What Type Of Government Would You Have..

[Steven]

I would hazard that the number of people "not using it" is going down. People are far more active physically and mentally in the higher age brackets than in any time in the past.

technology certainly helps.

but id also argue that despite our growth we now are far more disconnected from one another, something seemingly unique to this current generation.

Side Jack: youth - overall - and the tremendous amount of pharmecutical assitance prescribed to it nowadays - what do you feel this is evidence of?

[Daniel]

I would hazard that the number of people "not using it" is going down. People are far more active physically and mentally in the higher age brackets than in any time in the past.

That may be. After all, 50 is the new 30 and all that. Still, I doubt any statistic you could cite would sway the average to a number that would make this fact ubiquitous enough to justify the sort of youth rejecting statements given earlier in this thread.

[torn asunder]

anyway sort of back to the topic, and hopefully with a tie-in to the original topic at hand:

if older people were generally wiser than younger people, then wouldn't the odds be somewhat astronomical that our administration is filled with stupid psychotic closeted homosexuals all between the ages of about 45 and 70, AND that their public support is much greater among those above the age of 40 than below?

[crunchy_pickle (5)]

If I found myself on top, I would firstly make it a priority to get rid of any laws that I felt were unconstitutional. I would spend a little extra money to make sure everyone had a copy of the Constitution and a summary in common English that everyone could understand. I would make economic and education reforms. I would promote and encourage local meetings for the purpose of taking regular polls as well as discussing issues local, state, and national, and make sure that said issues were passed on to the proper representatives for consideration. I would promote and encourage gun safety as well as gun ownership for the purpose of defending one's home, and country if ever the country was threatened by the corruption of external forces such as secret societies and briberies of any sort. I would make public colleges for students who couldn't afford schooling by other means, but met certain requirements. I would make us an economic powerhouse once again, and make sure that EVERYBODY had the opportunity to benefit from it.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

I would firstly make it a priority to get rid of any laws that I felt were unconstitutional.

How exactly would you do that? I love all your other ideas, but that one..., well, thats what the Supreme Court is for.

[Steven]

If I found myself on top, I would firstly make it a priority to get rid of any laws that I felt were unconstitutional. I would spend a little extra money to make sure everyone had a copy of the Constitution and a summary in common English that everyone could understand. I would make economic and education reforms. I would promote and encourage local meetings for the purpose of taking regular polls as well as discussing issues local, state, and national, and make sure that said issues were passed on to the proper representatives for consideration. I would promote and encourage gun safety as well as gun ownership for the purpose of defending one's home, and country if ever the country was threatened by the corruption of external forces such as secret societies and briberies of any sort. I would make public colleges for students who couldn't afford schooling by other means, but met certain requirements. I would make us an economic powerhouse once again, and make sure that EVERYBODY had the opportunity to benefit from it.

this was pretty cool. its a good thign your in charge and not me, as I'd execute a shitload of people.

[crunchy_pickle (5)]

How exactly would you do that? I love all your other ideas, but that one..., well, thats what the Supreme Court is for.

Well tax laws and drug laws would be easy. I could get rid of the IRS and DEA through executive orders, and put a tax on drug use that could go towards both rehabilitation and education. I would also make it a point to have a constitutional commission founded in order to review public opinions regarding the law and constitution, and rather than go through the Supreme Court, I'd try to have the Constitution itself amended making it illegal once and for all to criminalize anyone for making individual choices that do not do cause harm to other people. I have a very basic principle where it comes to criminal law, that law should be enforced where the fist ends and the face begins. I also do not believe that law should not dictate what people do to their own bodies (i.e. drugs, abortions, etc), nor should it dictate sexual morality. I would make attempts to legalize not only gay marriage but also prostitution. I would institute a federal sales tax to offset income taxes, however it would be a fair tax and would require popular vote. I would meet with the best economic advisors in the nation to help balance the budget, lower other taxes, and raise minimum wage. I would also push for a Fair Value Act, that would prohibit price gouging on any product or service. I believe that a product is worth the amount of money it costs to make. I would keep percentage profits at a minimum except where it pertained to exports, so that US citizens could enjoy a quality of life to be envied by all nations.

[BrassFusion]

I love your ideas, crunchy, but really, nothing's fair! If you ask rich people, a flat tax is the ONLY fair form of tax, for example...

also, your fair value act would really really hurt small businesses.

and as much as i agree with you on the social issues (gay marriage, prostitution, drugs, abortions, etc), it's not really fair to say that none of those affect anyone but the practicioner. i think it's more or less up to every generation to decide what's acceptable, and that we seem to be trending toward a sort of social liberalism anyway. i'd love to know that all my gay grandchildren would be accepted as citizens with full rights and privileges in this country, but there's not much more we could (or even, should) do to guarantee that than another constitutional amendment that could be repealed by the same process any of the others could.

[Steven]

I love your ideas, crunchy, but really, nothing's fair! If you ask rich people, a flat tax is the ONLY fair form of tax, for example...

also, your fair value act would really really hurt small businesses.

and as much as i agree with you on the social issues (gay marriage, prostitution, drugs, abortions, etc), it's not really fair to say that none of those affect anyone but the practicioner. i think it's more or less up to every generation to decide what's acceptable, and that we seem to be trending toward a sort of social liberalism anyway. i'd love to know that all my gay grandchildren would be accepted as citizens with full rights and privileges in this country, but there's not much more we could (or even, should) do to guarantee that than another constitutional amendment that could be repealed by the same process any of the others could.

wow. you just impressed me (dont take that the wrong way)

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Crunchy.. I'm there. Except that Executive orders only have so much power and would not be able to do that. Amending the Constitution is another thing the president has absolutly no power to do.. but you/we/a new party could create a Constitutional commission to make a full review and put it into t= he existing Amendment process.

we need to talk man.

[crunchy_pickle (5)]

Crunchy.. I'm there. Except that Executive orders only have so much power and would not be able to do that. Amending the Constitution is another thing the president has absolutly no power to do.. but you/we/a new party could create a Constitutional commission to make a full review and put it into t= he existing Amendment process.

we need to talk man.

I have a future reformist group on myspace at the moment, but plan on making a third party out of it and posting a website. Hopefully, soon enough, I'll be hiring a management company to run my web development business, so I can take a more active role in politics and my music career. I'm just waiting until such time that I'm making at least $1,000/week so I can take care of myself, plus bringing in enough contracts to take care of my contractors as well. Namely, I need a few good sales people, and a manager with some accounting experience.

Other then that, I'm all for activism my friend, and would like to get the ball rolling on some of these issues ASAP, so I can at least get some internet campaigning out of the way. I figure, youtube and myspace will be excellent ways for promoting a campaign, so we just need the right people with some good ideas, as well as some pre-qualified politicians.