Wyoming - The Welfare State

I have shared this plan with family and friends and have received mixed reviews. Usually those who are not conforming members of a political party are in support, and those who are staunch party members call me a radical. Well as a non-party affiliate AMERICAN I take their label as "a radical" as a great complimen. Once upon a time Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Ben Franklin were all viewed as being a little radical too. My plan, although a little unique, will not only save us money, but will make our country more productive.

My plan is to move everyone who receives welfare to Wyoming. YES - WYOMING. No, I am not proposing concentration camps, nor am I proposing slave labor reservations. If you think about it, we have done with our poor, exactly what we did with the indigenous people (Native American Indians) - we have relegated them to reservations. We don't call them reservations, we call them housing projects or trailer parks. I shared with you my experience in the inner city projects and how welfare was becoming the "family business." The current model is that we are offering money for nothing. I have known people who would not look for jobs because, if they made too much money, they would lose their welfare benefits. They figured that the difference between their welfare checks and their employment checks was not enough for them to actually HAVE TO go out and go to work. They would rather not have to be somewhere and just collect their check. A unique conundrum.

Not anymore - you want a check? Go to Wyoming. Randy you can't do this.. . .You're CRAZY.

REALLY? I believe, if I ran for president with welfare reform and the renaissance of American productivity as my platform, I might only lose two electoral votes - Wyoming. Maybe not. The increase of population may gain them a larger tax base and additional representation in congress, so they might even vote for me too.

Why Wyoming, and what are we going to do once we get there?

Wyoming is a landlocked state almost in the center of the country. It is also the least populated state. Both of these items are important.

Item 1 - Life is NOT a beach:

The bulk of our country's poor is located on the coasts and/or near our major metropolises. So, not only do they receive the "free check," they get to spend their days of non-work near a beach or near our cultural centers. Lets pay people to go to the shore, or hang out in the theater district and municipal parks. Wyoming has no such shore, and is not really known for its theater district and museums =). If you want to receive your check you need to give up the beach and develop your own cultural arts district.

Item 2 - Earn that check.

In moving to Wyoming, recipients will be trained in a career that will benefit the country. With Wyoming being quasi-centrally located, and having vast farmlands, we will train people in farming, construction, and new technologies. We will send the first set of trainees to build towns (not housing projects), factories and roads that will house the soon to be relocated families. Careers in the production of alternative energy sources - turbines, solar panels, REAL electric/solar cars, alternative fuel sources, etc. will be farmed, manufactured and distributed from Wyoming. The great grid that our president has alluded to will be centralized and created out of Wyoming. We will offer people training in positions that will benefit their new community. From sanitation workers to teachers to police officers and independent business owners, we will offer them an opportunity to earn the checks we are currently giving them for free. Wyoming would become the hub of innovation and the state whose farms feed the world and fuel the country.

I am sure American industry would be more than willing to assist in the creation of factories, railroads, and townships. Think of what Milton Hershey did in Pennsylvania. Disney also envisioned EPCOT as a real city - not a theme park. It was to be the Experimental Prototypical Community Of Tomorrow (EPCOT). We might have Pepsi, Wyoming, whose High School's rivals are Coca Cola Regional. You may see the birth to two technology towns Apple, Wyoming, and its rival Microsoft Falls, Wyoming. The Grammy's would be held at the state of the art iTunes Theater in the heart of Pixar, Wyoming.

Item 3 - But Randy, I don't want to go.

You have choices. 1. You get a job in the current region you are in and pay your own rent, 2. you get your check and are placed in a new career opportunity and restart of your life in Wyoming, or 3. You leave the country. You don't get your cake and eat it too. You earn your check or you become a productive member of society. The current housing projects will be either upgraded or knocked down and replaced (sounds like new jobs right there) and will be converted into condos that those who decided to not go to Wyoming will have an opportunity to purchase. If you do not go to Wyoming or get a job that will allow you to afford the home, you will be homeless - which will be unacceptable. Homeless shelters will no longer be available, because we will not have any homeless people. There is a home for everyone - in Wyoming. The other option you have is to relocate yourself to another country. We will pay for a one-way ticket to another location in the world, where you will then give up your U.S. citizenship and the items you leave behind will be auctioned off to counter the expense of your flight or ship passage.

Item 4 - How are we going to pay for this?

We already are paying for it. Now, we will get something out of it. We will no longer have to outsource our factory production to China or Mexico. We will develop a fair wage scale and quality of life for those participating in the Wyoming project. Production of goods will not be inflated because we will make it illegal for unions to inflate the cost of production. We will have representation from the welfare recipients in a democratic board that will include leaders of industry, government officials, and the common man. A three house approach will be established - like the federal government - to ensure fair treatment of participants and to avoid the need for unionization. Picture it. . . our tax dollars going towards building our country's infrastructure and gross national product, instead of paying people to stay at home and watch Oprah, Wendy Williams, and SoapNet. Additionally, as formerly mentioned, we would be able to license out the naming of towns like we do our stadiums.

So there it - solving homelessness, welfare abuse, and our dependence on foreign manufacturing and power development. Obviously, I have other sub-plans regarding training and education but this is a blog - not a government paper - anyone get through that healthcare document yet? Talk about saving a tree =)

WELCOME TO WYOMING - WHERE EVERYONE GETS A FAIR CHANCE TO LIVE THE AMERICAN DREAM.

Throwing "Coffee Money" at our Problems

In my last blog, I "discussed," more like ranted about, the fact that we are so preoccupied with helping the people of Haiti, that not unlike an easily distracted preschooler who keeps the sink filling up and leaves the bathroom because Elmo's World came on, we once again take our focus off our own problems and go to the aide of others. So while we are helping the Haitian people, our own sinks are overflowing. When we finally return to the bathroom there is another mess for us to clean up.

One of my friends questioned what we are doing as a country. He said that my posting was "true to a point" but questioned the I allusion I made to the "teach a man to fish" adage. He said, "I ask, are any of us actively teaching fishing, and patching holes here?" then continued on another post with "This is how we 'help' our fellow Americans. 'Get a job!' 'Get off wellfare' 'Stop asking for healthcare!' 'Stop having kids!' I don't see many fishing poles. . . ."

I LOVE IT! I love the questions, I love the response, I love the his portrayal of the common man's reaction to the downtrodden and American "down on their luck."

Just like all of you, I spend a lot of time observing people, and trying to make a connection with them. It is hard to survive and be successful without making, at the very least, cordial connections. You can't be a successful actor, director, writer, performer, producer, teacher, social worker, police officer, parent, counselor, instructor, animator, etc. without observing people, understanding people, and trying to connect with people. For the most part, in my personal life, I am a solitary person, but I spend my days interacting with people as studies for characters I might write and/or play in a production we are working on.

Throughout my very eclectic experiences I have had professionally, including construction worker, flooring mechanic, horse whisperer (I mean trainer. . .LOL), music therapist, teacher, magnet school director, principal, animator, producer, performer. . . .etc. I have had the fortune of connecting with people of all walks of life and all types of backgrounds. These interactions make my current position as a writer/producer much easier. It also gives me a unique view of the human condition and of how people respond to various challenges and social issues. It has also helped me establish my personal philosophy as a parent, a husband, a businessman, and an American.

Is a fish out of water bound to eventually adapt, or will it just become dinner?

I remember being a middle school teacher in the projects of Paterson and Newark. A part of me wanted to adopt each of my students and expose them to an alternate way of upbringing. Then I would question, what would my bringing them to "the suburbs" (as I was in seventh grade) do for them? Would I be offering them an "easier" life, where there was less fear and therefore less need for the survival skills that they had been developing? Would I be doing more harm than good, by removing them from their natural "habitat"? Conversely, would my classmates in high school been better off if they experienced an exchange program to Barringer High School in Newark for a year? I'd be interested in exploring this further in future blogs and discussions, but it is not relevant in responding to yesterday's comments. Is a fish out of water bound to eventually adapt, like their amphibian cousins, or will that fish just become dinner?

I knew when it was "check day" (the day when the welfare checks arrived). The day after would have my students arrive in school with $150 sneakers, new "bling" and the latest in apparel and accessories. However, when lunchtime came, if they were not on free lunch, they would have a Pepsi and a Ring Ding packed. How were we supposed to expect these kids to have the focus and energy for the rest of the day (forget about the fact that they probably had the same thing for breakfast) with that "Lunch of Champions" The welfare check was spent like my daughter getting a gift card to Target for her birthday. She is not going to spend it in the food aisle or on getting new underwear, sock, or school supplies. She will spend it on a new DS cartridge, or a DVD, or some new Legos. That is OK, because it is a gift, and she is 10. The welfare check, however, is NOT a gift. It was designed to HELP a family get back on their feet and then get OFF welfare and become contributing members of society.

Welfare has become the new "family business."

When I asked my students what they wanted to do when they were older, they would say, "I don't know. Why do I have to do anything? I will probably collect like my mom and grandma." Not unlike the generations of distended-bellied villagers we have been sending our "coffee money" to for generations, welfare has become that free bowl of rice, that is being spent on Nikes, Gold, iPods, and Jay-Zee downloads.

So maybe my friend is right. Maybe we are not doing enough to help those in need. Maybe, as I think about it, we are just throwing "coffee money" at our own problems. Maybe it is time for us to figure out how to fix our roofs, and empower our people to revitalize the American society. We can change the channel when we see the "Save the Children" commercials, or we can figure out a way to make it unnecessary to produce the commercials. I still submit and support, that we need to feed our own before we save the world. Lets continue this discussion until we figure it out. Lets not be like public education, where we discuss topics and change, but never act upon it.

Our country was founded on the actions of a few patriots who moved the colonies to stand up and say "No More." My friends, it is time that we come up with a plan and WE do it.

It's the American Way.

Next Blog - A radical proposal for welfare reform. You guys will "love" this one.