Constitution v/s Modern America (How has this Happened)?

I have an Idea....its a lil radical....but..its an idea...

We write a New Consitution. We hold a New Continental Congress. We bring in UN diplomats and Other North American leaders....just like what we would make any other country we were making form a new government do.

We insure that EQUAL rights for all LEGAL CITIZENS are enumerated and protected in the document. While allowing for it to be a living document much as ours is supposed to be today.

We outlaw MegaConglomerates from donating ANY money at all to ANY government group. We levy a 30 percent Tax DIRECTLY on to PROFITS of Major Corporations.

We pass legislation making it so that Corporations do NOT count as people.

We pass a mandatory PERCENTAGE based tax code.

We pass a mandatory PERCENTAGE fees and fines code.

We secure our National Borders by creating a comprehensive Legal Immigration program. Allowing for immigrants who wish to come to this country to come through LEGAL channels. Not Amnesty not Guest Worker Program. LEGAL IMMIGRATION...requiring the Learning of English.

We MANDATE English or American however you wish to call it as our national Language.

We Pass a New Bill or RIghts spelling out all of our IMPORTANT freedoms. Speech Religon so on and so forth. But at the same time instead of leaving the remaing rights to the States as we do in our current consitution we leave them to the people.

We OUTLAW all soft money and lobbyist groups. All Campaign finance is PUBLIC funded. No more pay to play.

The right to HIGHSPEED information because a Legal Right.

We do away with the seperation of races within the consitution....which means getting rid of the 14th amendment. Replacing it with a simple line....ALL PEOPLES ARE CREATED EQUAL AND ARE THEREFORE EQUAL in the sight of this government. Simple and to the point.

New Finance laws need to be in our constitution as well making it harder for companies to pull an Enron or Worldcom scam.

And finally....The Continental Congress Representatives CANNOT AND WILLNOT be buisness man...but rather citizens elected from thier districts.

Decentralize the Federal Government. Deprivatize the Federal Reserve. Trim down our HUGE foreign policy and military budget.

Start pumping BILLIONS into Health Care management systems and New Ground Breaking Education systems.

I know this is all a lil radical and will more than likely never happen. But Since this is a contrast between Consitution and modern america I thought id throw in an idea for a new modern America.

El senor pom pom rides again

CSRules said:

1) All able bodied persons on welfare will be required to work these jobs. What ever they are paid, will be deducted from their welfare checks. Win-Win...The jobs are getting done, and we reduce the amount spent on welfare. SImple as this...NO WORK, NO CHECK...if you do not like it, then better yourself. (I'm even willing to use tax dollars to promote this)...BUt NO MORE free rides.
2) All minimum security prisioners can do these jobs. They can work time off their sentences...and hopefully (This may be wishful thinking,) Learn about the real world.

Well CS, I like your other idea's but this one stinks and in time could lead to virtual slave labour, why pay Joe Blo 'X' amount when you can fire him and get some poor guy to mandatorially fill this job and do it for 3x less the wage that Joe makes.
And for point number 2, Prisoners should NEVER be put to work for any reason! What is to stop any government from making stupid new laws and increasing mandatory minimums simply to supply their big business friends to get a ready supply of cheap or free labour so they can get big kickbacks and secure big profits on another form of virtual slavery.

Corruption creeps in from every opportunity.

How is this slave labor if we are willing to help those help themselves. The only way I see slave labor, is the prisoners. And this can be legislated not to be slave labor. Personally I believe prisoners have no rights, they broke the law...they have a debt to pay to society. While i'm on the subject, those that are proven guilty of certian crimes of rape, molestation, and murder who are convicted with unrefutable(sp) evidence should be executed on the spot, saving our tax dollars. As for those in minimum security doing these jobs, this is no different than the chain gangs of the past. I believe in HARD TIME for all prisoners. Wjether they deserve to be executed, or those who have minor infractions of the law, doing jobs they find beneath them. For those who have committed lesser crimes, hopefully this "Hard Labor" will make them think twice before they do it again.

Is this a perfect solution...NO. But I think it wll reduce crime for those who commit crimes, other than murder, molestation, or rape. As I have said before. Make the people on welfare work these jobs. If and when they better themselves to better jobs, their are high school kids every year looking for jobs. If there comes a point where the employers have to pay more for these jobs, I ersonally would rather spend a few extra dollars at the grocery store, knowing that our borders are safe, and "Illegals" are not abusing our system!

Mod Edit: Big Quote – Please Review This Link.

[edit on 22-4-2006 by AgentSmith]

OK, so just imagine a ruthless corporation, (or any if this would become commonplace) in order to become more profitable, or just to equally compete with those corps. who practice virtual slave labour.

Now,..Just suppose a corporation wanted to reduce their labour costs, what will they do,.....Now what will they do.....Hmmm?
Well, they will lay off or fire the stiffs that are costing them high labour costs and just make a deal with the good ole' gubberment to have them replaced by welfare victims and prisoners.
Well, at least that way we can make goods as cheap as China can, and we don't even have shipping fees to contend with.
It's a sweet freakin' DEAL!!!

Now just suppose all this cheap labour was running out, well, no problem, just increase mandatory minimums, perhaps even create a few new laws, we can fill up the prisons to supply all the needs of our corporate friends.
No problem!

CS rules there is only one problem with your suggestion of Using Convicted criminal for Labour....it already been done...in the early fourties and fifties as well as in the early 20's and 30's the US government and multiple state governments....I.E The State of Florida...the State of AZ and the State of TX to name a few inacted legislation that allowed for the Use of Criminal labor so long as they were payed. What ended up happening was Jail Wardens became increasingly more and more curropt and took away work from the everyday average working person. So while on paper its a great idea...but the moment you bring humans and money into the equation it eventually goes to crap.

What might be feasible is a CAP on all profits...start making it to where you CANT have huge profits...if you are that means you need to lower your prices....What we have had over the past fity or so years is the exact opposite of what we need. Everytime profits go up...so do prices...whereas it should be the other way around.

Corporations no longer get to count as Individuals some of the time and not the rest of the time. I.E when a corporation comits a crime...that corporation goes to "jail". Meaning they cant buy and they cant sell for a select amount of time. Corporations start having RECORDS...meaning everytime they screw up it is documented and made public knowledge.

Money though...Money is what has caused our government to decay. Too much money and curroption is bound to follow.

We need to get rid of K street...throw all of them in jail sieze all thier assests and build schools, hospitals, and community centers in areas that need it. I.E no where where Rich white old men live(BTW im white..suxs sometimes but we do what we can).

El senor pom pom rides again

I dont know what yall mean by the question "what has happened?" In my opinion, nothing has happened. My rights are they same they were under Clinton, GHWB, and Reagan. For me nothing has changed. Yall say the constitution has been retired, some say haebeus corpus is gone but this just isnt true. One of my friends was arrested last month and has been given all the rights he is required to have. You can bitch and moan about the "domestic spying" all you want but the fact is, The Congress Committie on Intelligence was briefed in on the program, and the Attourney General whos job it is to let the President know of the legality of such a program had no objections. There wasnt an uproar until this came to the publics attention and certain members of congress wanted to play politics with it. Its simple as that. Unless youre sending emails, fax's, phone calles, or text messages with the words kill, bomb, blow up, ect ect. Then you have nothing to worry about. Do any of you feel it is wrong to have a hot word list that can be picked up in communications, or do people have the right to talk about bombing # inside this country with impunity?

There is nothing MODERN about what's happening in America.

If you think all that is happening is " In Vogue" it is not. It is happening as a result of a corrupt government.

33% (almost freezing) in job approval does give me hope that i am not alone in my misery. That's with a 60% dissaproval. The rest dont know.

There are a LOT of good idea's in this thread.

It is too bad you are all wasting your breath and internet time.

This topic really sickens me - how bad does it have to get before everyone wakes up.

THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO!!!!!!

It is lost, all is lost to greed and power. For MANY years, Americans have been trying to do SOMETHING to fix the items mentioned in this thread and there isn't even a visible dent. In fact, some who have tried to put things back have died.

I wish with all my heart that the right thing could be done, but we have become overpowered now. We the people are no longer stronger than the government. America has been taken and enslaved. There is nothing we can do.

We can now only protest the small things, to make it seem like we are in control. Guess thats better than nothing.

So, you other countries - don't hate us Americans, hate our leaders who have fooled many of us.

There is something we can do.

This part is for the Mods and crew....I am not advocating that any ATS members do any of the following nor am I in any way attempting to convince or persuade any person(s) to join with myself. I am in no way attempting to form a group from ATS members nor am I attempting to set up meeting for person(s) from this website.

That being said....I just watched V for Vendetta and while movies are movies...it really struck a cord with me. I have ranted and raved through numerous posts about what should be done and whats being done that is wrong. AFter seeing this movie I feel galvanized towards some sort of aciton possibly similar to that described in said film.

All I am trying to say, especially to you Godservant is this. The wealthy and powerful are only that for one reason....we THE PEOPLE are willing to go to work in thier factories and drive thier cars and eat thier specially grown and chemically altered foostuffs. They are wealthy not because they have actually physically done somethign. Like built a wall...cleaned a street....taught someone the basics of life and educated them. No they have created HUGE multinational corporations that skirt the law at ever turn and whose only goal is the increase in ones own monetary worth.

What WE can do....is something that is scary....hard...and mroe than likely painful. But as the mother goes through pain during birth so must those who seek to bring about change on a large scale. Things will not be hunky dorey....there will be strife and suffering...but through it all a new day can dawn. What we can do is refuse to work...refuse to pay....and if need be take up arms against the very institution we seek to change. But if the instution created by man has become so corrupt as to cease functioning it is the duty of the people whom are governed to bring down the instution and put in its place a suitable replacement. One that trully is for the people and not for itself. Nothing lasts forever...things change it is the only constant. We must be willing to change with it or we risk suffering even greater because of our apathy. Corporations and BIG Government people will not stop on thier own accord...they must be made to stop by whatever means neccessary.

There is a symbiotic relationship that is supposed to exhist between the people, buisness, media, and government. Those balances have been broken. Godsend what we must do it look into ourselves and find the courage to stop particpating. THe hardest thing for any human to do is nothing. But nothing is exactly what we must do for now. We must refuse on a National level to cooperate...to function...to be peaceful....we must refuse to play by the rules and paradigms that we have excepted blindly.

The immigration movement has it correct. We must all show the government and Big buisness that without us they cannot function. Government and Buisness do not exist but for the people. From time to time they forget this....and it is the Duty of all people to remind them.

Violence must be the last option. But unfortunetly it must remain an option. Symbolism is sometimes more powerful than any rally or protest. Symbolic acts of violence have in the past been effective in getting the messege across to those whom would normally not listen.

We must NOT go silently into that good night. We must fight. We must not fall and be yoked by masters. We must not fail...

El senor pom pom rides again

Elsenorpompom, I would join if there was a large effort making this happen, but if just me and you and a couple others did this, it would be futile.

I am ALL for action, but alone I am nothing. Ever try to paint a house with a single hair on a paintbrush?

If there was ever an action that was coordinated and had even a slight chance of succees, I'd be there. However, I think the days of being effective against the monster on major issues are over.

Originally posted by Elsenorpompom
There is something we can do.

This part is for the Mods and crew....I am not advocating that any ATS members do any of the following nor am I in any way attempting to convince or persuade any person(s) to join with myself. I am in no way attempting to form a group from ATS members nor am I attempting to set up meeting for person(s) from this website.

That being said....I just watched V for Vendetta and while movies are movies...it really struck a cord with me. I have ranted and raved through numerous posts about what should be done and whats being done that is wrong. AFter seeing this movie I feel galvanized towards some sort of aciton possibly similar to that described in said film.

All I am trying to say, especially to you Godservant is this. The wealthy and powerful are only that for one reason....we THE PEOPLE are willing to go to work in thier factories and drive thier cars and eat thier specially grown and chemically altered foostuffs. They are wealthy not because they have actually physically done somethign. Like built a wall...cleaned a street....taught someone the basics of life and educated them. No they have created HUGE multinational corporations that skirt the law at ever turn and whose only goal is the increase in ones own monetary worth.

What WE can do....is something that is scary....hard...and mroe than likely painful. But as the mother goes through pain during birth so must those who seek to bring about change on a large scale. Things will not be hunky dorey....there will be strife and suffering...but through it all a new day can dawn. What we can do is refuse to work...refuse to pay....and if need be take up arms against the very institution we seek to change. But if the instution created by man has become so corrupt as to cease functioning it is the duty of the people whom are governed to bring down the instution and put in its place a suitable replacement. One that trully is for the people and not for itself. Nothing lasts forever...things change it is the only constant. We must be willing to change with it or we risk suffering even greater because of our apathy. Corporations and BIG Government people will not stop on thier own accord...they must be made to stop by whatever means neccessary.

There is a symbiotic relationship that is supposed to exhist between the people, buisness, media, and government. Those balances have been broken. Godsend what we must do it look into ourselves and find the courage to stop particpating. THe hardest thing for any human to do is nothing. But nothing is exactly what we must do for now. We must refuse on a National level to cooperate...to function...to be peaceful....we must refuse to play by the rules and paradigms that we have excepted blindly.

The immigration movement has it correct. We must all show the government and Big buisness that without us they cannot function. Government and Buisness do not exist but for the people. From time to time they forget this....and it is the Duty of all people to remind them.

Violence must be the last option. But unfortunetly it must remain an option. Symbolism is sometimes more powerful than any rally or protest. Symbolic acts of violence have in the past been effective in getting the messege across to those whom would normally not listen.

We must NOT go silently into that good night. We must fight. We must not fall and be yoked by masters. We must not fail...

El senor pom pom rides again

While I wanted to title this "A Simple Solution" I thought better. One of the first things we need to do is get Corporate lobbyists barred from the capital. Well this sounds good, I think we need to come up with a plan that lets the people come together to lobby Congress, but keep Corporations and Special Intrests out of the mix. How to do this, I'm not 100% sure, but we need to give the everyday American the right to lobby Congress, while keeping the Corporations and Special Intrests out. Any Ideas on this are welcome. The only solution I can think of, is to ban Corporations and Special Intrest groups from lobbying Congress. While this is not perfect (Hell, far from it) If any corporation or special intrest group is found to be behind the citizen lobbyists, then they should be prosecuted to full extent of the law. This means...shutting down corporations, and jailing all involved. While I know this isn't perfect. How about some better ideas?!?!