Cartwright: Absolutely. We waste a lot of resources prosecuting people for ridiculous charges like possessing marijuana yet murders, rapists, and violent criminals go free. Going back to an earlier discussion, we need to decriminalize drugs, tax them and regulate that industry. We accomplish nothing by locking people up who have possession of marijuana. It hasn’t stopped people lighting up. Nearly half the federal prison population is incarcerated on drug charges. About a quarter of the states’ prison populations are incarcerated on drug charges. This all costs the taxpayers money. Continue reading
Politics
2013 Symposium: We Are Currently $18 Trillion In Debt; What Should We Do?
Cartwright: We’ve discussed this extensively before. I believe we debated it at length at one of the champagne summits back in October. The Republicans had the Democrats and Mr. Obama over the barrel back in October with the government shutdown and they caved in. They got scared that the media was blaming them and that the public was turning against them, so they rolled over and gave in. They could have forced the Democrats and Obama to do whatever they wanted by just keeping the government shutdown. The voters would have forgotten about it all by the time the 2014 mid-term elections came up. But no, they gave in and got nothing for it. In fact, Mr. Obama and the Democrats came out smelling like a rose. Continue reading
Top Problems Plaguing America by Digger Cartwright
America is in crisis. We are a nation in decline as a result of society’s own hedonism, greed, and self destruction. Our problems are rooted not only in our dysfunctional political system but in the dysfunctional state of society itself, both of which have become increasingly more dysfunctional over the last decade. Americans’ perceptions of our problems are divided along political lines, which tends to cloud the judgment of individuals and take the discussion away from the cause of the political problems to a debate over political ideology. Each and every American shares part of the blame for the problems plaguing our nation, and if we don’t address the problems individually, as a society, and as a nation, they will continue to grow and like a cancer consume our health and vitality, eventually killing the foundation upon which our nation was established and the foundations of our society. Continue reading
Are There Benefits of Higher Gas Prices?
From Thinking Outside The Boxe’s Sydney Correspondent: Gas prices seem to be rising constantly, and historically are at high levels. If you asked most people if there were any benefits as a result the answer would most probably be a resounding no. And at a time when the economy is in a bad state and many people are out of work high gas prices ensure that American families continue to be squeezed financially. However the news is not all bad. It may seem difficult to believe but high oil prices do provide some benefits, and not just to the oil companies. In this article we will examine some of these benefits and see who is benefitting. Continue reading
How Opinion Became More Important Than Fact and The Future of News (Part I)
From Thinking Outside The Boxe’s Sydney Correspondent: Over the past 50 years or so, and more particularly in the last twenty, we have witnessed a shift in society which has resulted in the majority of us being more interested in, and placing greater emphasis, on opinion rather than the facts. This article will trace the development of this phenomenon from our focus on celebrity through the advent of the internet and the rise of social media and citizen journalism. Finally we will ask where this will all lead and what it will mean in a society that is embracing technological communication at the same pace that it is abandoning traditional sources of “news”. Continue reading
How Opinion Became More Important Than Fact and the Future of News (Part II)
From Thinking Outside The Boxe’s Sydney Correspondent: The first part of this article touched on the fact that there are now many online celebrity news websites, and indeed the world wide web has been a fertile breeding ground for the growth of opinion and the decline of fact. Now every person with access to the internet can express their opinion on a blog, Facebook, or Twitter. Indeed ‘Web 2.0’ (the social web) was a phrase coined to describe the way in which people began to use the internet to connect to other people directly in the way they wanted rather than relying solely on programs and services directed by others. On the internet, unlike in the world of traditional media there are no defamation or libel laws so people can freely express any opinion they want and declare that it is news even if it contains not even the slightest bit of truth. Continue reading
7 Stupid Issues In America Today
Submitted by Digger Cartwright: Americans and the media regularly debate a host of social, moral, and religious issues. It is alarming to see the emotion that many individuals have invested in these issues. Clearly, emotions have clouded the rational judgment and logic of these individuals. It is good to be passionate about what you believe in, but such passion is a detriment when trying to work to solve the problems of America and society and often leads to divisiveness and animosity towards those with opposing views. Continue reading
8 Solutions to the Dysfunctional Political System in America
Submitted by Digger Cartwright
We all know that the current atmosphere in Washington, D.C. can be described as dysfunctional. I’ve been giving a lot of thought to ways that our dysfunctional political system could be fixed. Here’s what I’ve come up with. Continue reading
Disaster Aid & Relief: Government Responsibility or Private Funds?
From Thinking Outside the Boxe’s Sydney Correspondent
The question of Government pouring millions of dollars into disaster relief is increasingly coming into focus as major economies face difficulties in supporting their own citizens. The seemingly endless tragic disasters that we see on the tv news has also contributed to a sense of donor fatigue. This prevailing attitude has been summed up by one individual in a petition to the UK Government who wrote: Continue reading
Are the Lives of All Humans Equally Valuable?
From Thinking Outside the Boxe’s Sydney Correspondent
Before I begin, it is important to point out that this article will not be an analysis of the arguments put forward by the controversial ethicist Peter Singer. As such I am in no way arguing that the life of one individual is worth more or less than that of another. Instead, my intention is to look at the evidence that suggests that on a broader basis society does quite often, for a variety of reasons, appear to consider that one person, or group of people is more important and valuable than another. Continue reading
Thinking Outside The Boxe 