15-06.14.112 in Book Two: The Fifteenth Year of the Third Millennium of the Common Era

Being at my parents house riles me up. This time… about the world. I get that everyone has their own theory about how the world should work and what should be prioritized but… darnit, I’m pissed that what seem like obvious priorities to me are so routinely ignored.

I think, and I know there will be disagreement, that there are a handful of things that should NOT be about political partisan bullshit but just taken care of because obviously they should be.

(1) Infrastructure. How is it that any political party thinks blocking infrastructure is a good thing?? You don’t want to spend money… I can understand that, but roads and bridges and the like cost lives which backfires almost 100% of the time. You do want to be re-elected right? Well, investing in infrastructure may not be “exciting” but look at how people view Politicians these days… people think they don’t do anything. You want to change that mentality to get them to think you do stuff? Invest in infrastructure. If they see that the scary interstate bridge they have to use every day to get to work is repaired… they might feel safer, happier about their tax dollars being used IN SERVICE TO THEM instead of lining a bureaucrat’s pocket!

(2) Mental Health & the Disabled. I understand, this is a complicated issue and people don’t like thinking about it. A child with Down’s Syndrome can be a bummer to focus on and thinking about helping a schizophrenic seems like political suicide. But guess what: prisons and homeless shelters are FULL of people with disabilities and mental disorders. Prisons and Homeless shelters cost money; often tax money. A mental patient in a prison will, usually, re-offend every time they are released; thereby continually costing more and more money as they go to trial, get convicted, go to sentencing, receive a sentence, serve their sentence, are released, re-offend, get arrested, get booked, go to trial, etc! If we re-opened and maintained facilities for the mentally ill and the disabled, they would at least have an ALTERNATIVE to jail.

(3) Education. Seriously?! How is this still a hotly debated issue?! A smarter populace makes better decisions, more well informed choices, and helps grow the economy and the prosperity of the country. How can ANYone be against improving the education system? I thoroughly understand an argument about WHAT to do about education but… seriously. Education should be one of the primary things on any government budget. I’m fairly pissed that the Iowa Legislature was so divided on the issue lately… a state that was once FAMOUS for its excellent education has diminished consistently in the last 30 years and now they bitch about funding schools at all.

(4) Defense. I understand that the United States spends more on defense spending than our nearest countries. I’m not talking about building more needless tanks… and they are. The military specifically requested NO MORE tanks; but some of the tank parts are made specifically in a factory in Ohio, so the Congress voted to make more tanks because that is pork spending back to Ohio. I’m talking… we need a manageable defense that protects us and our international interests. We need to pay our soldiers well and we damned sure better take care of them when they come home. We need to spend more time financing and facilitating the human end of our defense budget and less time and money on the next fancy vehicle of death. When a soldier is shot in the arm, falls on a mine, and gets his leg blown off… we should be prepared to get that boy physical therapy, mental therapy, and occupational therapy… to make sure he heals, can reintegrate into society, and can work at and keep a job. We need to realize Defense spending doesn’t just mean toys and bombs, and put it to good use helping our soldiers live and survive.

(5) Hope. This one is nebulous and silly for a reason. The current government sells fear. The American Government and many governments around the world buy and trade fear because they know if you scare people enough; they will be complacent. If you think death is around the corner at every instant, you will trust those who promise to protect you. Yes, it is the exact same tactic the Mafia used with shop owners. But instead of saying “It would be terrible if someone were to, say, break your window with a brick” we have governments saying “It would be terrible if someone were to, say, destabilize your entire way of life.” Which is funny because… shit, America hasn’t done a good job of preventing that lately; but they are still selling us all fear. WE NEED TO SELL HOPE. Hope, at present, would be jobs and industry and fanciful ideas. Invest in solar panels… they may not be more efficient; but there is a market for them.... we could build factories here to make them which would put people back to work… and some people would believe we are doing good for the environment. Invest in space programs… they may not make money; but there is a need for them… we could have spaceships and experiments and advanced zero-gravity information… and some people would believe that we were again a country working towards the future. Invest in the sciences… it may be risky and not always come out profitable; but we need to hope in a smarter America, an America that will improve the lives of our citizens and the world… and some people would get jobs and so many people would be hopeful again. The war drums have been sounding for over a decade. The terrorist threat is imminent as it is all around the world. But the United States of America FAILS when it is a country of fear and apprehension. This country THRIVES on invention and momentum. We need to do something to get that back!

That’s it from me today. Just railing into the wind, obviously because.... we have Republicans who shut down Infrastructure spending (bad for elections) and Democrats who are trying to fast track TPP (super bad for labor; which is bad for elections). The system is broken but the people who broke it won’t fix it and the voters won’t take action to demand a fix. We really are slouching towards Bethlehem here it seems.