What We Could Do

The Holidays.

I prefer to be alone on Christmas. I don't know why, but there's something about being outside the hustle and bustle that is the best gift.

It's not that I don't love my family, it's simply that I like to see them on regular days. Shopping, trees, gifts, running here to there, lame parties, people you share little connection with but feel obligated to see . . . No, no it's not for me.

It's snowing in Portland, OR. It's been snowing for hours. Several inches have accumulated outside the dinning room bay window, and I live near the river dividing the city.

I'm told this never happens by those who've lived here longer than a year.

It's beautiful.

Heavy snow, people still walking out in the cold to get to Genie's for breakfast, still crossing the icy bridges to get downtown for last minute shopping, the Prius-driver going 10 miles-an-hour and scared for every inch, while the bearded man in the '92 Ford truck is cursing all over his Carhard jacket. Young couples huddling their snow covered heads toward each other's chests . . . it's all very peaceful.

And while I sit listening to Broken Social Scene on vinyl like a true hipster, the fumes of the incredible whiskey I sip has cleared my head.

I remember when economic analysts started to predict the down turn. Don't worry, they said, you're going to college soon, by the time you get out it'll be back up again.

Even in high school that sounded like bullshit. Then, in college, studying economics at one of the best programs in the country, it became very apparent that the entire system is bullshit.

That's bound to fuck a person up. But the joke's on me because I settled for an English degree. Oops.

I'll be the first to admit I'm not an expert on the subject of how to stabilize a country's economy. But I'd like to believe I'm not completely blind to what could be done.

One of the worst culprits in our current meltdown is the Federal Reserve. While there are some who would like nothing more than to take down this hideous beast, I'm not convinced dismantling it would be the best course of action right now. I'll save that fight for another day. It is a dragon that needs to be destroyed. But, I'm not yet ready for the battle.

Let's forget about all the terrible shit our leaders, our consumerism, ignorance, and even our good intentions have gotten us into as we pave the road to hell with our own flesh.

If the government is going to buy rotten assets, then it's going to buy rotten assets. The least we can do is to make sure that we don't continue to lose money, only to sell those assets back to a different company under the same corporate-umbrella in the future for less than what we paid for the sour material in the first place.

My advice is this:

1) Try and resettle what homes and property you can. Then, because I'm sure there are many, you're going to have lots of properties empty and unfinished -- for those, create a selective process where people in the military, public works, and education can apply to move into one of these properties. Make renters into owners.

The properties will be marked down to cost and the occupants can even enter into an agreement where they pay for materials or put in work on the unfinished properties to help alleviate the cost. Invest in well-educated, young people in these institutions as well. The children are the future.

While it's definitely socialistic, we'd still be encouraging work, home ownership, and strengthening the core of the people who serve in the military, teach our children, make us safe, and keep our cities running. Investing in the younger people in these areas will ensure that the basic necessities of society are stable in the future.

Since we're bailing out private transportation, banks and financial institutions, less do it in a smart fashion.

Immediately lower top management salaries to $250,000 for any company that receives federal money. That's still a fuck load of money folks, don't bitch. When those companies can start functioning on their own, they can pay themselves whatever they want.

The workers and factories at auto-makers will be trained and converted to continue to make parts, but not for new cars, they will finish the recalculated orders and begin making parts for more public transit systems.

Public transit is increasing, and it needs to be more cost effective and energy efficient. If Obama wants to allocate money for that, let's include it in this package so that the auto industry in America moves toward making mass transit systems.

Limit this program to 5 years. Renewable license possible, but this should only be a temporary push until the government can go back to being a pragmatic tool and not a crutch.

2) Make a deal with the devil and help T. Boone make his giant wind farm stretching from Texas to Canada. The guys is creepier than a dead man breathing a cloud of dusty moths, but he's got a good idea. There's your job creation. People will flock to the edge of the west creating jobs and housing. And hell, there's probably even some of those bad assets in those areas that need rebuilding.

Limit the life of this program as well. Once these programs can stand on their own they should leave the hands of government.

3) Immediately remove all combat troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. That's right, all of them. It's time for us to tell the world that we either a) didn't know it was going to be this bad, oops, we're really sorry b) tried to tell people! or c) weren't paying much attention . . .

People in the field can stay on for defense and aid work, but only if they want to.

We're going to have to cut a lot of aid to other countries as well. Thousands of people will probably dies because this decision. And, Iraq and Afghanistan might get worse for a while.

We'll say we're sorry. It was those other guys fault. We're different now. We've changed! Oh we've changed!

4) Stop the embargo to Cuba, North Korea, and any other country unless it's going to drastically threaten the safety or economy of America. Porn, Rock and Roll, Rap, and American brashness will bring down threatening governments. With a beer in one hand, a joint in the other, little bit of bling and the promise of a blow-job at the end of the night gives a man the courage to tell any President, General or Warlord to get fucked.

5) Speaking of, stop the War On Drugs. It costs tons of money, it's bankrupted a large population of our youth by putting them in prison, and it's completely stupid.

Many of the released young men will probably go back to selling drugs, but with drugs being decriminalized there will be more competition. Again, many people will probably die in violent clashes, but not as many that die during the current system that keeps people criminals.

If a man can make a living selling cocaine, then I don't think the government should make it legal, but I don't think they should throw him in jail. It doesn't just make sense morally to decriminalize drugs, it's also a great economic stimulator!

We've been outsourcing our drug making and dealing to other countries for too long, and I think we can do it better here in our own borders. Plus, less need for border security.

6) Cut Social Security. If you're under 30 years old, then you don't get any social security. But, you also don't pay for it. Immediately change the eligibility age to 75. You're going to have to start cutting expensive benefits and medications. Again, people will probably die because of this change.

I keep pointing this out to note that we're so entrenched in providing care for people at the federal level that changes to policy aren't just changes on paper, they mean lives.

7)Cut Military Spending by 50% over the next 20 years. No more new fighter planes and bombs, that money will be allocated towards building solar technology and planes for commercial travel, specifically between cities in the US to encourage mobility in such a grand and vast country.

More attacks may happen. In some regards our bad foreign policy is responsible. But as we continue to show strength through peace we will not only win protection from out allies, but also to the youth of the world who will stop growing up to hate our country.

8) With new, clean technology, set up small community farms that encourage scientific research and host educational seminars to the public. Start teaching individuals everywhere how to best use the new technology we create, how to grow food, and how to save energy. Think of it as a hands-on library.

9) Make immigration into America easier, but require stricter standards on what materials can be imported. We want the best and brightest from all over the globe to come to America. Let's import people, not goods.

10) Bring more material based learning into middle and high school. Not everyone needs to go to college. We should be teaching out children to fix trains, build homes, rewire electrical systems, and interact with parts and tools. This gives people the ability to get a job and to manufacture actual things. It beats working retail, trust me. And hopefully these programs will inspire some of them to create the future of sustainable technology.

Bonus ideas:

1) Rewrite the rules for 700 mhz Spectrum auction so that while access fees can be charged, AT&T and Verizon can not block open-access companies from creating competing products that utilize the network.

Online retail is a growing business, one of the few. It should be protected so that good and services can be exchanged on a very free, open market where anyone can create and compete. Any business that is non-profit or makes less than $50,000 a year shouldn't pay taxes on the goods and costs of running that online business.

(I'll finally be able to sell my kitten calenders!)

2) Declare Peace with the entire world. Seriously.

Have Obama publicly make a much-to-do speech about how we understand the world is a diverse place, we're not always going to agree, we apologize for years of misdirection and want everyone to know we still want to be the beacon of freedom and equality for the world, but that we're going to focus in on our own problems now. And while it may mean we won't intervene as much as we have in the past, we aren't going anywhere, we're just making some repairs.

We invite anyone and everyone across the plane to join us in making basic changes so that the planet can be a safer, more tolerant, cleaner place. We intend to follow by example and only give direction when asked. While we encourage everyone to join in this revolution, we can only give our support in spirit as we are currently under going one ourselves.

Well, that's all. I've been enjoying the sounds of Minutemen, Jay-Z, and the new The Flaming Lips soundtrack while writing as well as Broken Social Scene. Music is universal. Pick up some good vibrations.

I'd love for you to comment on why you think these programs would or wouldn't work. Who knows . . . maybe someone important will listen, or maybe the ideas will drift into the collective unconscious little by little until adopted . . .