The Benoliel's shot Gabrielle Giffords

/rant on

A mentally ill 22yo likely being manipulated by an older mentor pulled the trigger, but the Benoliel's and 1000s of other stable, successful individuals who have turned away from society actually shot the congresswomen
 If, as Garth Brooks put it "Life is like a River, then the successful amongst us are the stable rocks in that river. If all the rocks take their winnings and go live in insulated tide pools then the river becomes ever more treacherous and there remains nothing for the less stable to hold on too.

Our society has ended up this way because all the reasonable people in the middle are living insular comfortable lives and really dont have any incentive to get involved in the world outside their little money-fence. 

 I feel the solution to this would be mandated public service to maintain citizenship.

So :: People would be classified in different ways and it doesnt matter where you were born.

1) Minor - age 0-18, gets highchool equivilant education, free medical care. cant drive, can apprentice/intern but not work work full time. Can work towards Citizenship at 14. Children 6 and over of non-citizens attend public boarding schools during the week and may stay home on the weekends if parents are in good standing. Citizens may choose to have their kids stay at home at all time and/or may enroll their children in private school.

2)  Resident 18-65, Require 6 month permit to work, drive, buy alchohol. Health and safety personal history apply. Can not own property or a business. Any income over 100k/year is heavily taxed. Pays full price for higher ed. Government bills for use of medical and court system. Can not vote.No gun rights.

3) Indentured 14-65 Classification for those who have broken the law or own the government money. Works 6 hours a day at minimum wage until debt is paid. Job assigned by gov. Can not drive buy alcohol or work. Assets held by government until debt is paid. All costs such as medical added to debt. Max debt 2 years service. Time beyond 2 years must be served in prison. Max 5 years.

4) Citizen. 14-65, 6 months of social/public or military service = 2 1/2 year of citizenship. Income over 300k/year heavily taxed. Higher education 1/2 price. Citizenship endows one with free medical care, the right to drive, own property and business, buy alchohol/drugs. Free use of the court system. Right to Vote. Right to keep your children at home during the week and/or enroll them in non-public schools.

5) Elder 65+ All government services free after 65 equal to the total amount of time a person has been a citizen. 65 and older with no cizetzenship credit is considered disabled

6) Disabled 14+ Unfit to work due to mental or physical health. Free medical and public housing. Cost of living capped. Humane euthanasia mandatory if costs exceed capped amount.

The other thing I would suggest would be to heavily tax imports so industry (and jobs) stay here rather than move where labor is cheaper.

Oh noooo what about our freedoms!? "Freedom for all" is a wonderfully romantic concept that practically doesnt work. The Benoliels are a perfect example of what humans do with those freedoms. Its animal nature to choose the path of least resistance and government responsibility to keep us behaving civily and growing as a culture. As long as the successful have a chance to opt out of society when it becomes unpleasant most of them will leaving the upset, the zealous and the crazy running things. Once an animal is fat, warm and comfortable anyone would be naive to expect them to leave that comfort zone on principles alone.