Dear Future President,

I present to you a list of problems and solutions that I am sure will benefit the American people.

The economy in its current state is not bad. However, it could also be much, much better. My suggestion is to reward American-based companies that move manufacturing back to the US. This will encourage companies to have their factories in the US. This in turn will create more jobs for the American people. Another reason for this is that I believe it goes against the ideals that this country was founded on to have the vast majority of our consumer goods manufactured overseas. It undermines our independence to be so dependent on foreign nations.

Abortion laws are very restrictive in some parts of the country, laws that ban abortion except in cases where the mother or child’s life is threatened. There are two reasons that I oppose this. One of them is that restricting a woman’s access to abortion is infringing upon the natural rights stated in the Declaration of Independence. Liberty is the state of being free from restrictions on one’s way of life, behavior, and political views. Forcing a woman to carry a child to term that she doesn’t want is controlling her behavior and therefore taking away the liberty that the founding fathers fought for nearly two and a half centuries ago. Secondly, at some point you must realize that you do not get to make decisions for someone else. Regardless of its morality, a woman should have the option to terminate an unwanted pregnancy; whether she chooses to is her decision and her decision alone.

Another major problem in this country is the social inequality of the sexes and races. Far too often women are treated as if they are less than men. Almost daily a black man or woman is killed in the streets by a police officer. There is one obvious root to this problem: it is that some people simply think they are better than others. This is a learned bias rather than one we are born with. The only way to remedy this is to start teaching equality from a very young age in our education system. Children should learn as soon as they can read and write that all people are equal and no one is better than anyone else because of the color of their skin or by the contents of their underwear. Teaching this from an early age helps to raise more tolerant leaders of tomorrow.

Another insane problem in this country is gun-related deaths. I believe that we should stop selling ammunition for assault rifles and automatic weapons. You simply do not need the ability to fire off more than 20 rounds a minute for hunting or for recreation. I believe that California’s gun laws are ideal. They have good waiting periods and you need a gun license to own a gun. I also think that people who are on the terror watchlist should not be able to own guns. In addition, I think that you should have to take a mandatory mental health assessment every year to make sure that you are still qualified to own and operate a firearm safely.

Sincerely,

Emily Hopwood