What's Wrong With America Today? - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

RaGe2012 · 09-01-2003, 08:16 AM

Many of us could go on for hours about what is wrong with our country (I know I could). Out of curiosity, what do you think could be done politically to help solve some of the nation's problems?

In short, what irritates you and what would you do to fix it?

The_Dude · 09-01-2003, 08:59 AM

what irritates me ? gwb

solution ? a democratic nominee wins in 04

Xell101 · 09-01-2003, 09:48 AM

Stop raising kids to be pathetic pansies who will kill themselves in highschool or pay a psychiatrist a lot of money when they're 40.

archer2371 · 09-01-2003, 10:13 AM

The Irritation: Telling people that money is evil and they should try not to be too greedy.
The Solution: Teach people about the principles of money and how it should be used as a useful tool and not get attached to it.

HarmlessRabbit · 09-01-2003, 10:17 AM

Here's my quick fixes:

Eliminate incumbent political parties.

Anyone who wants on the ballot who can get, say, 5% of the voters to sign a petition for him/her can be on the ballot.

No preferential placement for any existing party on the ballot, make it random.

Eliminate political TV ads. All of them. Instead, force the TV stations and radio states to give candidates equal time to say their piece, and give every candidate an opportunity to debate the others.

It used to be that media had a public duty to be informative in exchange for their excusive access to a scarce resource (broadcast frequencies). The media seems to have completely forgotten that.

But you can't cure stupid. As long as there are suckers who will vote for Arnold, there are people who will market themselves to those people.

Nefir · 09-01-2003, 10:24 AM

1)Too much influence from special influence groups, oil companies, tobacco companies, and other things that we taxpayers have very little say in. They are a major part of whats holding this country back in the 20th century.

Eliminate campaign funding from these groups. Heck, eliminate campaign funding. Why can't there be a general campaign pool from which all candidates get a certain budget? They could spend this budget on time slots in different media, etc. Not only would this level the playing field for third parties, but it would eliminate a two-party system alltogether.

2)Affirmative action, civil rights, and other things that supposedly protect blacks from the evil oppressive white majority are doing nothing but digging a deeper, wider gap between Americans.

People should get jobs and get into colleges based on their performance alone, not the color of their skin. There should be no such thing as race quotas to give an illusion of a multicultral workplace.

3)Electoral college.. who needs em? Why not just have those state votes automatically assigned to the candidate instead of going through some obscure process that may or may not be trustworthy?

4)Too much pressure on children to compete and get into the best schools. Children should have a childhood, not be some kind of machine whose only purpose is to get straight A+ and get into the "prestigious" schools.

I think this is so deeply rooted in the culture of today that it would be almost impossible to solve as long as there's a difference between a "prestigious" education and a "non-prestigious" one.. A good education is what YOU make of it, not what others make of it.

5)Huge bureaucracy, and government employees that can't get fired. Many I've run into were extremly rule, lazy slobs. Why can't they be hired and judged like every other big business firm? Not only would this make our government employees more competitive, but our tax money would not be squandered on people who should be flipping burgers, not handling my immigration papers.

2wolves · 09-01-2003, 11:36 AM

Humor: Not enough fiber.

Serious: The United States was based on a frontier society with lots of land just over the next hill. For a bit Alaska sufficed to provide a frontier to those who wanted it (and lots did) and needed it.

Now, we're settling into the notion that the only frontiers we have to push are internal if you don't count war. Let's get every American moral just like us! Hey, get religion! Get into therapy! etc, etc ad nauseum.

Possible solution is to open up space. Export our Democratic Republic to new and interesting places and the best and brightest will move up and out.

Mars First! and ignorance & inbreeding take the hindmost.

2Wolves

lurkette · 09-01-2003, 02:11 PM

Sigh. Why didn't you just ask us the meaning of life?

I think the problems of America are systemic and deep-rooted and will take decades or even generations to reverse. I think most of our problems can be traced to one or more of the following:

1. short-term thinking
2. unenlightened self-interest
3. decisions tend to be based on ideology and not facts
4. widening wealth gap and disappearance of the middle class

I have no idea how to fix the first three. How do you make people change how they think? Part of fixing the short-term thinking problem would be to encourage behavior that emphasizes long-term (economic, environmental, social) sustainability. We could also take a crack at term limits or term extensions so the election cycle wouldn't play such a large role in decision-making.

I don't know how to make people not be self-interested. Even though people often act in their own self-interest, they don't always act rationally or in a way that is TRULY in their self-interest. (E.g., I buy an SUV because I think it's safer for my family, but in the end I'm worse off because of the aggregated environmental effects of a massive number of SUVs on the road; worse off economically because of higher gas prices because of higher demand; worse of in terms of safety because of the number of huge vehicles on the road, etc.) Part of it again has to do with long-term thinking.

In terms of decision-making being based on ideology, I don't know. I guess we could strategically place messages in the media, work to alter curricula, make critical thinking popular somehow.

The last can be accomplished through economic and tax policy if enough people start demanding it.

Zeld2.0 · 09-01-2003, 02:14 PM

pretty much agree with what lurkette said

ctembreull · 09-01-2003, 03:16 PM

I honestly think that the biggest problem in the United States today is the closing down of the marketplace of ideas. Thought, creativity, rationality, intellect, and expression have been devalued and even suppressed.

As I sit and think about this (and you'll pardon me, I hope, if my arguments are stilted today - I've just returned from a two-day Highland Games, and I'm exhausted), I think the source is the pervasive influence of business on daily life. Look, the nation needs an economy, and if we don't all want to be farmers working our little patches of land, that means a robust (if well-moderated) business climate. But somewhere along the line, we came to the tacit national decision that businesses had a right to succeed, instead of the right to try to succeed. And thus was born the era of pervasive advertising. Today, you can't look left, right, or center without seeing a prominently branded product, or an advertisement for the same. Hipness, conformity, wealth, power, and sex are used to entice the American public to patronize businesses, instead of the relative merits of service x or product y. The thought process is subverted and substituted for with easily-digested imagery.

It goes further, too. More recently, diversified businesses have become the gatekeepers of mass media, bringing their advertising style and mindshare-grabbing theories to the world of information. Viewers, listeners, and readers are told what to think and the conclusions that they should reach, instead of being allowed or even required to formulate their own opinions based upon the facts. They are told what to wear, how to act, how to dress, what to think about anything under the sun, and what products they need to solve their problems.

And those few people who do think originally anymore are shouted down, figuratively and literally, by an increasingly loud and verbose national media. Inventors' inventions are either purchased outright or sued into oblivion. Thinkers are sued and defamed. Free spirits are feared and shunned. Every day, a little louder, the message is: conform. Do what we tell you to do. Buy what we tell you to buy. Think what we tell you to think. There, isn't that more comfortable? Now, then, time for a refreshing adult beverage enjoyed in the company of nubile women and studly men having all sorts of fun in trendy clubs or beautiful locales. Just do it. You'll feel better.

Welcome to the United States of America ™, my friends.

(on edit: the author reserves the right to expand and expound upon this post - there's a whole book here I could write, not that anyone would publish it. You have been warned.)

TheKak · 09-02-2003, 03:27 AM

Personal accountability

oldman2003 · 09-02-2003, 06:58 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by lurkette
Sigh. Why didn't you just ask us the meaning of life?

1. short-term thinking
2. unenlightened self-interest
3. decisions tend to be based on ideology and not facts
4. widening wealth gap and disappearance of the middle class

lurkette,

You're my kinda' people

Sty · 09-02-2003, 11:30 AM

No culture
No history

I'd seriously advice any American having a newborn to move out (preferrably to Europe) to give their kids a good cultural background to mature. Opens up minds, always.

Sun Tzu · 09-02-2003, 04:00 PM

What I believe is going on is considered conspiracy theory, and the Federal Reserve Bank.

sixate · 09-02-2003, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sty
No culture
No history

I'd seriously advice any American having a newborn to move out (preferrably to Europe) to give their kids a good cultural background to mature. Opens up minds, always.

Heh. I just find it funny that a bunch of Europeans left there to make America.

I wouldn't leave America for all the cash in the world. We certainly have many problems, but so does everyone else. I don't blame politicians nearly as much as dumb uneducated people breeding and creating more problem children to fuck up society.

Sty, no history? You must be kidding.

Asshole Lover · 09-02-2003, 04:51 PM

lack of intelligence. especially the youth.

rich kids and fashionistas in high school concentrate on looks and sex and that causes their most important growing years to produce shallow and stupid human beings.

the nerds and geeks in high school and college will become the leaders of tomorrow.

Zeld2.0 · 09-02-2003, 05:08 PM

heh ironic but true asshole

but thats not entirely true though..

lots of kids, especially the richer ones mainly because of their parents, can get free rides into top colleges w/o the qualifications and end up leaders despite being idiots

Zeld2.0 · 09-02-2003, 05:09 PM

Oh and I disagree with no history

But I agree with one thing slightly about it - people change their midns too easily.

We are almost all sheep in this country - we listen to whatever our leaders tell us, whatever our goddamn TV tells us.

People out there believe some whack shit they see on TV. And whats worse is that most of the country / society DOES do so.

Bill O'Rights · 09-03-2003, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Zeld2.0
Oh and I disagree with no history

But I agree with one thing slightly about it - people change their midns too easily.

We are almost all sheep in this country - we listen to whatever our leaders tell us, whatever our goddamn TV tells us.

People out there believe some whack shit they see on TV. And whats worse is that most of the country / society DOES do so.

I think that you're on the right track there, but you've missed something rather important. I don't think that people change their minds too easily, as much as I think that people allow their minds to be made up for them. Let's face it, it's ever so much easier to have someone <i>tell</i> you what you should think than it is to actually go out and do a little reading and research. In that respect, I'd say that people in this country could be likened to cattle, more so than sheep. In so far as changing one's mind...I've changed my mind on numerous topics and issues. Most notably Capital Punishment. I used to be a strong advocate of Capital Punishment, until I was presented with new information and enough evidence that finally forced me to re-evaluate my thinking and change my position. While I may stand firm in any or all of my beliefs, I am not so stubborn as to reject evidence that differs from those beliefs. In short, I'd say that the willingness to change one's mind is infinately preferable to being willing to have yourself molded to the belief systems of others. But, that's just me.

BigGov · 09-03-2003, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Zeld2.0
Oh and I disagree with no history

But I agree with one thing slightly about it - people change their midns too easily.

We are almost all sheep in this country - we listen to whatever our leaders tell us, whatever our goddamn TV tells us.

People out there believe some whack shit they see on TV. And whats worse is that most of the country / society DOES do so.

Umm...The entire world changes it's mind easily, almost every country has some people that listen to what it's leader says, and listen even more to what TV tells them.

America isn't a rare exception.

docbungle · 09-03-2003, 04:50 PM

My problem is that everyone wants everything to be perfect. No matter who is in the White House, half the nation calls him an evil bastard and likes to list the reasons that he sucks so bad. Well, no one is going to be able to please eveyone in the nation. The nation seems to have a hard time realizing that.

My problem is that running this country, or any other country for that matter, is a huge pain in the ass, and anyone taking on that responsibility should be given a fucking break every once in a while, seeing as how they are only human.

My problem is that political parties even exist. Individuals should run as individuals without dragging the ball and chain of their political party's agenda into the ring - which, imo, negates their individual views as a person to quite an extent.

Mr. Moe · 09-03-2003, 04:58 PM

As much as i hate to say it, pop culture (in teenagers at least..as that is who I have to view every day) is going to ruin our countries in the future.

It is mostly centered around complete lack of order, aggression (not the music..some of it is good..more the "hey buddy..want to fight" attitude.) and lack of any ambition to learn. It seems to be taking people far longer to mature now (especially the rich kids that get a free ride through life..although I am one of them, I am at least trying to make it on my own merits). Although i am not sure what the culture was like back in the 60's and 70's for sure..i didn't see alot of these kind of things from hippies and greasers.

RaGe2012 · 09-03-2003, 07:02 PM

Well, I suppose that my biggest complaint about America is the heartlessness and carelessness of our business world. Some may say thats life, but it doesn't mean I have to like it.

debaser · 09-03-2003, 07:27 PM

A better funded, more accountable education system.

Mandatory government service for citizenship.

These two things would go a long way toward fixing this country.

MSD · 09-04-2003, 12:33 PM

Biggest problem? Politicians are too interested in working for the interest of their party and their bank account to be concerned with the people.

Solution: I don't know if anything can be done about it, the best we can hope for is that the millionaires who represent us realize that not everyone is a millionaire and that they should work for us, not special interest groups, and that they should compromise with each other, not sit there and not get anything worthwhile done.

Eliminate lobbyists and funding from special-interest groups. For every group who comes in, allow one with an opposing viewpoint to present their side of it.

09-01-2003, 08:16 AM	#1 (permalink)
RaGe2012 Upright Location: New Jersey	What's Wrong With America Today? Many of us could go on for hours about what is wrong with our country (I know I could). Out of curiosity, what do you think could be done politically to help solve some of the nation's problems? In short, what irritates you and what would you do to fix it? __________________ "Yesterday we bowed our heads to kings and bent our necks to emperors. But today we kneel only to truth..." - Kahlil Gibran

09-01-2003, 08:59 AM	#2 (permalink)
The_Dude The GrandDaddy of them all! Location: Austin, TX	what irritates me ? gwb solution ? a democratic nominee wins in 04 __________________ "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Darrel K Royal

09-01-2003, 10:13 AM	#4 (permalink)
archer2371 Sarge of Blood Gulch Red Outpost Number One Location: On the front lines against our very enemy	The Irritation: Telling people that money is evil and they should try not to be too greedy. The Solution: Teach people about the principles of money and how it should be used as a useful tool and not get attached to it. __________________ "This ain't no Ice Cream Social!" "Hey Grif, Chupathingy...how bout that? I like it...got a ring to it." "I have no earthly idea what it is I just saw, or what this place is, or where in the hell O'Malley is! My only choice is to blame Grif for coming up with such a flawed plan. Stupid, stupid Grif."

09-01-2003, 10:24 AM	#6 (permalink)
Nefir Junkie Location: Louisville, KY	1)Too much influence from special influence groups, oil companies, tobacco companies, and other things that we taxpayers have very little say in. They are a major part of whats holding this country back in the 20th century. Eliminate campaign funding from these groups. Heck, eliminate campaign funding. Why can't there be a general campaign pool from which all candidates get a certain budget? They could spend this budget on time slots in different media, etc. Not only would this level the playing field for third parties, but it would eliminate a two-party system alltogether. 2)Affirmative action, civil rights, and other things that supposedly protect blacks from the evil oppressive white majority are doing nothing but digging a deeper, wider gap between Americans. People should get jobs and get into colleges based on their performance alone, not the color of their skin. There should be no such thing as race quotas to give an illusion of a multicultral workplace. 3)Electoral college.. who needs em? Why not just have those state votes automatically assigned to the candidate instead of going through some obscure process that may or may not be trustworthy? 4)Too much pressure on children to compete and get into the best schools. Children should have a childhood, not be some kind of machine whose only purpose is to get straight A+ and get into the "prestigious" schools. I think this is so deeply rooted in the culture of today that it would be almost impossible to solve as long as there's a difference between a "prestigious" education and a "non-prestigious" one.. A good education is what YOU make of it, not what others make of it. 5)Huge bureaucracy, and government employees that can't get fired. Many I've run into were extremly rule, lazy slobs. Why can't they be hired and judged like every other big business firm? Not only would this make our government employees more competitive, but our tax money would not be squandered on people who should be flipping burgers, not handling my immigration papers. __________________ You do not use a Macintosh, instead you use a Tandy Kompressor break your glowstick, Kompressor eat your candy Kompressor open jaws, Kompressor release ants Kompressor watch you scream, Because Kompressor does not dance Last edited by Nefir; 09-01-2003 at 10:42 AM..

09-01-2003, 02:11 PM	#8 (permalink)
lurkette My future is coming on Moderator Emeritus Location: east of the sun and west of the moon	Sigh. Why didn't you just ask us the meaning of life? I think the problems of America are systemic and deep-rooted and will take decades or even generations to reverse. I think most of our problems can be traced to one or more of the following: 1. short-term thinking 2. unenlightened self-interest 3. decisions tend to be based on ideology and not facts 4. widening wealth gap and disappearance of the middle class I have no idea how to fix the first three. How do you make people change how they think? Part of fixing the short-term thinking problem would be to encourage behavior that emphasizes long-term (economic, environmental, social) sustainability. We could also take a crack at term limits or term extensions so the election cycle wouldn't play such a large role in decision-making. I don't know how to make people not be self-interested. Even though people often act in their own self-interest, they don't always act rationally or in a way that is TRULY in their self-interest. (E.g., I buy an SUV because I think it's safer for my family, but in the end I'm worse off because of the aggregated environmental effects of a massive number of SUVs on the road; worse off economically because of higher gas prices because of higher demand; worse of in terms of safety because of the number of huge vehicles on the road, etc.) Part of it again has to do with long-term thinking. In terms of decision-making being based on ideology, I don't know. I guess we could strategically place messages in the media, work to alter curricula, make critical thinking popular somehow. The last can be accomplished through economic and tax policy if enough people start demanding it. __________________ "If ten million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing." - Anatole France

09-01-2003, 09:48 AM	#3 (permalink)
Xell101 Junkie	Stop raising kids to be pathetic pansies who will kill themselves in highschool or pay a psychiatrist a lot of money when they're 40.

09-01-2003, 10:17 AM	#5 (permalink)
HarmlessRabbit Junkie Location: San Jose, CA	Here's my quick fixes: Eliminate incumbent political parties. Anyone who wants on the ballot who can get, say, 5% of the voters to sign a petition for him/her can be on the ballot. No preferential placement for any existing party on the ballot, make it random. Eliminate political TV ads. All of them. Instead, force the TV stations and radio states to give candidates equal time to say their piece, and give every candidate an opportunity to debate the others. It used to be that media had a public duty to be informative in exchange for their excusive access to a scarce resource (broadcast frequencies). The media seems to have completely forgotten that. But you can't cure stupid. As long as there are suckers who will vote for Arnold, there are people who will market themselves to those people.

09-01-2003, 11:36 AM	#7 (permalink)
2wolves Psycho Location: Just outside the D.C. belt	Humor: Not enough fiber. Serious: The United States was based on a frontier society with lots of land just over the next hill. For a bit Alaska sufficed to provide a frontier to those who wanted it (and lots did) and needed it. Now, we're settling into the notion that the only frontiers we have to push are internal if you don't count war. Let's get every American moral just like us! Hey, get religion! Get into therapy! etc, etc ad nauseum. Possible solution is to open up space. Export our Democratic Republic to new and interesting places and the best and brightest will move up and out. Mars First! and ignorance & inbreeding take the hindmost. 2Wolves

09-01-2003, 02:14 PM	#9 (permalink)
Zeld2.0 Cherry-pickin' devil's advocate Location: Los Angeles	pretty much agree with what lurkette said

09-01-2003, 03:16 PM	#10 (permalink)
ctembreull Crazy Location: Silicon Valley, CA, USA, Earth	I honestly think that the biggest problem in the United States today is the closing down of the marketplace of ideas. Thought, creativity, rationality, intellect, and expression have been devalued and even suppressed. As I sit and think about this (and you'll pardon me, I hope, if my arguments are stilted today - I've just returned from a two-day Highland Games, and I'm exhausted), I think the source is the pervasive influence of business on daily life. Look, the nation needs an economy, and if we don't all want to be farmers working our little patches of land, that means a robust (if well-moderated) business climate. But somewhere along the line, we came to the tacit national decision that businesses had a right to succeed, instead of the right to try to succeed. And thus was born the era of pervasive advertising. Today, you can't look left, right, or center without seeing a prominently branded product, or an advertisement for the same. Hipness, conformity, wealth, power, and sex are used to entice the American public to patronize businesses, instead of the relative merits of service x or product y. The thought process is subverted and substituted for with easily-digested imagery. It goes further, too. More recently, diversified businesses have become the gatekeepers of mass media, bringing their advertising style and mindshare-grabbing theories to the world of information. Viewers, listeners, and readers are told what to think and the conclusions that they should reach, instead of being allowed or even required to formulate their own opinions based upon the facts. They are told what to wear, how to act, how to dress, what to think about anything under the sun, and what products they need to solve their problems. And those few people who do think originally anymore are shouted down, figuratively and literally, by an increasingly loud and verbose national media. Inventors' inventions are either purchased outright or sued into oblivion. Thinkers are sued and defamed. Free spirits are feared and shunned. Every day, a little louder, the message is: conform. Do what we tell you to do. Buy what we tell you to buy. Think what we tell you to think. There, isn't that more comfortable? Now, then, time for a refreshing adult beverage enjoyed in the company of nubile women and studly men having all sorts of fun in trendy clubs or beautiful locales. Just do it. You'll feel better. Welcome to the United States of America ™, my friends. (on edit: the author reserves the right to expand and expound upon this post - there's a whole book here I could write, not that anyone would publish it. You have been warned.) __________________ Mac "If it's nae Scottish, it's crap!

09-02-2003, 03:27 AM	#11 (permalink)
TheKak Insane Location: Virginia	Personal accountability __________________ Roses are red, violets are blue, I'm a schizophrenic and so am I.

09-02-2003, 11:30 AM	#13 (permalink)
Sty Patron Administrator Location: Tôkyô, Japan	No culture No history I'd seriously advice any American having a newborn to move out (preferrably to Europe) to give their kids a good cultural background to mature. Opens up minds, always. __________________ br, Sty I route, therefore you exist

09-02-2003, 04:00 PM	#14 (permalink)
Sun Tzu Conspiracy Realist Location: The Event Horizon	What I believe is going on is considered conspiracy theory, and the Federal Reserve Bank. __________________ *To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit.- Stephen Hawking*

09-02-2003, 04:51 PM	#16 (permalink)
Asshole Lover Crazy	lack of intelligence. especially the youth. rich kids and fashionistas in high school concentrate on looks and sex and that causes their most important growing years to produce shallow and stupid human beings. the nerds and geeks in high school and college will become the leaders of tomorrow. __________________ smells like ass, tastes like _______.

09-02-2003, 05:08 PM	#17 (permalink)
Zeld2.0 Cherry-pickin' devil's advocate Location: Los Angeles	heh ironic but true asshole but thats not entirely true though.. lots of kids, especially the richer ones mainly because of their parents, can get free rides into top colleges w/o the qualifications and end up leaders despite being idiots

09-02-2003, 05:09 PM	#18 (permalink)
Zeld2.0 Cherry-pickin' devil's advocate Location: Los Angeles	Oh and I disagree with no history But I agree with one thing slightly about it - people change their midns too easily. We are almost all sheep in this country - we listen to whatever our leaders tell us, whatever our goddamn TV tells us. People out there believe some whack shit they see on TV. And whats worse is that most of the country / society DOES do so.

09-03-2003, 04:50 PM	#21 (permalink)
docbungle It's all downhill from here Location: Denver	My problem is that everyone wants everything to be perfect. No matter who is in the White House, half the nation calls him an evil bastard and likes to list the reasons that he sucks so bad. Well, no one is going to be able to please eveyone in the nation. The nation seems to have a hard time realizing that. My problem is that running this country, or any other country for that matter, is a huge pain in the ass, and anyone taking on that responsibility should be given a fucking break every once in a while, seeing as how they are only human. My problem is that political parties even exist. Individuals should run as individuals without dragging the ball and chain of their political party's agenda into the ring - which, imo, negates their individual views as a person to quite an extent. __________________ Bad Luck City

09-03-2003, 04:58 PM	#22 (permalink)
Mr. Moe Loser Location: Oakville, Ontario	As much as i hate to say it, pop culture (in teenagers at least..as that is who I have to view every day) is going to ruin our countries in the future. It is mostly centered around complete lack of order, aggression (not the music..some of it is good..more the "hey buddy..want to fight" attitude.) and lack of any ambition to learn. It seems to be taking people far longer to mature now (especially the rich kids that get a free ride through life..although I am one of them, I am at least trying to make it on my own merits). Although i am not sure what the culture was like back in the 60's and 70's for sure..i didn't see alot of these kind of things from hippies and greasers.

09-03-2003, 07:02 PM	#23 (permalink)
RaGe2012 Upright Location: New Jersey	Well, I suppose that my biggest complaint about America is the heartlessness and carelessness of our business world. Some may say thats life, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. __________________ "Yesterday we bowed our heads to kings and bent our necks to emperors. But today we kneel only to truth..." - Kahlil Gibran

09-03-2003, 07:27 PM	#24 (permalink)
debaser Sir, I have a plan... Location: 38S NC20943324	A better funded, more accountable education system. Mandatory government service for citizenship. These two things would go a long way toward fixing this country. __________________ Fortunato became immured to the sound of the trowel after a while.

09-04-2003, 12:33 PM	#25 (permalink)
MSD The sky calls to us ... Super Moderator Location: CT	Biggest problem? Politicians are too interested in working for the interest of their party and their bank account to be concerned with the people. Solution: I don't know if anything can be done about it, the best we can hope for is that the millionaires who represent us realize that not everyone is a millionaire and that they should work for us, not special interest groups, and that they should compromise with each other, not sit there and not get anything worthwhile done. Eliminate lobbyists and funding from special-interest groups. For every group who comes in, allow one with an opposing viewpoint to present their side of it.