I don't think you commented on your thoughts of these policies.
Two missing grounds here are anti-corruption laws and green initiatives
The police reform policy needs to add at least the rule of engagement used by the army in Afghanistan. Any failure would mean immediate jail time
In another thread, Aegix Drakan posited the items below would make things better in the USA. Any one of them could make a thread of its own, but for purposes of this thread, what would you add to this list? EDIT TO ADD SOME THOUGHTS
- Guaranteed healthcare for everyone, free at point of service.
ME: I don't think this would improve the quality of our healthcare. I think it would even decline in quality. BUT, it could change alot about our culture in positive ways. Other nations that have this have high tax rates. They're not asking for a free lunch: they just think they can have a fairer system with less overhead by nationalizing this industry.
- All medication being kept at an affordable price so that even people on minimum wage can afford their insulin.
ME: I think people are trying to do this but there is bipartisan opposition to it passing. Liberal Cory Booker, I think, even opposed it. Of course it is a great idea.
- Affordable low-cost housing for everyone, and improved homeless shelters so that no one is forced to live on the street, and has access to job training to get out of homelessness.
ME: We've tried this before and ended up with "vertical slums" like Cabrini Green. The wealthiest among us pass laws restricting building new housing. They attack land lords as villains, making it less likely anyone wants to be one. Big government IS the problem with housing. This is different for the homeless who are homeless due to substance abuse and mental health issues. Dealing with that is a touchy subject. The libertarian left and right object to hospitalizing such people while the wealthy are happy to have low taxes and let these people live in misery.
- Decriminalization of drug possession and an approach designed to help people overcome addiction instead of throwing them in prison and thus destroying any chance they have of finding decent employment in the future (and also does nothing to stop their addiction).
ME: Agreed.
- An end to all wars (and extrajudicial drone killings) your country is currently participating in, in countries that haven't even attacked you.
ME: I support bringing US troops home from around the world. As Pat Buchanan wrote, "A nation, not an empire." I can see a foreign power being a clear and present danger to us without having actually attacked us yet. But what can we ever believe again? Our forever war elites lied to us. They told us the Syrian government used poison gas on their own people just as the US was to pull out of the region, which made no sense. They showed us some BS like a female reporter sniffing a knapsack allegedly doused in nerve gas then stating, "yeah that does smell funny". And too many US citizens bought this garbage.
- A federally mandated living wage adjusted to your state's cost of living so that everyone who works a full time job can afford food, shelter and basic transportation.
ME: I don't think we've really tried the unearned income tax. I would want to do so again, but include those 13 or over.
-a massive overhaul of policing, replacing most police response (for things like homelessness, wellness checks, etc) with social workers who are trained to de-escalate situations peacefully.
ME: I worry this approach would get a lot of innocent social workers killed. One thing that radicalized me young was when I read of an innocent 16 year old girl was waiting for a bus, a mentally ill homeless man stabbed her to death for no reason. These situations can be very dangerous.
- demilitarizing the police so they don't show up with military hardware.
ME: Depends upon the situation. When that gunman murdered some 50 people in Nevada, I would want those cops to have whatever they need. But you can watch a youtube of a bodycam on some cops dressed like they are marines: they kill some innocent kid in a hotel hallway as they "investigate" a call to them: someone saw someone in a hotel room with a gun (it was a bb gun and he was showing it to a friend). Investigate? Dressed like they're about to invade Normandy?
- Tightened gun laws so that people suffering from severe mental illness or who have a record of violence are not able to get their hands on a semi-automatic rifle and a large amount of ammunition. "
ME: I believe these laws largely exist. But, were I to be the primary caretaker of a mentally ill person, should I be barred from having such weapons? I don't think so. I think I should be heavilly sanctioned (Even given jail time) if found criminally negligent in how the weapons are stored in that situation. There are cases of school shootings, for instance, where a mentally ill child got ahold of a semi-auto rifle from their parent. I would want to know how that happened and respond accordingly.
Your own thoughts are invited.
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