BID IDEAS

BIG BOLD IDEAS to change the way we live...



I was reading a book the other day that I found interesting.  If you are a fan of big ideas and radical change, you might try the book "in our hands" Sort of a semi-surrender to big government (or perhaps a cease fire) but an interesting concept.

Basically you get rid of social security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, and all other government social programs. (sounds great to me so far). And pass a constitutional amendment saying you cannot start up government give always like this ever again.

But...

Every person above the age of 21 gets a check each year for $10,000. (the check getting smaller if you make over $25,000 to a minimum of $5,000 if you make more then $50,000/year).

[link]

Also some stuff about compulsory health insurance and legal reform.

He makes a persuasive case for the idea and its benefits.

Kind of a fun blue sky big idea. Not that it could ever ever happen. That being said, here are my bid ideas/radical changes.

I especially like the solar power one and the idea of nukeing California.

===============================
===========Big Ideas===========
===============================

SEXUAL EQUALITY

In eight year cycles the following voting rules will apply:

From 2008-2015 only men can vote and only women can run for office.
From 2016-2023 only women can vote and only men can run for office.

=================================================

EDUCATIONAL EQUALITY

In the US typically education is funded by property tax, leading to poor kids (who tend to live in poor neighborhoods) getting less money spent on them then rich kids.

That being the case do the following: Kill everyone in the federal departmartment of Education and harvest their organs. No, wait, that's not it. Fire them all and have the only task of the federal government to do the following: Make up the difference in school funding between poor neighborhoods and rich ones. (i.e. If you have one school spending $8000/student and a school in a poorer neighborhood spending $6000/student, send a $2000 check per student to the school the poor kids are going to.

A drawback with this (in the US) is there doesn't seem to be much of a connection between amount spent and quality of education.

================================================================

POWER GENERATION

All building owners can get a 100% tax credit for getting a complete solar power system for their buildings.

I spend $20,000 for a solar power system for my house, and get $10,000 federal tax rebates for the next two years (or however long it takes me to pay $20,000 in federal taxes). Any extra power I generate gets "sold" back into the power grid, with the Federal government getting the revenue. I pay any upkeep costs. Also the Solar power equipment must be manufactured in the USA, by a US based company (if allowable under world trade agreements).

This makes the US more power independent (since energy is fungible). Gives people several hundred extra dollars a month to spend as they see fit. Makes US infrastructure less vulnerable to large-scale disasters. Creates a US based solar power industry (that should be a global winner, due the economics of scale).

===========================================================

EARTHQUAKE PREDICTION

OK, so we cannot really get a good warning on earthquakes. UNLESS WE CAUSE THEM!

So try this: Drill a series of holes down into the San Andreas fault. Insert atomic bombs. Turn off all power, water, and electricity in the state of California. Declare martial law, suggest all occupants of the state get somewhere safe. Set off nuclear bombs in order to trigger earthquakes. Surely the cost to infrastructure and life will be far less if we can actually trigger the coming e