Tag Archives: Politics

Friday Afternoon Ramblings

March 29, 2013 D.A. Adams 4 Comments

I know I’ll catch a lot of grief for this post, but here’s one potential solution to virtually all of our political divisiveness. Let’s turn the decision making on most, if not all, of these issues back to the states. If each state has the opportunity to decide for itself, based on the will of the majority, how to settle these issues, then we can find out in real-time and through real experimentation which paths work best. Through the free market, the states that enact the laws which best serve the will of the people will thrive, and the others will struggle. If people don’t agree with the path of their state, they have the freedom to move to one that best suits their world view.

For example, if New York wants tougher gun control laws, let them pass those statutes. If Texas wants every single citizen armed, so be it. Within a few years, we’ll know which one works best. Crime in each state will reflect the wisdom of their laws. If gun control advocates are correct, New York will become a safer place, while Texas will resemble a Mad Max movie. If gun rights advocates are correct, Texas will in fact have less gun violence. Either way, we’ll know definitively.

If the citizens of Tennessee oppose gay marriage but the people of Massachusetts want it, then each state, by the majority of its citizens, can make that choice. Homosexual couples have the freedom and the right to leave Tennessee for a state that accepts their lifestyle. Likewise, people who oppose homosexuality for religious reasons can move to states that support their religious doctrines. Sure, people in Massachusetts may view people in Tennessee as backwards barbarians, and people in Tennessee may view Massachusetts as a godless land of heathens, but that wouldn’t be much different from how each views the other already. The difference is that citizens of neither state will feel as if the other is imposing its will on them.

If Kansas and Arkansas want to ban the teaching of science and evolution from their schools, let them. Let’s see how long their economies can survive without scientific thought. We will learn rather quickly, based on the free market, which world view has more validity. Companies and businesses can locate to each state based on the quality of education within its borders, and if Chik-Fil-A wants to leave states that ban religious doctrine from schools, and Starbucks wants to leave states that teach creationism, so be it. The people within each individual state can thrive according to their own beliefs.

Healthcare can become a state by state issue. Instead of sending money to the federal government, states can either create universal healthcare for its citizens or continue with our current system, based on the will of its people. We will learn very quickly which model works best. We can test in real time whether or not freeing individuals and businesses from profit driven insurance pushes up or down healthcare costs. We can test in real time whether or not universal healthcare can be sustainable. The states that thrive can become models for those that struggle.

We can apply this principle to virtually any issue, and by observing in practice which paths work and which don’t, develop long-term courses of action that best serve the country as a whole. We can simplify the tax code by returning the vast majority of tax revenue to each state. We can appease all members of the political spectrum by creating real-life laboratories for their political beliefs, and if they prosper, they can crow about it. If they struggle, they can adapt or perish. Whatever the case, individuals will no longer feel as if the beliefs of others are being forced upon them. If they don’t like the direction of their individual state, they can move somewhere else. I don’t expect this solution to ever be taken seriously or enacted, for starters because it would dismantle the federal juggernaut, but also because it makes rational sense. However, I believe it could solve a lot of our problems within a generation or two.

General Posts

Wednesday Afternoon Ramblings

January 16, 2013 D.A. Adams 3 Comments

Ever since the tragedy in Newtown, the gun control debate has intensified to an unbearable cacophony. I’ve tried to stay out of it much like I tried to stay out of the election. There are already too many people spewing too much bile for the opinions of one insignificant hillbilly to make much difference either way. For the record, I’m for responsible adults having the right to own as many guns of whatever size and type they want. I’ve seen the kinds of weapons criminals carry, and responsible, law-abiding citizens of this country should have the ability to protect themselves and their families from people who would do them harm. But the purpose of this post isn’t to argue about guns. Larry Correia and Sam Harris do a far better job of spelling out the fallacies of gun control than I can. For me, the parts of this debate that’s being missed, the crucial parts, are the underlying causes of mass violence.

First and foremost, our mental health system is a deplorable sham. It’s simply inaccessible to many of us, mostly because of costs but also because of the attitudes and behaviors of many within the profession. Since my shotput accident in 1989, I’ve battled depression. Most of the time, I overcome it and function well. However, back in 2003, I fell into a deep depression that nearly crippled me. I recognized that I needed help and sought out a professional. First, getting in the door was tedious and challenging. Just getting face to face with a therapist was nearly more of an obstacle than I was able to overcome. Then, when I finally did get to see someone, I was greeted by an incompetent person who laughed when I explained the accident. No, really, she laughed at a person in the depths of a crippling depression. Here I was fully aware of my condition, actively seeking help, and stifled by the so-called professionals who were supposed to be there to help. Fortunately for me, I already knew enough about depression to look elsewhere for assistance, but imagine for a moment if I had been slightly more despondent or more unhinged. I easily could’ve slipped off the edge and done something horrific. That’s just one example of the absurd state of our mental health system. Those of you, our president included, who are so vehement that guns are the issue, why are you not equally looking at mental health, or more accurately the lack of it, as a culprit?

Also, why isn’t anybody talking about the problems in our society that create such deep feelings of disenfranchisement and alienation that people feel compelled to murder strangers? Is it just simpler to point at guns and say they are the problem than to dig for the root causes? I know plenty of people who own guns who’ve never even aimed them at another person, so I find it hard to believe that the weapon itself is the issue. What pushes a young man to walk into a school and murder over two dozen people, most of them under the age of seven? What drove him to that point of disassociation? Is it economic inequality? Is it the failure of inclusion (that’s another post for another day)? Is it the endless bombardment of propaganda that we’re exposed to daily? These are the questions we should be focusing on more than whether or not lawful citizens should be allowed to own a rifle. Why isn’t the president asking these questions at least as much as looking at guns? It seems to me if economic inequality is a culprit, he would then at least have some leverage for his economic agenda.

We’re already a polarized populace. After the election, hundreds of thousands of citizens signed petitions to secede from the union. If the president pushes for more gun control in this climate, his actions could ignite a powder keg, literally. I’d much rather see the left asking the deeper, harder questions right now than using Newtown to push a political agenda that 1) doesn’t work and 2) might spark a civil war. Just as the Bush administration dropped the ball after 9/11 by telling us to go shopping, the Obama administration has dropped the ball after this tragedy by focusing on guns instead of the underlying causes, and this time, things could get bloody and ugly rather quickly.

General Posts

Saturday Afternoon Ramblings

October 20, 2012 D.A. Adams 5 Comments

Here’s why I find myself growing angry and bitter. By the terms of my divorce, based on Tennessee law, my child support is based on a ratio between my income and solely the mother’s, and the time we each have the boys. Because she doesn’t work, I’m required to pay roughly 30% of my take home income, regardless of what her household income is. Financially, that’s crippling and affects my ability to spend time with my sons. Furthermore, I have no oversight on how that money is spent. None. In addition to that, I get no tax break on that money. My taxes are based on gross income, so some years I actually owe money at the end of the year, despite living well below the poverty line.

If I don’t pay child support, I can face jail time for contempt of court. If I don’t pay it, even though I have no way of ensuring that money is spent on my children, I’m labeled a deadbeat dad, not just by the law but also by society. Don’t get me wrong, I have no issue with supporting my children. I would do anything for them. What I have a problem with is the imbalance of the laws that have crippled me financially for at least twelve more years, offer me no safeguards that the money is used for its intended purpose, and in effect enslave me to that obligation, regardless of whether or not she actually needs the money.

So I work, pay the money, and scrape by on what’s left.

My profession is education. Aside from writing, that’s what I’m best at doing. Today, because our society so undervalues education, during the school year, I work 60-70 hours a week. Last night, I graded until 8:00 PM, on Friday night. I woke up this morning and spent three more hours grading, recording, and uploading files. As soon as I finish this post, I’ll spend at least five to six more hours doing the same. Tomorrow, I’ll spend all day grading. From mid-August to mid-December, I get maybe three or four full days off. Anyone who has ever taught can attest that being in the classroom teaching is exhausting work in and of itself. I’ve worked other jobs and have often said that one hour in class equates to about two hours at another job. During the school year, I and every other teacher I know live in a constant state of exhaustion.

Because I have to work so many long hours with so little time off, I have no time or energy left over for loved ones. Just talking to my children for an hour four nights a week is taxing. Forget about date nights (not that I have any money for one) or spending quality time with friends and family. Forget about writing or doing the things I need to do for the farm. By the time I accomplish everything I have to do for school, I’m utterly spent, and it’s Monday morning and time to start over again. Forget about promoting my books the way I need to. Forget about nurturing a relationship. Forget about having any kind of a normal life.

I’ve had well-intending people tell me to find another profession, as if the answer is so simple. I’m trained to teach and write. I’ve yet to find an employer out there that values my skills or equates them to their needs. Not that there are any decent jobs out there right now. I feel trapped by circumstances with no foreseeable end to the cycle. I’ve all but lost hope on my books ever being “successful” financially. I’ve all but lost hope on ever getting the farm off the ground, even though I’ve proven my hydro design works. I simply don’t have the funds to make it happen.

So each day, I feel a little more bitter, a little more angry. I feel like our system has failed me at each and every turn. I’m trying desperately to find something to give me a glimmer of hope, a flicker of optimism that somehow things will get better, but each day I feel more trapped, more alone, more forsaken, more disenfranchised. That’s my reality. That’s where I am right now.