Make America Better

By focusing on the US in no way am I attempting to say that America is the best country on Earth, or that it's better than the others, or somehow more important. However, I live here, and I have been thinking deeply about what American citizens can do to un-screw up the country. The past four years have been hell on Earth for me and I suspect for many of you. Therefore, here are some actions that I know can improve it here:

• There's only one main message that needs to be stamped on every available surface in the country and engraved on people's hearts: you cannot obtain freedom (definition: freedom to do whatever you want so long as you harm no innocent people) at the expense of innocent people. Because when freedom is denied to anyone who isn't a criminal, it slowly dies for everyone. Everyone. Discrimination, -isms, high school type cliquishness, tribalism, and closedmindedness destroy freedom. It's not provable by logic, but it is provable by history and experience. You stamp a label on someone and shut them out of your little bubble, then they shut you out of theirs, and social codes of conduct spring up to force people to conform so they "stay in their place," and that's freedom? Yeah obviously not.
• As an elaboration on that, what the far right is calling "freedom" is nothing more than glorified Fascism, and what the far left is calling "freedom" is nothing more than glorified Communism. It is neither of those things. You see, the far-Right want to keep everyone who isn't just like them enslaved to dead-end jobs, ignorance, and social norms, and the far-left wants to keep us all enslaved to the opinions of others, to self-hate, to censorship, and to giving up on ourselves in favor of "others" while enslaving their enemies (everyone far-right) by using intersectionality to shove 'em down and climb up the ladder of success on their backs. Slavery is still slavery even if it isn't obvious. Freedom is freedom is freedom and if you don't get it, fuck you.
• Here's how to make a democracy into something that resembles a meritocracy as closely as possible. Understand the difference between the two: effort. You have to want a meritocracy. And you have to work for one. That's it. Since power structures exist on a macrocosm and a microcosm, start by making one in your immediate sphere of influence and see how life improves. Then exert effort wherever else you can to see what changes you can make to make bigger power structures move in that direction. And tell everyone you know. Every little bit helps.
• Tell every disabled veteran you know about this VA vocational rehabilitation education funding program Link out
• Active duty military and veterans: I am not a veteran and not in the military but I've talked to a lot of you guys. I like you. Most of you are great people, and great people often get taken advantage of by people they trust. Be very wary of people who want cash influxes on a regular basis. Keep your money, you earned it.
• Above all think for yourself and question everything. Groupthink is what got us into this situation. We do not need more of it. I wish there was some way I could prove that thinking for yourself is less scary than not thinking for yourself but I can't quite grasp how yet, other than to tell you that it is.
• American and not super left wing or right wing? Speak up and get loud. Communists and Fascists are not who we are. Idiots who can't see the truth when it's staring them in the face, that's not who we are. That's not what this country is. Get loud. Tell them to shut the fuck up and crawl back in their holes. Tell the rest of the world what we really stand for; tell them about our integrity, and show them too.
• Truth is a comforting touchstone in a world gone mad. That's why science is so awesome.
• Don't fall prey to the belief that America is dead or that its soul is gone forever. Nope. It's in you. It's in me. It IS us. Even if you weren't born in America, if you believe in the ideals that are what constitutes America, then you are American. America is not a place, a nationality, or something that was gifted upon you. It is a mindset, a choice, and a dream that exists because we want it to exist and bring it into existence by embodying it. Of course, this doesn't apply to Trump Nazis or antimaskers, damn them all.
• On that note, evict every antimasker and Trumpist from your life. Fire them from your businesses. Do not do business with them. Ostracize them, shame them, send them to prison, exile them, give them the boot! They took 500,000 souls from us in just one year. There is only one thing that could truly destroy this country, and that is if too many besides the antimaskers/Trumpists are complacent, tolerant, and turn the other cheek to their genocide. You're damn right this has happened before. Right before the Holocaust. The parallels are crystal clear. Don't screw this up.
• Who knows why people still support Trump. I hope a lot of them are still good people. I hope they still love their children and families, their communities and their country. I hope they're simply misinformed and gullible. But I know that for a significant majority of Trump supporters their reasons for supporting the idiot have nothing to do with "good" and everything to do with coming out on top no matter what it takes, including war crimes. I seriously am concerned for the tiny tiny percentage of deluded Trumpists who say they support this guy but have good hearts. They're going to get victimized by the other Trump supporters who have been encouraged by said idiot's rhetoric to become ever more narcissistic and sociopathic. It's only a matter of time.
• Continue to get your acquaintances, family and friends on board, and vote. I mean it - every year, for the rest of your life. Actually research each local, state, and federal candidate first, and see where their money comes from. Never hop on a name or a bandwagon without proper vetting. Choose wisely.
• Read local, state, federal, and international news from a variety of nonbiased news sources at least twice a week. It is unwise to interfere with what's going on if you don't know what is going on.
• Contact your elected representatives regularly, annoyingly, and persistently. Also contact your favorite businesses. Give them a piece of your mind so they change in ways that help the country, and you.
• After the pandemic is over, protest. The Resistance will long outlast MAGA but it is important to show the whole world our true colors or they'll never trust America again.
• Oh yeah, it would be good if as many people as possible bought "tread on me, daddy" stickers and stuck them on everything they owned Tommy Siegel Shop I'm not even sorry for saying that, haha.
• If you're part of the Resistance or apolitical, then you'd better buy a concealed carry and learn how to use it, and demand a lot of funding for the police and the military. While you're at it, consider actually joining the police, or serving in our armed forces. We don't have the luxury of being helpless anymore. At the very least buy a weapon and become physically fit so you can defend yourself. Madmen are on the loose and our justice system isn't exactly doing its job. Heck with de-funding the police and the military. BECOME the police and the military.
• Among the things that will probably help to demand from elected federal and state representatives: every protection for ensuring our democracy is actually a democracy and not just pretending to be one, durable high-speed low-traffic infrastructure including transit/USPS/internet/shipping, a low-cost federal option for transit/internet/cell phone/health care service, JFK's consumer rights written into law Consumer Bill of Rights, rights for essential workers, legal protections aplenty for the helpless and the poor that actually get enforced, fiscal responsibility esp. with regards to our huge national debt (hire a good bunch of accountants already, yeesh), rights for children esp. reducing age of emancipation to 14, support for veterans, streamlined and increased legal immigration esp. merit-based, large scale adoption of renewable and sustainable energy and technologies based on science, privacy rights including online and via telephone, investment in innovation and scientific breakthroughs, very large amounts of land given back to Native American tribal nations, large tracts of land set aside as wilderness preserves/carbon sinks/flood moderation/air pollution filters, legalized medical marijuana and nonpsychoactive hemp products, massive fines and jail time for people and businesses that pollute or destroy natural resources commensurate with how much and how badly they screwed up, body cams on cops and teachers, the right to collect a reasonable amount of rainwater for household use every year, integration of herbal medicine with allopathic medicine in law and regulation (much like China has done with Traditional Chinese Medicine integrated into its hospitals), legislation that defines nature and the Earth as a 'person' under the law much like how corporations are defined and mandates independent agencies function as its legal counsel, make NASA a federal agency again and invest in it, every anti-corruption measure possible
• Among the things that will probably help to demand from city and local representatives: Increased funding for local libraries, collaboration of local libraries with local schools, bookstores, coffee shops, and universities, such as by lowering taxes for all of them if they put their buildings in proximity. Also commonsense infrastructure, adopting eco-friendly city landscaping methods, high-speed punctual regional and local transport, Tokyo-style recycling and city composting, and abolishing toll roads. No one likes toll roads.
• Boycott and shame crappy news, crappy companies, crappy businesspeople, and crappy businesses. Support the good ones.
• Invest in your own mental health. Learn about methods of maintaining mental health, find the best therapist or therapy book you can, work on it, don't give up. It is everything.
• Continue to educate yourself and others, but with the truth and with the highest quality of education possible. In order to end MAGA's terrorism, bigotry, human rights violations and threats to the American way of life, this is necessary. Stay openminded and have truth, not comfort, as one of your highest ideals. Study something seriously every weekday; continually improve your education (education = understanding of truth, not necessarily studying from a book or whatever) until you kick the bucket; and learn something new every day. As we have seen, ignorance is poison. Focus on quality of education and understanding what you are learning, not on 'passing' and earning a fancy piece of paper. And teach what you are best at. Each one teach one. Use the internet to spread your knowledge, and share your knowledge with your friends, family, and acquaintances. Ask yourself "What do I know? Who needs to know it? Have I told them?" (source: Call Sign Chaos by General Mattis and Bing West)
• Do what you can to support making every town a college town. We're notorious worldwide for being the most stupid country on Earth. No more. Plus, with a college town all the fun of college can be had even when you're no longer in college. List
• Seriously consider officially serving this country in some way, unless you're already an essential worker. The military and the National Guard are not the only options. There is also Americorps, the Peace Corps, volunteering at a local charity, and being a politician yourself.
• Amp up your support of your family, friends, and trusted acquaintances. If you still have more to give, amp up your support of charities that you properly researched beforehand. Decent people have to support one another to get through this madness. Be more loving, more supportive, more emotionally available, a better listener, a better ally, but start with yourself and your own mental health so you have a full cup to pour from.
• Here are some charities if you want to see what you can get involved with. If you need help and can't give any, then definitely take a look. Who knows, maybe one can help you.
• Support people who are working on improving the world no matter where in the world they are, such as pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong and Russia, and people working on the Green Belt project (Wangari Maathai's work) in Africa. Even if all you can do is signal boost it. Decent people working together are stronger than decent people alone. Yep, this is the #ArmyOfTheDecent hashtag at work.
• Solidify friendships with people who live in other countries. Reach out to people you've lost contact with so they know you're there. To have a friend, be a friend, you know?
• Define and defend your boundaries, especially with toxic people. It is not somehow wrong to insist on your personal needs. Don't allow yourself to be walked all over and if anyone refuses to respect your clearly stated needs, cutting off all contact is the healthiest thing to do.
• Do not hesitate to do what is right even if it is difficult. Turning the other cheek is not always the right thing to do. Obviously, neither is vicious intolerance. Strive for wisdom.
• Strengthen your spiritual foundation, no matter what that is. Atheism counts. Nihilism counts. Buddhism counts. Doesn't matter, as long as it works for you. I will say this, however: if you lack compassion in your religion, you're probably doing it wrong. As a matter of fact, I've studied a whole bunch of religions - Witchcraft (that's mine), Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, even Shinto - and the whole point of all of the aformentioned is to make your heart grow three sizes, Grinch. I'm saying that to myself as well here because I have an anger problem.
• #TeamTrees. It was a thing in 2019 and it can still be a thing. Do you have a backyard? Do you have a dollar? Do what you can. Get involved with the Arbor Day Foundation while you are at it and see if you can make your city into a Tree City USA. TeamTrees Arbor Day Clean air is awesome.
• #Trashtag. It doesn't matter if you pick up a trail or a riverside. Post before and after pictures and keep the trend going. We need it to. Living Lands and Waters helps to get large-scale trash pickups going on rivers. Living Lands and Waters
• Take a look at the massive problems facing the United States and try to do what you can to help. Try. It doesn't need to be a humongous effort, but doing your small part may make larger changes than you expect, especially if you persist and improve your methods over time.
• Do what you can to become a better person yourself. I'll be doing that in the coming years, and if you and a lot of other folks do it too, we're going to see a broad-reaching impact. Even if you and me are the only ones, at least we'll see a positive impact in our own lives from our efforts so it's still worth it eh?
• Our tap water sucks! Read Superman's Not Coming by Erin Brockovich and do what you can as per its instructions
• Take a closer look at American history and culture if you can, and our way of life, and our extraordinary people and accomplishments at a local and national level. I can't think of another country so chock full of "no, you didn't really," "is this really a thing?" and "how did you pull that off?" That's been buried under the sludge of the past thirty years but that doesn't mean it's not there. You gotta dig to find it, and once you do you'll be astonished - I am telling you, you've got to dig. This is not blind egotism or nationalism when I say that when it comes to America, we're all that and a bag of chips, baby.
• 9/1/22 As cool as this country's entertainment culture is, it's not as cool as our everyday heroes. Essential workers, believe it or not, don't actually have to do their jobs right or go above and beyond. Ever. It's kind of rare. Those that do, however, you remember. Those are heroes. They don't wear capes. And they don't ask for credit so you don't often know who they are. Nonetheless...
• 9/1/22 In essence, the United States has its fair share of serious problems. It's fucked up these days. But... it's also probably the least worst country. I think a major reason why that is is because there is such a culture here of helping one another. We are a stronghold of good karma. Helping one another is just what we do. In a lot of other countries , it's every person for themselves. Sure, it doesn't seem like that because many other countries have people helping one another due to the social norms and unspoken common law rules. The difference is that here we help one another because we teach one another that to choose to do so is a good idea. Result? A massive chunk of the population will regularly choose to help people out of the kindness of their hearts, and the rest of the population has probably done such a thing at least once or twice. The beautiful thing is that it's not even mandatory here like it is in other countries, where you don't know who's doing this just for personal gain and who's doing this out of genuine concern. Is it the only country like that? Obviously not. But that's truly what makes this country home.
• 4/26/23 The world needs a mom friend. Honest? I think a lot of folks in the US can do that by helping kids in other countries in every way possible. People differ, trends and cultures and worldviews differ, and lots of people in the States can't get along that well with folks in other countres... but here's the thing. Kids are kids the world over. They're just kids. Therefore even the people in the US that don't give a crap about the adults in other countries? Could help the kids in other countries, via donation, volunteer work over here or abroad, work in the Peace Corps, or similar. I have a suspicion a lot of people in other country also feel the same way about kids worldwide.

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