Pay Us Back!

Okay, I'll usually write about kids, parents, families, positive guidance, and communication, but today I've got a political bone to pick.

If you or I go to the bank for a loan, then we must pay it back, with interest, in a specified amount of time. We have set due dates and penalties for late payments. In 2008 over three hundred banks had to borrow billions of dollars from taxpayers. Why shouldn't they have to pay that money back? I want them to have to pay the money back, with interest, one of three ways:
1. Give each taxpayer a return at the end of the year until the loan is repaid.
2. Give each school a "block grant" each year until the loan is paid off.
3. Make a monthly payment, which may not be touched by any government entity, into the social security fund until the loan is full repaid, with interest!

Does this make sense to anybody else? They don't hand out money for free and they can't have mine for free. I want my portion paid back, with interest, period! I told a man yesterday, who plans to run for a local office where I live, and he found the idea compelling enough that he asked if he could use it in his campaign. I said "Yes", but meant, "only if you'll try to implement the idea and not just use it to get votes." As he left he turned and said, "Remember me." but the reality is he's the one who'll remember me. It seems that it's the attention seekers, not the thinkers, who we elect into office. Maybe we need to change the system a little.
The original Athenian system of Democracy was not perfect and we wouldn't want to implement it in modern society because it allowed only certain males to be called "citizens" and they used slaves to free up their time so that they could devote much of their lives to politics, philosophy, and art. We could, however, adapt a portion of the system, namely the part that allowed regular citizens to be chosen at random, housed by the state for one month, and serve as a senator. We could use a process very similar to the jury selection service that's in place now and each voting citizen would have the opportunity to help guide our country. We would all feel more responsible for our actions, and those of our country, more involved in government at all levels, and more in tune with what the Athenians and our Founding Fathers wanted; a state for the people, of the people, and run by the people. I know I want my voice heard and not used to get someone elected, but to influence the policies that affect my income, my family, and my daily life. I'd serve my term. Would you?