The Power of Government

 There's much that I should post before this but I'll get to those things and this is on my mind right now and may need editing later....

One of the things that governments, at all levels can so to achieve a result it feels is in the best interest of the greater good, is a system of incentives and disincentives; in effect bribes and punishments.  We do it with our children all the time, mostly without thinking.  "If you keep your room clean for a week, we'll go ...." (add whatever reward you want here)  Or, "If you don't clean up your room, you can't..." (add your favorite threat here.)

We get tax exemptions for the number of children we have.  Is that not an incentive to have children?  We have deductions of the interest on our mortgages.  Is that not an incentive to buy a house? We fine corporations for polluting.  Is that not a disincentive for polluting?  Probably not enough of one since they still do it.

I think it's a very effective way of getting people to move in the direction you want.  Yes, my friends, manipulation is human nature.

It's certainly a method I would use.  Being a citizen of a country, a member of a society, means you have to conform, to a degree with, what I think, some general norms and behaviors.  The Constitution lays out some very general norms, others are codified in statutes, laws and regulations.

So, if I were President, there are incentives and disincentives I would propose.  Some would be different than those now existing.

OK, here's the thing....

 Just for the fun of it, let's pretend that I'm running for President in  2024.

Why not; look who else is running... so far nobody worth considering.  Now, if Pete Buttigieg runs....

But, I'm gonna pretend that I'm running and post my campaign thoughts, policies, etc.  As some of you already know, I'm very opinionated.

More later.

            

I Am For:

I am for:

Clean air and clean water; therefore, I am for dispensing with outdated, environmentally hazardous materials, fuels, processes; WHATEVER THE COST.

After all, we need to breath before we can do anything else.  We need clean water to drink before we need food to eat and we need clean water to grow healthy food.

So, I am for dispensing with coal, oil and gas as our primary fuels.  We now have the means, through solar and wind energy, to power the country.  Investing in those infrastructures is smarter than continuing to support the former.  Nuclear fusion is still a hope in the back of my mind.

Yes, jobs in outdated industries will be lost but programs have been in place and funded for job training and other support during this transition, created by people who actually knew something.

The current administration who is both painfully ignorant and pathologically paranoid about what has already been done and is in the process of dismantling all the work that more intelligent, more informed and saner people have done.

Those who cannot see past their own noses, whose egocentric, selfish interests don't go far from their own tiny lives will forever be the road blocks to progress and far-reaching efforts for the greater good.  That includes those in the new administration and those ignoramuses who have supported them.

Our planet cannot afford the stupidity of the current administration.

I have no answers for how to resist this stupidity.  We may have to weather the storm and be prepared to take back what's needed to move ahead.

There are days when I worry about how far this wreckless idiocy will go and the resistance in response.

Those who refuse to understand what's at stake, those who refuse to sacrifice their tiny pleasures for the health of the place where they live are not worth thinking about.  Those of us who do see the issues and the solutions must keep working toward a saner, healthier future which will be of benefit to them regardless if they figure it out or not.

I often feel impotent lately.  I'm just an ordinary, little person.  But, I will do everything I can to refuse to participate in or support what is clearly against the environment and my best future.  I will continue to communicate with anyone and everyone who I think can make a difference.  I will continue to make decisions with the future in mind.  I will do what I can to spend my money wisely in this regard.

We are living in dark and troubling times.  Stupidity and ignorance must not prevail.  

 

The gender bathroom thing

Really?!!!

This is my understanding and it's definitely flawed but not as flawed as the thinking of some of the unbelievably dense and ignorant people out there.

First, definitions are clearly necessary so here are mine:

Gay - people attracted to the same sex romantically and sexually.

Transvestite - someone who dresses up and makes up like the opposite sex.

Transexual or transgender - someone who feels they were born in a body with the wrong gender and feel that they are the opposite gender and often have had gender reassignment surgery which means they are ACTUALLY FUNCTIONING AS THE GENDER THEY FEEL THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN BORN AS.

So:

Gay men - not interested in women or little girls.

Transvestites - may be interested in women or little girls.

Transgender/transexual women (formerly men) - not interested in women or little girls.

It seems to be a lot of women who are objecting to trans women using their bathrooms, excusing their discomfort by claiming fear for their daughters.  TRANS WOMEN AREN'T INTERESTED IN YOU OR YOUR DAUGHTERS.

Trans women can't use men's bathrooms.  They mostly don't look like men anymore, often aren't physically equipped like men.  And, most importantly, are in more likely and more seriously in danger from using men's bathrooms, from men, than any danger you imagine they present to you women.  THINK ABOUT IT!!!

I understand there are conflicting definitions.  These are mine which influence my view of this issue.

I haven't figured out the transvestite situation because it's my understanding that there are hetero men who are transvestites.  So, I think the first problem is clarifying the definitions for everybody, legally, so there's no confusion about what laws apply to whom.

At any rate, I have personally known just about every configuration of race, religion, nationality and gender and everybody needs to take a breath and stop looking for demons around every corner.  There are dangers out there but stop exaggerating; most of them are from heterosexual people.

And, people who have had gender reassignment surgery should be given a second birth certificate immediately after surgery which should be legally binding (but please keep the first as well for us genealogists).

Please - transgender people, chime in and correct me where I'm mistaken.