ClydeStyle

Tag: reform

  • Election season is one big storm for both parties

    The Republican party sees themselves as this big.

    It is sad that we can not put our trust in either political party. I can’t remember things being this bad, and I’ve been paying attention for nearly 50 years.

    Our criteria need to change. We desperately need an age limit, and I would add a financial limit. Imagine if Congress could only be between the ages of 35 to 65 and could not reside in a household that makes more than 400k? The smartest people in our society are definitely not the richest. The level of greed in our government is killing us and not a benefit to the middle class and poor.

    In addition, we need to give up the party system. We already know that there are conservatives and liberals in both parties already. Neither party has been a benefit to the average American. Further, the rich in Congress is out of touch with what the middle class and poor need.

    This is a perfect symbol of the Democrat party.

    We need good wages and a better credit system that works for us and not against us. We need universal healthcare, and everyone should be able to afford to by a house. For example, instead of loans being based on income, the majority should be based on work consistency. A two parent family should be able to live comfortably in America.

    We spend way too much on the military, and as a country, we don’t need to be involved in everything. We have spent more money on Ukraine than we have provided for our poor in this country.

    Every politician has this Pinocchio effect.

    Corruption is at an all-time high. Promises are made and not honored; a “tit for tat” mentality runs rampant with our government; and far too many people are struggling.

    What was once progression has turned into our demise. We need to take serious notice of the America we think we are. Change is need immediately!

  • Have gun, will travel

    This phrase from the 50s is all about being ready to do anything. There was even a show about it back then, but the makers of this show would have never imagined that their callous attitude about the use of guns would be trumped by the views held currently about gun use.

    I wonder how many folks believe the founding fathers were thinking of automatic weapons when they wrote in the constitution for us to have the right to bear arms?

    What is more scary is that in recent months, there have been some really senseless shootings. There have been people shot for going to the wrong house, getting in the wrong car, standing around doing nothing, and going to a sweet 16 party. It seems as though the school shootings, church shootings, and other mass shootings are old news.

    Have we gotten bored with shootings?

    And then, Congress can’t seem to find the courage to solve this very simple problem. The answer is not as easy as changing gun laws or even outlawing certain guns because there are too many guns available.

    If we take the position that we all have to die of something or you feel that as long as it is not your kid getting shot, then who cares? It is easy to see how votes can be purchased for a price, and the NRA has deep pockets. Their average spending is around 3.2 million per year, buying the votes of senators and other law makers.

    The level of hypocrisy has to stop. Clearly, the answer will not come on a federal level. It has to take place state by state. Local organizing is the answer, and the time to do it is now. Have political power, will travel!

  • December already?

    It seems as though 11 months went by in a flash. I’m not sure if it is because Covid – 19 conditions got better or we started caring less about it, but things feel like it’s back to normal.

    But what was normal? Well, I can vividly remember when Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton in 2016. And I can remember seeing Trump impeached twice. I remember Joe Biden winning the election in 2020 and then things get a little blurry there. I always think about other countries whose elections produce results that the majority didn’t want — is that even possible?

    Like for me being a Christian it is difficult to adjust to a “Christian nation” that would allow LGBTQ openly. But America has and I believe that is a majority. Now I could be upset, curse and scream about it. I can choose to be outspoken, act like a jerk or treat “those people” wrong, but none of that defines a Christian.

    The only true alternative is to live my life my way and allow others the same. But what are we calling the thing inside of us that makes us want a victory by any means necessary? Is cheating in any way possible really an option for a person of integrity? Do we still have people of integrity?

    When did we start believing things without proof? When did empirical data become a thing of the past? When we look back at 2022, what will this year be known for? It’s not the year that we came together as a country.

    It’s not the year we passed laws to make our nation safer. It’s not the year that we did anything about criminal justice reform. And it won’t be the year where we stopped inflation. For me, this year will be remembered for all the deaths that happened. Deaths of loved ones, death of democracy, death of love one for another and the death of respect.

    December is going to be a very cold month.

  • Do you seriously care about causes?

    One of the great things about living in America is the freedom to protest. This government claims it will defend your right to do just that. I have to say “claims” because I still have the images of the protests during the Civil rights movement where water and dogs were used on peaceful protesters. Also, within the last 5 years with the Black Lives Matter movement and how brutal the police were to them.

    But my point is that causes are connected. It’s almost impossible to just protest one thing because chances are there are several issues within the cause you want to champion.

    Then, we tend to fail in the areas most important with causes — our solutions suck!

    For example, once upon a time teen pregnancy was shameful and the idea that you may get pregnant was a good deterrent for abstinence. Our country at that time was conservative and had a much better observance and reference for the word of God. There were government agencies that controlled what was acceptable over the airwaves and we made sure that what kids could see and learn in media would be something beneficial to their development.

    There were definitely protests regarding unwanted pregnancies and then adoption was the main source of handling them. Then some where the pregnancy dynamic became worse and some women (mostly poor and disenfranchised) sought their own methods of handling the problem (sometimes with a coat hanger of all things). Then Congress sought to solve this issue and put a bandaid on our unwanted baby problem and abortion was legalized. If you can’t beat them, join them philosophy.

    Now before abortion protests started, did we not see the deterioration of the American family? Did we miss how sex was overused to sell everything? Where were the protests for these because this is still happening today.

    We are depleting our resources, making animals that don’t belong to us extinct and using persevatives and additives in our foods that are slowly killing us. What’s our big cause again??

    The largest drug in America is not opiods, it’s sugar. Sugar is responsible for more degenerative diseases then anything else. Where are the protests?? Of all the “walks”, “races”, and “marathons” for cures, we haven’t cured a thing. Our health care system makes the majority of it’s money treating us instead of curing us and their prices are astronomical.

    Is it possible to have a cause of abortion, but not murder? Aren’t they the same thing. There are Christians in this country who are quick to protest abortion but won’t even speak of an unarmed Black man being murdered by police. We protest fur coats, but could care less about the treatment of pigs, chickens and cows.

    We would do well to check our causes so that when we protest (and I believe we should) we can be more productive with our solutions and actually make life easier for others. And above all else, we must avoid hypocrisy!