The Glory of Proposition 8 12/19/08

I'll start with another disclaimer: I'm not anti-LGBT. Bannig gay-marriage in a state that has one of the highest gay populations makes very little sense to me, but I will explain why Proposition 8 is so good and how further Propositions (not necessarily pertaining to gay-marriage) can make our country better.

For those of you oblivious to the Election of 2008, Proposition 8 was a controversial proposal in California that would ban the recently-approved gay marriage. Now, like I said above, this doesn't make much sense to me because California has such a high LGBT population that banning it is like banning Polish people from Chicago. However, there is something glorious about Proposition 8 and the future of possible "Propositions."

The United States is made up of 50 states. Each state has an entirely different make up from all the others. Tennessee certainly has more country-western music listeners whereas New York has much more rappers. Connecticut is extremely liberal and Texas is extremely conservative.

If a Proposition was put up to the voters of every New England state, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Hawaii, they'd pass gay marriage in a heart beat (most likely, California proved that maybe wide-spread support on a state level for gay-marriage isn't exactly certain).

Why? Because New England's (and those other states) necessities are different from California's. Just as South Carolina and Oregon don't have the same needs and constituencies, neither do California and Massachusetts (the first state to approve of gay marriage).

Proposition 8 should be a harbinger for democracy. Propositions of all kinds should be put up in state legislatures across the country. South Carolina could certainly use a proposition banning abortion. Just as Rhode Island and New York might benefit from propositions approving gay marriage (can you imagine the mass exodus of hair stylists to New York? The Fashion capital of the world would take on a new meaning.)

With propositions being put to the people instead of state legislatures the most significant threat facing Americans today can finally begin to move: the income tax.

Alaska, Texas, Florida, Nevada, Washington, Wyoming, and South Dakota are the only states that don't have a state income tax. However all 50 states are subject to the federal income tax (the 16th Amendment). To put it simply, I'm not saying taxes are wrong, but working hard just so the government can get a cut of your dough isn't right. People wonder why the rich get no taxes? It's because they don't work. All their investments are in the stock market which isn't an income, so it doesn't get taxed.

To put it simply, the income tax is a form of slavery.

If a proposition was put up to the other 42 states in the Union to shoot down state income taxes, I'd garauntee that at least half of them would eliminate state income taxes. Give it a few more years and we can have a 28th Amendment passed to repeal the 16th Amendment.

Our Representative democracy is certainly a wonderful piece of art drawn up by the founders. Especially given that it had never been done before. Still, power should be in the hands of the people. And the more power we as individuals wield, the more power we can keep in our hands in the wake of an expanding Federal government.

After the Constitutional Convention in 1788, Benjamin Franklin was leaving Independence Hall when a woman asked him, "Sir, what kind of government have you given us: a democracy or a monarchy?"

Franklin answered, "A democracy, woman. If you can keep it."

Proposition 8 proves that we can keep our democracy... if we really want to.

12/19/08