If I could sum up the personality of the modern-day USA in a single description, it would be this: "Good at bitching, bad at doing."

Americans seem particularly afraid of taking meaningful stands on anything. Oh, we complain a lot -- just look at all the bumper stickers the next time you're on the road. But rarely do we do anything to actually fix the problems we see with the world around us.

Many FOSS (Free and Open-Source Software) zealots like to spout off the old mantra, "Information wants to be free." Nonsense. Information doesn't want anything; people do. "People want information to be free" would be a slightly more accurate statement.

Still, that's not even close to accurate. Not all people want all information to be free. Most people want at least some information to be controlled or restricted. (Think about people's desire for privacy, for example).

Popular culture has abused the term "open-minded" and turned it into what is, in my opinion, a bad thing rather than a good one.

1. Have a real human being answer your phone immediately, instead of making me navigate an automated phone menu and sit on hold for 30 minutes or longer.

2. Do not under any circumstances assume that I'm an idiot, or treat me like one by default, and make me go through a series of asinine basic scripted troubleshooting steps. I wouldn't be calling tech support if I hadn't already tried all those things first.

The Ten Commandments should never be displayed on government premises or displayed in government buildings, period. They are a chunk of religious dogma specifically tied to Judeo-Christian religions and they therefore have no business being displayed by the government which is supposed to equally protect and respect the views of all citizens.

The real problem with public education in the U.S. is that the students are given free reign to define their own culture within the school, and that culture rarely (if ever) naturally values education.

The most effective educational reform I have seen is the recent implementation of anti-bullying programs around the nation, but even this is just an attack on a symptom rather than the root cause.

These are the changes I would make to the U.S. Constitution.

Privacy can be broken into two forms: personal-space privacy and informational privacy. Personal-space privacy is a natural right. You should be able to go to the bathroom or change clothes without having anyone watch you. Informational privacy is an artificial notion, and it harms society. Information about how you have interacted with the world and choices you have made should always be completely accessible to anyone else in the world.

Every human being has a natural obligation to be responsible for him/herself. Nothing harms society more than people who dismiss responsibility for their own actions, or worse yet, try to pin that responsibility on others.

Since most people will not naturally take responsibility for themselves, the government's primary role should be to hold individuals responsible for their actions. The government can do this through a combination of fair legislation and consistent enforcement.

All software should be simple and painless to install and use. There's no good reason to make it more difficult to use than it has to be, even if your target users are smart. If your program cannot be easily used without having to invest longer than about 30 seconds reading something, then you haven't done your job right.