I made an unpleasant discovery upon arriving in Utah: people here don't dim their high beams when passing you at night. In Wisconsin, I, along with most other people, were taught at a young age to switch off our brights when approaching an oncoming car. (Note- the point of this bloog is in the last 7 paragraphs, if you know the stuff at the start, skip to the end)
This is common sense, the bright lights make it harder for the other driver to see, thereby endangering both drivers. While assholes, like all the people living in Utah, are common, the solution I have arrived upon to this problem is a rare gem of college learning applied to real life. I know, it sounds crazy, but hang with me.
This situation is a classic prisoner's dilemma. In the prisoner's dilema, to suspects are being questioned separately by the police. They don't know what the other person is going to do. If both Prisoners give up their partner, they will each receive 5 year sentences. If neither rats on the other they will each receive a one year sentence. But if only one gives up the other, that person will go free while the other receives a 10 year sentence. The key here is that they cannot communicate, so invariably they both rat and wind up with a worse deal than they could have if they both kept quiet.
In my quest to deal with Utah drivers who don't dim their lights, my first instinct when approaching a poo for brains who hasn't turned off their brights dim my lights and then do nothing. This is the equivalent of not ratting- I'm hopping he will not rat, I.E dim his lights, and we will both enjoy the benefits of not looking into bright lights.
But, in Utah, invariably the other person rats. I get my brights off before I can even see other cars, usually because I can see the light from their headlights coming around a corner or over a hill. My lights go off, theirs stay on. This was a weak solution. In my mind I figured I was being the better person. Even though I was suffering while they gained. The other person got to leave their brights on, giving them a better view and they didn't have to put up with my brights.
Unsatisfied with this state of affairs, I thought about flashing my lights at them- maybe they just forgot. But this doesn't always work, some people are just ass holes, or, more likely, they are dumb asses and don't get what you are telling them.
The other alternative was to leave my brights on all the time, the equivalent of ratting in the parishioners dilemma. This meant I would be guaranteed not to be ratted on and get screwed by not fighting back. But this was still not the ideal situation, the situation where neither of the prisoners rat. I want my lights off, and their lights off.
This is where my college learning went good. There is a strategy in the prisoners dilemma called Tit for Tat. If you are using this strategy you start off being nice to the other person- you don't rat on them, you turn off your brights. Then you respond based on how your partner acts. If they rat, you rat, if they follow your lead and don't rat, you continue not to rat.
Driving in the middle of the dessert I made the quantum leap of applying this strategy to my problem with Utah drivers. You see, unlike Prisoners who only get one chance to rat or keep their mouths shut, and who can't communicate with the other prisoner, when you are approaching another car, they can see what you are doing with your lights. In addition, the interaction occurs over a certain amount of time, not all at once.
So I began to apply to Tit for Tat strategy and a miraculous thing happened! It worked. As soon as I could see another car was coming, I would dim my lights. If they dimmed their lights, I responded by keeping mine dimmed. If they failed to dim their brights, I TURNED MY BRIGHTS BACK ON. That was all it took.
Not only did I feel better because I was being proactive, rather than just putting up with it, people got the message. Rather than just seeing me go from bright to dim, they would see me turn my brights back on, causing them serious annoyance. No longer could they take advantage of me- if they wanted me to suffer, they would suffer as well. In effect, they could control my brights with their own brights.
Of course there were some people who left their brights on. These are the people we should use to diffuse bombs in Iraq. With my tit for tat strategy I could be sure these people hadn't just forgotten, they got my message when I turned my brights on as I approached them. They just wanted me to suffer, and so they suffered with me.
The best part of this strategy is that it is contagious. People can see what I am doing, and hopefully they will act the same way. If everyone starts doing this the world will be a safer, happier place. People will start out acting kind, and kindness will be returned. People who want to be dicks will get thiers.
The only problem with this situation occurs when you face a group of cars, and only the person in front fails to turn off their brights. I don't recommend this strategy, its not right to punish the people behind the ass hole for actions beyond their control. I suggest a flash in this circumstance.
And there you have it, you can take control. I already feel better.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Elect A. Carpenter President.
What would I do if I were President? Thanks for asking, I'll tell you. I'd start by getting rid of the whole Democrats vs. Republicans thing and here is how I would do it.
The problem with Democrats, and Liberals in general, is not that their hearts are in the right place. They want to make sure people get helped: they created social security so that old people could get helped, the created medicare so that people who needed drugs could get helped, and now they've created socialized medicine so that everybody can get helped. That sounds nice doesn't it? The problem is that instead of helping people, they are forcing people to help other people.
A Democrat might tell you that they are helping people help people. But what they are really doing is taking money from one person and giving it to another; this makes that person a slave for a portion of their work day. If you pay 40% taxes, for example, you are working for someone else's benefit 40% of your day (three fifths compromise anyone?).
Again, liberals might say that those people aren't slaves- they benefit from their taxes! Sure, just like Slaves in the 1600's benefited from the food and shelter their masters gave them.
But that is not to say that we shouldn't help people. And this is where Republicans, and many conservatives, throw the helpful baby out with the slavery bath water. For decades, the Right has spent so much time trying to keep from being enslaved by the left that they forgot the point of being free from taxes and government intervention. The point of being free is to create a better world, to make your own life better and the lives of those around you. In essence, you are free so you can help people (even self interested people help people, see Adam Smith).
Democrats have the goal, helping people, they just use the wrong method, slavery. Republicans have the method, freedom, but have forgotten what freedom is for, helping people. And that brings us to the point. If I were president, my goal would be to free people so they can help each other.
How would I do this? Thanks for asking. It all starts with the Magna Carta, way back in England. That document began a tradition of government with the consent of the governed. That means that a Government is only just if it has the consent of those it governs. For us, that consent comes in the form of a constitution. It says, in so many words, we don't want a government, we want to be free, but there are some things we can't do for ourselves, so we give you permission to do them.
For America, what are those things? They are the things, and only the things, the individual states cannot do for themselves. National defense, busting up monopolies, regulation of interstate commerce, defending our borders, treaty negotiation. And thats about it. Anything else would be illegal because we live in a nation of laws, and the law says anything not in the constitution is left to the states. Done.
So if I were President, and I wanted to follow the law, and keep people free, I wouldn't have half as much to do as the Presidents in the last 80 years. I would veto bills in the morning, meet with my army commanders and foreign dignitary’s around lunch, inspect the border fence in the afternoon, and spend the rest of my time encouraging people to take care of their own problems.
I don't think Democrats would object to getting rid of 90% of what the federal government does on a regular day, if States and individuals picked up the slack. If there is no social security, you had dam well better be taking dinner to the poor old couple down the street. If there is no medicare, your state and local government better have a drug plan. Instead of just paying your taxes, and then trusting the government to take care of the people around you, a small federal government forces people to get involved in their communities.
Its harder to be free- you can't just go to work and contribute your taxes. You have to go to work, then come home and cut your neighbors grass, and go to a city counsel meeting in the evening to organize a free clinic. Instead of having your money taken from you, you give your time and talent.
And therein lies the rub. As it stands now, we have a class war in this country. And its not because of some Marxist b.s. The rich and poor are fundamentally at odds with each other because we take from the rich and give to the poor. Not because of some Robbin Hood fantasy, but because there are more poor people and its easier for them to take than to build.
The solution is to find a President like me, who will end the class war by downsizing the federal government. When the rich stop fighting to hold onto what they have, they will be freed to help their states and their communities. The rich, and people in general, have a vested interest in the well being of their neighbors. If you are a millionaire restaurant owner, you better work to make sure your customers have health care and a retirement plan. If they don't, your business is going to suffer.
A good President would travel the country, not stumping for his political party when he is supposed to be running the country, but encouraging people to help each other. If I were President, I would give the nation the tough message it doesn't want to hear: the government isn't going to help you or your community, you are going to help you and your community.
The problem with Democrats, and Liberals in general, is not that their hearts are in the right place. They want to make sure people get helped: they created social security so that old people could get helped, the created medicare so that people who needed drugs could get helped, and now they've created socialized medicine so that everybody can get helped. That sounds nice doesn't it? The problem is that instead of helping people, they are forcing people to help other people.
A Democrat might tell you that they are helping people help people. But what they are really doing is taking money from one person and giving it to another; this makes that person a slave for a portion of their work day. If you pay 40% taxes, for example, you are working for someone else's benefit 40% of your day (three fifths compromise anyone?).
Again, liberals might say that those people aren't slaves- they benefit from their taxes! Sure, just like Slaves in the 1600's benefited from the food and shelter their masters gave them.
But that is not to say that we shouldn't help people. And this is where Republicans, and many conservatives, throw the helpful baby out with the slavery bath water. For decades, the Right has spent so much time trying to keep from being enslaved by the left that they forgot the point of being free from taxes and government intervention. The point of being free is to create a better world, to make your own life better and the lives of those around you. In essence, you are free so you can help people (even self interested people help people, see Adam Smith).
Democrats have the goal, helping people, they just use the wrong method, slavery. Republicans have the method, freedom, but have forgotten what freedom is for, helping people. And that brings us to the point. If I were president, my goal would be to free people so they can help each other.
How would I do this? Thanks for asking. It all starts with the Magna Carta, way back in England. That document began a tradition of government with the consent of the governed. That means that a Government is only just if it has the consent of those it governs. For us, that consent comes in the form of a constitution. It says, in so many words, we don't want a government, we want to be free, but there are some things we can't do for ourselves, so we give you permission to do them.
For America, what are those things? They are the things, and only the things, the individual states cannot do for themselves. National defense, busting up monopolies, regulation of interstate commerce, defending our borders, treaty negotiation. And thats about it. Anything else would be illegal because we live in a nation of laws, and the law says anything not in the constitution is left to the states. Done.
So if I were President, and I wanted to follow the law, and keep people free, I wouldn't have half as much to do as the Presidents in the last 80 years. I would veto bills in the morning, meet with my army commanders and foreign dignitary’s around lunch, inspect the border fence in the afternoon, and spend the rest of my time encouraging people to take care of their own problems.
I don't think Democrats would object to getting rid of 90% of what the federal government does on a regular day, if States and individuals picked up the slack. If there is no social security, you had dam well better be taking dinner to the poor old couple down the street. If there is no medicare, your state and local government better have a drug plan. Instead of just paying your taxes, and then trusting the government to take care of the people around you, a small federal government forces people to get involved in their communities.
Its harder to be free- you can't just go to work and contribute your taxes. You have to go to work, then come home and cut your neighbors grass, and go to a city counsel meeting in the evening to organize a free clinic. Instead of having your money taken from you, you give your time and talent.
And therein lies the rub. As it stands now, we have a class war in this country. And its not because of some Marxist b.s. The rich and poor are fundamentally at odds with each other because we take from the rich and give to the poor. Not because of some Robbin Hood fantasy, but because there are more poor people and its easier for them to take than to build.
The solution is to find a President like me, who will end the class war by downsizing the federal government. When the rich stop fighting to hold onto what they have, they will be freed to help their states and their communities. The rich, and people in general, have a vested interest in the well being of their neighbors. If you are a millionaire restaurant owner, you better work to make sure your customers have health care and a retirement plan. If they don't, your business is going to suffer.
A good President would travel the country, not stumping for his political party when he is supposed to be running the country, but encouraging people to help each other. If I were President, I would give the nation the tough message it doesn't want to hear: the government isn't going to help you or your community, you are going to help you and your community.
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