politics

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Note: I wrote this page as a response to requests from many people who have asked me where I stand on popular political issues. Unfortunately, many people are rageful and intolerant of any political view different from their own, so I know just the existence of this page will result in me getting angry hate letters, not from people who want to actually hear my side, but instead from people who just want to scream at anyone stupid enough to think differently than them. That said, you asked, so here it is:

Poverty should not equal death. Over ten million people die each year from infectious diseases. I believe that people with wealth do not have the responsibility to eradicate poverty, but they do have the responsibility to eradicate death caused by poverty. (Even if for some reason you have bad feelings towards the adults in a particular country, no matter what, the children are innocent!)

Gay people should have the same rights as straight people, including the right to be married.

Hand guns should be illegal to own. Here are some statistics from Physicians for Social Responsibility:

• You think guns are used for self defense? They are four times more likely to be involved in an unintentional shooting, seven times more likely to be used in a criminal assault or homicide, and eleven times more likely to be used to commit or attempt a suicide.
• In 72 percent of unintentional deaths and injuries, suicide, and suicide attempts of 0-19 year olds, the firearm was stored in the residence of the victim, a relative, or a friend. Over half of all firearm deaths are suicides.
• There are over 30,000 gun related deaths a year in the US; firearm injuries cost $100 billion a year, and firearm injuries epidemic is ten times larger than the polio epidemic of the first half of this century.
• When your kids go over a friend's house to play, forget what movies they'll watch-- do you know if there is an unlocked gun there? About 40% of US homes have at least one gun and 48% of gun homes with children do not regularly make sure they are safely locked.
• Most nations do not allow citizens to have guns, and are shocked by the gun violence in the US.

See also: Google

The death penalty should be illegal, for these reasons:

1. Racial bias has been clearly documented, blacks get the death penalty more often than whites accused of the same crime.
2. Mistakes are made: there has been clear proof that people killed by the death penalty were later found to be innocent.
3. The death penalty reduces society to the level of our worst members.
4. The death penalty is not cost effective, it is cheaper to pay for someone's imprisonment for life than to pay for all the legal proceedings that the death sentence brings.
5. Most countries we respect and need as friends do not have the death penalty and are shocked that the US still does this.
6. The death penalty is not a deterrent.

The first two reasons above are reason enough to end the death penalty. For more info, see the new best seller by Scott Turow and links via Google directory, groups, and news.

Television (and mass media) can be bad-- showing our children too much violence, and bad portrayals of women and minorities. See also my TV page.