General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I never thought that I could dislike a politician more than Richard Nixon. [View all]LadyHawkAZ
(6,199 posts)or pools of piranha?
Buzzkill, man. Buzzkill.
/tears up world domination plan.
My dream? Follow Iceland's example- jail the people responsible for the financial crash- ALL of them- and make sure it's trumpeted as loudly as possible. Reinstate and strengthen the regulations on financial industries and fund regulatory agencies well enough that they are not redundant and can function effectively. Reinstate the tax rates on the wealthy, get rid of private and corporate loopholes. Reclassify all churches as standard charities; mandate that 70% of all income beyond what is required to maintain the property and a reasonable number of staff to go back out into the community every year in charitable work. Use some of the money now back in circulation from all this to fund startup business programs and business or vocational training across the country for whoever wants it. Throw in some of Europe's little "luxuries" like state-sponsored child care and a public option. And stop treating shooting at people in other countries as a fantastic career opportunity.
Changing thinking takes time, and by that I mean generations worth. Assume there will always be a percentage of the current voters age 25+ that just won't, and focus most of that effort on the younger generations. Best way I can see to do that is to give them the best possible life we can, and make sure they understand how they got it and why they have it. That means a good education with good teachers and fixed standards (this means: no, you may not pollute our science classes with a mythology you can't prove and you WILL teach critical thinking and yes class size DOES matter) and a stable home life where they're not hungry all day or exhausted from working their own job to help support their family and doing 4 hours of homework on top of that. Give them interesting things to think about and do, and a good environment to do it in. Reinstate the Fairness Doctrine so they get actual information to work with. And FFS give them proper sex ed so they can enjoy all this without toting around an infant at 15 or remembering to take their AIDS meds! I would like to see the next teacher who does the "spit in a glass" lesson with their class barred from teaching ever again.
That would be a good start. But I'll take that castle and minions, too, if it's still going. Same result, either way.