The drinking culture came to me Freshman year. The drinking spirit that inundated me was certainly a festive one. I would head out four nights a week. This wasn't infeasible for me since I had my rugby buddies Q-tip and Cocaine Steve who were equally motivated towards festivities. Rugby socials were hectically joyous. Chug races were standard. I will never forget the road trip to Central Michigan U. I didn't seem to be suffering from it. I was pulling in As and Bs. Due to consistent training and exertion, I was in just about the best shape of my life.
But things change.Now that I'm 23, the faucet to put my mouth to is a commercial one. Those dank basements with music blaring are no longer an outlet. Now, the environment feels horribly sanitized.
So the culture is different. That's not the only thing though. It seems the bad inhibitions aren't lost when I reach "that point", but the good ones are. It seems that as much spirit as my buddies have around me, I'm no longer moved. It seems that I need to give something up that just isn't working anymore.
Being sick is the
worst. It completely throws a damper into whatever schedule or plans you make for yourself. I misjudged how long the last part of my Systems Understanding Accounting packet (hey, who knew year-end procedures would take 8 hours?) and I could
feel myself getting sick as the night progressed. From 9am yesterday to 10:45am today, I've spend 17 hours in school or doing homework. And now I won't be able to get any sort of release via rugby or pizza/beer at RR.
This sucks.
It was homecoming here in Cloud this weekend. My night started off with about a forth of a bottle of vodka. Me, Ihde, Verley, Petersen, and Deb were all taking our turn chugging any sort of random mixture we preferred out of a beer bong Verley had lying around. What was originally about one standard strength vodka coke for me turned much more noxious when Ihde decided to dump the rest of the bottle in at the end. And this wasn't some nice, smooth vodka - this was some putrid stuff. Damn, fast start.
Even on homecoming, the only bar that really gets packed here in Cloud town is the Red Carpet. I think it's about advertising because all of their events seem just as good as any other bar. Like last Thursday they had a couple of people from the Real World Austin stop by. I mean, those people aren't even
real actors. Admittedly, it's a creative way to draw people who follow pulp culture, but it doesn't so much apply to me. A local band with spectacular live show skills called
Doorstep Paradise happened to be playing at the Rox. So, after losing a couple of games of pool at The Press, I went over and watched them perform. And it was good.
Television shows can romanticize anything if they're written right. I tend to get enthralled with the medical based ones such as
E.R. or
House M.D. personally. There are shows about every high-brow careers though. Lawyers, detectives, executives, chefs - these have all been portrayed. Effectively too. The public eats up the lingo and weird particulars about each profession.
So where are the accounting dramas?With all of the ongoing scandals, writers certainly have fodder to feed off of. Ethics, corruption, and politics are a persistent factor within the profession. Is the public's perception of accounting that dull that even writers can't imagine surmounting it?
Alright, here I go, I'm going to touch that "third rail". Ready?
We should abolish Social Security.Whew, that felt kind of liberating.
Ok, so
abolish is a strong word. The more appropriate thing to do would be to
sunset the program so people who've already put their money into it still receive that money upon retirement. This would also allow those of middle age to take responsibility and seriously look at how they want to spend or save their money. This would also provide incentive for businesses to offer sound pension plans for their workers.
Why would I want such a thing?For one, we need to change how our society runs when the structure of society changes. Our society is becoming a much more service oriented. Gone are the days when most people toiled away as laborers. Also, federal regulations within the manufacturing and agricultural industry have improved. People aren't getting maimed on the job in nearly the proportion they where at the time Social Security was imposed.
Why are we arbitrarily saying through social security that people don't have worth as working individuals past 65? We have healthier and more coherent retirees than ever before. And these superiorly abled seniors are going to stay more capable for a longer period as time goes on. People should retire when they feel they're able to, not when it's mandated for them. This gives the spending power to the people. If a person saves for their own retirement, they can spend it as they wish. If they get sick and are close to death, they can determine who or what charity to best spend their saved cash on.
Why is this such a big issue to me?Because soon we will have the proportionally largest generation retiring. This will happen. Time doesn't stop. This group will inevitably be the healthiest and longest living group in history due to medical advances (until the next, of course). This group will be unbridled in their spending from one social security check to the next. Economically, this will mean more dollars will be chasing around smaller amounts of good (less goods since most of the retirees won't be contributing to production, a "double whammy"). This will mean that either the dollar will be worth less, or insurance rates will rise to reign in inflationary effects.
So you would just abandon seniors in need?Not necessarily. Social security is a program for the masses. It doesn't matter how wealthy the senior is. They are still getting the same check as a senior in need. Actually, the weathier seniors receive more than their less fortunate peers in proportion to how much more they put in.
Separate programs which offer less perverse incentives could be created. The government could offer pension guarantees much like their FDIC does to checking accounts. Also, welfare programs could be started for those seniors in dire need of support (preferably at the state level).
These solutions are targeted programs. Society as a whole would get the largest living quality "bang for the buck" by using such programs rather than blanket contributions.
Many of the larger and more successful business of modern times have embraced decentralized processes so that the people closer to the problem are the ones who deal with it instead of needing to deal with a heirarchy of command. Government programs should follow the same trend if we are to help those truly in need more quickly.
