my own party to become a monster, this isn't all about partisanship -- it's about the roles we elect people to fill, and the limitations of those roles being breached and re-drawn by strong figureheads.
I thank you very much if you or someone in your office has actually taken the time to read this.
-- ((name changed to protect my blog-dentity)), perpetual voter.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Wow, I'm REALLY opinionated.
I sent this to my senator.
Necessities of escaping the recession
#1 - Stop driving up the national debt. This is money owed to businesses, businesses employ people. Tax breaks for business puts more money in all their pockets, no matter what they're doing, but /paying/ businesses actually rewards them for being productive.
#2 - Build a surplus. A surplus means more businesses, more people, getting paid for their work. Getting paid for work is kind of the whole concept of a capitalist economy, it's how capitalism translates to production. Cutting their taxes is just a handout, a reward for employing people, I'm willing to make the argument that tax breaks = SOCIALISM. Companies should be rewarded for making PRODUCT. Secondly they should be rewarded for making GOOD product, but that's something only government accountability, transparency, and informed consumers/voters can assure.
#3 - Public works. Once the federal and state debts are being paid off, they can see about getting roads and infrastructure repaired and upgraded. Broadband is still unavailable in many parts of the country, as of last year we were behind ESTONIA in broadband coverage (or was it broadband growth? Err, I don't remember).
The U.S. should be a good place for business not because it taxes them less, but because they have access to the very best infrastructure and employees in the world. That involves smart planning of public works, and damned good public education. For starters:
#4 - Encourage veteran education. A new G.I. bill and a new commitment to helping them help themselves. These men and women are the best and (sometimes) the brightest we have in this nation, after losing a few limbs and probably getting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, the very least we could do is get them a Bachelor's Degree, if not a Master's or a PHD, which they'd also deserve. I mean, FFS.
#5 - F*ck Harvard. Wait -- that's not fair. I'm just steamed they're complaining that their financial piggybank has shrunk from some ungodly hundreds of billions down to a mere hundred billion or so. I'm sure there's many other Ivy League schools that have this much cash squared away, while public education in many areas gets by on a shoestring and 3 kids per book. How many kids you think are going to get a scholarship to an Ivy League school when they're coming out of a system like that? Do you honestly believe every child with the potential for greatness, the potential to make the world a better place, has the great fortune to be either noticed by a magnaminous benefactor, or born into a rich household?
Let's face it, there's certain institutions you have to pass through in order to become a senator, a president, the next rich jagoff. Those institutions ain't cheap. Those sidewalks paved with gold ain't for you and me to get our grubby shoes on.
I'd love to see the day when the likes of Harvard are burnt to the ground (FIGURATIVELY), by the very dreamers that attended these storied institutions and managed to gain the power these places grant without losing their souls to it.
#2 - Build a surplus. A surplus means more businesses, more people, getting paid for their work. Getting paid for work is kind of the whole concept of a capitalist economy, it's how capitalism translates to production. Cutting their taxes is just a handout, a reward for employing people, I'm willing to make the argument that tax breaks = SOCIALISM. Companies should be rewarded for making PRODUCT. Secondly they should be rewarded for making GOOD product, but that's something only government accountability, transparency, and informed consumers/voters can assure.
#3 - Public works. Once the federal and state debts are being paid off, they can see about getting roads and infrastructure repaired and upgraded. Broadband is still unavailable in many parts of the country, as of last year we were behind ESTONIA in broadband coverage (or was it broadband growth? Err, I don't remember).
The U.S. should be a good place for business not because it taxes them less, but because they have access to the very best infrastructure and employees in the world. That involves smart planning of public works, and damned good public education. For starters:
#4 - Encourage veteran education. A new G.I. bill and a new commitment to helping them help themselves. These men and women are the best and (sometimes) the brightest we have in this nation, after losing a few limbs and probably getting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, the very least we could do is get them a Bachelor's Degree, if not a Master's or a PHD, which they'd also deserve. I mean, FFS.
#5 - F*ck Harvard. Wait -- that's not fair. I'm just steamed they're complaining that their financial piggybank has shrunk from some ungodly hundreds of billions down to a mere hundred billion or so. I'm sure there's many other Ivy League schools that have this much cash squared away, while public education in many areas gets by on a shoestring and 3 kids per book. How many kids you think are going to get a scholarship to an Ivy League school when they're coming out of a system like that? Do you honestly believe every child with the potential for greatness, the potential to make the world a better place, has the great fortune to be either noticed by a magnaminous benefactor, or born into a rich household?
Let's face it, there's certain institutions you have to pass through in order to become a senator, a president, the next rich jagoff. Those institutions ain't cheap. Those sidewalks paved with gold ain't for you and me to get our grubby shoes on.
I'd love to see the day when the likes of Harvard are burnt to the ground (FIGURATIVELY), by the very dreamers that attended these storied institutions and managed to gain the power these places grant without losing their souls to it.
A nice experience with PR
I was incensed seeing a commercial for the Chevy 'Volt' a couple weeks ago, my tact being that why the hell didn't they have this thing ready 10 years ago? Every knowledgeable person I consult on the subject has been quick to point out that electric cars were squashed by the big automakers decades ago.
Now the CEO's are coming to congress begging for cash, when their own shoddy product has no doubt had a role in their collapse (Chevy is a subsidiary of GM if I recall correctly). I searched around for a way to send feedback, and found a form where I could send feedback about their commercials, gave them a piece of my mind. I wish I'd saved the text so I could properly reference it, but the personalized response from the company was kind enough to include my original text:
Now the response:
Now, I must admit that from the start I was mostly "for" the auto industry bailout. We've just given 700 billion to the financial industry, and they're an industry that barely has a reason to exist, the finance industry doesn't even hand out loans, they're just the guys who hold the moneybags and find all sorts of incredible ways to f**k us in the ass to keep as much cash for themselves as possible.
On the other hand, the auto industry makes cars. It so happens they've made a lot of crappy, unsafe, murderous SUVs, and lots of crappy, gas-guzzling sedans with V8 engines that spend more time in the shop than out of them. BUT -- at least they make a product, okay? Japan may or may not make better cars, but when is less competition ever a good thing? The Big 3 automakers going under may mean a lot of companies making crap cars are going under, but someone /will fill the void/.
Additionally, we can't strictly blame the auto industry for having problems right now. Our society expects us to take out loans to get a car, even if you're shopping for used vehicles you'd be quite lucky to find a decently running vehicle for less than 2,000 USD. Regular people don't have that much in liquid assets in a given month. The cheapest new car would start at around 20,000 USD. Nobody who works for a living has that kind of money. No loans, no car sales. This is a problem.
Furthermore, all those unions and suppliers that drive up the cost of these U.S. cars to the extent that Detroit loses about 2,000$ for every car that's sold, also mean a helluva lot of people who don't have the skills to compete in the global market are nonetheless being kept in the middle class. A healthy middle class is a good thing. The rich don't spend their money, the poor spend every cent they have to survive but don't have much, so overpaid company men (and women) are the real meat of a capitalist economy. At least auto workers are getting their hands dirty! They're making something! Shuffling papers around and swapping funny youtube videos all day at work seems kind of not worth 100,000$ a year in comparison, doesn't it?
So, bloated, greedy unions are about the only reason anyone in the U.S. who works their fingers to the bone, actually manages to get into the middle class. So, back on topic, the bailout.
I'm now highly convinced the bailout needs to go through, but this is what it must be used for: pay debts for one thing, those debts are often owed to U.S. businesses. The economy has been dragged down by debt, both national and private.
(The national debt is in fact, in large amounts, owed to U.S. businesses, ESPECIALLY small businesses that can't afford their own lobbyists, lawyers, and tax breaks. Going from the largest surplus to the largest government deficit ever within 8 years, just may have something to do with the recession, yeah? A lot more companies not getting paid, especially companies that are working for ecology, the green movement, etc.)
Secondly, while the Unions probably have to make some concessions, they should strive to avoid negatively impacting the livelihood of their workers. This would be bad for the economy.
Thirdly, make new, better products. Getting an electric car into production that can get 60 miles in a trip without a drop of gas is a pretty damn good idea. If it lives up to the old model of U.S. cars it will be designed to fail catastrophically and be in and out of the garage every other week so they can keep draining your pocketbooks on parts and "licensed" mechanics, but hey -- at least it's for a good cause, right?
Now the CEO's are coming to congress begging for cash, when their own shoddy product has no doubt had a role in their collapse (Chevy is a subsidiary of GM if I recall correctly). I searched around for a way to send feedback, and found a form where I could send feedback about their commercials, gave them a piece of my mind. I wish I'd saved the text so I could properly reference it, but the personalized response from the company was kind enough to include my original text:
Comments: Those Chevy 'Volt' adds just make me annoyed that it isn't already in production and available. This is 2008, there is no excuse. It doesn't convince me you need a bailout, it doesn't convince me to buy a Chevrolet that will probably need to be put in the shop in the first week, I already get over 40 MPG from my car made in Japan or Korea or whatever that hasn't broken down in 2 years despite a horrendously storied history. If you want me to support the bailout, how about an official apology for making progressively less safe, less efficient, less reliable cars for the last 20 years?
Now the response:
Dear Mr. Hawthorne,
Thank you for contacting Chevrolet and for your interest in the Chevrolet Volt! We appreciate the time you have taken to write us.
We apologize for any frustration the Chevrolet Volt commercial has caused. However, the target release date for the Chevrolet is currently on schedule. The Volt has always been scheduled for production in 2010. However, we will document your feedback regarding the Volt and our advertisements.
Additionally, we thank you for your opinion regarding government assistance. We wish it was more in line with our views, but we still respect and value your feedback. The rapid rise in fuel prices and the change in the auto industry have made market and economic conditions very challenging. We are responding quickly and aggressively with a steady stream of actions to better position GM for sustainable profitability and growth, including optimization of our operating structure, improving our cash and funding position and keeping our key product and technology investments on track.
Despite what you may be hearing, we are not asking Congress for a bailout but rather a loan which will be repaid. GM is seeking this loan from the government because overall the U.S. auto industry has been hard hit by the credit crisis. Carmakers have found it increasingly difficult to get credit to complete their restructurings and put new advanced technology vehicles into production. Customers struggle to get credit for new cars and other purchases, and consumer confidence has fallen to an all-time low. Suppliers are losing business because obtaining credit to keep them afloat until the industry recovers has been challenging. Dealers need credit to finance inventory and other routine business needs.
We appreciate that Congress recognizes the urgent need to help the auto industry weather this troubled economic period and to stem its current liquidity crisis. A critical portion of the U.S. economy rests on the industry's shoulders and we hope Congress and the Administration can work together to provide immediate aid. A healthy auto industry is an engine for creating the jobs, the new technologies, and the global business growth that America needs if it is to remain a great power.
One of the best things about America is that we have the freedom to discuss openly our personal values, ideas and beliefs. GM recognizes that individuals have many different views. We would like to thank you for sharing your comments with us. We have documented your concerns and we will forward your comments to the appropriate department at GM. Thank you again for taking the time to let us know how you feel.
New Chevrolet vehicles now come standard with a 5 year/100,000 mile Powertrain warranty. By offering the fully transferable 5 year/100,000 mile Powertrain warranty on every 2008 and 2009 car, SUV, and light duty truck, you receive the best coverage in America.
If you are not currently working with a Chevrolet dealership in your area and you would like to locate one, an easy way to do so is by using the Find a Dealer web tool on http://www.chevrolet.com.
At Chevrolet, we strive to provide exceptional customer service. If we can be of any further assistance please email us or call 1-800-950-2438, Monday through Friday between the hours of 8am to 9pm Eastern Time, and Saturday 9am to 6pm. Thank you for contacting Chevrolet!
Sincerely,
The Chevrolet Marketing Team
http://www.chevrolet.com
You have received this e-mail advertising GM products and services in response to your recent request for vehicle information. Please visit
http://www.gmcontactpreferences.com to opt out of receiving future e-mail messages from General Motors.
General Motors Corporation, 100 Renaissance Center, 482-MAR-100, Detroit, MI 48265
Now, I must admit that from the start I was mostly "for" the auto industry bailout. We've just given 700 billion to the financial industry, and they're an industry that barely has a reason to exist, the finance industry doesn't even hand out loans, they're just the guys who hold the moneybags and find all sorts of incredible ways to f**k us in the ass to keep as much cash for themselves as possible.
On the other hand, the auto industry makes cars. It so happens they've made a lot of crappy, unsafe, murderous SUVs, and lots of crappy, gas-guzzling sedans with V8 engines that spend more time in the shop than out of them. BUT -- at least they make a product, okay? Japan may or may not make better cars, but when is less competition ever a good thing? The Big 3 automakers going under may mean a lot of companies making crap cars are going under, but someone /will fill the void/.
Additionally, we can't strictly blame the auto industry for having problems right now. Our society expects us to take out loans to get a car, even if you're shopping for used vehicles you'd be quite lucky to find a decently running vehicle for less than 2,000 USD. Regular people don't have that much in liquid assets in a given month. The cheapest new car would start at around 20,000 USD. Nobody who works for a living has that kind of money. No loans, no car sales. This is a problem.
Furthermore, all those unions and suppliers that drive up the cost of these U.S. cars to the extent that Detroit loses about 2,000$ for every car that's sold, also mean a helluva lot of people who don't have the skills to compete in the global market are nonetheless being kept in the middle class. A healthy middle class is a good thing. The rich don't spend their money, the poor spend every cent they have to survive but don't have much, so overpaid company men (and women) are the real meat of a capitalist economy. At least auto workers are getting their hands dirty! They're making something! Shuffling papers around and swapping funny youtube videos all day at work seems kind of not worth 100,000$ a year in comparison, doesn't it?
So, bloated, greedy unions are about the only reason anyone in the U.S. who works their fingers to the bone, actually manages to get into the middle class. So, back on topic, the bailout.
I'm now highly convinced the bailout needs to go through, but this is what it must be used for: pay debts for one thing, those debts are often owed to U.S. businesses. The economy has been dragged down by debt, both national and private.
(The national debt is in fact, in large amounts, owed to U.S. businesses, ESPECIALLY small businesses that can't afford their own lobbyists, lawyers, and tax breaks. Going from the largest surplus to the largest government deficit ever within 8 years, just may have something to do with the recession, yeah? A lot more companies not getting paid, especially companies that are working for ecology, the green movement, etc.)
Secondly, while the Unions probably have to make some concessions, they should strive to avoid negatively impacting the livelihood of their workers. This would be bad for the economy.
Thirdly, make new, better products. Getting an electric car into production that can get 60 miles in a trip without a drop of gas is a pretty damn good idea. If it lives up to the old model of U.S. cars it will be designed to fail catastrophically and be in and out of the garage every other week so they can keep draining your pocketbooks on parts and "licensed" mechanics, but hey -- at least it's for a good cause, right?
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Incomplete and only partially thought-through solution to 95%+ of the world's violence and terror that veers off track into E/N
[THIS is really frustrating to write because I feel (just a feeling) like I know roughly all the solutions but it touches upon far too many subjects. It's hard to blend things together properly to list all this crap in a readable and understandable way. The basic truth is this – law enforcement and organized crime are too often on the same side. They both maintain, without trying to, a status quo that is intolerable to an ethical person. Perversions of justice and oppression on one side, horrific violence and hopelessness on the other. This is not a very good post but I woke up at midnight feeling like I had to write this down, and then later decided to put it where ideas go to die; the internet]
The world of good people is assaulted by so many forces, things we hear about on the news and things that we do not, things out in the open and things that keep themselves hidden, and we believe that there is no solution to these problems. All we can do is help that charity, vote for that measure, raise our children to make the right decisions, all to make just a little bit of a difference.
There are no easy solutions, but there are ways to make these problems much smaller in magnitude than they are now.
No matter what assaults civilization, be it the mujahideen(sp?) or MS 13 (just one of many massive and violent gangs), or be it the code of silence in ghettos and rural areas (let alone everywhere else) that cloaks crime and corruption – no matter what name it gives itself, what cause it cloaks itself in, there is but one thing that funds the vast majority of illegal and unethical activities – drugs. Contraband. Controlled substances.
We hear how the remnants of the Taliban, still a force in Afghanistan, control and restrict the supply of Opium even now to keep prices sky high. The hypocrisy is rich, the hypocrisy is everywhere, and the solutions that are now in place become problems. How can anyone claim that the DEA and border control does not also restrict supply, and that a restricted supply will raise prices? Does anyone believe there is enough capital in South America and Afghanistan to fund the forces of corruption and destabilization? The United States is the market, and the war on drugs is an accomplice in every act of violence and anarchy that the drug trade finances.
Do the addicts cut back, do they trade in their big fat drug-guzzling veins in for a hybrid when the price of heroin goes up? No, they will pay whatever price the dealers want, they will do what they must to afford the drug, until they either die or get better. Drugs and those who deal them prey on the weak, the defenseless, they kick men and women and children when they are down. Oil companies and casinos cannot compare to the villainy that goes on in the shadows.
Those shadows are maintained by fear, fear of violence and fear of prosecution, two forces that want the same thing. Control. Both of them get what they want from the current status quo, authority figures are able to silence critics and those they just don't like by either discovering or fabricating drug possession charges. Criminals get to operate in secrecy because witnesses fear a drug test if they go in to testify, or don't know where they'll get their next high if they enter the witness protection program.
I'm not going to suggest we end the war on drugs, what I'm going to say is that we're making the wrong tactical and strategic decisions against the war on drugs. You must win hearts and minds to win a war, and those hearts and minds are the addicts, the users, the friends and families of the users, the schools, churches, any place where drug users could find the companionship and meaning that their lives lack. To make ground in the war on drugs, you must reduce the number of addicts and users. It isn't easy, but is the true way to win.
Those charged with enforcement don't want to do this, because saving addicts isn't something you do with assault rifles and private armies. Those who traffick in drugs want as many customers as they can get, they want weak people who have nowhere else to go, no support system, no clean and sober friends.
There is a part of the solution that each and every one of us can take part in. Get involved in outreach programs, support efforts to get addicts and even dealers to go straight and get out of drug trafficking. Stand up against fascism, stand up against attacks on our privacy and liberty, stand up against seeing more and more people going to jail – all of these things ultimately do nothing but help crime. Support prison reforms to fight corruption and gangs.
The prison system is the back-bone and nervous system of organized crime in the United States, it is where criminals meet and learn how to become better, more violent criminals. It is how they become organized to protect themselves from authority and citizen action. Prison is where those who don't want their ass owned by a criminal syndicate, learn that their ass is going to be owned by someone either way, and find that they have a decision to make.
We sequester prisoners away from society, thinking to remove their influence from society and vice versa, to allow the system to reform them and turn them into proper citizens. You don't need to be a genius to realize this isn't how it works anymore. Prisoners are sequestered away from normal society and are therefore inducted into a society that is 100% criminal. They learn how to live in that society, or they become failures and take the consequences, be that death, rape, or simply isolation and madness. Those who function well in prison society find they have a family that accepts them on the outside, a criminal family, and that becomes their new life whether they like it or not. There we have the foundation of a gang.
This way of running a prison is the worst possible way for everyone involved. We must find a way to create a place where criminals can truly be reformed, but we must understand that not every criminal is the same. We must split up different kinds of criminal minds even more than is being done now.
Firstly, lifers and regular prisoners should never be in the same place. We might think that placing a guy who's doing 20 for manslaughter next to a guy who's doing 300 years for slaughtering nuns has a purpose, that the lesser criminal will see where he could end up and get his life straight, but no-- he is living the same life as the crazed serial killer, he sees that if he'd carved a bloody swathe through a churchbus he'd be in the exact same circumstances he finds himself in now. As a moral lesson, there is nothing else to call this but retarded, insane, twisted and disfunctional. It obliterates moral relativity and absolutism in one blow.
Anyone that should be in prison for the rest of their life, is someone that society has given up on. There is only one reason that I, very fervently, advise against the death penalty, and that is the fact we cannot be 100-percent certain that every person who is found guilty of a crime is in fact guilty, or that the circumstances surrounding the crime are the same as that described in court. In some cases we do know, I don't know why Charles Manson was kept alive in jail instead of being summarily shot, maybe we were worried he'd become messiah of crazy-town if we ended his life. I don't know, all I know is that judges and juries are human and therefore faulty.
So the first iron-clad rule of punishment in a just society: it must be humane, because we can never be 100% certain that a person truly deserves to be punished. They could be 100% innocent, we don't know, only a higher power could know.
This must be tempered with realism. Letting criminals freely converse and socialize clearly isn't working, for the reasons cited above. Privacy is the first thing that has to go, there is no way around it. Privacy allows a kingpin to control a drug empire from the safety of a prison. Who watches the watchers? Anyone that wants to.
And herein I feel I've deviated horribly from my goal of crafting a roadmap to a better world, because some feel their privacy, their secrets, are infinitely precious. I feel that secrets are shackles that prevent us from living fully, where others believe that secrets allow them to do what they must. I think deceit is the worst thing that most people do, whereas others find lies harmless in and of themselves.
So, I must come to admit I don't know the solution, because even my mythical concept of the 'average' logical mind could find grave fault in my suggestion that we eliminate all semblance of privacy in prison. There's no such thing as common sense, and the schism on truth vs privacy is one example where even in my altered (self-important) state I have to admit I don't know what's best for everyone.
The world of good people is assaulted by so many forces, things we hear about on the news and things that we do not, things out in the open and things that keep themselves hidden, and we believe that there is no solution to these problems. All we can do is help that charity, vote for that measure, raise our children to make the right decisions, all to make just a little bit of a difference.
There are no easy solutions, but there are ways to make these problems much smaller in magnitude than they are now.
No matter what assaults civilization, be it the mujahideen(sp?) or MS 13 (just one of many massive and violent gangs), or be it the code of silence in ghettos and rural areas (let alone everywhere else) that cloaks crime and corruption – no matter what name it gives itself, what cause it cloaks itself in, there is but one thing that funds the vast majority of illegal and unethical activities – drugs. Contraband. Controlled substances.
We hear how the remnants of the Taliban, still a force in Afghanistan, control and restrict the supply of Opium even now to keep prices sky high. The hypocrisy is rich, the hypocrisy is everywhere, and the solutions that are now in place become problems. How can anyone claim that the DEA and border control does not also restrict supply, and that a restricted supply will raise prices? Does anyone believe there is enough capital in South America and Afghanistan to fund the forces of corruption and destabilization? The United States is the market, and the war on drugs is an accomplice in every act of violence and anarchy that the drug trade finances.
Do the addicts cut back, do they trade in their big fat drug-guzzling veins in for a hybrid when the price of heroin goes up? No, they will pay whatever price the dealers want, they will do what they must to afford the drug, until they either die or get better. Drugs and those who deal them prey on the weak, the defenseless, they kick men and women and children when they are down. Oil companies and casinos cannot compare to the villainy that goes on in the shadows.
Those shadows are maintained by fear, fear of violence and fear of prosecution, two forces that want the same thing. Control. Both of them get what they want from the current status quo, authority figures are able to silence critics and those they just don't like by either discovering or fabricating drug possession charges. Criminals get to operate in secrecy because witnesses fear a drug test if they go in to testify, or don't know where they'll get their next high if they enter the witness protection program.
I'm not going to suggest we end the war on drugs, what I'm going to say is that we're making the wrong tactical and strategic decisions against the war on drugs. You must win hearts and minds to win a war, and those hearts and minds are the addicts, the users, the friends and families of the users, the schools, churches, any place where drug users could find the companionship and meaning that their lives lack. To make ground in the war on drugs, you must reduce the number of addicts and users. It isn't easy, but is the true way to win.
Those charged with enforcement don't want to do this, because saving addicts isn't something you do with assault rifles and private armies. Those who traffick in drugs want as many customers as they can get, they want weak people who have nowhere else to go, no support system, no clean and sober friends.
There is a part of the solution that each and every one of us can take part in. Get involved in outreach programs, support efforts to get addicts and even dealers to go straight and get out of drug trafficking. Stand up against fascism, stand up against attacks on our privacy and liberty, stand up against seeing more and more people going to jail – all of these things ultimately do nothing but help crime. Support prison reforms to fight corruption and gangs.
The prison system is the back-bone and nervous system of organized crime in the United States, it is where criminals meet and learn how to become better, more violent criminals. It is how they become organized to protect themselves from authority and citizen action. Prison is where those who don't want their ass owned by a criminal syndicate, learn that their ass is going to be owned by someone either way, and find that they have a decision to make.
We sequester prisoners away from society, thinking to remove their influence from society and vice versa, to allow the system to reform them and turn them into proper citizens. You don't need to be a genius to realize this isn't how it works anymore. Prisoners are sequestered away from normal society and are therefore inducted into a society that is 100% criminal. They learn how to live in that society, or they become failures and take the consequences, be that death, rape, or simply isolation and madness. Those who function well in prison society find they have a family that accepts them on the outside, a criminal family, and that becomes their new life whether they like it or not. There we have the foundation of a gang.
This way of running a prison is the worst possible way for everyone involved. We must find a way to create a place where criminals can truly be reformed, but we must understand that not every criminal is the same. We must split up different kinds of criminal minds even more than is being done now.
Firstly, lifers and regular prisoners should never be in the same place. We might think that placing a guy who's doing 20 for manslaughter next to a guy who's doing 300 years for slaughtering nuns has a purpose, that the lesser criminal will see where he could end up and get his life straight, but no-- he is living the same life as the crazed serial killer, he sees that if he'd carved a bloody swathe through a churchbus he'd be in the exact same circumstances he finds himself in now. As a moral lesson, there is nothing else to call this but retarded, insane, twisted and disfunctional. It obliterates moral relativity and absolutism in one blow.
Anyone that should be in prison for the rest of their life, is someone that society has given up on. There is only one reason that I, very fervently, advise against the death penalty, and that is the fact we cannot be 100-percent certain that every person who is found guilty of a crime is in fact guilty, or that the circumstances surrounding the crime are the same as that described in court. In some cases we do know, I don't know why Charles Manson was kept alive in jail instead of being summarily shot, maybe we were worried he'd become messiah of crazy-town if we ended his life. I don't know, all I know is that judges and juries are human and therefore faulty.
So the first iron-clad rule of punishment in a just society: it must be humane, because we can never be 100% certain that a person truly deserves to be punished. They could be 100% innocent, we don't know, only a higher power could know.
This must be tempered with realism. Letting criminals freely converse and socialize clearly isn't working, for the reasons cited above. Privacy is the first thing that has to go, there is no way around it. Privacy allows a kingpin to control a drug empire from the safety of a prison. Who watches the watchers? Anyone that wants to.
And herein I feel I've deviated horribly from my goal of crafting a roadmap to a better world, because some feel their privacy, their secrets, are infinitely precious. I feel that secrets are shackles that prevent us from living fully, where others believe that secrets allow them to do what they must. I think deceit is the worst thing that most people do, whereas others find lies harmless in and of themselves.
So, I must come to admit I don't know the solution, because even my mythical concept of the 'average' logical mind could find grave fault in my suggestion that we eliminate all semblance of privacy in prison. There's no such thing as common sense, and the schism on truth vs privacy is one example where even in my altered (self-important) state I have to admit I don't know what's best for everyone.
Random 3 AM thoughts, Education and Religion
Education and Religion carry the same flaws, they are one and the same, they seek truth and seek to share their discoveries.
They both deviate when the teacher or the student, or wiseperson and disciple, either lack vision, adherence to the truth, or work ethic.
A class has failed a student when that student fails, but that failure could be rooted in any combination of the teacher, the material, or the student.
To succeed, all three forces (teacher, material, student) must accept full and active responsibility in the result.
It is common to lose faith even when the will to succeed exists. A teacher loses respect in their pupils, a student feels dumb and doesn't know why they bother, a textbook author just has to meet a deadline when they have yet to find the truth of the subject matter. A priest is shocked by an atrocity, a parishioner seeks help and none comes, a messiah reaches the end of their life and yet the world is unsaved. The potential for deviation from the goal is infinite.
Even if you believe your wisdom, your faith, is absolute and universal truth, you need merely look around and see that is has not saved every mind or soul. Ask yourself: Why? Why does someone refuse to believe in Genesis, why does someone refuse to believe in Evolution?
One answer that is possible: the answer is not perfect. It does not fill the needs of every person. Either the way it has been taught or the lesson itself has failed to gain purchase in their mind and spirit. Perhaps they just aren't ready to listen.
I am left with only one conclusion. Truth is a journey. Hold yourself to your own full height but try not to get whacked in the face by branches. Use your senses both physical and otherwise, pay attention. Every time you fall and scrape your knee the best you can hope for is you keep the wound from going septic and get a little better at staying on your feet the next time, or just falling in a less painful fashion.
There's infinite paths, infinite ways to go about it. There's good advice and bad from others who make the trip, there's good walking sticks to aid you, and others that snap in half at the worst time. The path is inside of us all, but there are signs both accurate and not all around us, pointing us this way and that. There are detours, there are encounters with the profane and the sublime, there is danger and there is safety, and while knowing the difference is a precious thing no one knows every threat and boon that's out there.
Some have an idea of what is at the end of the path, they have an image of what they seek to attain, while others meander on with little or no concept of what's at the end. So it's everything to all people? No, that's not what I'm saying. What we all seek and espouse in turn is the same thing, it only goes by a million names.
Truth.
They both deviate when the teacher or the student, or wiseperson and disciple, either lack vision, adherence to the truth, or work ethic.
A class has failed a student when that student fails, but that failure could be rooted in any combination of the teacher, the material, or the student.
To succeed, all three forces (teacher, material, student) must accept full and active responsibility in the result.
It is common to lose faith even when the will to succeed exists. A teacher loses respect in their pupils, a student feels dumb and doesn't know why they bother, a textbook author just has to meet a deadline when they have yet to find the truth of the subject matter. A priest is shocked by an atrocity, a parishioner seeks help and none comes, a messiah reaches the end of their life and yet the world is unsaved. The potential for deviation from the goal is infinite.
Even if you believe your wisdom, your faith, is absolute and universal truth, you need merely look around and see that is has not saved every mind or soul. Ask yourself: Why? Why does someone refuse to believe in Genesis, why does someone refuse to believe in Evolution?
One answer that is possible: the answer is not perfect. It does not fill the needs of every person. Either the way it has been taught or the lesson itself has failed to gain purchase in their mind and spirit. Perhaps they just aren't ready to listen.
I am left with only one conclusion. Truth is a journey. Hold yourself to your own full height but try not to get whacked in the face by branches. Use your senses both physical and otherwise, pay attention. Every time you fall and scrape your knee the best you can hope for is you keep the wound from going septic and get a little better at staying on your feet the next time, or just falling in a less painful fashion.
There's infinite paths, infinite ways to go about it. There's good advice and bad from others who make the trip, there's good walking sticks to aid you, and others that snap in half at the worst time. The path is inside of us all, but there are signs both accurate and not all around us, pointing us this way and that. There are detours, there are encounters with the profane and the sublime, there is danger and there is safety, and while knowing the difference is a precious thing no one knows every threat and boon that's out there.
Some have an idea of what is at the end of the path, they have an image of what they seek to attain, while others meander on with little or no concept of what's at the end. So it's everything to all people? No, that's not what I'm saying. What we all seek and espouse in turn is the same thing, it only goes by a million names.
Truth.
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