I am sure you have noticed the massive protests that have been happening around many cities and towns of America, Europe, and many other countries after the shameful killing of George Floyd. These type of events aren’t uncommon in America or around the world, and probably won’t be the last. This one has felt a bit different, as it more than ever united disgust by all and want for change, regardless of their background and race.
I thought to myself If the race issues were levelled out in America and elsewhere, what else needs fixing? So for this post, I will be focusing on major issues that affect Americans but a lot of these affect others too. I am not saying any of this is easy but all these issues should be worked on.
It may seem obvious to some but people shouldn’t be treated differently because of how, and where they were born. What they look like, or even what they believe in. This also means your gender shouldn’t impact on what you can do or want to do either, and pay and so forth should also be equalled out.
Now the following thirteen issues need sorting out too, in no particular order:
Police Accountability
As seen by the endless deaths of black people by mostly white police over the decades, accountability needs to be in place so victims and families can trust the police.
This is an important issue as it doesn’t matter your race if you have a police force that can do what they want, kill with impunity, then corruption, death, and an overly aggressive force are inevitable. Even if you are a white person you don’t want to have a police force that can pull out a gun and shoot you in the face with no repercussions because you happened to accidentally brush by them.
This also means that officers should be clearly identifiable and not hidden behind masks and other military gear.
I would say racism and corruption have got better over the decades in America but it’s still has a long way to go. There is still too much of it and limited accountability doesn’t help.
When it comes to the police it shouldn’t be a “me versus you” mentality but a community-focused one.
The Militarisation of the Police
This is one of the more ridiculous things about policing in America, slowly over the years they have gotten more militaristic. It’s not like the police have needed more protection, its because funding and certain processes have allowed even small police forces to acquire military-grade equipment.
This seems to have been one of those unforeseen consequences of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The military-industrial complex has been killing it in terms of profits and amounts of equipment being produced since then. The problems are that when the US military left these countries a lot of the equipment became available and unused. Therefore what to do, just store it somewhere? Well, many decided to sell it to the police.
Now say you have a small police force who look after a town of a few thousand. Do you need APCs (Armoured Personnel Carriers)? Of course not you are working in rural or small urban environments. For one thing, these places can’t handle the equipment, and another, you are not rolling into Baghdad in 2003. However, some seem to think they are and many can now be seen in towns across America.
The police need to remember that a normal officer should be less armed as possible. Sure if you got a hostage or terrorist situation maybe get out your SWAT (Special Weapon and Tactics) or PTU (Police Tactics Unit) teams to help but an untrained low-level officer shouldn’t be anywhere near military-grade equipment, especially when it involves the use of armoured vehicles and high powered weapons.
If you want to use this type of equipment join the army or some sort of special forces unit.
Food Waste
All industrialized nations suffer from this, but America may be the king of it. Food is quite cheap there and a lot of the times more is given then you could feasibly eat in one sitting. Sure it sounds cool that you can eat half a cow for less than a cup of tea but its a waste and no sane person should do this.
Thanksgiving and Christmas are major times when this is encouraged and celebrated. If you aren’t rolling around from eating too much you haven’t been celebrating properly or your “rights” as an American.
There’s going to be a point in the growth of the world, if not already where country-sized slaughterhouses and farms are needed to meet the daily food requirement. This is even more aggravating when you see the numbers of animals that die needlessly every day to perpetuate this waste cycle.
Animal Welfare
Imagine being born a pig or chicken, it would be a terrible life. Maybe it wouldn’t be bad because you wouldn’t know what you are missing out on but even the lowest of creature knows when they are being screwed. Living your whole life stuck in constant darkness, with no natural light, in a space smaller than you, with your fellow kind boxing you in, only moving a few steps to eat, and maybe trying to sleep is hell, if that even exists.
If you see the images and the videos of how humans treat their fellow animals, its terrible. It makes you want to become a vegan or something. I know this and I still don’t think I would ever be a vegetarian, I like meat and animal-based products too much. This doesn’t mean animals should continuing to be treated badly, we all should eat fewer animals, waste less and treat all living things a lot better.
An easy start would for all humans not to eat wild or exotic animals. You don’t need to eat sharks, armadillos, or dogs for example. Let’s get down to a few animals we eat, and then find a way to treat them better. At this rate maybe an insect supplemented diet could be the way forward?
Whitewashing
This is a major issue, many people do this intentionally or involuntary but it impacts all aspects of modern life. The police might whitewash a crime, the food industry might whitewash how they operate, and the government might whitewash an unpopular war.
The difficulty comes in discovering whether what someone is saying is true or whether they are lying to promote their ideas or cover up something. For example, a corporation commits a crime but deny all wrongdoing. Many might take what they say is true, some might take it as true even though they know this isn’t true. Whatever the case by going with the corporation you have helped them whitewash the truth.
Whitewashing is popular especially when it involves terrible events of the past. People even today whitewash and deny the holocaust, slavery, and the impact of colonialism. Some do these as they don’t want to face the reality of the past, while some use it for their advantage in creating a new narrative, to promote a product or a cause.
You can’t hide from your terrible past but you also don’t want to repeat it.
Scientific Studies
I am a big fan of science and is one of many reasons I am an atheist but like religion, science can be used as an all-knowing truth. Science is always changing and what was true now might be completely different tomorrow. This is why tests, studies, and constant peer review is used to make sure science is being used correctly.
Like religion, science is often misused for various reasons. Some are mundane like for shampoo adverts, while others can be life-threatening and life-changing as fake drugs. Scientific studies are often used to promote products even though these studies are dubious or misused.
A common sight is a shampoo or face cream television advert. You see this a lot and they are common. They will often make up scientific-sounding words that are meaningless to sound better. They will also often survey some customers and give a percentage of how many people found the product worthwhile.
For example, a shampoo company asks 50 women what they thought of their product. 43 liked the product which means 86% of them like it. The shampoo company will now blazon that 86% of women liked the product. While this is true for the people they asked, this isn’t true for the overall women population. Some sort of scientific study will also sometimes be added to add even more credence to their claim. Even with this small test study, we don’t know as the consumer whether their testing was fair or even unbiased either.
“A scientific study shows that eating an egg daily will prevent cancer.”
“A scientific study shows that washing your face with sperm will keep you looking younger for longer.”
“A scientific study shows that men who hit their wives are more likely to live longer.”
These are all the sort of statements that newspapers, news sites, and television programmes love to bring up. Often these same statements are contradicted later on. Now “A scientific study shows that eating an egg daily will give you cancer,” will be all over the same front pages.
When you start using bad scientific studies to sell a new wonder drug or misrepresenting one study to do the same, are all dangerous uses of science and it’s still being done today.
Abortion
I feel abortion is a clear cut situation. If you have been raped or assaulted which resulted in a pregnancy you should have the right to an abortion. Now if you get pregnant and then later decide you don’t want it because it doesn’t match your fashion or something then it shouldn’t. There are also plenty of edge cases that it applies to. Overall an abortion should be a choice but not treated as a new fad.
When it comes to abortion, religion should have no place in the discussion. If you don’t want to do it because it’s against your religion then don’t do it, but that doesn’t mean you get the right to stop other people from deciding for themselves.
You want to provide safe places for people to choose abortion. You don’t want people going to a back alley or getting their uncle to do it because they happen to work with cattle. Give people all the information to make a choice, and support them whatever their decision is.
I believe abortion like suicide should be given more support and not stigmatised or made illegal. The greatest freedom of life is deciding when you want to end yours.
Refugees and Immigration
All refugees fleeing from war or other life-threatening situation should be welcomed with open hands by bordering countries and even ones on the other side of the globe. People seeking a better life shouldn’t be denied entry just because they want to do jobs no one else wants to do either.
This is similar to a race problem but often these people are treated way worse. While you might be abused because you are different, at least you can say you are an “American”, however, these people can’t even say that. Even if they are a citizen they might not feel like they can. These same people are sometimes looked down upon by the people who are themselves are being racially abused.
People should feel like they can move to another county and not be treated like they only did so for more money. Sure that might be a reason but you should be able to do so. Often these people are moving to countries that messed up their country in the first place.
Treating all citizens of one country as a terrorist or criminal also doesn’t help people who already feel like outsiders any better. Americans should know more than anyone what it’s like to start a new life in a different country.
When it comes to issues like this you just have to ask yourself, “How would I feel if it was me?” A lot can be changed if people asked that.
Online Abuse
This is stupid as it’s easy to do and get away with. While it been around since the start of the internet, it’s so common today. Children are growing up where their whole world is online, their friends, school, and more. With technology now it is even easier and more anonymous than ever.
When I was younger the internet was about but very few people had a PC and if they did they probably wouldn’t have the internet. When I got to secondary school it became a bit more available but still, only 9% (93% now) of households had it. So you would get bullied and abused the old way at school but you could avoid it at home. Now kids still get bullied at school and bullied twenty-four hours a day at home.
This isn’t just a problem for children, as now it makes it easier for people to pick on adults. This is made worse in America as even the current president, Donald Trump does it regularly and encourages others to do the same. While some laws protect people online, hardly anyone is ever prosecuted based on an online abuse charge. This is because it’s easy to make multiple and anonymous online accounts. This will continue until online accounts are more like real-life accounts.
If you cause misery for people online you should suffer the same consequences as if you were to do this in real life to people on the street.
Universal Healthcare
Many countries, not just the UK have a universal health system that allows anyone to access medical care regardless of income and social background. For some reason, America doesn’t have this.
It’s not cheap to run a universal health care system but its something in this day and age that seems essential for a more free and fair society.
You don’t want a situation where people are getting turned away from hospitals because they don’t have any money or because they are from a particular ethnic group as this will cause more resentment and unrest.
The people who can afford it might think why should I? That’s a good question as if you can afford it, you don’t need to worry about it. However, like a lot of things you already paid for with taxes, you might not see a direct benefit. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it or that it’s a waste of money.
The simple solution is for all taxpayers to contribute towards paying for it. This shouldn’t be a problem America as you already pay billions on your defence budget. If anything healthcare is defence.
America has made strides over the years towards providing health care for more of its citizens but it’s still a mess of a lottery system that is convoluted as is confusing. Consequentially many still aren’t covered and the county still doesn’t have any one unified system.
Death Penalty
The death penalty should be abolished in every country and for whatever reason still exists in America. Despite countless examples of how the death penalty doesn’t deter or even stop crime, it’s still seeming by some as some sort of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) nuclear strategy that is essential.
I don’t care if you are a mass murderer, you don’t deserve to die, you deserve to live the rest of your life in confinement. Remember two wrongs don’t make a right. Electrocution or lethal injection isn’t going to bring your loved ones back.
The death penalty is a barbaric practice at the best case scenarios and countries like America and others can’t even give humane and painless deaths either. You just end up torturing the condemned until they die, which whoever the person is, isn’t great.
Imagine you are a young person and you made a mistake, and get sentenced to death. I like to think that after a while in prison I could be reformed into a better person. The point of prison is to reform criminals into better people, and not just to keep people inside so they are out of the way.
A serial killer isn’t going to stop he’s mass killing spree because he might get caught and put to death. They don’t care, if they did they wouldn’t be making coffee cups out of women’s skulls.
The threat of death doesn’t stop crime, it has no place in a modern civilised society and should be left in the dusty annals of history.
Vaccines
It’s hard to see the negatives of vaccinations. There a slim chance that you might suffer a negative side effect but the overall benefits outweigh any negatives.
The former British doctor Andrew Wakefield who published a scientific study decades ago that showed how some MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccines could lead to autism. To this day people still use this study (showing the importance of proper scientific studies) as proof that vaccines are dangerous. He eventually lost his right to practice and was struck from the doctor registery. Despite this, he has since made a career of spreading misinformation and lies to others. Don’t be like him and believe in this rubbish.
When I was in secondary school one of my classmates died of TB (Tuberculosis) as he’s family refused to have the BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) vaccine, when most others did, including me. It was shocking at the time and I still think about it to this day.
Take your vaccines and encourage others to do the same. You may want to spread them out over a period of time if possible, but this isn’t a requirement.
Guns
Like many of the issues above, other countries still have guns but once again Aermca takes it to a new extreme. Buying a gun in America is probably easier than buying a car.
Guns in America are treated like pets or children, and like that shouldn’t be allowed and a right for everyone. Everyone can have a child, gun, or pet in America and maybe some shouldn’t? Like everything some people are horrible and shouldn’t be allowed near anything living or dangerous.
There are some laws in America governing guns, but it’s still too easy to obtain a gun there. I believe that only a few people should have access to guns, and similarly to police militarization, police should also be limited in their access to firearms.
An easy way to solve the gun problem would have better gun checks, proper training like learning to drive, and increasing the cost.
I would have it so you could only have small firearms, no automatics or rifles. This would mean that having a firearm for “self-defence” wouldn’t be a legitimate reason to own one.
Many countries have done this such as Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. Sure you still get the occasional killings with the use of the guns, but because they are hard to acquire you aren’t likely to see a deranged person shooting dozens of children for some inane reason. The harder it is to get a gun the less likely you are to see shootings.
You can argue that people are the problem and not guns, and that’s true. Nevertheless you have to put laws in place to protect the majority from the very small minority who are unhinged, dense, and dangerous.
What about the Constitution? The Constitution of the United States can always be amended and changed. There is a reason it has had thirty-three changes so far.
America and peoples obsession with guns is an embarrassment to humanity and all modern life.
END
There are many issues in America and other countries, and some if not all are, and will be hard to fix. But the death of George Floyd has shown that when the public care enough about something, then process and dialogue and hopeful change can be made for the better. In the end, if no actual change happens for Black people it still makes you feel that things could get better eventually and anything is possible.
King Toko 