"If wishes were horses, beggars would ride." Here are my wishes - what do you think?

I'm copying my post from this thread: If You Had One Wish, Just One....What Would That Wish Be For

This is my reply:



I'd most like to see additions to my list. I expect, of course, criticisms of it. Have at it.

sw

K&R

:thumbsup: I hope I live to see at least some of it.

:hi:

I doubt I'll live so long, but if I can seed a little something into the collective mind for the future, it's the least I can do.

:hi:
sw

advances in education. I'm not advocating complete Frenchy Socialism here per se, but full funding and a return of arts, music, and physical education is a good start. Let's also throw competitive teacher salaries in there while we're at it.

I'm always around, but quiet. Tell me: do you see a lot of threads you want to post in these days? :hi:

A return of LIBERAL ARTS education! It's funny, I went to Catholic school up to 8th grade. It was the most wonderful, well-rounded education that anyone could have. We were taught everything about the "Classics" -- ancient Greek mythology and philosophy and such, ancient history, art history, literature, architecture, astronomy, mathematics... In short, the entire canon of the art and science of western civilization.

Even when I went to public school I had art and music classes. I was able to mount a show of my drawings and paintings, sing in choir, and perform in stage plays; all part of the standard curriculum.

Education these days seems to be about nothing more than turning out obedient drones who won't question anything. :(

sw

who have chronic illnesses, like alzheimers. The caretaker generally turns out to be a worn out elderly spouse or a middle aged daughter. Love your list, honey.

have support. No question! Do we value human life or not?

Families that are taking care of their own are relieving the State of that responsibility. The State should compensate them.

sw

One or two might be unnecessary if we got all the others.

I was just trying to think of all the things that I think are wrong, and what I'd like to do to correct those wrongs.

Any move in the direction of correcting any of those wrongs would no doubt have profound effects throughout the system.

sw

I'm sure you will come up with more great ideas. These are all important ideas.

I think we've gotten stuck in pointing out what's wrong, but not articulating how we'd like to change what's wrong into something else.

Thank you very much for your supportive post. :)

sw

adopted in USA, Inc.

At least if we articulate goals to aim for, we're that much ahead.

sw

we'll clearly know who's side they're on.

Well said.

Yes, I'm a dreamer...

sw

sorry, couldn't resist

:spank:

:)
sw

and yeah, yeah, yeah....preempting the inevitable:

PRICE CONTROLS ON A LOAF OF BREAD

Great list
and it's time for a fed works project!

K&R

I want GOOD bread, made from real grains -- not Frankenfood! I want farmers paid an honest price for their efforts.

sw

And if we can't get anything on the list... how about at least an end to corporate greed and corruption... and enforcing the laws that are still on the books?

And from that start, let's move a lot further along.

sw

No more funding of offensive activity by U.S. Military. Suppose we do have on good authority and intelligence activity, that a country is eminently planning SLBM attack on U.S. city or cities and it is discovered that a preemptive strike could splash the mission against the U.S. Would you authorize preemptive strike monies at that time?

It seems to me that the possibility of a "COUNTRY" -- i.e. a Sovereign State with a National government sanctioning such an attack -- attacking the continental U.S. is extremely unlikely.

That there will be non-state actors seeking to do us harm is probably a given, but such isolated threats from relatively small groups do not merit the expenditure of our treasure to maintain a global military presence, imho.

sw

Avoidance of the question does not answer the scenario question. Thanks though. :hi:

would ever mount an attack on us.

We do have satellites, we can watch our shores from a long way off.

But China might be pretty mad someday when we can't pay our debt. Just say'n.

Please understand, I'm not advocating completely shutting down intelligence collection -- but we don't need a MILITARY presence all over the globe in order to collect intelligence.

I believe we only truly need bases in Germany and South Korea. Other then that we just need a strong Navy to project force if it's ever needed.

:)

Four years in Pacific on the Big E.

:hi:

Great list.
I would add:


*The immediate break-up (Trust Busting) of everything "Too Big to Fail".

*Fair Competition Legislation that lets Mom&Pop (small locally owned businesses and farms) compete with Big Box and Factory Farms on a level playing field.

*An end to the two-tiered Judicial System

*Prosecution of rich American War Criminals and War Profiteers. (Oh yes they did!)

*Strictly Enforced Publicly Financed Elections (severe penalties for criminals)

*Transparent and Verifiable elections (Why isn't this a front burner issue with the Democratic Party?)

*Re-Regulation with strict oversight of Banking/Investment, Transportation, Communications, Trade, Energy, Utilities.

*NO Public Money for private Prisons, armed Private Police, armed Defense Contractors, private intelligence agencies, or For Profit Health Insurance Corporations.

*Immediate Civil Rights and Equal Protection for ALL. (No Exceptions)

*Free Quality Universal Education to everyone who wants it.

*Strong Social Safety Net and Consumer Protections.

*An end to The Patriot Act and a return to The Constitution.(especially Habeas and privacy protections)

*A refutation of the "Unitary Executive", and legislation to ensure it NEVER happens again.

*An END to Republican/Corporate influence INSIDE The Democratic Party !
(NO! They DON"T deserve a seat at the table!)

We should get together and vote for each other!

Seriously, what would it take to form such a party?

...but I DO know that a majority of Americans would agree with most of what is on our lists.

Really! Wouldn't it be perfect? :D

"Here's the American Party Platform, folks. Vote for us!"

A most excellent list.

:hi:

It could definitely be expanded.

:hi:
sw

I would wish that for you, too. :hug:

the things I could tell you..seriously...

love to you...

Please feel free to PM if you'd like.

Love to you, too,
sw

I would add

Strict enforcement of worker safety laws with heavy penalities (prison time as well as fines), including charging corporate officers with attempted murder or murder when disregard of the regulations result in serious injury or death.

I really appreciate your addition!

Nice to see you! :hi:

sw

airwaves AND ANY MODERN DIGITAL OR OTHERWISE DERIVATIVE TECHNOLOGY OF MASS COMMUNICATION WITH THE CITIZENRY? I would call this---oh----how about "The Fairness Doctrine"?

Sign me up for this party.

thinking about for years but hadn't really articulated in one place.

I was honestly surprised at how many ideas just sort of burst forth. :o

one question,

How do we get corporations out of the Jurisprudence, as you can see they've
been making in roads slowly.

the only answer I can think of is that there are more of us than there are of them.

We could make any demands we wanted if we could just manage to take advantage of our numbers and refuse to be pushed around anymore.

when you KNOW you and I share a brain? :) Wouldn't it be great if we ran the world?

Gather the Masses! We're taking over! All shall love us and despair! (or something like that...)

:D
sw

"More wishes" - this is a river, not a fish bowl, the abundance is there.

I like those wishes and if someone comes up and says I get just one wish, I'm going to refer them
to the scarletwoman!

No sense in limiting oneself when it comes to wishes. ;)

:hi:

And proceeded to raise taxes on the top wealthy to 94%, give the people social security and a public works program, etc.

So before everyone starts going on and on about how Democrats don't do that sort of thing... maybe the real Democrats did and whatever these people are now are something.... else.

Oh yeah.. K&R

Makes you wonder what happened to that kind of will.

Thank you for your post and rec!

sw

No more selling of weapons (missiles, tanks, planes, etc.) to other countries.

:kick:

Thank you so much! I'm saving this thread and I'm going to compile and organize all the ideas into one piece. Maybe write up a "Ninety-five Theses" ala Martin Luther and nail it to the Democratic Party's door.

Glad to see you as always, Swampy! :hi:

sw

Those are great ideas.

I appreciate the support.

... pretty much covers it. Too bad we're not likely to get even one of those wishes in the foreseeable future.

On the other hand, I think the act of articulating these "wishes" is a valuable exercise -- it focuses our minds and helps us to see more clearly what we have to fight against.

Imho, of course.

Thank you for your post,
sw

... we'll never get what we want if we don't KNOW what we want.

Yes, yes, yes!

:toast:
sw

that full implementation of your "wish list" would result in the crippling if not demise of capitalism and it's muscular servant, imperialism.

I could live with that, as could the rest of the planet.

k&r

:D

Yes, we and the rest of planet could probably "live with that" quite well.

Thanks for posting!

sw

I'd disagree with 17 entirely. I'd heavily subsidize pharmaceutical research at public universities, and give it away for free. It would be much like Open Source software, and every human being on the planet (and other animals too!) would see the benefits of research that resulted in inexpensive and effective drugs.

My original thoughts regarding #17 were about how to get more revenue to our public universities, who have been suffering from decreasing funding by the states over the years. However, your point is well-taken and I'm glad you brought it up.

Thanks again,
sw

an end to the absurdity of "self-investigating" agency mechanisms that inevitably and endlessly lead to self-exonerations of all wrong-doing.

It's an absurdity for sure. Thank you very much for chiming in. :)

sw

i would dismantle the cia, nsa, etc. if we need "intelligence" we get it non-subversively and with the intention of peaceful coexistence.

all gov't functions should be conducted out in the open. no secrets.

the people must know EXACTLY what is going on. how else can we make reasonable decisions?

It will go on the "master list" that I'm going to compile from this thread.

:thumbsup:
sw

and other similar visa scams that allow companies to lay off American workers and replace them with cheap foreign workers.

Great list!

I'm going to take all the ideas on this thread and compile a master list. I so appreciate the many excellent ideas others have brought to this thread -- I knew when I posted my OP that for sure I hadn't covered everything.

Thanks again,
sw

and the decision makers democratically chosen.

(great list btw)

They are proponents of, and true believers in, global capitalism. I think we need entirely new organizations based on the principle of People before Profit.

Thanks again for your post!
sw

they should be dismantled. I'm getting soft.. Yes, these institutions are based on non-sustainability for the planet, and capital gain for the very few.
:hi:

Hope its not a duplicate, in your # 19 you ask for "Institute a government run defined pension plan for all workers, paid into by all employers by assessing a fee based on a defined percentage of each employer's payroll." isn't this social security? or what its supposed to be?

Anyway, keep adding, like a lot of the suggestions, and K&R...

I was differentiating this "pension" plan from Social Security in that it's only assessed on employers. We, the workers all pay into Social Security -- it's deducted from our paychecks.

I do appreciate your questioning of this point and it definitely merits more thought.

Thank you again,
sw

:hi:

(stealth kick :evilgrin: )

I must admit that I'm reluctant to let this thread go, there have been some really great additions to the original list made by many of the respondents.

As I said in my reply to Swamp Rat above, I'm going to compile all the suggestions into a master list that I will post in the near future.

:hi:
sw