Warning! Short, blunt, no BS positions. If you can't take it, don't go here!
FLAMEON!
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Warning! Short, blunt, no BS positions. If you can't take it, don't go here!
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Anti-Social In-SecurityThe Anti-Social In-Security system is a fraud. It is a Ponzi scheme first perpetrated on the American people by Franklin Roosevelt and his cronies. It has since been maintained by unscrupulous politicians of all stripes and supported by older generations. It cynically robs the young for the benefit of the old and is maintained by a web of lies. There is no "Social Security Fund". There is no "lockbox". All the money that the government steals in the name of "Social Security" is used immediately to pay benefits. Any excess is used to fund the rest of government. This has always been and continues to be the case. Any politician or bureaucrat that says differently is a liar and a thief, or an idiot. War on DrugsThe war on drugs is a war on our own citizens. It has made criminals out of otherwise law- abiding, peaceful people. It is illegal and immoral. It is a tragedy of enormous magnitude. It is ultimately racist and has resulted in the imprisonment of a substantial portion of the young, black male population. It has distorted our foreign policy and encouraged the growth of dictatorships and civil unrest in foreign countries. It has corrupted and sabotaged our justice system and police. It has NOT stopped traffic in drugs but made it more profitable for the producer and the politicians and more dangerous for the consumer. Advocacy of a continuation of our present policies is either foolishness or a crime. Banned drugs should be legalized and sold on the market like any others. Dangerous, illegal, or unacceptable behaviors caused by drugs should be addressed on their own merits. Racism, Intolerance, and PrejudiceWe all have certain intolerances and prejudices that have been ingrained by experience and upbringing. We should try to fight these attitudes when they are irrational. We should be free to act on our beliefs or whims and take the consequences. Laws requiring us to do business or associate with certain people for whatever reason are laws that enslave us. I have never owned a slave. I am not responsible for the present situation of any person of color. I do not owe anyone any compensation. Anyone who thinks I do, merely because of the color of my skin, is a liar, a thief, and a racist. "Equal Opportunity" and "Affirmative Action" laws are illegal and racist. They depend for validity on the very concept that they are purported to be against, the distinction of people based on race. Not only are they wrong but they are counter-productive. They encourage racism rather than decrease it. They are quota systems and anyone who pretends differently is either lying or foolish. Death PenaltyThe principle concern of the justice system should be to compensate the victim. The second concern is the protection of society from the criminal. Rehabilitation is up to the criminal. Punishment is God's job. The major problem with the death penalty is that it cannot be reversed. The major advantage is that the recidivism rate is zero. On the whole, the death penalty should be eliminated. Justice should be focused on compensating the victim rather than punishing the perpetrator for violating the "King's Law". To do this, the criminal must be required to provide this compensation as much as possible in a manner consistent with his crime. AbortionAbortion is a complicated moral and political issue. It cannot be thoroughly addressed in a 10-second sound-bite. Both sides have trivialized it by politicizing the discussion. The following does not do justice to the issue but does outline the truth. Abortion is the taking of a human life. Distinguishing between a baby before and after it is born fails the test of Occam's razor. Considering a fetus not to be a human life is merely a rationalization to prevent conscience pangs. That said, whether abortion should be illegal is a different issue. No one has the right to require another to sacrifice themselves. A woman must retain the right to do with her body as she determines is proper. Carrying a child and giving birth carries many risks and responsibilities. It must be up to a woman to decide what risks she is willing to take and what responsibilities she is willing to assume. Abortion should not be illegal. Abortion should not be funded by (stolen) tax money. Adoption laws should be liberalized to allow compensation to a woman for the risks involved in child-bearing including being paid to have a child and give it up for adoption. Male Reproductive RightsA great concern for the reproductive rights of women has led to legalization of birth control and abortion. However, the very same rights are not accorded to men. If a woman becomes pregnant, she has the choice of whether to have the child or not. She has the choice of assuming the responsibility for supporting the child or not. This same right is not accorded to men. While it would be wrong to allow a man to force a woman to have an abortion, he should be accorded the right to opt out of responsibility if the woman insists on having the child. No Fault DivorceOne of the first changes incorporated into the laws of many states in support of the women's movement was so-called "no fault" divorce. This was touted to be a reform that would make divorces less contentious and more affordable. The actual result was to make men nothing more than a bank. Men are almost never accorded custody, even if the mother is morally or practically unfit to raise the children. Further, the man is required to pay child support and alimony, often for life, despite the circumstances of the divorce. It is time for no-fault divorce laws to be repealed, to end the enslavement of males, and to accord men the same custody rights based on what is good for the child, not the woman. Male CircumcisionFew in the US, or most of the rest of the world, find female circumcision anything but an atrocious act of cruelty. On the other hand, male circumcision is not only accepted but excused as being for the health of the child. Note: The following was the original text of this statement. Since it was written, new evidence has shown differently. I include it to show that I am not averse to changing my opinions based on facts. (This is pure bunk. There is no evidence that male circumcision is in any way efficacious in preventing disease especially if proper cleanliness is practiced. Male circumcision is nothing but infant sex mutilation and child abuse. It should be outlawed and punished the same as any other similar child abuse. Doctors or others who perform the procedure and parents who allow it should be imprisoned. The medical community should stop lying about the practice and establish strict rules against it.) There has been new evidence gathered that male circumcision is somewhat efficacious in reducing the spread of HIV. Apparently, this is due to the removal of the thinner, more easily infected, foreskin. This presents a difficulty. The original impetus behind male circumcision was a misguided religious practice probably intended to distinguish Jews from the rest of the Semitic population. It is possible for parents to truly believe that they should have this procedure performed on their male children. If this is the case, the parents should be able to have it done without interference by the state. I would encourage them, however, to think carefully about this. HIV is transmitted (we are told) almost exclusively by voluntary actions. The reason to have a circumcision does not even come into play until after puberty. A male still has the option after puberty to choose to have the procedure done. Parents are, then, imposing their will on their infant for reasons that don't even apply until he can easily make the choice himself. If, however, their reasons are purely cultural, religious, or cosmetic then my previous statement stands. It is nothing but infant sex mutilation and child abuse. Doctors should counsel parents with all the facts. They should only perform the procedure in the most humane way. They should use all the facilities for cleanliness and pain relief they would used for any other surgery. Anyone performing the procedure outside these parameters should be held accountable and be subject to the same liabilities as any other criminal act. SchoolsThe major moral problem with public schools is that they are paid for with stolen (tax) funds. The major functional problem with public schools is that the payment for the product is separated from the consumer. Public, tax-funded schools should be eliminated. The entire education industry should be placed in the hands of private enterprise. The education of our children is much too important to be left to politicians and bureaucrats. The teaching profession is stuck in the Middle Ages. The "lecture to the class" method of teaching is hundreds of years old. It does not take into account the facts of modern society and technology. Until the education system is opened to free market forces, fundamental change and improvement in the teaching profession will not occur. This is tragic because teachers can be a wonderful influence on one's life and should be respected and compensated accordingly. California PowerAnyone who took Economics 101 could see that the California power "deregulation" was doomed to failure. Power was NOT deregulated, it was re-regulated with a formula for disaster. California forced the power distributors and power producers into separate companies. The price for power from the producers was freed to the open market price (a good thing). The price that the distributors could charge was regulated (a bad thing). Californians prevented the build-up of new power sources for environmental reasons. Unchanged supply creates increased price in the presence of increased demand. It is particularly irritating to hear Californians complain about high power prices from companies in Texas. During the last election, a particular point was made by the environmentalists about the pollution in Texas. Then the same folks want Texas based power at low cost. The irony and hypocrisy of this is apparent. The real solution is to free the entire power production and distribution industry (industries?) to compete on the open market. Care must be taken for the environment but every human activity has some consequence. A rational balance must be struck Immigration and CitizenshipImmigration is another difficult issue. Certainly, everyone should be free to live where he wishes. This is a fundamental right of each individual. We are presented, however, with political and social difficulties. Mixing cultures and languages always causes social problems. We can see this in Quebec, Belgium, Ireland, and the many former colonial countries that were formed without regard to native populations. Large-scale immigrations pose huge difficulties and are sometimes perceived as nothing more than invasions. The present structure of the US government exacerbates these problems. Our welfare, medical, and educational systems are publicly funded and available to everyone without regard to citizenship. Citizenship itself is conferred merely by the happenstance of being born here. We allow more legal immigration than any other country in the world. Our economy allows more opportunity than nearly any other country. Individual liberty is higher here than almost anywhere else. If one cannot speak English, tax-paid assistance is usually available. The solutions to some of these problems are clear. Our welfare, medical, and educational systems should not be publicly funded. Citizenship for children should not be based solely on place of birth but on the status of the parents as well. Citizenship for adults and, especially voting rights, should be based on sole allegiance to the US (see my essay on the pledge). English is the de-facto language of the US. All legal documentation should be in English only and no language assistance should be required by law or funded by taxes (or prevented by law when funded privately). |
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