8 ms·

I want universal healthcare, but I want to use technology/common sense and end bloated programs. Military for instance could be cut in half or more (close the b

I want universal healthcare, but I want to use technology/common sense and end bloated programs. Military for instance could be cut in half or more (close the bases, keep the carriers, but dock unless during war). Focus on domestic defense, and let the rest of the world figure out their own shit. End income tax, move to consumption tax/vat. (A modified version that would be sort of a negative tax). Basically, you'd have basic income making everyone who has a physical address (must spend some of the $$ on residence) would receive a check for whatever the poverty level is divided by 12. Then everyone is a tax payer and pays consumption tax, we'd also have a land value tax, which would be more even on what land is 'worth' regardless of if you're using it for it's total 'worth'.. E.G. -- 2 people own same amount of land, same location, one builds a skyscraper, one doesn't, they both pay what the land/property would be worth if the area was 'fully developed', encouraging people to not just 'hold' land but 'use' it, or pay as if they did, so they might as well develop or sell it to someone who will. We'd have to figure out ways of getting more off the top of the pile, as consumption does take a bit from the lower classes and funnels it up, but they're getting it back in terms of GBI + Healthcare. Consumption tax could be tied to a citizen ID, ID = 10%, no ID = 15% tax rate. Could work in a +5% for college grads who used free education grants, until they're > 30 to pay for free college (State/Community schools). This way they pay back when they shop, but it's not permanent and it hurts a lot less than normal loans/etc...and doesn't affect credit. Or could just have a 'twenty's' tax of +5%, whether you go to college or not you pay an extra 5% from 20-30 to on goods, to pay for those who 'took' the advantage to go to school. I like to believe that there's 'out of the box' ways to do things... I'm a social democrat with some techno-libertarian ideas, I feel the government needs to work and support all people, but it needs to do so in a way that can eliminate the most 'bureacracy' as possible, and drive down costs. I'd be happy if govt could be ran completely by AI and have maybe 10 people over-seeing / auditing the machines. I'd like to see bills submitted like github issues - small, easily enacted/reversed 'pull requests' that only change small bits of law/codes. Instead of 10-100+ page omnibuses, everything would need to be < 5 pages (or something rudimentarily agreed upon - I'm not a lawyer/politician), and it must only effect a specific item or items that relate to each other. No combining other things for political 'fancy' or posturing.

nradov 8y ago
I'm no fan of high military spending, but an aircraft carrier kept at the dock is worse than useless. Carrier operations are tremendously complex and the crews need constant practice in realistic scenarios (foreign deployments, fleet exercises with allies). When those skills and institutional knowledge are lost they take decades to rebuild.
- gremlinsinc 8y ago
  Firstly the wars/fighting our military is currently 'engaged' in is mostly useless. We haven't 'won' a war since ww2. Carriers are like bases that can easily be deployed as needed. Maybe keep 2 or 3 carriers off the coast not necessarily 'docked', to run maneuvers to keep 'training' up, reserves could come and run ops maybe every few months to stay 'fresh'... Ideally, we'd not need to call any up until WE are under direct imminent threat. Furthermore, I think a lot of our future wars will be fought with technology, drones, robots, and not need as much military personnel anyways. Our military budget should be on par with Russia, instead we're equivalent to the next 7 largest militaries combined. There's no need for that much expense (except to pad lobbyist coffers).
  - nradov 8y ago
    So for carriers you are essentially proposing the status quo. At any given time only about ⅓ are actually deployed. The others are docked for refit, or doing training close to bases. If they're going to deploy at all the costs are about the same regardless of where they operate. And to maintain proficiency they have to constantly practice operating in all over the world. These are not skills that can be picked up in just a few months. A carrier is not even remotely like a floating base; it's an order of magnitude more complex. I am all for fighting fewer wars. But until that actually happens our carrier forces are over stretched.

nradov 8y ago

I'm no fan of high military spending, but an aircraft carrier kept at the dock is worse than useless. Carrier operations are tremendously complex and the crews need constant practice in realistic scenarios (foreign deployments, fleet exercises with allies). When those skills and institutional knowledge are lost they take decades to rebuild.

gremlinsinc 8y ago
Firstly the wars/fighting our military is currently 'engaged' in is mostly useless. We haven't 'won' a war since ww2. Carriers are like bases that can easily be deployed as needed. Maybe keep 2 or 3 carriers off the coast not necessarily 'docked', to run maneuvers to keep 'training' up, reserves could come and run ops maybe every few months to stay 'fresh'... Ideally, we'd not need to call any up until WE are under direct imminent threat. Furthermore, I think a lot of our future wars will be fought with technology, drones, robots, and not need as much military personnel anyways. Our military budget should be on par with Russia, instead we're equivalent to the next 7 largest militaries combined. There's no need for that much expense (except to pad lobbyist coffers).
- nradov 8y ago
  So for carriers you are essentially proposing the status quo. At any given time only about ⅓ are actually deployed. The others are docked for refit, or doing training close to bases. If they're going to deploy at all the costs are about the same regardless of where they operate. And to maintain proficiency they have to constantly practice operating in all over the world. These are not skills that can be picked up in just a few months. A carrier is not even remotely like a floating base; it's an order of magnitude more complex. I am all for fighting fewer wars. But until that actually happens our carrier forces are over stretched.