I don’t usually like talking about politics because there
really is no point. People feel the way
that they feel and there is usually no way to change a person’s mind on this
topic. So conversations become stressful
and sometimes turn into screaming matches, and who needs that? The point of this blog post is not to change
anyone’s mind. It’s just a way to ask
the people of this country to start thinking outside the box. This post suggests a completely unrealistic
and fantasized way of government. But wish lists are fun and can possibly lead
to new ideas (um…Walt Disney anyone?), and that, my friends, is the point.
I have become very skeptical of the government that our
forefathers so brilliantly set up for us years and years ago. I feel as though it has become so corrupt
that there is just no way for it to work efficiently for anyone, no matter what
side of the coin you’re on. I think most
people in the country aren’t completely happy with our government. How I know this is that both individuals and
organizations are constantly trying to change something. Whether it is who gets
to get married or how people treat animals or who gets health insurance,
everyone seems to be charged up about something or other. Since there is so much want and need for
change, I’ve come to the conclusion that there are a lot of unhappy Americans
out there. I applaud this desire to
change. For me, I think the biggest change needs to start with our
government. And I don’t mean just
Democrat verses Republican. I would love
to see a bigger overhaul or a movement.
I don’t mean just voting out everyone who currently sits in Congress,
only to replace them with less corrupt politicians, who will eventually be just
as corrupt as our current Congress. And
I don’t mean a “tea party-esque” movement where like-minded individuals come
together to promote what they already believe.
I mean…bigger. Before I begin, I just want to throw this out
there. I am a dreamer. I am not a politician or some brilliant mind
that has a solution for our country. I
am not developing a posse to support a campaign to take to Washington. I don’t
even really know all that much about our government and how it works. I am
just simply dreaming.
With regard to “sides”, I think that’s a huge part of our
problem. We have become a two sided
country, not just with government, but with everything. Think about it. Division has become a tactic for one side to
succeed over another. For example, man
vs. woman. There are women’s shelters
and women’s advocates, women’s groups and tons of organizations which start
with the word “Women”. Don’t get me
wrong. I absolutely support women
succeeding in life. Empowering women can
be a very positive thing. But so can
empowering a man making minimum wage trying to feed his family of four. Not all men are born in business suits, ready
to make his first million. Not all men
are powerful, being afforded opportunity just because he is a man. What happens to a man who isn’t empowered? Are there specific male only support groups
for him? With that said, I support Americans,
regardless of your sex. I want all
Americans to succeed, no matter what the word “success” means to each
individual. Why the division? Why can’t there be more groups and
organizations just for helping people, regardless of your gender? This is just one example, but there are many
more such as gay vs. straight, rich vs. poor, stay at home mom vs. working mom,
popular vs. unpopular, black vs. white, married vs. single, religion vs.
atheism, old vs. young, and of course, Democrat vs. Republican. I remember there being a time when I was able
to have an opinion that didn’t necessarily define me. I remember a time when having a passion was
just that. I remember being able to have
a conversation about something I believed in without having to get defensive or
having to quote various facts or statistics in order to be taken seriously. Being on a side, at one time, was okay. Being on a side, at one time, didn’t
necessarily work against you. Being on a
side, at one time, didn’t divide us as a people. In my opinion, division should be used to
open minds, not close them.
The government in particular has gotten less and less able
to compromise. It seems that we are in a time where neither side listens to any
of the ideas that the other side comes up with, simply because they are not
playing for the same team. If a
Republican agrees with or votes the same as a Democrat, he probably won’t win
when it is re-election time. The “party”
turns against their own members who might actually be trying to do the right
thing for the people of this country.
So, what happens to a country in this type of disarray? We’ve yet to see, but I don’t feel comfortable
about it. It’s easy to say “get out and
vote the people you don’t like out”, but is that really what we want? Will that actually happen in a country that
is so dedicated to the side they are already on? Currently, we really only wind up choosing
from candidates (from a local or primary position) that we didn’t nominate to
be our party leaders in the first place.
We are stuck choosing someone who is mediocre or someone who is the best
of the worst, and is that really how our country should be run? Would companies be successful if they chose a
mediocre CEO? Would children be raised
well if they have mediocre parents? It’s
pretty obvious that mediocrity doesn’t have a place in any aspect of success. However, if we are all okay with that, then
why not do mediocrity in a different way?
My Dad and I were having a discussion about politics, and he
is a very independent/green party type guy.
He had an idea that I thought was pretty great. He thinks that the President and Congress
should be handled in the same way that jury selection is handled. You get a notice in the mail and it’s your
turn to serve. That’s right folks,
serve. And as most of you know, jury
duty pay is pretty awful. Not that I
think you should be paid jury duty wages for being the President of the United
States, but I think taking away the grandiosity of being President is a great
place to start. Just giving our President
a home that is over 55,000 square feet seems to send the message of
superiority. I think that is the wrong
message to send. I think the President
(and Congress) should live modestly on a modest salary. I think this would keep the person in office
honest, and more in touch with the financial conditions of the country. If the President of our country had to run
the country on a salary of $50,000 per year and still had to budget for his
family of four, laws that actually help people might actually be proposed. I really like my Dad’s jury duty idea. I think it would put real people of all walks
of life into the government seats. These
people may know struggle or success or how to fix certain things in a new
way. They may be former soldiers and
have better ideas when it comes to war.
They may be college students who are graduating with $75,000 worth of
debt. You get the picture. To add onto my Dad’s idea, I would love to
not have just one Election Day, but to have as many as needed in order to
accommodate new legislation. If there is
a new bill that our Congress proposes, then it would go to the people to get
passed. The law would have to be written
clearly and the amount of money that it would cost to implement would need to
be clear as well. I wouldn’t mind voting
every single day if it meant that I had a say in what laws are passed in the
country I live in. The idea that the
people (not Congress) decide on the laws of the land would also alleviate the
headache that is known as lobbyists. I
don’t think this would be the absolute end to lobbyists, but it would certainly
help get some of them out of the way so that real laws that actually help
people, rather than help whatever company the lobbyist works for, get passed.
When it comes to helping out other countries, I know that we
can’t just stop handing over money because that causes countries that already
hate us to hate us more, which in turn, may cause war or more terrorism on our
turf. But the dreamer in me wants to
hold all funds to all countries. When a
country needs our financial help with something, they should submit it to our
Congress in writing, similar to a business plan. For instance, when I need something at work
that costs a significant amount of money, I submit a business case for it. I include a list of the benefits and risks,
as well as cost analysis. Then, when
budget time comes, my company decides whether or not my proposal gets
funded. If it doesn’t get funded, oh
well. Better luck next year. If it does get funded, I am held accountable
and need to show how every penny was spent.
I think handing money out to other countries in a similar fashion might
benefit us, or at least show us how these countries are spending our
money. Also, I think that if there is
any solid evidence that certain countries mean us harm, they should get
nothing. I know. That’s not a popular idea because, like I
said before, it could cause harm. But
that would be a chance I’d be willing to take.
I’d also like there to be an online government
checkbook. I mean, not an official one
that can be hacked into, but something simple that shows our daily spending as
a country. I want to be able to see who
checks are being written to and for how much.
I think opening up a very elementary level online check register would
give people a better sense of what we have in the bank and how we are spending
their hard earned tax dollars. I think
this would make them more informed when it comes time to vote on the potential
laws of the land.
I could probably go on all day, so I’ll stop here. As for my big ideas, feel free to agree or
disagree or laugh or comment with your own ideas. I would love to hear from more dreamers. Who knows?
Maybe some of these ideas are already in place but I just don’t know
enough about government to realize it. Maybe
some of these ideas are insane and would make things catastrophically
worse. But then again, how much worse
could it get? J
“I only hope that we don’t lose sight of one thing-that it
was all started by a mouse.”
-Walt
Disney
