Friday, June 19, 2009

Groups that Need to Go

Groups form for a reason. Sometimes, that reason disappears, either by action of the group or otherwise. However, groups don’t always disappear once their mission is gone.

Take PETA, for example. There was a time when people treated animals even worse than they do today. Of course now, even a beloved public figure like Michael Vick is instantly demonized for crimes against dogs (perhaps rightly so). So, PETA has been reduced to public campaigns against fly swatting. PETA defending annoying pests... actually sounds like self-interest to me. Of course, they have a crappy product to push on Obama: the Katcha Bug Humane Bug Catcher. I love how the news is often just an ad for consumer goods; talk about journalistic integrity.

A group we never needed is the NRA. Yes, I’m a big, scary, “disarm the populace” person. Our guns are being used to fuel street battles in neighboring Mexico and help propel America’s gun violence statistics to third-world, Somali levels. Guns do not make you patriotic, free, or a bad ass. They do, however, mark you as afraid and compelled by feelings of inadequacy (seriously, is it that small?).

The whole image of gun-ownership is a sales pitch by gun manufacturers because most people who own guns have absolutely no use for them (legal or illegal). The more we have floating around, the more are stolen or stockpiled. Nothing good comes from guns, and you aren’t going to challenge a modern tank/plane military with your arsenal and buried school bus. We don’t need more guns than we issue hunting licenses, and we certainly have no need for automatic weapons.

“But Ginx, blah blah blah 2nd Amendment!” Yeah, and the constitution also talks about how to counts slaves for voting, but that doesn’t sanctify slavery. The founders weren’t perfect, and they only ever saw muskets. [Does anyone support private citizens owning tanks, rockets, RPGs, fighter planes, nuclear weapons, etc.? Where’s the line?]

The AMA is a group that seems pretty harmless. Most people would need me to point out it stands for the American Medical Association. The AMA’s primary goal is to benefit doctors, which is a group of people I think have it good already... instant warning sign for obsolescence. The AMA has worked to create artificial doctor shortages by quietly limiting the number of doctors who graduate per year, ensuring fewer are allowed in than are needed. This artificial shortage increases demand, allowing doctors to be paid more. They also publicly smear non-physician care (alternative medicine, pharmacist/patient care, midwives, etc.), thereby eliminating competition in the marketplace. Who cares that Americans are getting some of the worst care in the developed world...

As liberal as I am, I hate unions. They are extra-governmental power, and I oppose that. Unions should be irrelevant, as the government ought to be working to keep conditions safe and wages fair. I would support the abolition of unions if the conditions were in place to ensure workers were better represented in government. Maybe this is impossible and unions are a natural part of the market, but I find them cumbersome and often an unnecessary barrier of entry into an occupation. The fact that they tax you with “dues” is just further evidence this is misplaced government.

The final group that has lost all meaning is the Republican Party. I know it is inevitable, and I question if a name change will even occur, but within my lifetime it will morph into the Libertarian Party (perhaps in values alone). I would love this, especially if it is dominated by atheist Libertarians (of which there are many). It would mean that even when Democrats lost, the party in power would have SOMETHING, at least ONE SINGLE THING, in common with me.

As it stands, Republicans are the most worthless people to walk the face of the Earth. They’re like society’s big, loud, annoying id. While most parties rally around ideas, Republicans have an attitude: “Gimme that, mine!” They’re a lead anchor tied to testicles of America (yes, America is a man, how do you think it fucks everyone over?). There is not a single iota of worth in the ideology of Republicans; even when they set out to do something right (invading Afghanistan, “smaller government,” cursing on the Senate floor), it’s for the wrong reasons and it fails miserably.

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