Post by littlepea on Dec 1, 2005 9:07:52 GMT -5
i'm currently trying to get over my caffeine addiction (as you can see in the help and support section) but that was pretty dumb because it was sugary soft drinks rather than coffee that i was addicted to and they really are bad for your health.
anyway, here's my suggestions ...
no guns, they cause too many problems. like moonchain said, guns are illegal in the UK (apart from specialist police, the army and licensed hunters and farmers - for shooting foxes, for example) and this is a state of affairs that no-one wants to change. the UK still has a problem with violence but at least if someone attacks you with a knife you've got more of a chance of surviving/escaping than if they attack you with a gun.
i'd legalise quite a few drugs, because prohibition leads to a black market which is only good for the dealers, but have very harsh sentences for possession and dealing of illegal drugs. i'd legalise cannabis, seeing as it is less harmful than alcohol, nicotine or even aspirin, but i would tax them very highly to discourage overindulgence. in a small number cases people will still get addicted and this might lead them into poverty, but it would reduce the number of addicts on the whole. as someone else suggested, i'd subsidize the drug rehab programs where necessary to pick up the few addicts that really can't stop themselves.
high taxes on the rich, extremely high taxes on the extremely rich, since that's what taxes are meant to be. i really don't understand the policy of giving tax cuts to the super-toffs in the USA. apparently it's something to do with the "american dream" in that anyone can work their way to the top (from rags to riches) and once you get there you are rewarded even further by not having to pay taxes - while at the same time poor people are working 2 jobs each and still struggling to survive. that's just stupid, in my opinion. tax is about distribution of wealth, there's no point in taking from the poor and distributing to the rich is there?
capitalist wages for different jobs (ie. janitors get lower wages than doctors) - it's the only way that works. if we have everyone getting the same pay (like someone else suggested before) then there would be no incentive to educate yourself and become a doctor or lawyer or scientist apart from pure personal enjoyment - while it's probably true that the people who do become doctors etc. will work their hardest because they enjoy it, in a capitalist society they would be there anyway and it's always useful to have the other less enthusiastic people around than no-one else at all (since they still do the job, after all). also, paying everyone the same wage doesn't make sense - it will put everyone on a level playing field but you'd be as well giving everyone £1 a week as giving them £1000 a week because everyone gets the same (the price of everything would go up proportionally to represent the value of each item in relation to everyone's weekly wage). and what about self-employed workers (like brick-layers or lawyers or the cornershop owner) - should they be forced to turn over all their profits to the state and then pick up a weekly wage from the local council or something?
i don't doubt that this sort of socialism could work in a small community of 100 people or something, but on a national scale (in a country of 50 million, say) there is going to be no incentive to put in extra work since it's impossible to see the direct effect of the extra work you put in (unlike the small community where you can see for yourself that you are making a difference).
as far as education is concerned, i'd have state schools well funded and teachers given a good wage (something equivalent to a doctor's wage when you get to the really top level). private schools would be heavily taxed if not made entirely illegal (unlike the present situation in the UK where private schools often aren't taxed at all if they work on a non-profit basis) - the purpose of this is simply to make the fees practically unaffordable (something in the region of £50,000 per year should do for now) simply so that it's not worth bothering about.
other things which i'm not going to elaborate on (since the benefits are pretty self-explanatory): state funded national health service and state funded public transport.
anyway, here's my suggestions ...
no guns, they cause too many problems. like moonchain said, guns are illegal in the UK (apart from specialist police, the army and licensed hunters and farmers - for shooting foxes, for example) and this is a state of affairs that no-one wants to change. the UK still has a problem with violence but at least if someone attacks you with a knife you've got more of a chance of surviving/escaping than if they attack you with a gun.
i'd legalise quite a few drugs, because prohibition leads to a black market which is only good for the dealers, but have very harsh sentences for possession and dealing of illegal drugs. i'd legalise cannabis, seeing as it is less harmful than alcohol, nicotine or even aspirin, but i would tax them very highly to discourage overindulgence. in a small number cases people will still get addicted and this might lead them into poverty, but it would reduce the number of addicts on the whole. as someone else suggested, i'd subsidize the drug rehab programs where necessary to pick up the few addicts that really can't stop themselves.
high taxes on the rich, extremely high taxes on the extremely rich, since that's what taxes are meant to be. i really don't understand the policy of giving tax cuts to the super-toffs in the USA. apparently it's something to do with the "american dream" in that anyone can work their way to the top (from rags to riches) and once you get there you are rewarded even further by not having to pay taxes - while at the same time poor people are working 2 jobs each and still struggling to survive. that's just stupid, in my opinion. tax is about distribution of wealth, there's no point in taking from the poor and distributing to the rich is there?
capitalist wages for different jobs (ie. janitors get lower wages than doctors) - it's the only way that works. if we have everyone getting the same pay (like someone else suggested before) then there would be no incentive to educate yourself and become a doctor or lawyer or scientist apart from pure personal enjoyment - while it's probably true that the people who do become doctors etc. will work their hardest because they enjoy it, in a capitalist society they would be there anyway and it's always useful to have the other less enthusiastic people around than no-one else at all (since they still do the job, after all). also, paying everyone the same wage doesn't make sense - it will put everyone on a level playing field but you'd be as well giving everyone £1 a week as giving them £1000 a week because everyone gets the same (the price of everything would go up proportionally to represent the value of each item in relation to everyone's weekly wage). and what about self-employed workers (like brick-layers or lawyers or the cornershop owner) - should they be forced to turn over all their profits to the state and then pick up a weekly wage from the local council or something?
i don't doubt that this sort of socialism could work in a small community of 100 people or something, but on a national scale (in a country of 50 million, say) there is going to be no incentive to put in extra work since it's impossible to see the direct effect of the extra work you put in (unlike the small community where you can see for yourself that you are making a difference).
as far as education is concerned, i'd have state schools well funded and teachers given a good wage (something equivalent to a doctor's wage when you get to the really top level). private schools would be heavily taxed if not made entirely illegal (unlike the present situation in the UK where private schools often aren't taxed at all if they work on a non-profit basis) - the purpose of this is simply to make the fees practically unaffordable (something in the region of £50,000 per year should do for now) simply so that it's not worth bothering about.
other things which i'm not going to elaborate on (since the benefits are pretty self-explanatory): state funded national health service and state funded public transport.