Gary Panter blog

My Platform

1. If the government needs more information on the citizenry, it must stop pursuing goals of enforcing morality regarding so-called victimless crimes. Less privacy must be balanced with more personal freedom.

2. However, no jumping on subway trains screaming about Jesus.

3. Take the annual 22 billion dollars for the war on drugs and divide it between public education and drug treatment on-demand programs. The seizure of property and funds by police is a corrupting process. The war on drugs is lost.

4. Properly protect, arm, educate and pay the police and military so they are not tempted to invent pretexts for seizure or take bribes.

5. No draft. People in the military should be there because they are good at fighting or managing fighters and be highly paid and skilled. Then the army should be used as a last resort. If the army is really needed, a shitload of sneaky guys go in first, crawling on their bellies with knives in their teeth-—10,000 ninja spies.

6. Legalize the growing of weeds and their industrial and psychic uses.

7. Strengthen cultural discouragement of heroin, cigarettes, speed and cocaine use. And angel dust and poppers.

8. Universal free medical and dental care. If we can spend 6.4 billion a month to fuck up Iraq, we should be able to fix everybody's teeth.

9. Small, one time, business loans to the impoverished.

10. Phase out nuke and coal and oil burning energy.

11. Replace with wind, water, solar, and geothermal and bio-mass energy systems.

12. Fight opponents of whistling, kite flying, music making, dancing, and dirty jokes.

13. Re-separate church and state. Un-fund government programs for religion. Don't tax OR fund religion.

14. Culturally mock religions that think they are the only ones god loves. Faith is not a certainty. Uncertainty, and the humility uncertainty promotes, are important parts of a spiritual path. Un-promote the idea of a god who needs constant groveling and hosannas.

15. Stop bashing atheists. They are only being logical. There might be something out there, but there might not and they don't need to care about it. Let them be, for god's sake!

16. Inspect all incoming or flight bound packages and containers. Hire paranoid cartoonists to invent nasty terrorist scenarios to be considered preventatively.

17. Advance human assistance and mobility by robots.

18. Advance robotic material sorting for purposes of recycling.

19. No parole from prison without job training and literacy, which the state must provide.

20. Amnesty for all victimless crimes. Too many people in jail in this country.

21. Prisoners must be protected from each other and guards.

22. Educate and pay prison guards fairly.

23. Repair transport infrastructure.

24. Life for repeat child abusers. No candy.

25. Institute National Flag Burning Day. The value of human life over symbolic cloth should be established. The prayers for the souls of soldiers to be carried to heaven on burning flags.

26. Clean water and air are good things.

27. Gangsta Rap is questionable, but needs to be tolerated, because if you try to wipe something out, it fights to survive with renewed determination, even if it's stupid and lame.

28. Lower human population and increase frog, lizard and turtle populations. Snakes are on their own.

29. National day without computers, burgers and TV to be called National Brain Clarity Day.