How to Save America

[Gnostic Metatron Prime]

Okay, I would like to preface my remarks by saying that some of this is just humor. However, ladies and gentlemen, our country is in trouble. On November 2, the fate of the world will rest on our shoulders, and even if Kerry wins, we're still fucked, since Bush loyalists will probably use their clout to stop any attempt to fix Bush's many cock-ups. We need some drastic action, so here are some suggestions:

1) Gut the Rich: The richest one percent did not get to where they are today through hard work, and contrary to Republican theory, their presence is of no benefit to the rest of society. Most of these fuckers don't even pay their income taxes. So why should they enjoy the freedoms that the rest of us have had to pay for? Let us go unto this minority, take apart their estates, and throw all the money back into the government. Do we really need that extra 1%?

2) Break the RIAA: On September 28th, the Senate passed the Piracy Deterrance and Education Act. The PDEA has expanded the power of the Recording Industry Assholes', err, Association of America, so that now, not only can they sue your ass for file-sharing, but they can also throw you in jail. Some experts say that the language used in the new law is so vague that it could also dismember legal file-sharing services like iTunes and Napster. Let's face it, folks: the RIAA has gone too far. Under the pretense of protecting artists' rights, the Association, which is really just the record companies, has been acting like a bully for at least the past ten years. They've tried to destroy file-sharing in an attempt to regain losses incurred not by the proliferation of file-sharing services, but rather by inflation and overproduction of low-quality music. When you add in the fact that the industry has repeatedly declined to lower CD prices, what it all comes down to is that the RIAA dug its own grave, and they're forcing us to lay in it.

I've got some other ideas that I'll post later, but do either of these make sense?

[UnknownH]

the first one hmm I don't know
the second one yeah I don't download american music much of at all it's all anime/video game music plus that's not of bit torrent I get my my anime/sentai off of that not music (or american movies either) so yeah that works

[Wisemon]

CDs are a little cheaper on Amazon, sometimes, but for the most part, they should be cheaper than they are. Still, when I like the artists, I prefer to pay for the CDs, which is why I have collected over 200 CDs in under 2 years.

[BS artist]

dude you put my answer for the first one right in the first sentence, they did work hard to get were they are, about 1%... well hell wait what does this even aplly too? sur bushs stuff benifits the rich which applys to upper class and middle class, kinda screws the lower.

Ya but i dont know much so i canr pull out statistics or charts and snapy coments.

who cars if they reguate the music shit they cant get everyone cause like a billion people use the file-share programs, the world would fall apart with that many in jail.

~BS Artist~

[Gnostic Metatron Prime]

dude you put my answer for the first one right in the first sentence, they did work hard to get were they are, about 1%... well hell wait what does this even aplly too? sur bushs stuff benifits the rich which applys to upper class and middle class, kinda screws the lower.

You're missing the point. For one thing, what I said was that the top one percent did NOT work hard for their money. More often than not, they reached that 1-percent through a combination of family money, tort reform (laws which allow for serious workers' rights violations by limiting penalties for unsafe working environments,) tax evasion, and Republican presidents. And the reason this is important is because under Bush, we went from a huge surplus to an economic recession. Someone must pay to fix this problem, and there is no justifiable reason why it should be the other 99% of this country, who only possess 10% of the total wealth.

[UnknownH]

good point there

[hhvorausgesagt]

Gnostic Metatron Prime FOR PRESIDENT

[Gnostic Metatron Prime]

Nah, if I was president, with my luck, I'd be stuck negotiating with a Republican legislature and a conservative Supreme Court, so nothing would ever get done.

Got a few more ideas, though:

- Outlaw Contingency Fees: Know why our courthouses are getting filled with stupid lawsuits? It's because in this country, lawyers are allowed to charge a contingency fee, which entitles them to a portion of whatever their clients win in a lawsuit. Thus, the lawyers go out and try and find a David-and-Goliath lawsuit (in other words, one where they're representing a little guy who's supposedly being harmed by a big company or group.) Because all normal trials go before a civilian jury, the jury tends to favor the little guy, and they tend to hand over huge cash settlements. Eliminate contingency fees, and the lawyers will stop hunting for bullshit cases. The added advantage is that this would lessen the legal pressures placed upon common lawsuit targets, like teachers and doctors.

- Create Medical Tribunals: Another idea to cut down on excessive lawsuits. Have malpractice suits go before a jury of actual doctors. As mentioned above, when a trial goes before a jury made up of civilians, it becomes too easy for a lawyer to exaggerate his client's case, because the civilians don't know enough about medicine to make an informed decision. So have a jury of doctors hear the case, and the lawyers will be more hesitant about accepting dubious cases.

[UnknownH]

that works I would like to see the end of those bs cases

[Gnostic Metatron Prime]

Another idea:

- Change the Child Pornography Guidelines: Surprisingly, even my dad, who's very conservative, is opposed to the current guidelines (he believes that the current laws constitute Orwell's concept of "thought crime".) I've said repeatedly that the laws should be changed so that only the photographic depiction of actual children involved in explicit sex acts would be considered criminal. This would cut down on the expense of trying to investigating, arresting, and prosecuting pedophiles by lessening the chances of a case being arguable.