Sometimes it seems as if we’ve forgotten there can be nuanced reasoning to complex issues. Just because there are currently two political parties in the United States doesn’t mean that they hold the only solutions to the problems the nation faces. In fact, more often than not, they will tend to hold a highly simplified, ideological, and radicalized view of a solution. Instead of jumping on the bandwagon of either party, let’s talk about some alternatives to the current problems without involving socialism.

1. Make hospitals more transparent about their expenditures. Hi there. Yes, I’d like an itemized bill including exactly how much you’re charging me for my food, medicine, how much it cost to run the MRI machine, how much you’re paying each nurse and doctor who attended me according to the time spent or duties performed, include how much you’re charging me to cover your rent, electricity, and water, and how much you’re paying admin. Now that every single person who goes to the ER or in for surgery can see exactly how you’re using the money you extort from us without giving a good reason, you’ll very likely be in trouble. I mean, if you say things like “Is healing patients a viable way to maintain business?” and the President of the United States has to sign a law to order you to “make public all the prices they negotiate with insurers and health plans”, there’s a problem.
2. Eradicate tax brackets. Yeah, I hope you were sitting down when you read that. More on that in the next section.
3. Have charities ask those with high incomes to be their patrons. This used to be normal, and it still is. Pros: it avoids the flashy one-time giving that many celebrities do, and ensures a regular supply of income to the charity. It also does away with the egregious amount of donation letters, emails, and calls that everyday citizens receive asking for money. Even better, it avoids the common problem of the average citizen being scammed. Did you donate to the Red Cross recently? I hope not.
4. Ok, we need higher standards for welfare. Come one, how is that asking a lot? How is it ok to be on drugs and to take money from law-abiding citizens? I mean, seriously. Get a job.
5. Allow churches to care for the homeless. I don’t even get why the government is interfering. People are hungry, cold, and need clothes, but you’re going to criminalize the ones who help them? Right, that’s just so messed up it’s not even funny.
6. Hold colleges accountable for tuition. Yeah, yeah, I know, you want free college. Hey, I’d like free art supplies too. Can I have them?….. Think about it. I know everyone’s complaining about student loan debt, but why are we trying to shift our burdens onto others? First of all, that’s pretty whiny and pathetic. Second, it doesn’t even solve the real issue. I went to school online, but I had to pay the same amount of tuition, which included dorm rates, as on-campus students. That was so freaking unfair I’m still not over it. Probably going to have to see a therapist someday. But seriously, that’s not even common sense. Why should I, living in another state, be forced to pay for a room I’ve never even seen? Same thing as hospitals. We need to see itemized bills BEFORE we sign up for a course. I want to see how much you’re paying the professor (who’s also often working remotely), how much you’re paying admin, tech services, web hosting, and library services. And that’s basically all I used as an online student, so online students really shouldn’t pay any more than those costs. If you go on campus, well, that’s your choice. And you should have everything, including electricity, water, wifi, and all personnel bills, itemized as well. Someone tell me why we aren’t starting with this and just jumping straight to yelling for free stuff? Where did common sense go?
7. To all those howling that you need a livable wage and therefore higher minimum wage. Please use your brain. This is so intimately related to the housing market that no discussion of minimum wage is complete without it. Environmentalists and elitist politicians have driven up the cost of housing for their poorer constituents by instituting building moratoriums. The result is what you see — insanely high rent prices for the people who have to suffer for voting in those idiots, as well as those who suffer for voting against them. So we will need to dismantle these regulations, allowing the construction of more houses and apartment buildings, before we try to force businesses to pay employees a higher wage to match a ridiculously high cost of living.

Let’s start with these ideas. As far as I can tell, they’re not partisan or tied to either party in any way. It’s just common sense. So instead of screaming at people on the opposite side of the political spectrum, why don’t we take a breath and work together against the ones who are really trying to cheat us?