I wrote this list in October, after attending my one and only general assembly at Occupy Santa Cruz. I am not an excellent protester. I don’t like crowds, I overcomplicate everything, and I believe in relativism and that time heals more than man ever can. However, I do believe that is important to have a political conscience and to stay informed. Politics and social issues affect everyone, and so everyone should have an informed say.
With that said, I have no intention of writing a political blog. I have enough trouble keeping myself (relatively) current and don’t feel that I am qualified (or desirous) to try to inform or impact my readers. I write this in the spirit of my thoughts listed above: that an occasional thought about what politics (both current and in general) mean to us personally and what we are really looking for is both important and necessary. I hope not to offend anybody, even if we disagree, and I welcome other perspectives. Without further ado,
What I would like:
– I would like to see our former president, George W. Bush, tried for his crimes, tried for breaking the law and the regulations of his presidenthood by declaring war without the agreement of our Congress. I would like it to be acknowledged that the president that we had for 8 years may well not be the one we elected. I would like someone, everyone, to make an effort to say that they will do their best to see that instances like that never occur again, even if it isn’t true or they can’t guarantee it, I want to hear it. I would like it acknowledged that this is not how things are supposed to go, that it’s not okay.
– I would like higher taxes. I want better services and I am willing to pay for them. We can’t afford the standard political tax cuts. And the people who should be first in line to shoulder this load should be those who can afford it- those who earn more than $250,000 a year.
– I would like to know and to choose where my tax money goes. For me, there is no use in having higher taxes if my money goes to the military. I want taxes to pay for roads (or rails, actually), schools, and healthcare, not bombs or fighter planes (or programs to visit the moon or Mars, for that matter)
– I would like a simplified tax system in which it is not necessary to hire someone to help one to pay one’s taxes. I believe that it is important to understand one’s contribution to one’s country and one’s society and if we can’t understand what we’re filling out, how are we supposed to do that?
– I would like to consider an income cut-off. That is to say, I am not convinced that it is necessary that anyone make more than $250,000 a year, and I believe that this excess money (paid as if it were a tax) could go to pay for schools and trains and healthcare instead of rotting away in a vault somewhere or wasted on $5,000 champagne. I’m not anti-capitalism, but I am against careless excess.
– I would like to be able to go to college. I would like for everyone who chooses to do so to be able to go to college. I would like teachers and administrators to be able to count on federal and state money (or one or the other, I’m not picky) so that they can design effective, well-planned out programs and not suffer new standards set in place every year that destabilize the institutions themselves and damage their possibilities to provide a good and thorough education. I would also be willing to sacrifice some of the luxuries that our universities boast in favor of passionate professors and tuition that doesn’t require taking out a second mortgage on one’s house. I would like to work towards a free or reasonably affordable (not over $1000 a semester, for example) system, perhaps looking at the model of certain European university systems (such as Denmark or even France).
– I would like for universities not to be considered the only good and noble option, but attention, emphasis, funding, and respect to be given to be given to professional training as well. Perhaps even a national or statewide system of institutions or entities that provide this service (as some community college programs and other private institutions do).
– In that same vein, I would like to see a parallel program to that which the military provides (stated simply, spend a couple of years in military service and we’ll pay for your education and help set you up) in a non-military capacity. My vision would be that of a couple of years of dedicated community service (similar to AmeriCorps), in exchange for food and shelter and later, education, etc.
– I would like to see healthcare become free, nationwide. To have a healthy population benefits everyone, and having an unhealthy population makes us all pay. The system should be simple and not require passages through 12 different agencies and 17 hoops of classification in order to qualify. Everyone needs healthcare and we all deserve the same healthcare, or at least the right the choose from the same options. I am not opposed to additional private healthcare, provided that the public version be reasonably decent and comprehensive. I would also like to concentrate on preventative healthcare, which saves us all money and unhappiness but working on the problem before it becomes a disaster.
– I would like to see Amtrak supported financially. I would like it to receive steady, annual, reasonable government support so that it can become a real alternative for more Americans. We would benefit from this, in my opinion, for a million reasons: for the earth, for our pocketbooks, for peace from oil wars. We should take public transportation seriously (local transportation, such as city buses, as well). I am not going to vote to ban cars, but I believe that people should be able to choose and at the moment we are not presented with a decent second option.
– I would like for my federal government to spend 75% of its attention on national issues, and 25% on what’s going on in the rest of the world. Of course, there are different branches and positions and roles inside the government designed to take on different parts of each of these domains, but I feel that as a whole, this country’s energy has been projected outward in the recent past, too much so. I don’t believe that we can contribute internationally without being strong and stable on the inside. It does no good to set up someone else’s government (besides the arrogant presumption and/or naiveté that such a thing entails) when our own isn’t doing so well itself.
This is what I would like from and for my country. This is my vision. I don’t think that everything is wrong here, but I do believe that there are areas of improvement. I don’t want a revolution, but I would like to be heard!
somewherebetweenmilanandsantacruz 