"Getting Berned"

Ok, I know I'm not supposed to talk about politics but I also know I don't care. So there's that. I can't help myself and, besides, I do what I want. So there's also that, I reckon. 

Politics keeps looming up on the horizon and there's this thousand year old guy running for president. More and more people seem to be liking what he's saying. I think that's a testament to our society of entitlement and our abysmal education system. 

See, here's problem number one. He's a socialist. "Hurray!", you say? Nay. This is bad. 

First off, let's look at socialism at its roots. Society working together for a common goal and advancement. Sound good? Sure, if everyone in that society is willing to work. Uh oh! We've already hit our first hurdle. There's a bunch of people in our society who are more than happy to sit home and live off the rest of us. Well, shit. How does that work? Only the ones who WANT to work do so and everyone else keeps getting a free ride? 

Socialism, in theory, works. But only with creatures that don't have basic human greed and laziness. If we were a bunch of bees, sure, right on. Ants, they've got it figured out. But every organism in those society actually WORK! Humans aren't ants or bees. 

Next up, "free health care and free college education". Huzzah! "Free". Such a magical word to anyone who doesn't understand THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS "FREE"! 

Look, let's start with health care. Doctors need to be paid. Medicines cost money. Surgeries. Every aspect of health care has a cost. So if no one is paying for it, how do those expenses get paid? Oh, the costs go down? Probably. Along with the quality. Hey, doofus, we ALL pay for it. Well, those that work do. It's called taxes. No problem, we will just raise taxes to cover the costs. So much for "free". The working guy just starts paying more taxes. Buh-bye "free". 

Free college sound great? Sure. Everyone gets to go to college. The schools will need more teachers. Cha-Ching. Only now the tuition that supports these schools either A) goes away or B) is paid for with tax money. Guess who gets taxed more now? The ones who work. You know, the ones having to work more now to take home what they were making before. 

Of course THOSE people will be so busy working to compensate for the increased taxes that THEY won't be able to go to that "free" college. They'll be busy trying to keep supporting their families instead. 

Since tuition drops but the need for teachers increases, the teachers will have to make less money. Like they make a lot now? So there goes the quality of education. That's alright, our educational system sucks in America anyway. 

There's a plus, though, right? Everyone can get degrees. So the guys who can get higher wages now for earning a degree, make sure you lock that wage in now. See, when everyone can get a degree then having one makes you no more qualified as anyone else. The value of a degree essentially becomes that of a diploma. "Look at me, I've got a college degree! I can earn more now!" Fat chance. Everyone has a degree now; you're nothing special. 

Oh, you got a teaching degree but you can barely read and write? Good, you can become a college teacher now. You've got the degree after all. 

And, let's face it, not everyone who CAN go to college SHOULD. Look at that stupid "no child left behind" crap. All they did was dumb everything down so everyone moves ahead. They didn't raise the level of education; they just lowered the difficulty of tests. So everyone can "feel good". 

So then you'll have people becoming doctors who really shouldn't. That's alright, they'll just work for less since doctors won't be able to make as much once health care is "free". So, again, there goes your quality of health care. "Billy isn't too bright but he can be a doctor now." Great plan. 

People already don't apply themselves as much as they can in the free public school system what makes you think they'll be any more compelled to give it their all at a free college? It's not like they're worried about wasting their money. It's a self-defeating cycle. 

Besides, we already have a system in place for free college. A couple of them actually. The first one is pretty simple: fucking APPLY yourself and get a scholarship. I was offered one to art school in my early 20's but didn't take it. It's not that hard to get them really. 

Second option: it's called the G.I. Bill. Serve your country. EARN your college. If your country handing you "free" stuff that others have earned doesn't bother you but applying yourself or actually earning it for yourself bothers you... You don't fucking DESERVE it. 

Oh, what's that, he plans to tax a ludicrous amount to those who make over $250,000? Well that should work out well. The harder you work to gain wealth, the more you're penalized for it. Good plan. Way to keep people from trying to reach their full potential. 

Here's the solution to that: you take a job paying $150,000 so you can take home the same amount as those making $250,000. So you run out of those quarter million dollar jobs. No one wants them and they're all making less and keeping more now. Brilliant. You've successfully run off the high earners. Oh, they'll still be there... Just working from a different country. Genius move! Way to take the money out of the economy. 

You see where this is going yet? It defeats the purpose of a degree, drives people to make less money and you've still got people living off those that are left working. 

Degree or not, you still need people to stock shelves and run registers. Oh, we will just have to pay them more because of their degrees. Sure. So let's raise wages everywhere. Great plan. So the cost of goods goes up so companies can afford higher wages. Yay! Everything costs more now! So you're right back to the same cost/income ratio. Except now all the highest paying jobs pay less. 

So here's the simplest solution: flat tax. Get rid of income taxes. And, for the love of God, quit giving tax "refunds" to people who don't work. How the HELL do these people get "refunds" when they never paid in?! That's ridiculous. It's like feeding bears then wondering why they're in your neighborhood. 

A simple flat tax doesn't penalize success. Apex fucking predators and we cater to the weak and unmotivated. Pathetic. 

Socialism has PROVEN itself NOT to work in every human society. Yet Americans somehow think moving in that direction is the way to go. Because they hear the word "free". They hear "redistribution of wealth". They don't realize that if you tax the wealthy into poverty you're removing the incentive to succeed. Why succeed if you're gonna get punished. Let's make the upper middle class the top tier and shift every class down one from there. Way to create more "lower income" families. 

That's the America we've created though. People want something for nothing and politicians are promising it to them. You know, politicians who don't have to worry about the rules they make because they weasel their way into immunity. The people who are already living off the system will continue to vote for politicians who promise they won't have to go out and work. 

Now I've heard people use Canada as an example of the system "working". Sure, sounds great. Wait. How much is a tank of gas in Canada? How high is the cost of living? And where do the wealthier people of Canada go for medical care? That's odd. Speaking with a few Canadians I've heard that the ones who can afford it come to America for some aspects of health care. Both because of the quality and because of the wait up there for certain procedures. So where are they going to go once we adopt their system that's so "awesome"? You'd think if it was that awesome they wouldn't need to come here to get stuff done. Funny how they never use The Soviet Union as a good example of how socialism works. Wait... Oh yeah.. It DOESN'T. 

"But...but...Bernie Sanders is going to make everything equal." Screw you and your equal. I work hard for what I have and I EARN what I get. You want shit, go out and earn it and quit looking for ways to get handouts. I don't want the ambitious and motivated people to be unfairly penalized. I want the UNmotivated to be penalized. Natural selection. 

Look at every socialist country. Health care and education aren't very good. Economically they fail. Humans are too greedy for money and power on one end of the spectrum. On the other end, people are lazy and unmotivated. If we were bees, ants, robots or some shit...maybe. But we aren't. 

Ole Bernie is a "democratic socialist" though. Oh, well thanks for that distinction. That means we VOTE for the people who screw us. Guess what, we already do. 

I have no problem if you believe in socialism and "redistribution of wealth". Have at it. Mail me your money, go ahead. 

"Lazy Days"

Ever notice how lazy we're getting as a society? At first I thought it was just a lack of courtesy but I'm pretty sure it's mostly laziness. Every day it seems it's getting worse. 

As with any societal change, it starts off slowly. It's like watching sand dunes build one grain at a time. At first you don't notice it. Then you're like, "look at that little hill." Then it's a 12 foot dune with more growing around it. Same thing with our bad habits. 

For instance, in the trucking industry today, you non-truckers probably never even noticed how big our parking lots are. That's because we are always in the back, away from you guys. The herd must rest together. 

Here's an experiment for you though. A quick and easy one. Go look at our fuel lanes. About 80 feet in front of the pumps you'll see a yellow line. We call that a "ready line". It's there so that after we get fuel we can pull forward to that line and know that we've left enough space for a truck to get to the fuel island behind us. Then we go inside and get our fuel receipts and do whatever quick business we need to do. It helps with the flow. 

Now, go out there and look to see how many trucks are parked at that line. Then look at how many trucks are parked at the fuel pumps with no one around them. See those trucks? They were too lazy to pull forward. And a LOT of those guys could use that extra 80 feet of walking. 

In fact, of those guys still parked on the fuel line I'll bet a quarter of them are inside either sitting at a table eating or are in there taking a shower. Why? Laziness. That and lack of consideration. 

And it just gets worse. I'm at a truck stop here in Florida where over half the lot is empty spaces. Yet there are trucks lining the driveway and making it difficult to get in. Why? Because they were too lazy to go look for a parking space. Had they driven another 200 feet they'd have had their choice of spots. 

It's not just truckers. It's everyone. Go to your local grocery store or Walmart. See how many carts litter the parking lot? People just can't be bothered to go put them in those little corrals. Too much work. They went to get groceries not cardio. 

I've been to Taco Bell and other fast food places where people just leave their trash on the table and walk out. Those trash cans are conveniently located by the doors but these nasty people just can't be bothered. Did they slip into a food coma before they even left?

Just more and more I look around I see pure laziness. Pajamas to the store?? Seriously? You can't be bothered with putting on your "big person" clothes? You've gotta walk around in slippers and pajamas? Are these people narcoleptic?! Just gotta be prepared for that random nap. Should these people be driving? "What happened? How'd you wreck the car?"

 'I dunno, I was just driving along then BAM! Out like a light. Dreaming about McDonald's and shit.'

We are supposed to be "global leaders". Who are we leading, the dream brigade? C'mon, people, quit being so damn lazy. 

You know what I equate this level of lazy to? Ghetto. To me it's all just ghetto behavior. And it translates over. 

I hear people talking about how they just never get a chance. I call bullshit. Opportunity knocked and you were too lazy to open the damn door. 

I lived in the projects as a kid. I had the same "lack of opportunity" other ghetto kids had. You don't see me walking around town in pajamas leaving my trash on the table at Burger King. 

"I can't get a job." Hell no. Who's gonna hire someone in their pajamas?! I wouldn't hire someone who may fall asleep on the job. Especially not if they're demanding $15 an hour minimum wage. Sorry, Sleeping Not-So-Beauty, I'm gonna go with someone who speaks and acts like they care. 

Yeah, I said speaks but I mean much more than that. For those of you who've been following me for a while know, I also write poetry. Back when I was posting it regularly I was invited to poetry communities and stuff. I saw a few poems that were in text shorthand. Really? You're too lazy to write the actual words out? And they wanted my advice and guidance. "Ok. Learn to spell the words out and try again." 

I tried to be supportive. I tried to be encouraging. But I'm a grammer notsee.  (Sorry, I had to. Yes, I know how both of those words are spelled.) 

Text shorthand is even showing up in school papers and stuff these days. This is the world we live in. If people are too lazy to learn, let's just make the classes easier. Let's encourage lazy and stupid. Way to give Darwin the finger, folks! 

I've done online college classes for about 4 different people. Some of them really applied themselves and just couldn't grasp it. I tried helping them learn. Especially the English, Biology, Introductory Psych and Sociology classes. Why did I do their work if I don't encourage lazy? Good question. With 3 of them it's because I just took over. I made sure they grasped it but they couldn't articulate themselves as well as I. I did the assignments on paper, had them read them and explain to me what I was saying in the papers. They seemed to get it that way. The majority of the time they'd just type up what I'd written. They did the rest of the classes on their own though. I don't mind helping so long as it's just help. And I only helped with the classes I felt were completely unnecessary for the field they were pursuing. I'm not getting the whole degree, I don't want one. I like being "uneducated". 

Oh, I've served time in college classrooms. It's just not for me. I can't just sit there and have some instructor read to me from the book I've got sitting on my desk. I can't be taught; I learn. There's a difference. 

One of the advantages to learning rather than being taught? I draw my own conclusions. I make my own observations. Maybe it really is a laziness thing with me too. I find it's less work to learn on my own than it is to unlearn what's being taught to the rest of the class. (May rant about the education system is a story for another day). 

But I digress. We were going on about laziness, weren't we? It just bothers me. It's one thing to be lazy in your own home but when you leave the house, especially when you're working, take the time to be considerate. Take the time to do things right. It's not hard, folks. Put in a little effort to set a good example. 

And PLEASE, quit walking around in public wearing pajamas and slippers!