Current Events « Robin Writes

Not surprisingly, I read a lot of post-apocalyptic fiction, and much of that includes the epilogue of starting over, of creating a new society and, by extension, a new government.

Without exception, each of these new societies and their various forms of government are, respectively, more independent and smaller, more simplistic. Assuming, of course, that the underdogs, the champions of the people, are the winners and haven’t been annihilated.

Of course, one is always left to wonder if, in another 200 years or so, things haven’t devolved into what they once represented.

I’m not going to even mention the office of the presidency, let alone the current occupant of that office, but suffice it to say that I believe a president should be smart, organized, educated, sympathetic, hard-working, and always keep the will of the people and their best interests front and center.

You know, like Danny Glover in the movie “2012.”

That said, I also believe that our senators, all 100 of them representing every state, should have all those same qualities and attributes. Will they be perfect? No. Will they have made mistakes over the years, either before or while holding office? Yes. Should we hold them to whatever those mistakes were, particularly the ones that occurred decades ago? Maybe. Or maybe not. All humans make mistakes, all can change.

There are 435 members in the House of Representatives. That’s roughly one representative for every 750,000 people. I defy you to be able to make nearly one million people happy. Please see above for descriptions of the presidency and senators. Ditto.

Why do people run for office? Power? Shorter work weeks? The thrill of holding office? Money-making opportunities? Book deals? Speaking gigs?

I suppose many or all of these things could be considered perks, but the abiding and most prominent reason should be broken down to one thing: helping people, or more specifically, helping those who elected you to represent them and their interests.

This could, certainly, complicate matters because helping one’s state can often also be of help to its people, but often not—sometimes helping one’s state means only assisting that state’s government.

Perhaps we should administer a test and psychological exam to anyone wishing to run for federal office, along with a polygraph, to determine their true intentions. I don’t think it’s really a terrible idea.

Let’s touch upon the passage of certain bills and laws: people often get up in arms about a certain bill that proposes infringement of freedoms or one that, again for example, marginalizes a certain group. Cutting funds, perhaps, to a veterans’ program—regardless, what the average person doesn’t know is that there are OTHER things in that bill, commonly called “pork,” that are being slid right past the eyes and ears of most Americans. That, my friends, is wrong. On so many levels.

But this is how politicians work—you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. Watch any politics-based TV show or movie and you’ll see how this works. Hell, read a book, fiction or non-fiction, and you’ll see the same thing. “I’ll vote for this, if you include ABC or XYZ.” Sometimes, even, a good thing is accomplished and hidden inside.

Before you go off on what supposed law has been implemented, read the damn bill. And then know that this bullshit is wrong. If you’re going to write a law that says one must stop at a red light, don’t try to slide in something totally unrelated, like “all people must stop using plastic bags.”

I’m going to zip back up to those “mistakes” I mentioned earlier. When I was about 8, I stole a roll of Lifesavers. That was a mistake; I knew it when I did it, I knew it when I begged my dad to take me back into the store, and I didn’t eat those damn candies for a month because I just knew God was going to make me choke on one because I’d stolen them.

Yeah, I was a little tightly wound…

Now flash forward to when I was 38. Do you think I was a thief? No. I never stole another thing. But suppose someone heard about my 8-year-old self and the Lifesavers—would they be right not to trust me around candy? Don’t be ridiculous. Would they be right not to trust me say, driving a car? Nope. So why the hell do we hold politicians to different standards, such as perhaps what they may or may not have done in college, two or three decades prior? I surely hope you see how silly this is.

One more thing: money. Why in the world should it be so expensive to run for office? Why does it take so many staffers to promote one candidate? The one with the most people on payroll this election season has 300 people working on the campaign. Full timers.

THIS right here, is what upsets the playing field and why the vast majority of regular Americans will never run for office—and who are they all running for? Regular Americans. Something is clearly out of whack here.

If you were able to make changes to any of these things, what would you do?

Alright, let’s talk about those detention centers, the ones some insist on calling “concentration camps.” I suppose, in a way, that’s technically correct, since people are “concentrated” in a certain area. But whatever you call them, let’s talk.

First, for years, a decade at least, people have been coming to our borders to seek asylum, refugee status. Many others come for different reasons. The point is that we’ve known, we’ve experienced this, for a very long time and so should be freakin’ prepared in spite of increasing numbers.

But that’s the problem with government—it’s one fat, bloated bureaucracy that does not a damn thing except pay people, except, of course, when the government shuts down. Then it’s pretty much every man for himself. Think Haiti. Puerto Rico. Katrina. Supplies were available, the government wouldn’t allow anyone to help. Or, alternatively, items were stockpiled, sold, disappeared, whatever. Yeah, tell me the government has a handle on this. Ha.

I saw a post from the Episcopal Church—they have people and supplies ready to go. Hello, Washington? Get your heads out of your asses!

Now, yes, a lot of people blame POTUS—they could also be blaming the last three or four of them, Congress, all eleventy billion government agencies, or anyone else. Truly. The president, however, is kind of overall in charge of everything and I think the very title connotes responsibility. That doesn’t, however, mean that he actually did or didn’t do whatever you think he was supposed to do. Even if he’d appointed the heads of whatever department or bureau, it still doesn’t mean he did or didn’t do something. So shut up already. We’re all tired of hearing you bitch.

We’ve also all seen the “how you can help” stuff on Facebook. Sure, you could do those things—and bless you, if you do. Most people aren’t able (or willing) to do it. Policy is the heart of this issue.

Allow private citizens and non-profits—or anyone at all—to volunteer, to provide supplies, manpower, whatever. Stay out their way, stop regulating every damn thing, and end the government red tape/bullshit.
These centers or camps or whatever you want to call them are supposed to be “temporary” but we’ve run out of room because of sheer numbers. The government has had plenty of time—and likely resources—to fix this. Hell, rent a few Motel 6s or something, it’s not like the border is a hot vacation spot or anything, there have to be vacancies within a couple hours. Or, novel idea, BUILD SOMETHING. You can’t house people in warehouse settings for more than, say, a week.
While you’re doing these two things, get these folks some basic items, like, Idk, beds, blankets, personal items. WTF?? And speaking of, Wayfair wanted to sell the government some beds and everyone lost their flippin’ minds. WHY? Because they’d make a profit? Hellooo, capitalism? The government pays everyone else, why not Wayfair? And the employees boohooed and pitched a fit—where do they think the money to pay THEM is coming from? Yes, the correct answer is “sales.”
Put the kids back with the parents. Period. If you can’t find the parents—‘cause we all know the government is good at losing things—put them in a decent place with adults to watch over them.
If anyone has a sponsoring family, or relatives in the US, send them there. Definitely one way to ease overcrowding and not even spend government money. Presto

Some people are advocating protests. Yeah, that’ll work. RELEASE THEM ALL! To where? And how? And THEN what will these refugees do? No one seems to know—they just want them out. If you get them out, you need to have a plan and a method in place FIRST. Think about it…

One final thought: let’s not forget personal responsibility and personal choice. I know it’s popular to have the government mandate and control every little thing, and for everyone to run around screaming about how their “feelings” are so damn important and dictate all their choices, but sheesh, just stop already. If you’re a grown-ass adult, YOU are responsible for controlling your feelings and making the best, rational choice available.

For instance, I hope, since many of you are crying yourselves to sleep at night over the deaths of immigrant children, seven in seven months, are ALSO crying over the many, many more children living with their families in the US who have also died during that time period—I guarantee, there are a lot more than seven. And please remember, while the death of any child is certainly tragic, parents often share some of the blame by their own decisions. Most of those immigrant children were ill when they began their trek to the US, and as soon as officials were notified, the children did receive medical care. Saying “It’s Trump’s fault” is just plain ridiculous.

The most recent situation, the man and his toddler who drowned, is also heartbreaking. These folks came to the US, made an appointment to be seen for admittance, and were told it would take two months—given the general US court silliness and backlog, that, too, is SO MUCH BS—but they got tired of waiting. I don’t blame them one bit for that.

However, they decided to cross anyway, as many do. The man LEFT HIS TODDLER on the bank of a running river to go back for the others. Naturally, she came after him, he tried to save her, they both lost their lives. You can blame US policy for their long wait, but you CANNOT blame the US for this parenting decision.

So let’s add this:

MOVE THE LINES ALREADY. Why the hell does it take two months to see a judge? Why does it take longer than maybe ten minutes for that judge to say, “Yes, come on in” or “Nope, go back to where you came from?”

I’ll tell you why—because it’s government, and bloated, and bureaucratic, and bullshit. Period.