Day 19 - Citizens Pledge

Unique Pledges To Date: 1
List available upon request.

Pledge Introduction:
     I'm writing this pledge for one simple reason: to reaffirm power to the citizens.  It is a very simple concept, we, as voting citizens, sign this pledge.  The pledge will state that we, as voting citizens, will not vote for any politician in a federal position (and perhaps eventually on the state level) that does not sign this pledge or that signs and breaks the bindings of the pledge. 
     As for the politicians, this pledge is very simple.  They are signing to pledge to do 3 things:
       1) Not sign any other pledges endorsed by the Citizens Pledge
       2) Always place country before party
       3) Release financial donor information upon request

CITIZEN'S PLEDGE

I, _________________________________,  sign this pledge acknowledging that I will not vote or support any candidate or politician that does not sign this pledge with me.  By signing this pledge I believe that the commen good of the country and its citizens should be the only focus of an elected official.  I sign this pledge understanding that my name will be available for public view in relation to this pledge and the following sections:

SECTION 1

Section 1 identifies this pledge, the Citizen's Pledge, to be the only pledge I will commit to as a citizen in public office or seeking a public office position.  I understand that this pledge, the Citzen's Pledge, is my commitment to those that have and will support me in a public office role.

SECTION 2

Section 2 identifies that no party takes precedence over the needs of the country and its citizens.  This does not prevent Citizen from creating and supporting legislation that backs their political views.  This section is intended to prevent purposeful and willful misconduct against their country that is is legally and/or ethically wrong.

SECTION 3

Section 3 identifies that as a citizen in or running for a public office any donated funds for that purpose will be disclosed, willingly, upon the request of any citizen of the country.  I understand that I am not legally obligated to this, but willingly do this for the benefit of transparency and honesty.

Day 13 - The I.S.

To start, I.S. stands for "Ignorance Syndrome", and many people suffer from it, even myself sometimes.  However, today, I am talking about not the little mishaps of ignorance that occur on a daily basis: i.e., forgetting to put your signal on when you yelled at the guy 2 minutes earlier for doing the same thing, complaining that everyone leaves carriages in the parking lot and the next day you do the same thing.  Not those, it happens and it becomes annoying because there are so many people in there world, that X people over N days are bound to make it look like "everyone" else does it, except for you, when it simply is not the case.

Today, it is about a much larger issue.  Ignorance that is built into your brain from birth.  Mostly from your environment that you're raised in, but it can occur after the fact as well, when you get older.  In any event, most of these can be seen on a political scale, but there are other versions of this as well.  I'm going to use a really common example: taxes. 

For me, I look at taxes like this: I like having things, such as: good roads, good public education, public parks, healthcare (even just the basic Medicaid, not universal), clean air, clean water, sewer systems, public pools/beaches, etc.  I certainly do not have the time and/or the resources to make sure my family has all this stuff on my own.  So, I either a) Pay taxes and get all of this stuff, to some reasonable degree, or b) Don't pay taxes and have to provide all this crap on my own.  This isn't 1705, I can't just bust out a log cabin, raise a barn, build a little aqueduct, plow up some farmland, AND be a software developer, not gonna happen.  I admit, the IDEA of doing all that is awesome, but it's not practical with the world as it is and the things I enjoy doing.

In any event, for some reason, people bitch about taxes, yet, they still want good roads, clean water, sewer systems, public education, federal programs, neighborhood safety, blah blah blah.  You can't have both, it doesn't work that way, it's either pay taxes and accept that, over time, taxes will rise due to a number of different cost issues.  This isn't the Dark Ages.  We don't have Kings and Queens, with cut throat tax collectors taking your last gold shilling while you starve to death.  Hell, if you go homeless, we have freakin' food shelters and places to sleep, until you can get it together.

This goes even bigger than taxes, and I'm going to go for the big one here: trials.  There's been a whole slew of "chatter" about the Casey Anthony trial.  Now, I have my personal beliefs based on the facts, AS I KNOW THEM, which admittedly, is not full.  I think she's guilty and she got away with murder.  However, that doesn't make her guilty, hell she was found innocent of everything except for lieing.  Let us entertain, for one moment that she is actually innocent.  I see all of this people rallying on Twitter and Facebook, ready to have a ye olde stoning in the middle of Time Square, saying "they know she's guilty", "baby killer", etc etc etc... Yet, none of them actually know, they THINK they know, they have strong FEELINGS, but they don't know anything.  Now, if we go with our "fake scenario" that is innocent, can you imagine what it would be like?   Being a parent, who's child died somehow, and all of this extra pressure and attacks from people who don't know jack?  Again, I need to reiterate, this is not my personal belief that she is innocent. 

I use the trial to demonstrate that people are idiots.  They think they know things, or pretend to understand what they want, and they don't.  Even worse, they take to the streets (or internet) and profess their stupidity to the world.  I'm not saying to "bend over" and accept everything your told, that would be just as stupid.  I'm saying take 5min of your time and use your brain.  Do a little research, you think she's guilty?  Get all the facts, not just your Twitter feeds from the "BreakingNews" account.  You don't like taxes, why don't you explore what benefits you're getting and then, if you still don't like it, then stop using those services and move to a 3rd world country with no organized government.

The world is on a dangerous line of intelligence and stupidity.  The stupid people, feeling insecure, are rallying together and forming groups.  Even mindless zombies that can't think are detrimental in large groups.  It is perfectly valid to have a good debate about a topic, even if you didn't research it, but be open to the idea that you don't know everything and in the end you might even learn something and walk away a little smarter if you keep your mind open.  Be open minded, you don't know everything, and if you do and you're not sharing, you're still part of the problem.