Security & Regulations

We've heard alot about "safety and security" of America in the last 8 years and what I can surmise from it all is that some people are really afraid of the "end of days" scenario: Ya' know, what Bush said, "The smoking gun in the form of a mushroom cloud". (On a side note, he meant our enemies right? Not us pushing the button?) So we must protect our country from being captured, which, based on land mass, would take about 7 Hitlers. (Also, America has about 100 million more people than if you combined all populations of the countries that Hitler took over.) So it's seems impossible for a take-over by anyone except maybe China, but even the mighty China would have a tough time getting over here. But, I guess it's the fear of the unknown and the fear of that "end of days" scenario that keeps Bush and his ideology intact. (Not the "end of days" from the Bible, mind you, because that would be a triumphant day! Just make sure we protect Israel, or the prophecy won't come true!)

I don't subscribe to the "capture and command" theories of ole'. But I can at least see a bit of sense in the mushroom-cloud scenario. But my take on that situation is simple; if it happens I’d be dead anyways so why live in a prison today? When I say prison, of course, I mean all my freedoms relinquished, all my choices squashed and my own health issues are too expensive to fix, like prison minus the rape.

I would rather take a chance that every 40 years something real bad is gonna happen on American soil cuz on the grand scheme of things terrorism is on the bottom of the list of stuff that’s gonna kill me in the next 40 years.

I’m more worried about the drunk guy next door; he could snap and kill me with his legally obtained firearms. Perhaps he doesn’t like my guitar playing? Whose to stop HIM from killing me? Who’s gonna stop the drunk driver, the smoker, the robber, the mentally-ill and most importantly, the greedy? The troops? The surge?

A good start is Obama, someone that truly understands that homeland security starts WITHIN the country first. It’s got “homeland” in the name, ya know. And what is the best weapon against all of life’s evils? REGULATION

Regulation is everywhere you look: smoking & alcohol regulations, nutritional & FDA regulations, driving regulations, clothing regulations, firearm regulations, flying regulations and on and on... We have regulations for just about everything in our daily lives, just think about everything you touch, eat or see. It probably had some committee behind it, which found the most efficient and safest way to release it into the public.

Regulations are there to protect you from yourself. We as humans assume some level of safety in our everyday lives. For instance, I don't test the food I eat for disease. I expect it to be safe but it takes regulations of the agriculture and food industry on a national level. Should I be expected to do my own bacteria testing? And when an outbreak occurs, should I expect the for-profit companies, like Kellogs or McDonalds to be on my side? Or will they just play the blame game until the storm has settled? You’d be surprised that our government has very little say in the private food industry, sure they can “strongly advise” a private company to recall, but that’s about it.

When I drive my car, I expect it to be as safe from defects and safe in accidents. That takes regulations of safety standards for the car industry on a national level. Should I be expected to research the “crumple-zones” of a car and research the best airbag deployment? What cellphones won’t give me cancer? What medications can I take for headaches that won’t kill me? What contact lenses won’t make me blind? What keyboard won’t give me wrist problems?

We all ultimately demand regulations to keep us safe from most things—But the big giant gaping hole in our regulated lives is the anarchy of our fiscal system.

You may say, “We’ll that’s the private companies job to regulate itself because they don’t want to hurt all their customers.” We’ll tell that to Malboro, McDonalds, and all insurance companies. Tell that to the logging industry fat-cats who could have given thousands of jobs that lasted for multiple generations, yet deforested in a fourth of the time, got rich, and retired, leaving landscape and animal population decimated, and thousands unemployed. Those fat-cats lived the American dream, made a shit-load of money, and retired… that type of unregulated greed is bad business. Not to mention the Madoffs & Enrons.

The bottom line is that the primary goal of all private business is profit—but to me, a good business is a sustainable one, one that will last forever and still have a decent profit margin. And the unregulated business of today will never allow that to happen. Layoffs will happen before CEO’s give up their jets, people loose their livelihood as CEO’s receive millions in bonuses, and my next-door neighbor might just come home after being laid-off and decide to do something rash with his regulated firearm.

Where’s my homeland security to protect me from the greed?

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