Stupid things I can't explain about my own country

I know it’s easy to knock on China.  And fashionable.  But other countries have their problems, too.  And I’m partial to one of them, in particular.

Stupid things America does. 

Upon occasion I'm an equal opportunity basher.

I know in this blog that I usually speak about China, either good or bad, and in all sorts of contexts.  Yet all the writing and thinking I’ve done has only reminded me of America’s shortcomings as well.   And there are many.

Oh where to begin…..

Let’s start with taxes-

What’s easier? Understanding the tax code or walking backward blindfolded to the moon?

We all pay taxes, as we should.  However, the American tax code is so riddled with deductions, exemptions, etc that it’s more than past due to argue for a simplification.  In the past, it was thought to be purely a Conservative mandate.   Not anymore.  I think now simplifying the tax code sits squarely in the arena of those with common sense. 

Having either a flat tax or a tax based on what one spends would be more sensical than what we have now.   It is a moral crime to see Exxon and GE go tax free, year after year….legally.

Yes, all those tax agencies would go out of work.  A huge cottage industry would be wiped out overnight.  Charities would take a hit. But we’d be a more efficient country.  And without all those deductions we’d probably get more revenue as well.

Restrictions on talented people coming here. 

We are now in a competition for talent, on a worldwide basis.  Everybody with a peanut for a brain and above wants to come to America.  (I’m not saying America is the best place to live!  Anyone that has been to Northern Italy, or Vancouver, Canada would beg to differ)   Yet people with a drive to succeed yearn to come here.   And with them comes their talent, their drive, their ambition, and their ideas.  Surely if you let enough smart people in,  a few of them will have an idea that sticks, and creates jobs here.   

Today we let too many corrupt Chinese coal miners gain entry.  These people create no value but for the local housing mkt.   We simply need to let people in that will add more value to the economy than to the housing mkt!

Yes, I know, that spells bad news for those kids with no high school degree.  It makes America even more competitive than it is.  Yet we need those smart kids here.   Or else they’ll go somewhere else.  That means we need to make it easy for them to come here.  

What in the hell are we not doing with the Post Office?

Look, it’s the internet age, and most of us pay our bills online anyway.   A rabid minority complains that old ladies will suffer if the Post Office doesn’t deliver mail on Saturday.  Well I say this.  It needs to be more invisible that that.  We’ll be just fine as a nation if the mail only runs 3 days a week.   And than shut down 50% of our local post offices.    People only go there to buy stamps anyway, and mail large boxes.  Our tax dollars continue to cover the shortfall, year after year.   Any average businessman would have done all this a very, very long time ago.  Maybe we should privatize it?

Guns, guns, guns,….

Why in the hell does everybody need a gun?  I’m not against anyone having a hunting rifle, or a handgun.  Or a shotgun.  Our homeowners need guns for protection.  And I’m grudgingly in favor of people having an open carry permit.  (Yeah….just like gunsmoke).  

But do we really need a reason for an assault rifle?  Do we really need to keep 30 round magazines?  50? 100?  What self respecting hunter uses an assault rifle to hunt deer?  You want an assault rifle?  Ok, I agree I can’t stop you from buying one, there are so many available…..but I’m gonna tax the motherfucking hell out of your bullets.  You think cigarettes are high? 

Why can’t you just go get your rocks off at a firing range, instead of having the right to keep them at home?

Everybody cries about their “2^nd amendment” rights.   No one is taking away your hunting rifle.   Just the damn gun you have no business having!    Yes, you are right…..I agree…..
“only criminals will have multi round magazines”.  Yep, that’s right.  That’s why I want to tax the hell out of them.   The higher the tax, the more expensive they are on the black mkt.

Just like Chris Rock said….tax the bullets and drive by shootings stop overnight. 

Unlimited money in campaigns

A Greek democracy we are not.  We are a democracy where the rich have power.  Whatever the wealthy think is important, they will fight for.  We are a nation managed with the interests of the well heeled in mind.  You think if George Clooney calls that Obama doesn’t take his call?   I’d expect him to take mine two if I threw two fund raisers for him.

As soon as they allowed unlimited funding in our political elections it became a free for all.   It means we have to prostitute ourselves just to run for office.  And lo and behold you don’t continue to stroke these guys once you are in office.  It is only human nature to realize that money comes with strings.   Even Romney(the guy with a $20 million IRA) needed the cash.    It takes the dignity out of being a politician.  And at times it makes me doubt the process of democracy.  Oh, we will get it right.  But sometimes I think hydrocarbons form more quickly than reform in my own country.

People may disagree about what I say.  Yet I think reasonable people will concede I have a point. Our countries all have issues.  The above are a few of what I think are most important.