How can America improve itself? An opinion from an American citizen

Like most everyone in the United States, today I am celebrating our independence. This is my 25th Independence day and seeing that I am a history buff (as well as having a bachelor’s degree in history), I tend to look back and try to imagine what the Founders were thinking when they created this nation and what they would think of what we have done with it since. Now obviously they didn’t think of everything and they obviously made some mistakes, such as allowing slavery to continue, but overall I think many of the Founders would be disappointed in what we have allowed to happen. I’m not going to say that they would necessarily agree with everything I am going to list below but I do believe that they would consider it or at the very least, listen to it. So below are the some of the things I think that should or need to be changed in order for us to live up to what the Founders called “The American Experiment”

Legalization of marijuana or at least decriminalization

The decriminalization of marijuana it’s well on its way to becoming a reality. More and more states are allowing marijuana to be used for medical purposes but the problem is the casual user can still be thrown in jail for having it. Personally, I tried marijuana once, I didn’t like so I never tried it again. It is widely known though that regular cigarettes are more harmful, do to all the stuff they do to it, then marijuana. So the question is why the government doesn’t just legalize it already. The easiest answer is that they know that it would be impossible to regulate. Marijuana can be grown pretty much anywhere and they are afraid that if they legalize it that everyone will just start growing their own. The funniest thing about the criminalization of marijuana though is that George Washington grew it at Mt. Vernon. Not to mention, how much money do you suppose the government could save if they didn’t have all these people in jail for having a few ounces?

The war on drugs should be stopped

This one goes hand and hand with the legalization of marijuana. When President Nixon enacted the “war on drugs” back in the 70’s, I am sure his intentions were good. The truth though is that it’s even easier to get drugs nowadays then it was back then and it costs us billions of dollars a year to, quite frankly, engage in an unwinnable war. I am not suggesting that we just let the drugs come in freely but instead allowing local law enforcement deal with it. Trying to dismantle all the drug cartels in foreign countries is what seems to cost the most and I say, if those countries don’t want to deal with their problem then we shouldn’t be wasting our resources as well.

Longer terms for Representatives

A lot of people are in favor of term limits for both US Senators and Representatives. That’s not a bad idea per say, after all, many states have term limits for their State Senators and Representatives. I’m not really sure how I feel about term limits but I am in favor of having US Representatives get elected to longer terms. Right now they are elected to two year terms. Unfortunately with the way the government runs, you can’t get a lot of work done in that time and since they are up for reelection every two years that means that they are really only working for one year and the second year they are trying to get reelected.

Initiate a federal sales tax

This one is controversial to say the least but I think it may be the best way for the government to collect its money. The federal sales tax would be used in lieu of the federal income tax. In this way everyone that lives in this country contributes their fair share. In this way, the ultra-rich, some of whom find ways to end up paying little if any taxes, and people who don’t pay their taxes, such as illegal aliens or people with illegal professions, will not be able to avoid paying said taxes. Now the tax wouldn’t be that high but with the benefit of not having federal income tax withheld from checks, the American public should have no problem paying for what they need or want.

Civil rights for LGBT

For those that don’t know, LGBT stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered. This group is the last group of citizens who are still being denied their rights in some areas. The right to marry would be one of those rights but I am not talking about that specifically, even though it is near and dear to my heart, for obvious reasons. No, the truth is that there are many areas in this country where LGBT citizens can be fired and denied housing (among other things) simply because they are LGBT. In the city of Holland, Michigan, near where I live, the city council recently struck down an ordinance that would make it against the law to deny LGBT’s the rights I mentioned above based simply on their sexual orientation. Now I ask you, is that something that a society, based on the concept of freedom for all, should allow to happen? Personally, I think not.