Amend the Constitution

“Every citizen is free to perform any act which does not hamper the equal freedom of another. No law shall forbid the performance of any act which does not damage the physical or economic welfare of any other person. No act shall constitute a violation of a law valid under this provision unless there is such damage or immediate present danger of such damage resulting from that act.”
--Robert A. Heinlein. For Us The Living, 1939

Robert A. Heinlein wrote this in 1939, but it wasn’t published until quite recently. It is an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that is made in a futuristic world of his imagining. Personally, I think that such an amendment would be a useful part of our Constitution, because it would have a limiting effect on various unnecessary laws that bind up individuality, and force the citizenry to abide to religious values that don’t necessarily apply to them. In other words, this could lead to freedom from religion.

Here are a few things we could do without, according to Heinlein:
“Sunday closing laws; tax exemption for church property; practically all laws relating to marriage and the relations between the sexes—including laws forbidding divorce, country-wide rule permitting only monogamous marriages, laws against fornication and other taboo sexual relationships, and laws forbidding birth control; laws prohibiting the teaching of certain scientific doctrines, especially man’s kinship to other animals; all laws of censorship, for moral reasons, of the press, stage, radio, or speech; certain taboos of word and speech forms; laws prohibiting the drinking of alcohol per se; laws against smoking cigarettes; any law which takes a paternalistic attitude toward the citizen with the purpose of ensuring his moral perfection rather than the purpose of regulating his conduct to prevent him from damaging other persons and; vice versa, prevent others from damaging him.” --Robert A. Heinlein. For Us The Living, 1939

Now before you begin to criticize, remember that he wrote this in 1939, and some things have changed, i.e.: drinking and smoking have been proven to be harmful to our health, kinship to animals (evolution) is now freely taught in schools, and sexual laws have been taking a turn for the better, recently. But such changes aren’t enough. We need to change the Constitution such that all Americans are considered equal; that is not happening now.

My Revised Pledge of Allegiance

I Pledge Allegiance
To the People
Of the United States of America,
And to the Diversity in Which They Live;
One Nation
Of Individuals,
With Liberty, Equality,
And Peace
For All.

Sick & Tired of Being Sick

For nearly 4 months now I have been dealing with sickness. Beginning with the root canal that didn’t work (requiring me to get the tooth pulled), and sorry, no refunds. Next I begin to have trouble eating. Oh, joy! After years of being a dairy product lover, I’ve become lactose-intolerant! 90% of my diet just went south; now what do I do? Now the doctors are telling me I’ve got Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), and I’ve got to move to a bland and soft diet—no more food, just sustenance. Say goodbye to red meat, high-fiber foods, legumes, soda, chocolate, caffeine, and anything that even remotely reminds me of flavor. Oh, and by the way, my illnesses have killed off all my sick- and vacation-time, leaving me wondering if I’m going to have a job much longer. Assuming I live long enough.