Gun Control

Gun Control, a hot topic around the entire country. Before getting into the subject I would like to say that I have never owned a gun but I have fired a plethora of firearms and enjoyed them immensely. Why? Simply, because they're fun. I certainly understand that guns do not kill people, people kill people. However, if you examine how gun control is handled around the world a pattern is certainly discernible.

What I see as the major difference in the countries around the world with low gun related mortality rates and high gun mortality rates is how society treats the issue. In countries where guns are treated as dangerous weapons used to end the life of our fellow human beings, the gun laws are strict and  most citizens do not feel a need to own a firearm even for self defense. In other countries guns are viewed as a way of life and a right that all citizens are entitled to, the gun laws are lax or non-existent and the gun related mortality rates are out of control.

I do not advocate taking guns from our citizens, but I have to question the wisdom behind a law that states a gun is a right that all citizens should be entitled to own them. In the United States we have a problem with gun violence, however we are not nearly the worst in the world. We have many laws currently governing gun control but not the means to enforce or even monitor the support of these laws. I am constantly hearing arguments on the subject from both sides. One side spouting we need more control the other yelling we have too much and they would rather die than let the government take their guns away. I do not understand either side. I see a country split by ignorance and out of control emotion. What we need in this country is education and proper utilization of policy. I know many people who fit into both sides of the argument and of those people some are more than responsible enough to own and maintain firearms, but a disturbing number on both sides are most assuredly ill-equipped to be responsible with such a great power.

3D Printed Gun

 To be honest I am very surprised that guns are legal in the United States as it seems to be the default stance of our politicians to restrict dangerous things from our citizens in lieu of education and restrictive laws of obtaining said dangerous items. One of my biggest pet peeves about this issue is that many Americans believe everyone is entitled to own a gun but a license to drive is a privilege. One is a tool used primarily to kill and the other is something that has become a necessity in today's modern world yet the perception on the rights are reversed. I would much rather we started putting proper funding into the ATF and start to properly monitor gun control in our country than to take to the extreme like Greece where every person must undergo mandatory psychiatric screenings. However if the alternative is to remain where we are and ignore the fact that some people simply can not handle the responsibility of owning a gun I would welcome the strict laws of countries like Greece with open arms, especially in contrast to countries like the Philippines and Colombia where people can make guns in their back yards and political disagreements are settled by killing your opponents.

~Hugh

Minimum Wage

Thanks to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, on June 25th 1938 this country took a step in a new direction for the Nation's social and economic development by signing into effect the Fair Labor Act of 1938. By setting a minimum wage and maximum hours, an employee can be required to work a week; the working class finally could finally start to enjoy the simple pleasures in life that were denied for so many others around the world.

The minimum wage has fluctuated tremendously since 1938 from the highest benefit to the working class in 1968, that would be equivalent to 10.56 today to the lowest benefit in 1948 that would be an equivalent of 3.81 today. Today the minimum wage is 7.25 in most states, but there have been 13 to increase the minimum to $11 in January 2014, which would be substantial if it was not a mere .44 cents raise from the highest point back in 1968.

According to Senator Elizabeth Warren (MA), there are ample studies that state if the minimum wage laws kept up with the increasing rates of worker productivity, it would be $22 in 2013.

I strongly feel there should be an addendum to the minimum wage laws that states a maximum wage for corporations and the people who run them. For example if you work at McDonalds, you would need to work for over 1 million hours in order to make the same amount of money the CEO makes in just one. This is just ridiculous. We need to gather a voice of reason in this country to stop the corruption of capitalistic greed. If not a maximum wage, then something else that will keep the top 1% from consuming so much that the rest of the world is left in poverty.


~Hugh

The War on Drugs

 
This week I want to talk about the War on Drugs.

Started by President Richard Nixon in 1971, I suppose only Nixon knows why he decided to ignore numerous reports that many drugs have possibly beneficial uses from Doctors, Scientists and even his own Republican lead commission review team reported that Marijuana should not be a Schedule One Narcotic and Unanimously voted to decriminalize. Whatever the reason, be it that he saw the terrible devastation Heroin had on our troops returning from Vietnam or if there was some other hidden agenda (like possibly distracting the public from his own indiscretions), it is obvious that today the War on Drugs is futile and already cost the American Public over One Trillion dollars. The cost of this war is not only measured in money as many people have seen their loved ones spiral out of control and either die or become incarcerated for what should be a public health issue instead of a crime.

As I grow as a person and open my eyes to the problems of the world, I realize that our Country is not the greatest in the world. There are many Countries that go about handling the Drug problem differently with varying degrees of success. A Country that many people over look as influential is Portugal, whom in 2003 following the recommendation of a national commission set up to address the growing drug problem decriminalized all drug use. Instead of jailing these unfortunate people, Portugal's government set up treatment programs in lieu of incarceration siting a moral and financial savings as incentive. Many other countries have joined in this humanitarian effort to change the world Argentina, Brazil, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Honduras to name just a few. Since the decriminalization of drugs in these Countries, the number of addicts has been cut in half.

To me the answer is very simple: Decriminalization is the only way to move forward in our Country, and for a Country that claims individual freedom as our cornerstone, we sure seem to be going about it the wrong way. Not only is punishing someone for doing something to themselves is wrong, but we are blatantly putting billions of dollars into the hands of people willing to commit heinous crimes in order to keep this ruse going.

~ Hugh

Downloading: Harmless or Criminal?

I thought for my first topic I could start with something that everyone seems to have an opinion about, Downloading.

Big Money would have us believe that downloading is the newest way the dredge of society has found to sneak a hand into their pocket and take a piece of their action. Crippling them and forcing sales to drop exponentially. If a product is good and worth purchasing, there is no way to stop hordes of people from going out to buy one of their very own.

I often think about growing up in the 80's, turning on the radio and queuing up the tape deck to make myself a mix tape of all my favorite songs. I learned to do this from my Father whom himself had a huge setup in his "music room" to copy from Vinyl to Tape all his favorite music. This is the same guy whom also taught me how to bypass the "security measures" that VHS tapes later implemented in order to keep people from renting a movie and making a copy for themselves. Even if Big Money would like to exacerbate the idea that making a copy for yourself or your friend is stealing, I do not see the difference between making a copy or having some friends over for a movie night. I have heard the argument that no one is paying for the product that is being shared, but someone had to pay for the original copy that has been uploaded for others to download. Even the crappy video camera bootlegs that are readily available the same day a movie comes out is a copy of an experience some paid an exorbitant amount for, those handheld warriors whom pay the ridiculous prices we all dread to see a movie on the big screen. Not to mention that often people who download a copy of the product already own an official copy or soon buy one after and only wish to protect their investment from being damaged and lost. The biggest reason I have heard from others whom download is that they had a copy of a movie or something and it got ruined by negligence of a third party. How is it fair to require someone to constantly purchase copies of the same materials in order to keep Big Money in Big Money?

All the people I know whom have ever downloaded a movie, show, book or song have done it not to steal money from the pockets of the more fortunate, but to enjoy the product. These are the first people in line, dressed to the nines in their cosplay outfits when their favorite movie, comic or any hobby related item comes out. The people who stand in line for hours to enter the Convention and spend exorbitant amounts of money supporting their favorite form of escapism. These are the people Big Money would have society fine or worse imprison.

Often what is downloaded is something you might not be sure you want to pay for right away, something you heard about and could watch or listen to with a friend but would prefer to do it in the privacy of your own home without taking the risk of damaging your friends copy. I hate it when you hear great things about something and then purchase the product thinking you will enjoy it only to find, it is just not your cup of tea.

There are some people out there who download to turn a profit, to me that is Piracy. Taking the intellectual property of another and selling it to make a profit for yourself. This is where I draw the line. Where is your line? What are your thoughts?

~Hugh

Welcome to Hughtopia

Welcome to Hughtopia, a place where all people are equal.

The purpose of this blog is to discuss the controversial topics that tear our world asunder and prevent all people from being truly equal and happy.

Hot topics to include but not limited to Politics, Religion, Sexism, Racism and economic injustice.

My opinions are my own and I acknowledge that others will have different opinions from my own that may even be in direct conflict with one another.

I hope that through this blog we can have an intelligent conversation without resulting to insulting each other because of our differences.

Together I believe we can merge left and right to forge a singular voice of peaceful influence in our corrupted world.


~Hugh