weigh in on political issues

what are your thoughts on the political issues of today? how do you feel about:

socialized medicine?
abortion?
gun control?
marijuana prohibition?
drug prohibition in general?
capitalism in general?
social welfare?
the education system?
legal drinking age?
the electoral college?

or any political issue you wish to discuss. i want to hear your opinions. ill state mine in a moment.

also, im very drunk now and i act like i work for foxnews sometimes when ive had this much to drink so bear with me.:cheers2:

 

socialized medicine? - Best way of doing it imo. Healthcare should be free for everyone.
abortion? - I'm not decided on this. For other people, if it is the best option for them then awesome. But I could never do it myself, do that to my body etc.
gun control? - Guns are the most discusting thing ever invented. They all should be destroyed.
marijuana prohibition? - I think there should be a proper international investigation into the effects of it on your mental health. I have read many reports that are mostly bias either way. However, it is a natural thing, if you choose to smoke it I don't think the government should say you can't. Alcohol has more damaging effects and deaths than weed.
drug prohibition in general? - Man-made drugs I think should stay illegal. Those things are dangerous, and cause many deaths every year.
capitalism in general? - Piece of shit ^^
social welfare? - Urhm, I guess social welfare is paramount? I'm not sure what yous mean xD
the education system? - Can't do much different really lol.
legal drinking age? - In other countries where the drinking age is lower and they kids have been brought up around alcohol, there are none of the problems we have here in the UK or the US. They respect alcohol and have been taught it is to be drunk with meals, not to get drunk. Here it is stupid, although if we change it, it will make things so much worse. So there is nothing much we can do really I think
the electoral college? - Eh?

 

socialized medicine? I like Australia's system. they have free health care, but if you have the means you can purchase private medical insurance.
abortion? I think there should be state-inspected safe facilities available to everyone.
gun control? yeah we need our guns.
marijuana prohibition? should be available by prescription
drug prohibition in general? I dunno, I would be out of a job if drugs weren't illegal. But I think it's too bad that psychedelics are illegal... I think if more research were approved we could use them widely for therapy.
capitalism in general? eat the red pill?
social welfare? It's abused of course by some and others who need it can't get it. But it's a good start.
the education system? pretty fucking terrible. The board of education squanders tax dollars and the status quo is extremely low. Also, I think social sciences should be taught in HS, as well as 4 years of language. sign language should be more widely offered. College should be cheaper.... teachers should be paid more.... etc etc etc
legal drinking age? should be 18 or lower but we dun fukked that up.
the electoral college? Is crap, it should be popular vote.

 

i agree. however, if government agents are allowed to have guns, then i should too. if the government can own a tank, i should be able to as well.

agreed

i think empathy, gardening, cause/effect, logic & reasoning type of classes should be taught to young children.

it is an american thing and it kind of sucks

 

well, im canadian so:

socialized medicine? we already have this. i am pro public health care. everyone should be entitled to free (or appropriately subsidized, according to their income) medical care, and no one should have a right to better care just because the happen to have more money. i think thats a pretty basic requirement that every government should provide for their people.

abortion? pro choice. women should have access to harassment free abortions no matter where they are or why they want one.

gun control? not sure where i stand on this, i dont know much about it.

marijuana prohibition? against it.

drug prohibition in general? generally against it because it seems to do more harm than good.

capitalism in general? idk, no comment atm.

social welfare? necessary.


the education system?
legal drinking age?
the electoral college?
that stuffs usa specific.

 

wat

agreed

 

i agree!

 

agree

disagree

to what extent?

canada doesn't have an education system?




:cheers2:

 

Health care- I don't understand why Americans hate on our NHS system, it enables many many people to live with life threatening illnesses. You only hear the bad stuff and when was it your business anyway? Sure it isn't perfect but that is NOT the NHS's fault. The NHS saved my life. Without it I wouldn't be here today.

Abortion- I fully support, it I have been on protests about it. I think it should be made a woman's basic right to choose or not to choose to carry a baby to full term. Fuck all those "you should have it adopted do gooders."

I like the gun control in my country however I wish the police force had more freedom of use of guns like in the states.

Marijuana - Pretty much the same views as DV

Capitalism - I don't really know what it is/understand the basics so...

Social welfare - Although, the welfare in my country is one of the best in the world. I feel it should stop rewarding the idle and the immigrants.

In the UK immigrants can claim the exact same benefits for their families who do not live here. Nor do they want to help those genuinely in need. However, for having 7 children you can expect around a hundred thousand pounds a year and many of these families use that money to keep up with the Jones'.

I think that the whole system needs to be reevaluated so that National Insurance contributors are well looked after and the idle are forced to work and until they can, only food stamps, travel expenses and enough money for a weeks "basic" pay and go gas and electricity meter should be given to them.

Education system - I like it. It enables poorer people to make something of themselves. However I don't agree that people should be given a second chance at education if they fuck up their GCSE's. That's their fault and shouldn't be allowed to enter university on "life experience" at the age of thirty while I bust my balls off in high school.

Drinking age - I actually think this should be lowered. In countries like Spain, where the legal age is 16, generally people respect alcohol and don't act like dick heads. I think that part of the problem is the
"Don't drink around your kids!" Aspect. I think here in the UK it is looked down on to be drinking in the middle of the day. Whereas it's not uncommon for Europeans to have a nice red with lunch.

Alcohol is seen as a thing to abuse at the weekends unlike Spain and Italy where everyone comes together for meals and openly drinks around their children. Parents, grandparents etc don't see alcohol as a "binge affair" and therefore imprint on to their children that alcohol is more of a meal thing than a binge thing.

Obviously people all over the world like to get smashed but when you're walking down the road and some 14 year old pissed up gang starts shit with you that's not right. I could argue all night about flaws in my statements so these are very [although long] brief views on the subs.

 

well, i thought you were looking for opinions relating to your country.

for what it is, canadas schools are ok. i dont know much about it politically, just firsthand. i kind of have a problem with the public school system in general. the cost of post secondary education is ridiculous though.

on social welfare... i will say that it semi fails but im glad it is available. it needs to be made much better. it seems to me that welfare abuse is much more prevalent in the states though. its kind of a complex issue, especially if i try to explain the differences btw our systems (which i dont know enough to do anyway).

oh wow, here they give you much much less than basic pay, food stamps, utilities and travel expenses lol. if youre single and on welfare, you can forget about renting all but the shittiest apartment and buying your food from the store. you go to the food bank and you probably dont have a car.
so, yknow, good luck finding work. ever.

 

socialized medicine - not in America
abortion - Pro choice
gun control - Pro guns
marijuana prohibition - repeal it
drug prohibition in general - serves a purpose
capitalism in general - good if you are willing to work
social welfare - 1 year cap
the education system - tool of the state to encourage subordination
legal drinking age - 18
the electoral college - in democracy, popular vote should only matter

 

i agree with you fully on every point except legal drinking age.

 

I meant a week's pay and go gas/electric metre, where you put say ten pounds on the meter and you get ten pounds worth of gas and electricity. And travel expenses to and from job interviews. Your welfare state sounds like it needs to more and mine do less.

Our government does help the single people. They get put on a waiting list for a flat and if they don't work the local council's pay that person's rent. They do help with the rent on private rented but it's not the full rent unlike their own properties. Thie funding of rent, I fully support.

 

what do you think about legal drinking age np??

 

indeed. is your welfare system often abused?

yes, we should have that here. we (vancouver) have a huge homeless problem, no affordable housing and certainly no subsidized or free housing.


anyway np, the bc drinking age is 19 and that seems reasonable to me. alberta is 18 and i think thats fine too. 21 is stupid imo. if youre old enough to be out on your own, drive a car, have your own living expenses, you should be old enough to drink.
i dont really understand your electoral college thing, but from what my dad vaugly explained to me, it sounds pretty rubbish.

 

cannabis license should be given at 18, liquor and beer license at 21

 

Like you wouldn't believe. Here you're better off being on benefits than on a minimum wage job. People claiming disability when they don't need it, immigrant workers claiming child benefits when the children don't live in the UK... I could go on.

I agree! And that's why I'm grateful for living in the UK. I think anyone who cannot pay their rent get's it paid for as long as it's a reasonable amount. They don't help mortgage holders though. The problem of homelessness is obviously huge in cities. But in towns and villages the local council's do usually really help homeless people with hostels and what not.

 

socialized medicine?
Id be scared shitless if I didn't have access to free healthcare, and I am taxed to pay for it. That said the NHS will cost exactly as much as your willing to spend on it, and the idea that the private sector can somehow do the same job better, cheaper and still turn a profit is bollocks, sorry maggie but you were wrong.

abortion?
Murdering babies because it doesn't happen to be convenient is for pussies and cowards.

gun control?
I think it was a huge mistake to ban handguns in the UK, now old people are living in fear of lawless youths and groups of 10 year olds can steal and rob with impunity. That said if you ever brought them back then every wanabe ganster would have one in his back pocket. So go back in time and don't pass knee-jerk legislation banning handguns, and then make them extraordinarily difficult to own.

marijuana prohibition?
Why, there are far worse legal activities.

drug prohibition in general?
pretty widely discredited IMHO. That said with the way people can apparently opt-out of working in the UK and have the state see them right I dare say it would become a lifestyle for some and you'd still have just as many problems.

capitalism in general?
I think the free market has given way to vested interestest. I can honestly see perpetual copyright being granted in my lifetime. Governments are allready passing legislation to maintain the status quo as far as the bloated music and film industries go and the various legal fictions that grant corporations identities distinct from those running them have served to make them essentially immune from any meaningful prosecution. Ironically id say look to china for the real free market, they don't give a fuck about IP or regulation, if they can build it cheaper they will.
All that said and done, if socialism could be shown to work then id suport it whole heartedly.

social welfare?
I've used it, i pay for it, and id be pretty scared to live in a country without it but in the UK it's come to the point now where people can choose not to work, if you live alone you'll get housing support, if you have kids you'll get child support. Ive got a mate who'd been 9 month unemployed and he gets £150 / week because he lives with his mate. I barely earn that. The state should see to it that you won't starve and thats that, long term unemployed should be given the choice of the workhouse or fending for themselves.

the education system?
Too many people doing too many BS degree's on the state coin. We don't need a whole generation of media and arts grads

legal drinking age?
UK, don't care, although it seems a lot harder for younge people now to drink underage than it was for me, which is a shame.
US, lol 21 lolololololololololol, own a house, own a car, go to war, can't have a drink. WTF!

the electoral college?
?????? But on the other hand, the UK needs proportional representation and a decent fucking answer to the west lothian question.

 

My family was homeless for a time when I was young. The council put us in a B&B for a fortnight and then found us a house on a rough as fuck estate. You go no trouble on the estate because everyone was in the same boat, no nicking or anything like that. I was living in Co. Durham at the time.

 

Great reading. Nice topic np. Here is my essay answer.

Socialized medicine? Yes, this I feel is the fairest option. I have children and I would hate to see my child OR my neighbour's child OR my enemies child suffer from something simply because our family cannot afford it. I see this as a societal issue. However, if people feel better or want to pay for private health care, then we should allow it and tax the shit out of it instead of other countries benefiting from it. However, doctor's that operate a "for profit" center has to put X amount of hours into the public system.

abortion? This is personal. I respect everyone's view on the issue, but I believe it should to be an option.

gun control? Yuppers! We need guns so we need gun control.

marijuana prohibition? This is silly. Why the gov doesn't legalize and tax it??? I dont know. Seems like easy money. See below for a bit more...

drug prohibition in general? Some ppl do not have self control, but it seems many of these ppl can still find whatever they want regardless of prohibition or not. I think personal amounts of most drugs should be decriminalized (I initially had "legal" here, but I do not think it necessary to be legal.) as they often just pollute the legal system for no real reason. Spend money and time where it is important... someone caught with a joint or a gram of magic mushrooms is not out to harm anyone. Your body, your choice.

capitalism in general? I have on idea how the world would operate without capitalism. There is nothing that would work better... In theory there are some nice ideas, but at the end of the day, society would not advance if capitalism didn't exist. I don't like it, but I think the alternatives would be much much worse.

social welfare? Absolutely necessary. You can control what family you are born into so why should you be doomed to the same fate if you had useless parents? Intervention and assistance is needed to provide a fair society.

the education system? Poor. I think we should learn life skills in school... for instance, I would have loved to take a personal finance class where I learned how to write a cheque, balance my personal account, how to purchase a mortgage, just to name a few life skills that would have been handy. How about cooking, sewing, team building, automotives etc...

legal drinking age? 16 or no age at all. The earlier children learn about drinking and responsibility, the sooner they respect alcohol. The fact that we mark it with an age holds a certain sense of appeal in itself. WIthout it, we'd be better off.

the electoral college? N/A