Things we could spend money on instead of starting another war
After Paul Crenshaw
(Many thanks to Paul Crenshaw and his original essay, linked below.)
Everyone gets healthcare. Everyone gets a place to live. Everyone gets a small houseplant and instructions on how to care for it.
Everyone gets free art lessons, or music lessons, or poetry workshops – your choice. Stores shut down for three hours every Sunday and each town hosts a talent show. The winners are given an additional houseplant, this time one that flowers.
Everyone gets to borrow books for free from their public library anytime they want. Yes, I know we already can. Just, let’s keep doing this.
Adults who finish reading ten books over the summer get a pizza party at the library. Adults who tried and feel bad they couldn’t finish reading ten books also get a pizza party.
Everyone in prison for minor offences is set free and given healthcare, housing, and a pizza party at the library. Those who are in prison for possessing or distributing marijuana are given a houseplant and a grow light. Why not play to their talents?
Everyone who wants one is given a raised garden bed in their yard, and supplies, and instructions on how to grow vegetables. Everyone experiences the taste of a vine-ripened tomato picked fresh moments before. Some people experience this while stoned. We all become aware of a universal consciousness that is a source of incredible joy and connectedness, with each other and with nature.
The question, “What do you do for a living?” is retired, because people aren’t afraid of dying anymore if they can’t work, or can’t find work. We take care of each other.
A hundred girls in an elementary school in Iran live. They lead beautiful lives. They grow flowers in their gardens. They grow tomatoes. They become scientists, doctors, and artists. They change the world.
Paul’s original essay:
