Advice For The Kids

Culture War

I wanted to give a few of my thoughts on the culture war to help mediate it if I can.  The grievance lies with immigrants, the BIPOC community and the poor.  There is no white grievance. These ideas might be helpful to start productive discussions on these topics or to bring people back from any extreme positions.

  1. Black Lives Matter – They do. What is happening to members of BIPOC communities is horrible and I am truly sorry for what is going on. Unarmed people are being killed by the police and many officers are not being held accountable. The relationship between the police force and these communities is often like an occupying military force which is wrong. What I teach my kids is that being a police officer is a position of elevated responsibility of the highest order. You are trusted to protect the community and to only use force when absolutely necessary. Instead of being seeing as an occupying force, officers should be seen and recognized as members of the community.
  2. Defund the Police – While I support Black Lives and think that what is happening is a tragedy, I do not agree with the idea of defunding the police as a solution. There are legitimate cases for having a police department. We live in a world where rape, murder, and theft are prevalent. I wanted to comment on this as the movement is important and calls to light a severe issue in our country. However my thought is that we need a different police force entirely.  We need a police force that is able to fight crime, adheres strictly to the motto ‘Protect and Serve’, and is accountable when they don’t adhere to it. I would call my set of ideas “Disarm the Police” and here is what this would look like:
    • More funding for police – used to hire other essential members of the force.  For example counselors and social workers would be useful to ride along in domestic violence and mental health related cases.
    • Both Unarmed and Armed Police units – A shoplifting case typically doesn’t require you to bring in S.W.A.T. The first response for most cases should be by unarmed police units.  We would only call in the armed response units when necessary. This is a proven model used in Great Britain.
    • Better Psychological Profiling and Crisis Training for officers – screening for candidates that “Don’t handle pressure well” or candidates who have predispositions to certain things (e.g. Racism or hate).
    • People will rightfully say that the police do not need weapons to kill (think Eric Garner).  This is true and this is where accountability comes in.  My thought here is to source ‘Virtual Juries of Peers’ over a zoom call when conducting trials.  This way the candidates for juries can be pulled from around the nation with diverse backgrounds to overcome any local biases.
  3. Blue Lives Matter – I distinctly remember watching a video of a routine traffic stop where a man was pulled over by the police and immediately came out of his car with an Uzi submachine gun and killed the officers.  This is tragic and awful.  However this is crime and sadly is a risk that you take on when becoming an officer.  Some of the unarmed killings of members of the BIPOC community are racially motivated and all are a severe failure in the Call of Duty.  The grievance lies with the Black Lives Matter movement.  Conservatives use this issue to distract from the severe problem that exists with policing in BIPOC communities (which I discussed above).  I do empathize with those who have lost family members in the line of duty so I wanted to provide a couple ideas that could mitigate this in the future.
    • Reduce crime nationwide by voting for candidates that want to create jobs.
    • Disarm America through gun buyback programs.  For those who enjoy shooting as a form of entertainment, the shooting ranges can remain open for gun rentals.  Fewer guns in our society mean a reduction in gun violence of all kinds.
  4. Reparations for BIPOC Communities given collectively via the Federal Government.  Here are some things that could happen:
    • Cash payments to eliminate the racial wealth gap
      • Smaller cash payments to the poor should go alongside this to alleviate the burden of the extreme income inequality in our society
    • Eliminate the generational effect of system racism by investing in and rebuilding communities.
      • Funding to rebuild existing housing or to build new housing in cities (public private partnerships)
      • Legislation to prevent gentrification in cities (new jobs created in communities must hire first from existing resident pool with living wages for the area to prevent displacement)
      • Paying down home loans to give home equity for BIPOC residents that creates lasting wealth
      • Creating accessible public transit for all in cities
      • Fully funding all K-12 schools equally across the board regardless of zip code by the Federal Government
      • DEI to ensure diversity in the workplace and access to good jobs for all
      • Giving land back to the native communities peacefully over time until a mutually agreed upon sharing of land is achieved. Eminent domain can be used to fully compensate existing residents for their property when they move.
  5. Abolish ICE – it is true that our immigration and customs enforcement agency has the additional task of enforcing racist migration policy and is a righteous grievance of the left.  I had a neighbor who worked peacefully as a cleaning lady here in the United States.  She moved here from Columbia and had been living here 5-10 years.  She moved here and legally obtained a green card.  Even though she was just a peaceful worker following the law she was still not a full-fledged member of our nation after all of this time.  It would be interesting to learn what the exact reason is that she cannot be a member of our nation.  Others come here illegally fleeing awful conditions in their home countries.  Some reasons one might come here illegally would be to escape extreme poverty, crime and authoritarian governments that perpetrate human rights violations on the masses.  Is it not our duty to help them?  Conservatives will quickly point out that you shouldn’t break the law (which is correct).  I would ask – is the migration policy in our nation fair or just?  It ties back to what I asked earlier- why my neighbor who works as a law abiding cleaning lady still cannot become a member of our nation after living here for 5-10 years.  I would call all to read Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” where he explains that people have a duty to follow just laws and peacefully break and protest unjust ones.  One must actively stand in opposition to oppression.  With that said here are a few of my thoughts on what a just migration system would look like:
    • For those who wish to migrate and become a member of our country they would apply online while still in their home countries.  The purpose of this application is to have a simple background check performed.  This background check would screen for members of organized crime, terrorist groups, and foreign intelligence agencies.  If you are not a member of these groups then you are welcome to come and be a member of our nation.
    • It should be as fast as obtaining a passport (4-6 weeks).  Once you get your documentation you can enter the country legally as a citizen.
    • For those who think that we should not have any security function at all related to migration (abolish ICE) I would ask “Would you want domestic terrorists from the United States migrating to other countries?”  The three categories of people I listed above are legitimate reasons to say no to someone coming here.
    • There is no shortage of space or resources in the United States.  All are welcome.
  6. Gender Equality – it is my belief that the genders are equal and should treat each other with mutual kindness, love and respect.
  7. LGBTQ+ Issues
    • As Christians we are never to judge or bully but to support those who face bullying.
    • While these are sins (given directly by God to Moses) there are members of the community that have repented in order to join Church communities. If you believe in God, you should come as you are to church and work with your pastor through confession to repent. I understand that this would be impossibly hard as it is who you are on the inside. You will find that there are churches out there that are supportive and welcoming (check my about page for examples – see the link for the church that I grew up in or the church that I am a member in now). You will also find that the early church had former sinners just like you in it. God gives us all challenges – for example I struggled with lust and anger. This would be a true act of faith on your part. This statement is less about judging you or trying to exclude you, it is mainly about getting right with God before you meet Him one day.
    • Just so you know God does love you.