First off, if you think giving health care to everyone is a dumb idea in and of itself, then you are a heartless prick. If universal health care were possible, I would be all for it and I would hope everyone would be all for it.

The problem is, it's not possible, and it hurts me to say that. I wish we did live in a world where everyone could be taken care of and kept safe, but we don't. This country is in a severe debt crisis, a debt crisis brought about because we thought we could take care of everyone and we're realizing that socialism on a grand scale doesn't work. We saw what happened in the USSR when they tried it, the economies of Greece, France and England when they tried it and now we're getting the same results; a weakened economy, loss of wealth and a government with it's hands in every aspect of our society.

I'm not saying socialism as an insult here either, which a lot of people seem to be doing lately. I mean socialism in the way Karl Marx meant it; the pooling of capital and resources to be used in the collective benefit of the community. I actually think socialism can work on a small scale within a larger free market society and I have respect for anyone who chooses that kind of life.

However, it can't and hasn't worked on the scale of an entire country. When people are forced to to become socialist and pay taxes for services and programs they don't want or don't believe in, that is wrong and immoral. If they can't use money they earned to better their communities in the way they see fit, all of society loses. Then governments, that are run by human beings just like us, gets power over the people since they are the sole deciders on how money, just a stored form of labor, is used in a socialist country. Power breeds corruption in all people and the more power you have consolidated, the more corrupt individuals you attract and the more power they want to have. Lobbyists come in and try and grab a little for themselves and work to get the government bigger so that they can keep getting a bigger piece of the pie. Soon lobbyists and those attracted to government positions feed off the government and government feeds off the people until the country is bankrupt and in so much debt and with so little freedom that it won't be able to survive.

It's hard to name a program that the government has actually gotten right. We keep being told that the reason we need universal health care is because Medicare and Medicaid aren't working (and are going broke). More and more doctors are going out of business or turning away Medicare patients because they can't afford to take them anymore. When costs go up, the doctor's get blamed for it even though the government's been monkeying around in health care for the past 50-some years and helping drug companies do whatever they want. The problem isn't people, the problem is the government's influence and regulation of the health care industry which drives out competition and drives up costs.

Another problem I have is just taxes in general. Distribution of wealth is just legalized theft.

Say you're walking down the street and see someone begging for money and decide to give them $10. That's a noble and right thing to do.

Let's imagine the same scenario, but you see five other people on the street too. You tell them all, "Hey, let's give this guy $10." Maybe some of them do it, but one of them says no. The begger got $50 from you and four of the other people but you feel angry about the other guy who didn't give. Are you allowed to beat the crap out of the guy? Should you be able to get all of the other people together and force him to give up his $10, even if he needed it for something else? What if you called it "taxes"? Can you do it then?

That is what taxes are, a forced way to make people give to your cause. You are being forced to have police frisk your kids at school, pay for someone who isn't working, give money to banks to prop them up (and get huge bonuses), imprison people for using drugs, maintain the parks, run the libraries, teach kids about sex in school, give grants to non-profits doing things that you don't agree with, maintain old lighthouses, etc. I'm against some of these things and for some of them, but no one should be forced to pay for any of them. How many don't go to the library but still pay for it? How many will never have children but will still pay for others to go to school (and a shitty school at that).

People would say that if the government didn't pay for these programs that no one would. That's bullshit. If everyone suddenly had 33% more income, you would see a lot more charity donations and giving in general (and paying for many of the programs above). You would also see a lot more investment from people who had more money which would mean more jobs and more productive growth. The fact that people wouldn't put money into some of these programs probably should tell you that people don't want it. One of the most democratic things we can do in this country is vote with our dollars. Voting with our dollars has more impact and more use then a vote for a representative will ever have and that vote has been taken away from us in many areas of our lives. Would you buy bombs for the military for their wars overseas if you had the choice? I know many who would and some who wouldn't, but it's not our choice and we can't regulate how much money is spent on that war. I would much rather spend that money on domestic charities, but I don't have that choice.

It's a running joke that government wastes most of the money they take from us, so why do we always keep hoping that it will somehow change and do it right this time? It has never done it right, so let's all please stop hoping and instead try something else. With the government's track record, it is clear to me that a Federal Health Care program is going to cause way more problems than it solves and waste way more money then they're saying it will. That is why I'm against the Federal Health Care Bill.

And just to be 100% clear, Democrats and Republicans are both filled with corrupt power-hungry bottom feeders. I don't like either one of them or what they stand for. I'll talk about that in a future post.

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I think that a lot of what's at stake here is that we are going to miss a huge opportunity to better our lives and our standing in the medical economy of the world. If we don't do stem cell research and find cures for Parkinson's, diabetes, spinal cord injuries, etc. some other country will. It's a flat world and we won't be the medical and pharmaceutical powerhouse we are now if we stop certain kinds of viable research from happening. If we don't do it, some other country will, namely India and China.

A lot of the arguments against stem cell research have to do with religious viewpoints on life. Many religions think that life starts at conception and use this as an argument against using stem cells. The thing is, there is no conception going on when making stem cells. You're taking one cell, replacing the genes from another cell and then letting those cells grow and using them to grow other cells to save a person's life. I've got cells flaking off of me everyday and I don't cry at the wasting of yet another human life. One of the cells is an unfertilized egg cell, but that doesn't really change the equation for me. Unfertilized eggs die off everyday and no one seems to be too concerned. We could be trying to save real people with this research, but instead we're passing laws to outlaw it. Why is this seen as an all or nothing issue?

Regulation of this would be a good thing, but this isn't even being talked about. The only thing I hear about is an outright banning of it. I don't think we can go hog wild on this research as I think there are some consequences that need to be addressed, but this discussion isn't being had. Why is everything seen as all or nothing, black or white, yes or no?

The poll on the site is great way to view the arguments of both sides of the issue. I think too many people are arguing about this but are not informed of the issue enough. I'm not saying that once you take the poll, you'll agree with me, but I think the argument is more nuanced than we first think.

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Our problem is our hill sunk. The playing field is a lot more liquid than a few years ago and the weight of our mighty castle is sinking us into the mud. We're fighting people who are not bound by our controls and we're trying to fight with two arms tied behind our back. Now the castle is a liability, but everyone's been in it so long that we're scared to leave. Well, at least some of us.

China and India, however, don't have such restrictions. They never had huge corporations or castles and now they're running circles around us. Since the equipment of the new age is cheap and easy to get, they have suddenly jumped onto a level playing field where they are connected to the world and find that all natural barriers are gone and America's artificial barriers are irrelevant. Anyone can set up an online store and Fedex everything around the planet. Anyone can talk directly with a customer, whether around the world or right next door. Make a good product, cheaper and you can beat out the guy with the bigger country.

Just last week there was a great spot on NPR about how GM's market share has been vaporizing in America. We used to own car making and thought that only civilized societies with geniuses could make cars. We were right. The problem is we thought we were the only civilized country with geniuses and so we stopped trying to innovate. Now we have lost most of the global market share in cars. We used to have 100% (hell, we invented cars), now we have 21%. Only 1 in 4 cars in America are GM cars, and all of these numbers are dropping. Apparently, Oldsmobile, one of the many companies in GM, used to have a bigger market share than that back in the good old days.

People's first reactions are usually, 'We need to stop this!' That's what it was with cars, steel and anything else we can tariff. But that is increasingly stupid now. Why? Because we aren't the world's only market anymore. We don't control the market anymore either. China, India, Europe and Russia are buying, and they aren't buying what we're selling. They have cash and we aren't getting it. In fact, even though we try to tariff and control everything, we're bleeding cash to these countries. What we really need is to break down the barriers that are keeping us back. It's not like we'll stop other countries from doing it. If you develop something and patent it, someone in China will copy it without worrying about "getting caught". And now that the world is 'flat', they'll just turn around and sell it back to Americans over the internet. Happens all the time, and it ain't gonna stop anytime soon.

The problem, of course, is corporations. They are killing your future with laws and regulations designed to keep them on top. First, they support tariffs to "help keep jobs in America", then they outsource your division to China. They are doing it for themselves.

Another problem is we are paid too much. America, I'm afraid, won't be able to adjust to a world wide wealth equalizer. If wealth starts to be distributed evenly among these nations, that means we're in for a big drop. If every other nation's economy gets better, that either means that ours will stay the same while their's grows, or our's will shrink as they filter off our business. I don't know which one will occur, but we won't like it either way. But I think this effects corporations and not individuals. Corporations have the most to lose, in market share and money. If you start a good business on your own and can keep your costs down, you can beat a guy in India doing the same thing. As everyone knows, corporations can't keep their costs down (they outsource) and so they will be hit by this more than an individual will. Now's the time to be an individual.

Some have learned that they need to get out of the big corporate monster in order to get anything done. I think a lot of people have seen their parents slave away for a corporation that gives them nothing back in return. They've seen the stifling of innovation and many are going out on their own with an understanding of the new model. These are the people you will never hear of. They will not be famous and will not be on the cover of magazines. They are well off, but not rich enough to gather attention. Because of that, you won't see the change. You'll still think everyone is working at large corporations. Most students don't even know there's anything outside of Corporate America. I know I didn't. My teachers actively pushed me into working for a company because it was safe and doing anything else was foolish. I'm kind of sorry I listened to them. They beat all the innovation and risk taking out of me and now I'm seeing that the biggest risk may be in listening to them.

It's getting closer to the time when a person with a halfway serviceable idea will be able to quit their job and make a decent living by selling to the world. Not 'make it rich'. You don't need to make it rich. If you can sell a product to .001% of the world's population, you'd be a millionaire. You don't need that. But soon, very soon, that won't be hard to do.

Update: Here's a good article from the New Yorker on how China and Japan are keeping us solvent. I don't personally think that there's one single reason why the dollar is falling but this is a good look at one possible reason.

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I sent this in to him her just now.

I don't know how much it counts for, but you could say I was in the middle of the Ohio Voter irregularity news story last year.  My relevant posts are below.

Ohio Elections Screwup
Ohio Elections Screwup (by Amy)
Ohio Elections: Hard Numbers

Additionally:
It's Over
Watchdogs Spot E-Vote Glitches
Computer Glitch in Ohio Gives Bush 3,893 Extra Votes
Provisional Ballot Update

I was also at the Kerry Rally in Akron

If you have any questions or anything, let me know.  I stand behind your cause and would be willing to help in any way that I can.

How you can't call that news, I don't know.

In fact, I'm kind of breaking the news right now.

UPDATE: Damn me and my sexist white, male mind! Thank you for the heads up, Kevin. All pronouns are properly changed to the female persuasion. Lauren, I apologize. I used to know a guy in college named Lauren and it's been a male name ever since.

Of course the Boing Boing article now says 'she' everywhere, so I'm just an idiot.

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