America needs money. The feds are in deep debt, the rich are begging for bailouts, state and local governments are tapped out, the middle class is being foreclosed on, and poor folk are getting a stank-smelling trickle down that feels more like a trickle dump. And we haven’t even seen the worst of things to come, so say the so-called experts of the confidence game known as the global economy.
And so because it is my civic duty and moral obligation to my fellow Americans, I offer this very quick and very easy, 3-step solution to ending America’s financial meltdown. I don’t even necessarily want credit, just for America (and the world) to buy my books, nominated for five Lambda Literary Awards and available wherever books are sold (click on the book covers in the sidebar to purchase them at Amazon.com!) …
But I digress. Here’s the deal, America, take it, and we can all party like it’s 1945-2000:
1) Legalize prostitution. The jobs. The businesses created. The associated industries created. The federal income tax revenue. The state tax revenue. The lowering of the street-crime crime rate. The lowering of the jail population. The ability of law enforcement to focus on other, more serious crimes. The list goes on and on.
Think it’s impossible, ridiculous and unheard of? Think again. The Catholic Church once sanctioned prostitution and ran the brothels, this at a time when the Church served as a quasi-federal government for much of Europe.
2) Legalize marijuana. The jobs. The businesses created. The associated industries created. The federal income tax revenue. The state tax revenue. The property tax revenue. The lowering of the street-crime crime rate. The lowering of the jail population. The ability of law enforcement to focus on other, more serious crimes. The list goes on and on.
Think it’s impossible, ridiculous and unheard of? Think again. Many states have already legalized medical marijuana. Marijuana’s not even a drug. Marijuana is an herb, like peppermint, ginger, basil and all the other herbs and spices humans use to enhance their food, their health and their lives.
3) Tax churches. More than ever, America is on its way to living up to the idea that all men are created equal. Now it’s time to live up to another idea that Americans are supposed to have fought and died for: separation of church and state. If Congress shall make no law regarding religion, then how about Congress making no laws about religions being exempt from paying taxes? Or are we going to continue this charade called: Our Constitution Says One Thing, But We Actually Practice Something Else Altogether Different?
Think it’s impossible, ridiculous and unheard of? Think again. We’ve lived to see a black man elected president of the United States of America. America can do anything. America can make miracles happen.
Not one single U.S. citizen can see a clear path out of this Pre-Depression we’re in, especially in our lifetime. But if we change our thinking about three things, prostitution, marijuana and churches paying taxes, America could shock the shit out of itself, rise from the ashes of greed and excess, and create a stronger, more financially stable land of the free and home of the employed.
Let’s do it for our country, America, and make America, America the great once again.
Randy Boyd author 