Yea, today I'm going there with it.
First, let's get the obvious one outta the way. If we all remember correctly, one of the major principles this country was founded on was religious freedom - which also includes freedom from being judged by someone else's religion. So foremost, everything that's still up for debate because religion is factored into the discussion needs to be immediately taken off the table. I'm talking about gay marriage, and abortion for the most part here. Gay marriage is legal in 6 states, and marrying your first cousin is legal in 26. The religious factor jumps in here with trying to protect the "integrity of marriage". That's a sweet idea and all, but marriage in this country has been failing for decades. Letting gays marry most likely IMPROVES the marriage success rate, since straight folk seem to get married for any lackluster reason these days. We already know the main arguments against abortion come from the religious sects, and really - bottom line- if you don't agree, don't have one. There's a few other instances where this comes into play, but in the interest of keeping it moving... just stop using God as a reason to tell other people how to live, if they go to hell- that's not really on you, now is it?
No one likes taxes, but it's one of those things we can't function without. So how can we work on fixing this pathetic war induced economic failing? Consider the biggest complaint from the rest of the world about the US - that we are consumptionists. And while yes, that's one of the biggest problems we have... I'm not saying give up your disposable technology. However, in the most literal nature, our biggest consumption is fat. Between fast food and lipo & diet plans, we spend more money a year on the back and forth tangle of weight than anyone else. Fix 2 of our problems at once, TAX JUNK FOOD. And I'm not talking about a light tax. I'm talking cigarette-esque tax rates. Sure, you'll pay an extra dollar for your extra mega sized fries, but how many less people will be overweight and draining on society? How many less obese people will be spending their welfare money on McDonalds? Safe to say less kids would grow up with allergies, because that's an evolutionary response to preservatives... when it becomes less expensive to buy fresh food than over processed garbage, everyone wins.
Remember the moon race? How governments spent money to advance their technology to be able to be the first? When is someone going to get excited enough to make it a race to be the first green energy country? You'd think this would be a priority. But it's somehow not. We're content destroying our planet. YOU SHOULD PROBABLY STOP THAT. The amount of jobs that would be created are ridiculous, and it'd be multitasking for a good cause. Even just the logical first step for that would be so beneficial... consider every movie set in the future. Most scenarios include super tall buildings, with train systems. This is for good reason. As the population increases, we will eventually run out of space to expand outward, and the only solution will be to grow upwards. The best ways to begin pulling us out of the soon to be dark ages, begin with massive infrastructure transportation. I'm talking about solar powered trains, connecting everything, ideally. Besides creating millions of jobs for construction, maintenance and staffing... the amount of problems it erases just multiply with time. First, you cut dependence on gas powered vehicles, and on a grander scheme it encourages tourism and cuts the DUI rates. Making this investment in our future is the best thing we could be starting right now.
On an obvious note, there needs to be a cap on political campaign spending. Period. Oh, and an IQ test to be employed by the government. The sooner we stop letting rich idiots make our decisions for us, the better off we'll be. And in a related field, stop cutting spending on education. Kids deserve the best possible chance to succeed, and they'll be taking care of us when we're old. So ideally, stop spending their education money on things that are less important, ie- everything. Also, the education playing field needs to be evened out. All schools should be teaching the same thing, and all class and activity options should be available to everyone. You shouldn't have to move to get your child the same education. Use technology to our advantage here, while there may not be enough kids in one school interested in taking Mandarin for their language, creating Department of Education online classes would enable kids to learn about what they want- instead of being forced to take things outside of their desired field just because they don't live where it's available. There also needs to be a cap on college tuition- education should not be one of those situations where you get what you pay for, let the kids who are smart enough and made an effort to earn their spot have it - not those whose parents can donate a wing.
This is just a start. I sense a part 2 coming in a few weeks.
