One of the posters on a Nichiren-related message board wrote last week of what he would do if he were a "groovy world dictator". His thought was that he would require all members of all religions to view the Joseph Campbell / Bill Moyers PBS series on Myth. By this act of tyranny, he would cause all religious people to face the fact that myth and metaphor are just that - myth and metaphor, not scientific fact. This would have the wondrous effect of allowing our public schools to get back to teaching science without being forced to give "equal time" to the Book of Genesis. The Chinese and Europeans are laughing at us because of our confusion on this matter, and they have good cause to laugh.
This of course caused me to start thinking about what I would like to do if I were a groovy world dictator. Think me as a shirtless Yul Brynner as Pharoah Ramses in "The Ten Commandments". OK, a middle-aged, somewhat overweight female Yul Brynner in pantyhose. Picture it, go ahead. Where he folds his hands over his chest and points a commanding finger and says, "So let it be written, so let it be done."
Here are some of the dictates I would hand down from on high:
1. All public school teachers and nurses would receive 100% salary raises and a fabulous annual paid luxury vacation, as well as a lot of social status. So let it be written, so let it be done.
2. All supermarkets would be required to have an identical floorplan. The pantyhose will always be on aisle 12. This will allow my citizens to do actual comparison and price shopping, rather than spending all their time wandering the aisles trying to find items. So let it be written, so let it be done.
3. The Chicago Cubs would win the World Series. Fair and square. So let it be written, so let it be done.
4. Hospitals would serve healthy food. So let it be written, so let it be done.
5. All male college freshmen will be given a complimentary DVD of the feature film, "Barbarella, Queen of the Galaxy", starring Jane Fonda. In my kingdom, if you're going to get stoned and wank, you should do it right. So let it be written, so let it be done.
What would you do if you were a groovy world dictator?
Be tyrannous, be truthful, be cool.
Byrd in LA
ROFL! Definitely agree about the supermarkets and pay for teachers and nurses.
You sound like a wise, benign dictator.
Posted by: Michele at June 21, 2007 10:23 AMGreat Blog, Byrd:
My edicts would be...
1. Any leader who would wage war would be required to put their own kids on the front line.
2. Any public offical found enriching themselves or putting their vote up for sale, betrating the public good should be impailed publically.
3.All drugs should be legalized and cheap so all the morons, marble eaters, and societal misfits out there could eliminate themselves, reducing crime and saving the taxpayers money.
4. All oil executives and pharamaceutical bigwigs who have bled the people dry should be stripped of their assets and put in the Saraha desert without provisions until the earth scorches their bones into dust.
5. On a more merificul note - there should be free access to medical and dental care as well as resonably priced medicine for every citizen.
I could go on...
So let it be written, so let it be done.
Charles
Posted by: Charles at June 22, 2007 11:50 AMI'd resign after one day and collect my pension.
Seriously, I like the Faith Based Initiative. I would teach some Buddhist Self-Reformation methods in prisons. Metta Cultivation, Basic Concentration skills, and Mindfulness-Insight Meditation. That could be done in a faith neutral manner.
I'd do something a bit different than Chuck on Health Care. I would maybe make it free through age 5. I would then ban first dollar health insurance. All people would be required to have catastrophic health insurance. The deductible and OOPM would be high. This would be paired with an MSA equal to the deductible. Subsidies based on Income.
On other hand, it could be time to just semi- nationalize health care. I do not trust government health care, but the private system might be damaged beyond repair. I think a system of free clinics would work. These could be optional. Like Reverse School Choice applied to Health Care. Let people pick private care or the government doctors.
At the very least, get rid of the Medicare black out period for non-working widows and spouses of deceased or disabled fully insured workers.
Posted by: robek at July 5, 2007 01:52 AMRobin wrote:
"I do not trust government health care, but the private system might be damaged beyond repair."
I have been a member of the VA healthcare system for 37 years and that model - as the largest health care sysstem in the U.S. - is the working model for our people. No, it's not fancy, but no one is ever turned away, and they spend whatever money is needed to treat you, no matter how sick you are. Medication is cheap through the VA because it negotiates the best price through buying in bulk.
No matter what you hear about the failures of Walter Reed Army Hospital, overall the VA reduces everyone to equal, You're a millionare? Get in line. You're a homeless person, get in line. In other words, under this system, affluence doesn't get you special treatment - it's always equal, with priority to the most seriously ill.
Charles
Posted by: Charles at July 7, 2007 08:19 AM