"The label you give yourself cannot impact external forces that are not motivated by your own psychology or influenced by a third party's pre-existing consciousness of you. We are all presented with reasons to struggle which come from completely external forces; to pretend that one is not struggling is either arrogance or an admission of defeat. To admit that one is struggling is a sign and a source of strength." - Evan A. Baker

Monday, March 22, 2010

Changes for the Better

So! Healthcare! Woohoo! (Read it in Plain English)

I'm in favor of having an additional 32 million Americans who cannot afford healthcare get it (with subsidies, etc), just as I'm a fan of having a public education system (yes, it needs work, but at least it's there!).

My cousin Brian is against the whole thing, as many republicans are, and on Facebook I told him that while we'd never agree on politics (our backgrounds in life are so different, it's amazing we're related) I still love him. He grew up on the East Coast and says "Ya'll" (a word I love, btw. Why Doesn't English have a plural you?) and I grew up near San Francisco and say "Hella." We'll never meet politically on the same page. I mean, he might even own a gun!

So, my dear cousin Brian, do not read the rest of this blog.

I want to save America. I love this country, where anyone with a dream and perseverance can flourish.

So! Let's legalize pot and tax the heck out of it. Just like driver's and alcohol education, we should have required videos about the effects of that too. If a cancer patient says, hey, this makes me feel better, less nauseous, gives me an appetite and relieves a lot of pain, shouldn't we make it available for her? We'll have the same rules as alcohol - no smoking in public places, no smoking and driving, etc, etc. Educate the public, make it available, and that's a ton of tax dollars going back into the economy.

So! Let's legalize prostitution. As long as there are men, there are going to be customers. Legalize it, create a sex worker's union to keep them safe and sanitary and to get the violence and pimps out of the industry, and bam! So much more money going back into the economy. It's called the oldest profession for a reason, so let's treat it like the business it is. A woman who starts as a sexual companion can eventually run her own company, build up her own brand, and become a very successful and intelligent member of society, instead of a woman on the street, unprotected, in constant danger and on some type of government assistance. I mean, imagine a bordello that's a classy hotel, with free child care for all its employees!

So! Let's effing fix our education system! All this money coming in from pot and prostitution can be filtered into our public education! Lets change the way kids go to school! Once you hit high school, you pretty much know what type of stuff you like. You like math/science, or you like English/arts. So let's create specialized high school! You've got your math/science school, you've got your creative/visual arts school, you've got your hybrid school, for all you lawyers out there. It's an education that specializes in the stuff you love and doesn't focus on the stuff you don't. Why I had to take trig/algebra II, I'll never know. And we have a COMMUNICATION class in elementary school, where we continually teach children how to communicate. We show kindergartners that saying "That really hurt my feelings," has more heft than physical retorts, to junior high, where we learn how to communicate our expectations out of one another as team members/friends, to high school, where it's all about getting our needs expressed/met in our personal relationships. No more men and women getting angry at each other for not being able to read the other person's minds. This will be a boon to America.

What changes do you want? And Brian, if you're still reading, I swear I'm not a heathen.

6 comments:

  1. you know, part of the bonus to legalizing pot is that we would effectively start getting rid of small-time gangs and gang violence. By making it legal, we reduce the need for the smuggling and the drug running, we stop the amount of people going to prison for small-time drug possession, freeing up prison space and resources, and take some (not all) the power out of the foreign drug cartels. You want to fight a "War on Drugs?" Legalize it. Tax it. Done.

    I'm voting for you, Lira.

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  2. I also vote for you. And hope that my cousin Chris isn't pissed at me on FB. :)

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  3. Well, I like a lot of your ideas. I'm for legalizing pot but not for taxing it heavily. It always irritates me when one product gets picked on for extra taxation...

    Legalize prostitution. Yes. I agree but I think Gloria Allred will have a conniption.

    I love the high school idea but colleges already complain that kids go off to college totally unprepared. We would have to change their requirements, too.

    I like the idea of teaching our kids how to question and listen carefully.

    I like that you respect the opposite point of view even when it is different from yours~! Very nice indeed.

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  4. Hi, Cuz, (I'm the Brian who lives on the East Coast).

    Well, first a little background for everyone out there in the blogosphere. While we come from different backgrounds, we do share some similar traits/experiences: We both have been in show business. I love bragging to Lira that I appeared in a major motion picture before she did. And I did so carrying my gun, which co-starred with me! True story...I played a Civil War Marine in "Gods and Generals". Check it out. I am about 40 minutes into the film, I met Matthew Broaderick's stunt double from "Glory". His job was to stand in front of me and die. My job was to shoot my rifle, run like hell down a mountain, and then die. We filmed that scene on September 9th, 2001. Two days later I was working 6 miles away from the Pentagon on 9/11, and to this day remember the smell of jet fuel and burning flesh that lingered in the air for days. Anyway, we both love this country and we both know the meaning of hard work. I drive 110 miles round trip every day to my job, (the acting gig never did result in a check).

    Lira, I disagree with you about health care. I understand your position that nothing could be bad about insuring 32 million more people, but that is not where it stops. My concern is that we will insure 320 million people with crappy insurance, I mean hella bad! Have you ever uttered the words: "Man, that government agency is really doing an awesome job?" If you think you can rely on the government to save your life in an emergency, I have two words for you: SUPERDOME! (Ok, one word).

    And what has really changed? Insurance is still going to be expensive and the same big corporations are going to have a hand in it. (Yes, don't fall out of your chair, I am not really a fan of big corporations, and think that something called six sigma is going to destroy this country by ripping out its soul, but that is another blog.)

    As for your other ideas, Legalizing something doesn't make it right. So if you want to legalize pot, go ahead, but what about that dude who put his kid in the microwave? Honestly, we need to eliminate all smoking, especially now that we have to cover all the smokers with lung cancer since it is a preexisting condition. I like the taxing idea, but I just don't want someone putting my kid in a microwave or killing me with their car.

    Prostitutes? You betcha! But how would you tax that? Put it on a charge card? Would Tiger know which slot to swipe his card in and which one to...well, you know.

    As for the education thing, that would never work. The NEA would have to hire creative, talented teachers who are held accountable, and all those have now retired.

    I think I represent the creamy middle of America. I am not one to go to protest marches or rallys, but I do believe in fiscal conservatism. I feel it is wrong for people on both sides of the health care issue to resort to name calling, and there has been a lot of it. I only want my child to grow up and have at least the same shot at success in life that I did. I am concerned that the opportunities that were available to me when I became an adult will not be there for my brilliant, talented little girl when she goes out into the real world. Living this close to Washington we see a lot more of the bitterness that goes on in the halls of Congress and it doesn't bode well for the future of this Republic.

    Lira, one of the many things I like about you is the fact that you are intelligent, and truly believe in what you say. Lots of folks just say things to impress people or out of fear. Cherish your right to free speech. I do. Y'all have a nice night, now.

    Brian

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  5. I should also mention Brian shot an episode of America's Most Wanted before I did, too. They caught the guy before the show aired so that's good for America, but sad for Brian's bragging rights. :)

    I like the idea of me and my friends having an option for health care that isn't going to be $200 month. Breast cancer runs in our family, and mental illness does for my side of the family as well.

    The way healthcare is now isn't the right way, and although the new healthcare that will start taking effect in 4 years might not be the right way either, at least it will start Something to get what Americans need.

    I don't think the guy who microwaved his kid (and I remember reading about this) did so stoned. He was on something else. Like several comedians like to joke, "Have you ever seen a violent stoner?" I ate pot once by accident (::sigh:: true story. The rice crispy treats looked so innocent at that party.) and all I wanted to do was sleep. My back pain, which i've suffered from since I was 12 was GONE. It's a plant and our forefathers grew it for its medicinal purposes. California has already legalized it for medicine. The rest of the country should follow suit.

    Prostitution: right on! Tax those customers!

    Education: My best friend, one of the most talented, wonderful people in the world was handed her pink slip the same day she was awarded Teacher of the Year. Teachers become disillusioned because the changes they want are slow to come, if at all. They WANT their students to succeed, but things like "No Child Left Behind," meant well but failed the nation. We need more teachers who are BETTER PAID. (Brian's mom just retired teaching college English. Teachers run in our families too!) We need more after school activities and specialized blah blah blah, but we would keep our better teachers if we paid them what they're worth and reduced their class sizes.

    The future of America is kinda scary right now. But if we really are indeed the ones we've been waiting for, drastic measures have to happen now. I feel like a lot of us in our generation have been so let down by our representatives and politics, that we're just kinda waiting for it to blow over until we ourselves are in office and in power. But what we have to do now is fight for that change. We can't keep things the way they are now.

    The best thing we can teach our young children is that if they don't like the way something is done and feel it's unfair, they need to be vocal about it. Propose change. Make America better and equal. It starts with love and communication and understanding and tolerance. We need to make sure America still represents those four core values. And that the weak are always protected by the strong in this country. We fight for the little guy. We can't be the bully anymore.

    And thanks for reading and your wonderful points, Brian. Tell Jen and Lisa I say hi!

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Play nice.