Summary of political beliefs
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Crumpets
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« Reply #1125 on: July 08, 2015, 08:56:28 PM »
« edited: July 08, 2015, 10:16:36 PM by Thinking Crumpets Crumpet »

Social policy:
Abortion: Pro-choice. I have some personal qualms about abortions after viability, but don't think that the government should be in the business of legislating personal medical decisions. Government and schools should expand (non-abstinence) sex-ed and access to birth control, particularly IUDs. Insurance companies should be required to cover birth control and abortions if they are for-profit.
Marriage: A fundamental right for every loving couple.
Drugs: End the war on drugs, provide for free, anonymous addiction treatment for anyone who needs it. Use of any drug should not be illegal, although trading, selling, and producing dangerous and addicting drugs such as heroin should be illegal.
Stem Cell Research: Support wholeheartedly as well as federal funding for it.
Death Penalty: I can be talked into or out of it on a case-by case basis, although I'd say the against side tends to have better arguments. Lean in favor of repealing.
Gun control: Used to be much more libertarian on this issue, but recently have come to support much greater restrictions both on guns and ammunition. I see no reason to own battlefield-style guns on the streets of America, and I believe everyone wishing to own a gun should undergo a background check and a training course. This would apply to intra-family transfers as well as gun shows, online sales, etc.
Affirmative Action: Only economic, not racial, and only as a tie-breaker between equally qualified candidates.
Prostitution: Netherlands-style system.
Euthanasia: Like abortion, I see no need for the government to legislate personal medical decisions.
Vaccines: Obviously I favor vaccines, but like euthanasia and abortion nobody should go to jail because their views aren't in line with the common consensus. That being said, if children want to attend public school, they should be vaccinated.
Feminism: Extremely and proudly feminist.

Economic issues:
Minimum Wage: There is no practical correlation between the minimum wage and unemployment on the national scale. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Funnel_Graph_of_Estimated_Minimum_Wage_Effects.jpg
However, minimum wage should only be a single component of larger wage reforms including caps on bonuses and a general return to holding employees in higher esteem than shareholders.
Welfare: Scandinavian-style system.
Right-to-Work: Like it in theory, hate it in practice. Generally opposed as a consequence.
Taxation: Support a progressive income tax. Eliminate sales tax.
Healthcare: Ideally, I'd support a single-payer system. That not being feasible in modern America, I think Obamacare is an acceptable compromise.
Social Security: See welfare.
Trade: I support free trade, although the government should put taxes and penalties on buying from countries with poor labor laws and perhaps even questionable political systems. Thus, we should be allowed to do business with Iran and Cuba, as well as China and Bangladesh, although the price of goods from these countries would reflect their true cost.                  
Education: It is important to have certain national and even international standards to ensure that students will not feel at a dramatic disadvantage as they move between schools and levels of education. Support free universal pre-K and 2 years of free community college.
Balanced Budget Amendment: It sounds great in theory, but so does an "Unemployment never goes above 5%" Amendment.

Foreign policy and national security
Afghanistan: Increase soft power, decrease hard power.
Iraq: Largest foreign policy mistake since Vietnam bar none. For now, the best we can do is aid the Iraqi government when our help is requested but ensure that our aid goes to official forces and not the Shi'a proxies.
Iran: We may not like their government because of what they did in '79, but that is no excuse to abandon the people and write them all off as anti-American or terrorists. We need to support local NGOs and maintain cordial relations with the Rouhani administration, which has made a point to reach out to our nation.
Syria: Ensure that the bordering nations have the support they need to ensure their protection, as well as innocent civilians. If that includes airstrikes within Syria, so be it.
Cuba: Went there in 2013. Great country. Not condoning the Castro regime, but seriously, it's 2015 not 1962.
Military Spending: Much of modern technology was popularized because it was first used in the military. If we really want to spend more than any other country by a dramatic margin, use that funding to modernize NOT expand our military. We can remake out army to fight the wars of the 21st century and improve our economic standing.
PATRIOT Act: Stupid law. Repeal it entirely, and then if there's anything we really can't do without, we can vote on it piece-by-piece.
NSA Spying: I don't really have a problem with bulk collection of meta-data, although it's clear that it has compromised our legitimacy among our allies. On balance, I think the program should be eliminated.
Palestine: Support Fatah, and push for expansion of PA-controlled areas to promote democracy.
Israel: Support Israel from external threats, but internal threats are its own problem. Israel should further take responsibility for the thousands of people living in areas of de facto Israeli control, but ineligible to participate in their government. Settlements should end immediately and without condition.
Immigration: The vast majority of "issues" with our immigration system are born from our antiquated visa system, not our borders. Make it easier for people to get and renew their visas, and stop pretending that Donald Trump or Lou Dobbs "has a point." It's race-baiting pure and simple, just like it was when it was the Irish, the Italians, and the Chinese.
Guantanamo Bay: Should be closed immediately, accompanied with a formal apology from the President. Dangerous criminals should face trial under the framework of the Constitution, and all others either extradited to the appropriate country or released without prejudice.

Environment
Climate Change: It's real, it's our fault, and it's our responsibility to either try to cut back on pollution or start preparing for the effects that will result from not changing our ways. Yes, the Earth is naturally going to have climate fluctuations over time, but these alone cannot explain the dramatic increase in temperatures we have seen in recent decades, nor can mere "statistical noise."
Green Energy: Obviously.
Keystone XL Pipeline: Ambivalent as long as it does not go through protected areas, although I think the economic benefits have been largely overstated.

Electoral reform:
Electoral College: Abolish it.
Gerrymandering: I'd much prefer an at-large, proportional voting system on a state-by-state basis.
Term limits: As far as I can tell, the old-timers in Congress don't tend to be the problem.
Voter ID: Violates the 24th Amendment, and is wholly about trying to prevent "their type" from voting.
Compulsory Voting: Sure, as long as people can still make protest votes (Mickey Mouse, blank votes, etc.)
Voter Registration: Automatic with voluntary opt-out (Oregon system)
Statehood: Self-determination (simple popular vote majority) for anybody that wants to enter, Constitutional amendment required for anybody that wants to leave.
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« Reply #1126 on: July 13, 2015, 12:25:55 AM »

Someone make sure darthebearnc never gets into office. Mandatory euthanasia defines Orwellian. Yeah, screw that Second Amendment!
The joke went right over your head.
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« Reply #1127 on: July 25, 2015, 12:24:10 PM »

Political Philosophy: I consider myself an orthodox Trotskyist. This means that unlike the majority of ostensibly 'Trotskyist' groups in the United States (and elsewhere), I do not shirk from unconditional defense of the remaining deformed workers' states (China, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, North Korea) against internal counterrevolution and imperialist attack, while also calling for the workers of these countries to overthrow their respective Stalinist bureaucracies. As far as I am concerned, non-support for these deformed workers' states against the imperialist powers is tantamount to stabbing the international proletariat in the back, and I don't consider persons who claim the mantle of Trotsky and don't support defense of the gains of the socialist revolution in these countries to be revolutionaries in any sense. At best, they're social democrats with goatees, and at worst, they're counterrevolutionaries.

Social Issues

Abortion: Abortion should be free and available on demand. All laws which discriminate against younger women, or require parental consent, or any other kind of invasive procedure in order to get an abortion (e.g. mandatory sonograms) should be repealed. The labor movement should mobilize to defend abortion clinics against attacks from far-right, anti-abortion terrorist groups.

Drugs/Legalization: All drugs should be legal. The War on Drugs is a war against the working class, specifically the most oppressed sectors of it, black and brown youth in America. All persons jailed for drug offenses should be released from prison.

Euthanasia: All persons should have the right to end their own life, should they see fit. I personally don't see any reason to limit that right to persons who are terminally ill, either. If you'd rather take an early exit from life than stay for the long haul, that's your right, and no one should be able to force you to stick around against your will.

Gay Rights: Nothing short of full legal equality should be the norm for LGBTQ persons. Of course, under capitalism, true equality is impossible, but we must move in the direction of enforcing protections against the use of what divides us (race, gender, orientation, age, etc, etc.) by the ruling class to cause infighting amongst ourselves and weaken our position. The labor movement must fight for inclusive contract language to protect LGBTQ persons and must stand for the defense of LGBTQ persons against homophobic or transphobic attack.

Gun Control: If guns are banned, only racist cops and the Klan (often one and the same!) will have guns. Gun control should be fought at every step of the way and the working class should arm itself for the defense of picket lines, its most oppressed sectors (e.g. the black population, which is subject to death by cop at any given moment in America), abortion clinics, etc, etc. There should be no compromise of the right to armed self-defense.

Immigration: Immigrants should be protected from discrimination on the job, in getting access to government services, and from deportation by a militant labor movement. The immigrant worker is not the enemy of the American-born worker, but his or her comrade in the class struggle. The real enemy is the boss, and there's nothing the boss fears more than multiracial labor solidarity.

Prostitution: We should demand nothing short of the full legalization of sex work. At the end of the day, all work under capitalism is a kind of prostitution, in which the laborer sells not only his or her ability to labor, but his or her dignity. Full legalization of sex work will not only make it easier for sex workers to organize, strike, and collectively bargain, but also make it harder for the kinds of abuses that occur on the black market to continue going on.

Separation of Church and State: The separation of church and state is a vital cornerstone of the bourgeois revolution that must be defended and extended in the coming proletarian revolution. I do not reject the defense of this vital gain of our first revolutionary upheaval in the United States, nor do I make excuses for religious fundamentalism or seek to build alliances with reactionary organizations that deal in religious opiate (which is more than you can say of pseudo-left groups like the ISO, which cheered on the Iranian Revolution and whose sister party, the UK Socialist Workers' Party, has formed alliances with Islamists in the past). Religion, whatever its origins, is now a component part of the capitalist system, and is used to confound and confuse, to divide and defeat. The labor movement must become a school for unity across religious lines, and ultimately, a movement united against religion, which will always act as the enemy of proletarian power when the hour of decision is near.

Scientific Research: This category was originally 'Stem Cell Research', but given that it is 2015 and not 2005 anymore and no one really still has any issues with 'Stem Cell Research', I figured that I would change it to incorporate my views more broadly on scientific research. I am not a 'green', nor am I an 'environmentalist'. I am a Promethean communist and want to see man conquer (not 'live in harmony with') nature, because only the conquest of nature can make communism a real possibility. I support all scientific research that furthers that goal, and reject the anti-scientific, romantic garbage of the 'environmental movement', and its pseudo-left apologists.

Smoking Bans: I am totally opposed to smoking bans and restrictions on smoking in both indoor and outdoor facilities. The anti-smoking campaign is fairly obviously a campaign against working class people, who are more likely to smoke than other segments of society, for obvious reasons. Its also interesting that the current bout of anti-smoking hysteria started in the late 1980s, a period in which capital began searching for ways to make workers more productive (how convenient then, that states would begin adopting workplace smoking bans!) and wring out more surplus value from them. I think you should be able to smoke wherever you want, whenever you want, and the liberal busy-bodies should butt out. Likewise, I oppose bans on public intoxication and having an open container of alcohol in public, and would obviously oppose any such bans on the use recreational drugs should they end up becoming legal.

Affirmative Action: I support defense of affirmative action, as affirmative action is one of the few methods whereby black Americans can continue on in higher education. However, I reject fundamentally the premise behind Affirmative Action, which is that education is a 'scarce' good that requires us to compete for access to it. The answer, then, is the nationalization of the university system, making education at every level completely free of charge, the abolition of the administration (let the students and their teachers manage their own education), and living stipends for all students.

Miscellaneous:
  • I support the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.
  • I oppose the security state and would like to see the whole of it abolished.
  • I oppose all efforts to police the Internet, be it to remove or censor content (I oppose all censorship efforts by the capitalist state or it's lackeys, be it the Christian fundamentalist right or the feminist pseudo-left) or to prosecute copyright violations.
  • I oppose attempts by the state to regulate what goes on in the bedroom. Like I said above, I support the legalization of sex work, but I'll go further and say that I oppose any and all laws which prohibit sexual activity in which effective consent is given by the parties involved. I oppose age of consent laws, am in favor of abolishing 'sex offender' registries (which are more or less designed to incite lynch mobs), and am completely opposed to locking someone up for viewing 'forbidden images', reading the wrong stories on the Internet, or offending the sexual mores of the majority in anyway. That said, none of what I wrote in this bullet should be interpreted to include any non-consensual sexual activity, which should obviously be punished with the utmost severity.
  • I oppose the administering of the death penalty by the capitalist state.
  • I support comprehensive, sex-positive sex education, from a young age. I am opposed to sexual prudery no matter how it's framed (and these days its more fashionable to clothe it in feminist garb than in that of the church) and oppose age restrictions on viewing and purchasing pornographic material. Sex is a normal biological process, and shouldn't be put on a pedestal or viewed as dirty. We all (well, this is Atlas Forum, so most all) of us do it at some point in our lives and most of the time we don't do it to have kids, we do it for pleasure. And that's fine.
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« Reply #1128 on: July 25, 2015, 12:39:31 PM »

Economic Issues

Taxation: I oppose the capitalist state taking with the one hand what it allows us to keep from the other (in the form of pithy amount of value we're allowed to keep from our daily toil). Most egregious is the widespread use of regressive taxation (on things like booze, cigarettes, license fees, etc., etc.), because of its disproportionate impact upon working class budgets. I strongly oppose tax increases matted out by the bourgeois state on the working class in particular, and recognize of course that 'tax hikes on the rich' under capitalism are fundamentally not all that effective, given the ability of the rich to dodge taxation by moving their money overseas, bribing legislators to create loopholes, etc, etc.

Education: As I noted in the Affirmative Action section, I support nationalizing higher education, making it free for all, abolishing the administration, and giving all students a living stipend. Likewise, for public education, I support much of the same, absolving students and parents of all fees and educating students in a manner which prepares them for the rough and tumble of capitalist society, at least under our present epoch. Education should be polytechnical and democratic, and students should be encouraged to work with both their brains and their brawn, rather than falling neatly into one category of work or the other.

Environment: See Scientific Research. I am not an environmentalist or a 'green' in any real respect, and I support the ultimate subjugation of nature to human needs. I oppose capitalist-led climatic change and support efforts to rein it in, but I am not fundamentally opposed to 'climatic change' in general, and think that fundamentally altering the climate of the earth (and in the future, other planets) to suit human needs is a worthwhile endeavor.

Social Security: The Social Security system is designed, not as a kind of universal pension program, but as a stopgap measure to prevent extreme poverty among workers who have been given the opportunity to 'retire' for lack of ability to continue meaningful work under the capitalist system. I support defending the system against attack by neoliberal privatizers, but I also think the system itself is woefully inadequate. Every person should be guaranteed a pension and should be able to take it whenever they want, provided they've hit the age of at least fifty-five (55). Any such pension should guarantee a living income for the retired, so they don't have to go back to work if they choose not to (which is ultimately what Social Security requires so many of them to do).

Unions: The labor movement must become a school for communism. But before we can even get to that stage, we have to have a labor movement in this country. Only 6 percent of private sector workers are union members, which is a good part of why the whole country has gone down the shitter the past few decades. The unorganized must be organized, especially in the South, which is fast becoming the new industrial heartland of the United States. I oppose all efforts at state intervention into the internal affairs of unions or the class struggle, be it by hired thugs by management, the scab army (e.g. the police), or the National Labor Runaround Board. Unions should be internally democratic, with officers not paid more than the average worker, and should be organized along industrial lines.

Health Care: There's no excuse for anything less than full, universal health coverage. This should include all aspects of care (especially dental care, which is often neglected in existing 'universal' systems) and should be fully socialized, along the lines of the British NHS.

Energy: The energy sector should be nationalized and energy production shifted away from oil and toward nuclear power. Contrary to what the greenies might tell you, we don't have the capacity at the moment for solar power or wind power to run the entirety of the economy, and even if we did, there's no reason that we necessarily should adopt these kinds of power as the building block for our society, as both would (at the present juncture) result in a massive lowering of living standards for the population. Nuclear power is clean and will sustain our living standards while allowing countries in the underdeveloped world to catch up to those standards and provide for the ultimate eradication of poverty under a socialized economic system.

Miscellaneous:
  • I strongly support the development of driverless cars and the use of automation (under a socialist system, of course) to reduce the need for human labor and extend free time for everyone. Likewise, I support a 30 hour workweek, with further reductions contingent upon the widespread adoption of labor-saving devices across the economy.
  • I support the nationalization of the banking sector, which will of course make it a hell of a lot easier to expropriate the wealth of the bourgeoisie when the time comes.
  • I support the establishment of workers' committees in every town and city that would have the power to regulate wages and prices. Ultimately, of  course, I support the creation of workers' councils that would not only regulate wage and price rates, but also act as the component part of a system of nested workers' councils whereby the working class would rule society itself.
  • I support equal pay for women, paid leave, access to twenty-four hour socialized daycare, and ultimately, the socialization of domestic labor entirely. The individual family is the primary unit of women's oppression, and should be done away with under socialism, where cooperative living arrangements, free love, and the raising of children by the entire community would replace the individual home, straightjacket monogamy, and the parceling out of domestic labor and child rearing.
  • I oppose union-busting schemes like 'workfare/welfare-to-work' and prison labor, both of which I think should be prohibited outright. No person should go without a job, and no one should be paid less than union wages on the job. Prisons should be abolished and persons subject to correctional authority be allowed to live in their own homes and continue their own lives while they pay back their debt to society.
  • I support a ban on most forms of advertising.
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« Reply #1129 on: July 25, 2015, 12:58:39 PM »

Foreign Policy Issues.

Military Spending: Shrink the military of the bourgeois state to the size that you can drown it in the bath tub. No, seriously. I oppose the massive military budgets enacted yearly by the U.S. imperialist state and would like to see the military dismantled, bit-by-bit. Military recruiters should be kicked off of campuses across the country and the working class should organize its own militias and self-defense groups to protect picket lines, stop police brutality, and defend abortion clinics, etc, etc.

Islamic State: The United States should withdraw from Middle East entirely, and should immediately disengage from its ongoing conflict with the Islamic State.

Afghanistan: See Islamic State. It's really too bad the Soviet Union was driven out of Afghanistan by religious lunatics funded by the United States in the late 1980s.

Ukraine: I support Novorossiya in its fight against the fascist-led government in Kiev, and reject all attempts to deny the Novorossiyans their right to self-determination. Russia is not instigating anything in Ukraine, the United States and its lackeys in Kiev are. We should respect the Crimea referendum as legitimate and allow for the integration of Novorossiya into Russia proper, if they so choose.

Diplomacy/Sanctions: Sanctions are war through the backdoor.

Miscellaneous:
  • I oppose the 'War on Terror' and support the withdrawal of U.S. troops and closure of all U.S. military bases from every country in which there are U.S. military bases.
  • I oppose Zionism and support the overthrow of the Israeli (and Palestinian) governments by an Israeli working class united with their Palestinian brothers and sisters. The only solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict is a unified, socialist federation of the Middle East!
  • I support China, Vietnam, Cuba, Laos, and North Korea against internal counterrevolution and imperialist attack. I support proletarian political revolution in all these countries to overthrow the Stalinist bureaucracies which currently run them and replace these with a dictatorship of the proletariat, committed to extending the gains of these countries' respective revolutions across the globe.

Electoral Issues/Government

Voting Regulations: I oppose all efforts by the bourgeois state at curtailing the ability of anyone in the United States to vote. Likewise, I support all efforts at opening up the electoral system, lowering the voting age, and making sure that all voices (even those I disagree with personally) are heard in political debates.

Elections: I think that the President's proposal for mandatory voting is stupid, and likewise I think that in the case of elections, at the present juncture, there's really no one worth voting for. I could see myself voting for someone on the basis of critical support, but nothing really further than that at this point. As a Leninist, I definitely support participation in bourgeois legislatures, but from a revolutionary oppositionist standpoint. Candidates should run to propagate the need for proletarian revolution, and if they win, they should gum up the works as much as possible from within the bourgeois legislature.

The Senate: I support abolishing the Senate, as well as abolishing the whole of the existing state apparatus. The working class should form workers' councils, which should move to take power from the bourgeois state and establish themselves as the sole political power in the United States, which should become something like a United Council Socialist States of America, or something like that.

Referenda: Depends on the issue at hand, but in general I don't oppose using referendum votes as a way of propagating a political line consistent with proletarian revolutionism. Often referenda provide a better means of propaganda, as there are no tendencies toward 'lesser evilism' in a vote of yes or no on a particular issue.

Electoral College: See The Senate. I support abolishing all executive offices of the bourgeois state and transferring all power to workers' councils.
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« Reply #1130 on: July 25, 2015, 05:21:01 PM »

Political Philosophy - I'm not rigidly defined by anything. Don't interpret that as me calling myself "pragmatic", ugh, which is a gross word used by fools who kid themselves into thinking they have no idealogy. I am just of the firm belief that everybody on earth; whatever their gender, ethnicity, orientation, class or circumstances of birth; deserves a good life - to be educated up to their desired limits, given quality healthcare throughout their life and to have a meaningful and productive life ( definitions of "meaningful" and "productive" are up or grabs).

Social Issues:

Abortion: should be available, and ideally free (no-questions asked) until the end of the second trimester. (After that only for medical issues and other special circumstances - obviously very few women go for abortions for funzies during the third trimester, so it's not like that's too much of a burden. Obviously parental consent is an ageist sham, and thugs should not be allowed to protest and harass clinics/their patients.

Animal Rights: all sentient beings should be granted rights. Personhood status should be granted to simians and cetaceans; and their use in entertainment, invasive experimentation and food should be banned. Factory farming, and (eventually, with increased research into faux foods) the widespread consumption of meat and dairy should be discouraged and phased out.

Drugs: soft drugs legalised, hard drugs treated as medical issue and given free to addicts. Treat all soft drugs like Tobacco and Alcohol - in that we should be distrustful of their industries but recognise them as necessary evils.

Euthanasia: legalise for any reason, but with enough checks that people aren't being coerced into it by unscrupulous individuals.

Gender and Sexual minority rights: (normal) full legalisation of; crack down on discrimination in all sectors, school bullying and transgender people should be allowed to change their gender without surgery.

Guns: ugh (non-American, normal). No need for ( non-decorative) guns unless you're a farmer, although defensive weapons like pepper spray should be legal. As I do not support rich aristocratic psychos or those who seek to emulate them, I oppose recreational hunting.

Immigration: as a long-term goal, open borders should be the dream. Rich countries should be forced to take in more refugees and asylum seekers; and the UK should introduce birthright citizenship.

Prostitution: although I feel the industry is largely moot in the Internet era, I think the Nordic Model makes the most sense at this point in time.

Separation of Church and State: yeah, disestablish CofE; ban funding of religious schools (even, nay, especially in Northern Ireland). Obvious.

Affirmative Action: should be done, but only as a crude and temporary measure to fix existing ills. I support gender quotas for boardrooms, legislatures and the civil service until they became unnecessary; and racial quotas in certain contexts (e.g. South Africa).

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« Reply #1131 on: July 25, 2015, 09:23:52 PM »

Healthcare System: I see Obamacare as an important step to the future. However, I believe the true goal should be universal single payer healthcare. Focus on preventive care first. I support patent reform and tort reform to lower costs.
Social Security: Raise the contribution cap, lower benefits for the rich possibly
Taxes: I believe in a progressive but simpler income/corporation tax, where loopholes for the rich and corporations are closed. Also, I love the idea of a Robin Hood Tax. Don't mind high sin taxes too.
Campaign Finance: Strict limits on donations and reforms for more transparency need to be enacted.
Voter ID: I oppose these provisions
Gerrymandering: Control redistricting via independent commissions
Voting Age: Lower to 16 on the local level
New States: DC and Puerto Rico should both be admitted
Banking: Pass Glass Steagall, break up big banks, don't bail out banks, support community banking.
Federal Reserve: Nationalize it.
Minimum Wage: Raise to $12.00 an hour and index for inflation thereafter
Free Trade: Prefer fair trade over free trade, implement protective tariffs against human rights abusers.
Unions: I support strong unions and stand against "right to work".
Welfare Reform: Crack down on waste and fraud, end "workfare"
Farm Regulation: Change the regulatory system to be fair towards family farmers, legalize hemp, legalize raw milk, loosen rules on urban farming.
GMO's: Label them, but they have very beneficial potential.
Environmental Regulations: Carbon tax or cap and trade are necessary, ensure that polluters are severely punished, ratify the Kyoto Protocol
Energy: Pivot away from oil, coal, and gas and towards nuclear, solar, wind, and fusion power
Cars: End the stupid ban on personally importing cars newer than 25 years old, stop inspecting cars before re-registration, lower emissions regulations on carmakers
Education: Ensure that schools are well funded. Fight the race-to-the-top standardized testing mentality that currently pervades schools.
Foreign Conflicts: Generally isolationist, although I do believe in drone strikes and airstrikes as a form of limited military intervention. Act when necessary to end major human rights violations or extreme regional instability. I do not like ground wars though. Any intervention should be done multilaterally and constitutionally.
Iran: Ease sanctions on them, work towards a nuclear deal.
Cuba: End the embargo once and for all.
Russia: Preserve economic sanctions, provide military aid to Ukraine, and station troops in Europe
ISIS: Ramp up airstrikes and surveillance, work with Iran
Palestine: Recognize the Palestinian nation. End military aid to Israel and treat both nations equally.
Surveillance: Not much of a problem with the Patriot Act. Make sure it stays within legal bounds, but preserve the NSA for national security purposes.
Foreign Aid: No problem with it, as long as we follow up to make sure it ends up in the right hands.
Drones: I think drone strikes are effective, efficient, and should be used to fight terror
Military Budget: We really need to cut it. Now. Cut Pentagon overhead costs, cut the active combat budget, cut wasteful spending, but keep the A-10 and F-35 going
Gun Control: Ban assault rifles, institute universal gun and ammo background checks
Marijuana: Keep it illegal, but shift away from imprisonment and more to punitive fines.
Smoking: Ban smoking in public places except for smokeshops, bars, and a few designated smoking areas.
Gay Marriage: Equal rights yo, this is 2015
Abortion: Personally strongly opposed to abortion, but I am pro-choice until around viability (22 weeks or so is a good cutoff imo), at which point I am pro-life with the usual exceptions. Safe, rare, and legal. Birth control needs to have widespread use.
Prostitution: Completely oppose legalization.
Physician Assisted Suicide: Oppose
Feminism: I support gender equality, but do not consider myself a "feminist" per se.
Affirmative Action: Strong supporter of race-based affirmative action. I also support gender based affirmative action in some cases.
College: I believe that for public colleges, the US needs to shift to the Oregon Plan.
Police Brutality: Police officers need to use body cameras. More crisis training and non lethal methods need to be emphasized. Police militarization should be scaled back.
Crime: Fight crime using a data based approach to predict and preempt criminal activity
Immigration: Multiculturalism strengthens our nation. Help undocumented immigrants attain documented status and eventually citizenship.
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« Reply #1132 on: July 29, 2015, 01:27:13 AM »

Why was this unpinned? Surely it's more relevant to this board than say, "Which Disney Princess' politics do you agree with the most? Huh"
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« Reply #1133 on: July 30, 2015, 03:38:30 AM »
« Edited: July 30, 2015, 03:46:18 AM by sex-negative feminist prude »

I'm going to be using TNF's rubric for issues, with some modifications. Leaving out foreign policy because my views on it are kind of all over the place; leaving out electoral issues and government for when it's not four-thirty in the morning.

Political philosophy. Christian Left. I consider most of my politics to derive directly or indirectly from the practical implications of my religious beliefs, which are Catholic (so far within the Anglican tradition) with a grounding in an understanding of the nature of being that owes some debt to Jewish theology. If I hold a political position that doesn't in some way develop from my religious beliefs I see that fact as a problem to be fixed. My very broad-strokes ideal for society is one in which people freely come to a point where they can uphold and respect personal and cultural traditions, and in which those traditions are constituted and put into practice in such a way as to produce just social outcomes. This means that I will sometimes come to a socialist position through conservative-influenced thinking, or to a conservative position through socialist-influenced thinking. Classical liberalism has relatively little influence on my thought since I conceive of the freedom through which people mediate their interactions with justice and tradition as a positive ontological entity that entails responsibilities of its own, rather than just an absence of coercion.

Social Issues

Abortion: I currently lack the mental and emotional acuity to develop a clear and specific position on this, beyond the standard religious-Left combination of strong personal disapprobation and lack of desire to see it banned.

Drugs/Legalization: Drug possession or use should not itself be a criminal offense. Drug addiction is a moral issue but one with sociological and medical roots and sociological and medical solutions. 'Soft' drugs should probably not be illegal in any aspect. Harder drugs should remain illegal to produce and sell. I haven't developed a preference for how to produce or obtain whatever drugs may be necessary for addiction treatment.

Euthanasia: My feelings on this are somewhat similar to my feelings about abortion, but with stronger personal disapprobation. I voted against the legalization of physician-assisted suicide in my state in 2012.

Gay Rights: Obviously I support my own rights. I support pretty much every actual or proposed expansion of LGBT rights currently under serious political discussion with the exception of heterologous fertility treatments, but I'm beginning to get a little wary of some of the extremes of LGBT rhetoric and gender theory.

Marriage and Family: I reject as chimerical and pernicious the idea that marriage and family life are inherently or fundamentally oppressive forces. I also reject the idea that the married couple (and optionally children)--absent extended and collateral relations, friends, mentors/protegees, associates, well-wishers, et cetera--stands alone as the acme of human interpersonal relationships. Many of the problems plaguing the modern family unit could be solved by increased emphasis on and support for extended families and other such social connections.

Gun Control: The revolutionary-socialist position on this that TNF articulates would be appealing if I thought that it had any real chance. In reality America's experience with guns has been almost wholly negative. This includes guns in the hands of those who in mainstream political discourse are seen as the people who 'should' have them, law enforcements officers and (somewhat less overwhelmingly negatively) soldiers.

Immigration: I support freedom of movement. The current tension that exists between immigrant labor and native-born American labor in terms of regulations and wages is a function of the prevailing economic system and ought to be ameloriated or erased upon its reform or elimination.

Prostitution: The Nordic model is the most sensible and compassionate response to the problem of prostitution.

Separation of Church and State: I'm less than entirely wedded to this in theory, but in practice it is necessary at least until such time as existing religious institutions can be purged of elements and influences that cause them not to live up to their full promises. The demand that you hear in some corners of American liberalism these days to 'tax the churches!' makes no sense under the terms of the current US tax code except as a way to penalize and discriminate against religion.

Scientific Research: I'm opposed to transhumanism for religious reasons; I honestly, really don't care about the space program; I'm interested in scientific research mostly for purposes of disease cures (the basic limitations of the human form emphatically not being understood as 'disease'), environmental preservation, and energy production.

Smoking Bans: I support prohibitions on smoking in most public places, and fail to see why anybody with a more than superficial concern for the health and welfare of the public wouldn't. If secondhand smoking didn't exist or hadn't been as conclusively demonstrated to be a problem then my views on this would be different.

Affirmative Action: I support affirmative action for what it is, but I have a lot of sympathy with the position that the scarcity of educational placements and jobs that creates the need for it is artificial and should be reduced or eliminated by any means necessary. I support the full socialization of higher education and radical reduction or elimination of tuition fees.

Economic Issues

Taxation: As long as liberal capitalism obtains as the prevailing economic system I advocate making taxation as progressive as possible. To this end I'm especially opposed to regressive sales, value-added, and 'sin' taxes; in the latter case this is not the right way to legislate moral behavior and only succeeds in further punishing people who are for the most part already in marginal and perilous situations.

Education: I support free, public, and up to a point mandatory education from kindergarten through university, and view the perceived conflict between giving students a well-rounded humanities education and preparing them for 'careers'/'the real world'/STEM fields (let's be honest about what we mean here) as a destructive illusion. Students should be taught both general and specialized knowledge, and should be specifically taught habits of information acquisition and study, as to be able to pursue their interests independently both alongside and after their formal education. Religious conviction should be the only permissible reason not to place a child in a local public school.

Environment: I'm deeply emotionally invested in conservation, and see it as a profound moral responsibility.

Social Security: Social Security is insufficient for its purposes and, far from being privatized, should be expanded into a genuine, respectable pension system.

Unions: Both public and private sectors should be unionized to the greatest extent possible, and unions should be politically active and advocate democratic socialist policies.

Health Care: Full, universal, nationalized health care, including mental and dental.

Energy: The energy sector should move away from fossil fuels towards almost literally anything else possible.

Agriculture: Agricultural policy should be focused on minimizing environmental impact, breaking the backs of big agribusiness conglomerates and encouraging smaller-scale farming, and discouraging (certainly not banning, probably not even rendering socially unacceptable, but discouraging) the consumption of large amounts of meat. I don't know enough about agriculture to know whether or not this is a 'pick two of three' situation, but if it is, I'd prioritize the first two.
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« Reply #1134 on: August 21, 2015, 11:09:21 PM »

Political Philosophy: I consider myself an religious left, with a strong consideration of community. I believe that the community is more important than the individual, and that society should have laws protecting community norms. I believe we need to peruse economic equality, through government and have some reasonable restrictions on freedom to live in a safe and morally righteous society.

Social Issues

Abortion:
The right to life, supersedes the right to choose. A woman does not have the freedom, to abort a child as that is taking away the life of the fetus. Whether, the fetus is alive then, it will eventually be alive, and a person should not be judged on what it currently is, but what it can be.

 I support laws restricting abortion, except to save the life of the mother, rape or severely under-age pregnancy ( -14). I oppose straight out blanket laws banning abortion, in all but those case as there may be some exceptions in where the abortion needs to happen, even though it is the morally wrong thing to do.

I also believe there should be no government money, directly going to fund abortion companies or funding for abortions.

Drugs/Legalization:
Drugs, are a threat to society, and depending on their level of danger should be banned or not banned. Drugs should be decriminalized, and people who take drugs should be put into rehabilitation instead of jail. Marijuana and other light drugs, can also be legalized if society is ready for that.

Euthanasia: On the whole, Euthanasia should not be legal, however there should be some exceptions for people who are suffering from sever conditions, with no hope for recovery, or are in immense pain.

Gay Rights:
Gay Rights should be supported and Same-Sex marriage should be legalized. However, a church has a right to deny marriage to same-sex couples as it is a private entity and operates under religious values, and is the one giving out marriage licenses.

Gun Control: Gun Control is essential and needed in any civilized society. We as a society, should have gun restrictions, gun registration, and psychological tests for anyone who wants to use a gun. Anyone using a gun should have their guns restricted from them, until they complete and pass these tests to make sure they are sane people. Some guns, including assault weapons and military weapons should be banned from society, including cops and only be used in terrorist cases or in the military.

Immigration: There should be an increase in legal immigration in a country, Immigrants are an essential part of the country that they come to and are an enrichment to society. However we should not have open borders, and we should regulate whoever comes into the country, to ensure that they will not cause harm to society. Immigrants should also be required to learn the native language of the country that they come to.

Immigration Laws should be followed, and Illegal Immigrants should not stay in the country, until they apply for citizenship the legal way, Illegal Immigrants can get a pathway to citizenship after they have gone back to their home country.

Prostitution:
We should legalese Prostitution, not because I approve for it, because we need to make sure everyone in the Prostitution business is being treated fairly, and that women or men are being treated with dignity. We also need to regulated actions going on in the Prostitution business and not legalizing it, will not make this possible.

Separation of Church and State: The separation of church and state is necessary is an government system, to make sure that one faith is not holding more power than others. However, Prayers should be allowed in school and in public places, if it is not mandatory, and it is not directed at a specific religion. Religious references in public, are alright as they hold the religious beliefs of the nation.

Scientific Research:
I support scientific research in topics and to further our knowledge about the world, however there are some things that science cannot solve. I do not oppose GMO's and acknowledge that they are prefectly safe to eat, however consumers have a right to know what is in their foods, and I would not eat GMO's because they are not grown naturally, even if they do not have any health effects on the body.

Smoking Bans: I support smoking bans in public ( or anywhere other than in a private home), to stop passive smoking in public, and exposure to smoke for children. I support banning second hand smokes, and support raising 'sin' taxes on smoking, to try to force people out of smoking. I support providing money from 'sin' taxes raised to help people that addicted to smoking and try to help them to force quitting. I support restricting smoking ads and the availability of cigarettes in shops.

Affirmative Action: I oppose affirmative action, as it disregards the white working class, in comparison to the black working class, and the fact of the working class and middle class in their attempts of finding an education, based on academic level, and not because of race.

However I dot see the necessity of affirmative action, in some cases, where groups were oppressed, like apartheid in South Africa, and the caste system in India and Nepal. However, this would not be needed, if we made tertiary education public, and free for all, and providing vouchers for talented students to go onto private colleges free of charge.
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« Reply #1135 on: August 22, 2015, 01:34:20 AM »

Economic Issues

Taxation: I strongly support a very progressive tax rate with 90%+ for those making more than $ 1 000 000, and making sure the tax rate, does not go above 15% for those earning less than $ 100 000. I also support having no tax rates on those earning less than $ 25 000, except public good tax rates. We should increase tax rates on corporations, while reducing tax rates on starting and small business. End corporate tax loopholes, and favors is a given.

Education:
Make education nationalized, while allowing private and charter schools. Allow fee, education from childcare- to university and mandatory K-12 education taken care by the government. However talented students and students in failing schools should get vouchers to go to private or charter schools, giving them the opportunity to pursue a better education.

Environment:
I am an environmentalist, and I support laws protecting the environment, always against corporations exploiting the environment, carbon emission laws and I support the Carbon tax. We are stewards of the world, we are one with nature and we have a responsibility to protect and preserve the environment for future generations.

However, this does not mean I am fully opposed to using the environment for human needs, we need to control the environment and use as little as we need, as future generations will need to use the environment, just like us and it is our responsibility to sustain the environment for future generations and for our children.

Social Security: Social Security is an essential aspect of society, and it provides people with people to live their life with dignity. Social security should be protected at all costs, there should be opposition of privatization of social security at all costs and social security should be expanded to more working and middle class families, and should be given to more than those in poverty and the elderly, this along with the welfare state should be expanded in society.

Unions: Unions are essential to the employee and the worker, in the fact that they provide service to the worker in getting a good working conditions, a proper wage and the fact that they keep the employer in check. However, I do not believe that everyone should be forced into joining a union, I still recognize all good things they do to society, while acknowledging there are some unions, that have become monopolistic, and profit-driven, that do not protect and help the worker but instead help their personal money motive and gain.

Health Care: Full Universal Single-Payer Health Care is needed in needed any civilized, modern society as an universal right.

Energy:
We should nationalize the energy sector, and get the profits of energy consumption back to the people. We should strive for the use of green industry as the future, and provide aid to green energy to peruse solar, wind etc. energy sources to use in the future. However currently, Oil, Gas, Coal etc. are the most reliable choice and we should use them as a means to provide electricity and energy until Green sources  of energy can be used.
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« Reply #1136 on: August 26, 2015, 07:26:48 PM »
« Edited: August 26, 2015, 07:42:23 PM by Classic Conservative »

Social Policy:
Abortion: Pro Life in all cases except endangerment of mothers life and underage children ie: younger than 16
Gay Marriage: Gays and Lesbians should have the chance to marry, but government officials don't need to marry gays and religious liberty overules your right to marry.
Drugs: Against
Stem Cell Research: Undecided
Death Penalty: Support
Gun control: Do not support at all, the 2nd Admendment states the specifically "The right of the people to keep and bear arms SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED"
Affirmative Action: Get rid of it immediately racist against whites and others
Prayer in School: Allow all students to pray and have mandatory school prayers every morning

Economic Issues:
Minimum Wage: Let the states decide not the Feds
Right-to-Work: In all 50 states and then get rid of unions
Taxation: Lower all teases flat tax of 13.5%
Healthcare: Free Markets
Social Security: Expand it
Education: School Choice Programs in all 50 states support also homeschooling, private and religious schools
Balanced Budget Amendment: Support
Personhood Admendment: Support
Term Limits Admendment: Support
Gold Standard: Bring it back

Foreign Policy and National Security
Iran: Take the current deal of the region, get the hostages back and then increase sanctions and get rid of the current government
Iraq/Syria: We have the obligation to the people of Iraq ever since The Iraq War
Military Spending: Increase
PATRIOT Act: No
NSA Spying: Unconstitutional get rid of it
Israel/Palestine: Only recognize Israel don't recognize Palestine give Israel, their land back allow settlements
Immigration: Deport every illegal alien in the country let legal immigration prosper though

Environment
Climate Change: Not Real
Green Energy: Support
Keystone XL Pipeline: Build it Now

Electoral Reform
Electoral College: Undecided
Gerrymandering: Don't Really Care
Presidential term: Only 2 Terms
Public Financing: No
Term limits: Yes see above
Voter ID: Support  if said id's are free and easily available
Voting: See Massachusetts
UN- Withdraw get rid of Agenda 21
DOE- Get rid of
EPA- Get rid of
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« Reply #1137 on: August 26, 2015, 08:30:02 PM »

It's been a few years since I've made one of these, so here goes:

Social Policy:
Abortion: Ban abortion, with only an exception when necessary to save the life of the mother (using the the word 'abortion' to mean in this case removing portions of the Fillopian tube containing an ectopic pregnancy).
Gay Marriage: Personally oppose, but accept that the law is settled. Oppose any efforts to require private citizens to participate in gay wedding ceremonies.
Drugs: Against legalization. We ought to focus on rehabilitation rather than punishment, but still against legalizing.
Stem Cell Research: For stem cell research unless it uses embryonic stem cells, which is less and less common as we've made significant improvements with induced pluripotency in recent years.
Death Penalty: Oppose except for the exceedingly rare scenario where it is necessary to protect the public.
Gun control: Generally oppose in that I believe every adult without a criminal record and with a clean bill of mental health should be permitted to own one. I support property owners' rights to forbid people from bringing guns on their property. Support background checks if done reasonably. Oppose AWB.
Affirmative Action: Oppose but think it's a low priority. I grow weary of whites complaining about it, but do still think the job ought to go to the most qualified individual.
Prayer in School: I certainly support optional prayer and/or a moment of silence. Teacher-led prayer in public schools is a bridge too far and problematic in a ton of ways.

Economic Issues:
Minimum Wage: A system like the current one is the right setup: a federal minimum and states being permitted to set their own. Somewhere in the vicinity of $10/hr is about the right figure in most places. Understandably, loaded areas may set higher.
Right-to-Work: I'm torn on it. On one hand, I don't like the unions being able to require dues for all employees if the employee does not believe the union represents their interests. On the other hand, if the union bargains collectively, non-paying employees would be free-riders, which also isn't fair.
Taxation: Support progressive income taxation. I think the curve should be a continuous logistical function rather than brackets now that calculators have been invented. Would work to eliminate the sales tax.
Healthcare: Support the general idea of exchanges, not so thrilled with the individual mandate, and oppose the contraceptive mandate. Not sure what else can be done to reduce the cost without sacrificing quality, perhaps incentivizing medical schools to increase their acceptance rates?
Social Security: Raise the retirement age. Would support adding a privatized option in parallel, though the public portion may need to be subsidized from the privatized part.
Education: Oppose common core if federal money is attached, otherwise support it. I think testing needs to be rewritten to be sensible and actually challenging, particularly in math and science. I think we've dumbed things down too much be focusing so heavily on the percentage who pass and fail. Support voucher programs for impoverished areas.
Balanced Budget Amendment: Nominally support, but it's probably a pipe dream.
Personhood Admendment: Support (more than nominally Tongue), but also probably a pipe dream.
Term Limits Admendment: Oppose. I really don't think term limits accomplish much of anything, except for executive office since that is just too powerful.
Gold Standard: Oppose. The gold market is even more screwed up than currency if that's even possible. Support independent centralized banking. Oppose congressional audits and scrutiny. The last thing we need is Congress trying to run the Fed.

Foreign Policy and National Security
Iran: All options are bad. Would try to put tough sanctions to stop them from gaining nuclear weapons, which probably won't work, so we are again left with bad options.
Iraq/Syria: Again, all options are bad. There's just no one left for us to arm in this one.
PATRIOT Act: Support but only in the strictest possible interpretation. Oppose warrantless data collection.
NSA Spying: Oppose if done without warrants.
Israel/Palestine: "Support" Israel (whatever that means), but does not mean agreeing and backing up Israel's every decision. Israel needs to either recognize the legitimacy of a Palestinian state or make the Palestinians Israeli citizens.
Immigration: Secure the border and begin a worker program for those already here illegally and who haven't committed any other crimes. After the mass normalization of those already here begin actually enforcing immigration law.

Environment
Climate Change: Incentivize nuclear power and alternative energy research. Allow research on nuclear waste reprocessing. Incentivize wind.
Green Energy: See above.
Keystone XL Pipeline: Grant approval, if anyone still wants it with fuel prices where they are now.

Electoral Reform
Electoral College: Leave alone.
Gerrymandering: Commissions are probably the answer, but require supermajorities to prevent rogue commissioners. Try to figure out what the heck the VRA actually requires and what it doesn't.
Presidential term: Keep as is.
Public Financing: Don't waste the money. With elections as they are it is irrelevant.
Voter ID: Push for a national non-required voter ID. Let states then decide their regulations.
UN: Continue as a member, but do not surrender actual power to the organization. Keep the US as a democracy.
DOE: Keep but reduce their duties. End the tying of federal funds to state education policies.
EPA: Keep. The EPA serves a necessary purpose in protecting the US from catastrophies such as what happened in China last week. Chemicals can be very dangerous things when treated improperly. Respect that.
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« Reply #1138 on: August 27, 2015, 02:35:58 PM »

I haven't done this in a while (I think, I can't remember, LOL), so here we go:

Ideology
Social: Liberal, with a few conservative positions
Economic: Pro-business, generally in favor of free-market capitalism
Foreign: Mixed, usually more interventionist than most
Political Registration: Republican


Social Policy
Abortion: Pro-choice until the third trimester.  Is that somewhat "arbitrary"?  Sure.  However, there reaches a point where there is clearly a viable living being that (unfortunately for the woman, sure, but also unfortunately for the fetus) happens to be helplessly inside another living thing.  At that point, I believe we must start weighing the needs of both living beings, and so I only support abortions for special circumstances (rape, incest, health of the mother, etc.).
Same Sex Marriage: Completely support, and I view it as a civil right.  Also, it is a moronic issue for the Republican Party to continue to debate about.  GIVE IT UP.
Drugs / Narcotics: Support legalization of marijuana and decriminalization of all drugs, with the exception of large-scale drug dealers.  No one should spend time in jail for getting caught doing a bump of cocaine in his or her own home, and we should treat drug addiction as something we need to treat, not something we need to punish.
Death Penalty: Very conflicted - I do not "oppose the death penalty," but I think it should only be used in the rarest of circumstances ... unfortunately, you can't make laws on a case-by-case basis, and I'm not sure what "policy" I'd have for it.
Gun Control: Support universal background checks, non-public gun registration, waiting periods and an assault rifle ban, but I find the idea of banning all guns (for everyone except for the government and the cops that haven't exactly proven they're the most trustworthy with them) very troublesome in principle.  I admit that after things like the disturbing murder the other day, I call these views into question ... but I don't think innocent individuals somewhere else - who have a gun for self-defense against home invasions or random attacks, just in case - should be punished because there are psychos out there.  I'll admit I question these views every time the debate comes up, as I think everyone should do about all of their views.
Affirmative Action: Support, but only for socioeconomic status.  Race-based affirmative action was necessary in this country for decades, but it's simply not anymore.  Not to mention, it's patronizing to minorities, and a poor, disadvantaged White person should not be shunned aside for a Black or Hispanic person who grew up with every financial advantage.
Prostitution: I used to support legalizing it, but my dad has kind of changed my view on it.  I think human trafficking is too much of a concern, so I prefer we keep it illegal, but there shouldn't be punishments too severe for women who feel they have nowhere else to turn; the brunt of the punishment should be on those who are running the schemes.
Right to Die: Also very conflicted on this one ... I have deep emotional objections to ending human life, but I find it somewhat absurd in a sense to tell someone who's ready to die peacefully - especially when they're terminally ill or something - that they just can't.
PATRIOT Act/NSA Spying: Oppose.  Individual liberty should trump security, in general.  However, that doesn't equate to scaling back all intelligence that is vital to government providing security; there's always a middle ground with a fine line.
Immigration: Grant legal amnesty to all those who are here now.  Let me be clear, this is SO unfair to those waiting in line (which describes someone I know personally who is literally a doctor and pregnant with her husband's child and yet can't get here), but it's not feasible to deport millions of people.  Once amnesty is granted, CRACK DOWN on the border to stop true, illegal immigration.  After that, make it much easier to become a citizen and take away the incentive to come here illegally.


Economic Policy
Minimum Wage: Index it to inflation and have that be our policy going forward.  A $15 minimum wage is just ridiculous.
Welfare/Social Security: Make it what it should have always been: a temporary helping hand to help people get on their feet and rise up.  It shouldn't be handed out like candy, and it shouldn't be cushy enough that it should in any way be an enviable position.
Right-to-Work: Support.  Period.
Taxation: Keep tax rates where they are, and do not raise them.  Reduce corporate taxes; corporations aren't big scary monsters, they're job creators made up of people.
Obamacare: For God's sake, either make it liberal enough to work (single payer) or conservative enough to work (more privatized), but Obamacare is a moderate hero option that is just stalling things until there's demand for government funded healthcare insurance; I gotta say, it's a brilliant move by Democrats.  Of course, my personal objection to single payer is that our government is going to need to find a way to pay for it, and that's going to be by taxing "rich" people out the a*s.
Trade: Completely support free trade.  Protectionism had its time and place (the frickin' 1800s), but now it's simply a small-minded policy to "keep wages up" ... a temporary measure.
Climate Change: Address it ASAP.  Battling climate change must be a government priority that crafts most of our policies and laws.  It's pathetic that the United States - the de facto world leader and role model - isn't taking the lead on fighting it.  This is one issue I'm "anti-business" and "pro-tax" on, as I would completely support penalty taxes on businesses that don't meet carbon emission standards.
Alternative Energy Subsidies: Support, for reasons above.
Keystone XL Pipeline: Indifferent, to be honest ... I've heard so many conflicting things on it, and I don't care enough to learn more.


Foreign Policy
Afghanistan: It's frankly naive and "principled" for the sake of being "principled" to oppose having a significant presence there.  It was barely a decade ago that this nation was harboring a terrorist group responsible for murdering 3,000 of our innocent citizens.
Iraq: I supported the war at the tender age of 11 (LOL), but I now see that it was probably a mistake.  At the very least, its post-war execution was a total disaster.  However, I'm an optimist, and I think George W. Bush at the very least should be somewhat remembered for removing a murderous dictator from power.
Iran: Totally undecided ... don't know enough about the Iran deal yet to say I support or oppose it, but in general I don't support the type of anti-Israel rhetoric that's just as retarded and knee-jerk as blindly pro-Israel rhetoric.  Iran is a nation that shouldn't be trusted, and you're derranged if you don't think keeping them from getting nuclear weapons in the future is imperative to world safety.
ISIS: Take them out with every measure short of troops on the ground.  This group has been denounced by al Queda ... let that sink in.
Cuba: Normalization of relations was long overdue, and I'm glad it's been done.
Military Spending: We could definitely use a reduction.  I feel people support increased spending because they think it says something about "who they are," when we frankly just don't need to, and we could afford to cut spending wherever possible in our federal budget.  This is an obvious starting point.
Israel/Palestine: Generally pro-Israel, as I support a (semi-secular) democracy being protected in the Middle East, especially when it's surrounded by nations and regimes that hate it, but that doesn't mean they get a blank check and unconditional support.
Terror War Detainees: The United States is above torture.  Period.

Summed up in a general sense:  Oh boy, this is NOT going to score me points on Atlas, LOL!  I'm a pro-business Republican who believes in upward mobility, individual responsibility and strong governmental intervention when civil rights are under attack.  I believe that to be what Abraham Lincoln would have wanted his party to be in the Twenty-First Century, and it's what I'll strive to make the Republican Party again.  I realize that this will get me called a "Moderate Hero" and get me mocked as a stereotypical "socially liberal, fiscally conservative" moron, but there's a world outside Atlas, and that's just a way to describe a set of views - a description that happens to describe my views semi-accurately.
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« Reply #1139 on: August 29, 2015, 12:12:12 PM »

Too lazy to think out an entirely coherent ideology. Opposed to free trade and deindustrialization and support the rather vague notion of making it easier to become employed for the disadvantaged, as having people unemployed or paid incredibly low causes agitation for the socialization of industry and universalization of services. Having a strong national industry rather than paid unproductivity seems preferable. Conservative on abortion, but not "tough on crime", as based on what I've read, it appears an unnuanced and troglodytic response to criminal justice issues, and not entirely sure on "gay" issues.  Obviously, we shouldn't heed the calls of leftists to entirely uproot our language or social structure to appease people who don't know how to interact with each other. On foreign policy, it's like eh, whatever. Not terribly opposed to wire tapping, as I'm hoping to go into the intelligence analysis industry. Government should work to promote civic virtues, otherwise, in situations where parents are either unable (the poor), or too stupid to (the rich) indoctrinate their children properly, they'll likely get modes of behavior from media figures and view both economic and social hedonism as signs of a "good life". God need not be invoked, but hopefully civic leaders could do as much as necessary to imply such. The above policies could hopefully also help erase racial issues as well. A nation steeped in the basics of respect, hard work, (limited) tolerance, and compassion would hopefully result. In my view, people these days are coming out of "the system" with a few basic viewpoints: "have a good time!" "I'm better than this stuff/other people." "I'm special" and so on. For this nation to succeed, and, in doing so, help the world, this must be corrected.
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DavidB.
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« Reply #1140 on: September 03, 2015, 07:53:34 PM »
« Edited: September 04, 2015, 05:48:36 PM by DavidB. »

Well, time for me to do this since I don't want to go to sleep yet Curly I'm not so sure as to what I should call my ideology: it is a mix of Zionism, conservatism, capitalism, and libertarianism. That is not going to make me popular, but I was never here for that anyway.

Ideology
Social issues: Libertarian when it comes to government intervention, conservative when it comes to values.
Economic policy: Free-market capitalist/fiscal conservative/libertarian-light, with the exception of healthcare.
Foreign policy: Anti-supranationalist. Hawk. Neocon, except for the fact that I believe in spreading real freedom instead of democracy. Slightly libertarian when it comes to privacy issues.

Social Issues

Abortion: Abortion should be legal until ten weeks of pregnancy. No tax-payer money should flow to abortion clinics. My stance isn't really consequent and I'm the first one to admit that, but consequent views on abortion are by definition bizarre and undesirable.

Drug legalization: All drugs should be legal. The War on Drugs has not only been ineffective, it has been immoral. The government does not have the right to decide what one does with one's own body. The quality of popular drugs will increase if legalized. However, charity-based organizations for addiction treatment need to be supported by the government from a healthcare perspective, and the government should voice strong opposition to drug use: ruining your own body might be your own choice, but it is immoral. The government should certainly not provide places to use drugs.

Euthanasia: All people have the right to end their own lives, and euthanasia should be legal. However, a trajectory with a medic and a psychologist should be manadatory - ending your life is a method of last resort, it should not be an easy way out. In a community-based, decentralized society focused on the family, the amount of suicides - skyrocketing in our individualistic, materialistic society - will decrease.

LGBT rights: Equal marriage should be legal: the government should treat all citizens equally. At the same time, the government has no right to force people to do business with anybody. While governments do not have the right to discriminate, citizens do. Of course, a homophobic company should be boycotted by the public, but that's up to consumers. No tax-payer money should be spent on transgender surgery, but it should be legal for people to finance this privately, even though a trajectory with a psychologist would be preferable.

Gun control: I am generally favoring the American status-quo, although open carry should be legal everywhere. I support stand-your-ground laws and I oppose Constitution-Free Zones where guns are banned. Everyone should, ideally, know how to shoot and how to defend themselves.

Immigration: In the US, I am a moderate on immigration, supporting reform while opposing giving citizenship or residency to illegals. In Europe, I am against mass immigration from the third world, but in favor of giving educated people from Western countries residency. I support the free movement of goods and services that the EU established, but I would like to see this enforced in an intergovernemental treaty, not enforced by the dictatorial EU. I support Denmark's short-lived effort to take back control over its borders from the EU bureaucrats. In general, I support a combination of Canada's immigration laws for high-potential immigrants and a policy even stronger than Denmark's for low-potential-high-cost immigrants who have values that clash with Western ones (these people should be discouraged to come). If you're a serious/violent criminal and you have two passports, you should lose your Dutch passport (and right to residency in the Netherlands) after three strikes.

Prostitution: Prostitution is degrading and immoral, but it should be legal in order to protect prostitutes. However, pandering and streetwalking should be outlawed: women are not objects and pandering leads to abuse and crime. Programs for prostitutes to leave "the world" should be supported. This seems closest to the Danish model to me.

Affirmative action: I am fundamentally opposed to affirmative action, as it is racist, whereas governments should treat all citizens equally. However, private organizations are free to implement "affirmative action" policies and any other racist policies if they wish so, because there is no such thing as a right not to be discriminated against by private actors. Of course, this should lead to a public boycott.

Economic Issues

Taxation: Taxes are necessary, but too much taxation is theft. A flat income tax of around 20% should do the trick. I oppose taxing savings and I despise any form of "death tax". I am also against VAT.

Balanced budget amendment: Should be implemented in all countries, ideally.

Minimum wage: Against. Minimum wages hurt the working class and lead to unemployment. In general, a constitutional provision should force the government to restrain its influence on the economy.

Healthcare: A moral government doesn't let its poor citizens die of illness. I support providing basic public healthcare. If one wants more than that, one should look for private options. However, healthcare is one of the issues on which I'm more liberal in practice than in theory: I don't really mind if the government does more regarding healthcare. Some European countries have excellent systems. In practice, I would probably support a more (/truly) privatized version of the Dutch healthcare system. Obamacare is the worst of both worlds. Either single-payer or total privatization would be better.

Right-to-Work: I obviously support this. Companies should hire and fire people as they please.

Trade: I fully support free trade. That has to do with understanding basic economics. I support the free trade zone within the EU, I support TTIP, and if I would be American, I would certainly support NAFTA. I am against protectionism and tariff walls, which always hurt your own economy.

Climate Change (why is this listed under "economy"?): Help Third World countries prepare for the worst regarding sea-level rise, which should be the focus point of foreign aid (which should be cut for other things, except for furthering of national interests). Try to reduce emissions somewhat. Let the market do its work in finding solutions for this problem.

Foreign Policy:
EU: I support the single market, the free movements of goods and persons, and the deregulation the EU brought about. I oppose supranationalism. I support far-reaching reforms to stop the "ever closer union" from becoming a federal superstate. Brussels should be there for effective, intergovernmental opt-in cooperation. In practice, I am sceptical about the chances this kind of reforms have, so I support leaving the EU. I support the idea of a Northern European common currency for financially responsible countries.

Intelligence: While I think intelligence services are moral, legitimate, and necessary, spying on ordinary citizens has gone too far. Citizens should not be seen as a threat - citizens should be safe from threats, and the government shouldn't curb one's freedom. I support privacy laws to keep the government and overly "interested" companies out of people's business. I support some parts of the Patriot Act, but oppose others.

NATO: I'm ashamed by the European tendency to let the US pay for our expenses just because Europeans have become pacifist progressives. The NATO is a great organization and the Netherlands should spend 5% of its GDP on Defense before 2020 - at this moment, we don't even reach the bare minimum of 2% required of NATO members. The world is a dangerous place and civilized countries should stand together in fighting evil.

Cuba: Normalization of the relations is essentially a good thing, but it should have gone slower. Now, the Obama administration has once again showed its defeatist face.

Afghanistan: The worst victim of geopolitical games. This place will obviously be taken over by terrorists again. I see no real reason to be here anymore.

Iraq/Syria/ISIS: Give the Kurds and the Assyrians their own state. Bomb the hell out of ISIS. Establish "safe zones" for refugees. It's going to be a mess anyway, but let's make it somewhat less of a mess.

Iran: I'm totally opposed to the deal. The US and the NATO should make sure Iran will never have nuclear bombs - of which not Israel, but the Persian people would be the biggest victims: they will be hijacked by a dangerous regime - and the military option should have a prominent place at the negotiation table. Iran needs to improve its human rights policy drastically. Regime change should be supported and if the current situation doesn't change, military involvement might be a good option.

Israel: The eternal homeland of the Jewish people. No territorial compromise is acceptable (except for Gaza, a lost cause). In the long run, we should be moving toward a situation in which Arabs and Jews will peacefully live together, as good neighbors in one country. On the short term, increasing Jewish presence in Yehuda and Shomron is essential. Israel should immediately ban NGOs that seek to end its existence as a Jewish state from operating in Israel (including Yehuda and Shomron). Terrorists should get the death penalty and soldiers' rights should be preserved better. Jews should have the right to pray at the Temple Mount. Israel should gradually become independent from US aid: let's work together as equals. Egypt should be pushed by the US and Israel into incorporating Gaza. Recognize "Palestine"... as a terrorist organization.

UN: The playfield for dictators. All decent countries should leave this joke of an organization.
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Oldiesfreak1854
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« Reply #1141 on: October 30, 2015, 09:46:14 AM »

Isn't Illinois open primary?
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RINO Tom
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« Reply #1142 on: October 30, 2015, 12:31:00 PM »


Well, I actually live and vote in Iowa City, IA, but I think Illinois has a weird system (maybe Mr. Illini  or someone else can answer?); I believe it's open primary, but you are required to vote in whatever primary you did the last time or something funky?  I don't know.

In Iowa, there's partisan registration, but you can actually change your party at the polling place.
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Oldiesfreak1854
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« Reply #1143 on: November 02, 2015, 08:55:00 PM »


Well, I actually live and vote in Iowa City, IA, but I think Illinois has a weird system (maybe Mr. Illini  or someone else can answer?); I believe it's open primary, but you are required to vote in whatever primary you did the last time or something funky?  I don't know.

In Iowa, there's partisan registration, but you can actually change your party at the polling place.
I understand that Illinois is semi-open primary: you don't register with a party, but you have to publicly declare which primary you're voting in.
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SATW
SunriseAroundTheWorld
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« Reply #1144 on: November 03, 2015, 02:01:26 PM »

Writing my views now, will post later.
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Extrabase500
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« Reply #1145 on: November 06, 2015, 08:50:58 PM »
« Edited: November 06, 2015, 09:28:47 PM by Extrabase500 »

SOCIAL
Abortion: Pro-Life, abortion illegal in all cases except the life of the mother.
Same-sex marriage: State issue. Support gay marriage at sate level.
Capital Punishment: Strongly Support
Euthanasia: Strongly Oppose
Guns: Strongly Pro-Gun/Pro-Second Amendement. Oppose all gun control and repeal all gun control laws. Adopt concealed carry nationwide.
Prostitution: LEGAL

ECONOMIC
Taxes: Abolish estate tax, corporate tax, cigarette tax, gas tax, and capital gains. Switch to a flat tax rate of 13.5%. ABOLISH IRS.
Environment: NO to UN backed international "climate" agreements like Kyoto. support clean up of lands & rivers. Work for more alternative energy; nuclear is a good source to replace oil. no to carbon taxes.
Social Security Allow some privatization
Immigration: Deport illegals, ten year ban on legal immigration, and END birthright citizenship. Punish companies that hire illegals. Build wall along US/Mexican border.
Trade: Tariffs on china, repeal NAFTA and FAIR TRADE. No to TPP.
Spending: Reduce spending and work towards balancing budget. Eliminate foreign aid, department of homeland security, department of agriculture, department of education, and cut corporate welfare and the military budget. Also raise retirement age for social security.
Healthcare: REPEAL Obamacare.
Education: Strongly support school vouchers and homeschooling. Return schools to STATE level abolish department of education and OPPOSE common core/no child left behind.
Other: For Marijuana legalization/drug legalization, for prison reform, for tort reform, and for abolishing smoking restrictions. Abolish the CIA and NSA. Massively increase space funding. Allow FUSION CANDIDCY. Oppose intervention in syria, iraq, and libya and support abolishing the CIA and FBI. Also support term limits and repeal 17th amendment. Bring back the Gold Standard and abolish the FED now!
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Maxwell
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« Reply #1146 on: November 08, 2015, 10:56:30 PM »

Ideology
Social: Strongly liberal
Economic: Left-leaning, with some skepticism for certain programs and their effectiveness
Foreign: Moderate dove
Political Registration: Democrat


Social Policy
Abortion: Pro-Choice.
Same Sex Marriage: Support. Old Issue. It's a civil right.
Drugs / Narcotics: Legalization of marijuana and legalization of harder core drug with stiff regulations and taxation, as well as complete release of those in prison only for drug useage, and a better rehabilitation system for those addicted.
Death Penalty: Absolutely, morally opposed. No one is deserving of death. I don't believe anything good comes out of vengeance.
Gun Control: Universal background checks, and licensing and registration for all guns. If it takes this long drawn out process to be able to use a car, the same should be true for guns. Limitation of magazines is also something I'm supportive of. Beyond that I am skeptic of certain gun control measures like the assault weapon ban.
Affirmative Action: We should re-instate for socioeconomic class, not on race.
Prostitution: Supportive of legalization, but crack down on human trafficking.
Right to Die: The right to die is one's own choice, and I support the ability to make that decision.
PATRIOT Act/NSA Spying: I oppose, but I do believe we need a system to keep tabs on terror. The way the NSA has been doing things is wrong, and we need to put safeguards in place so that it is only terror suspects whose records are kept track of, not American citizens.
Immigration: Legalize immigrants here, raise wage rates H1B Visas, and crack down on businesses who employee illegal immigrants. I believe these three will make our immigration system better. And added with that, increase the amount of legal immigrants that can immigrate, so to solve our massive aging problem by putting more workers into the system.


Economic Policy
Minimum Wage: We should hike the minimum wage, though I think we should do so on a step by step basis. A $15 hike in one instance I think will make those who already have $15 an hour jobs be completely devalued. I think we should have a $15/Hr minimum wage by 2025 through a gradual increase.
Welfare: Welfare is fine at the moment, I suppose. We could do a better job at helping people at the bottom, maybe better job training, I just don't know.
Social Security: I'm not against raising the retirement age. Not because I want to shaft seniors, but because I don't think Social Security was designed to handle so many seniors. Probably to 68 or 69. I think that's a better way to save the program than to keep playing with the Chained CPI.
Right-to-Work: Lean against. I'd have to think about this one more now.
Taxation: Cut corporate taxes, not because I love corporations but because it's not particularly effective. Raise regular tax rates with a top rate of 50%. Create tax credits to incentivize hiring people in America. Cutting taxes goes directly into the pocket of those whose taxes you cut, which is why I don't think supply side has been especially effective in its stated goal. I think, in order for wealth to trickle down, you have to incentivize the trickling down itself.
Obamacare: It's a good system that tries to do what Single Payer does through private healthcare, and I want to wait and see how effectively it reduces cost, but my end goal would be a Single Payer system. At the same time, we need to keep going our incredibly innovative medical technology industry, which requires a certain level of competition. Maybe that's how Obamacare fits together.
Trade: I support free trade. Protectionism worked very well for our country a long time ago, but I'm not sure that, at our size, we could implement it and make it work. At the same time, though, we need to make sure we are developing our economic interests instead of cutting ourselves at the expense of #freetrade.
Climate Change: We move in the right direction on Climate Change through the tax code. Punish carbon polluters and reward those who make realistic goals and achieve them. I'm absolutely pro-nuclear, and hope we can expand that at the expense of coal.
Alternative Energy Subsidies: We have to be pretty well-researched on their impact on the environment in other potentially deadly ways, but otherwise supportive.
Keystone XL Pipeline: There is no issue I care less about. Nowadays I wouldn't support it because the economic benefit is little. Obama's tactical move on this was pretty perfect.
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Kingpoleon
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« Reply #1147 on: December 14, 2015, 10:20:19 PM »

Well, time for me to do this since I don't want to go to sleep yet Curly I'm not so sure as to what I should call my ideology: it is a mix of Zionism, conservatism, capitalism, and libertarianism. That is not going to make me popular, but I was never here for that anyway.

Ideology
Social issues: Libertarian when it comes to government intervention, conservative when it comes to values.
Economic policy: Free-market capitalist/fiscal conservative/libertarian-light, with the exception of healthcare.
Foreign policy: Anti-supranationalist. Hawk. Neocon, except for the fact that I believe in spreading real freedom instead of democracy. Slightly libertarian when it comes to privacy issues.

Social Issues

Abortion: Abortion should be legal until ten weeks of pregnancy. No tax-payer money should flow to abortion clinics. My stance isn't really consequent and I'm the first one to admit that, but consequent views on abortion are by definition bizarre and undesirable.

Drug legalization: All drugs should be legal. The War on Drugs has not only been ineffective, it has been immoral. The government does not have the right to decide what one does with one's own body. The quality of popular drugs will increase if legalized. However, charity-based organizations for addiction treatment need to be supported by the government from a healthcare perspective, and the government should voice strong opposition to drug use: ruining your own body might be your own choice, but it is immoral. The government should certainly not provide places to use drugs.

Euthanasia: All people have the right to end their own lives, and euthanasia should be legal. However, a trajectory with a medic and a psychologist should be manadatory - ending your life is a method of last resort, it should not be an easy way out. In a community-based, decentralized society focused on the family, the amount of suicides - skyrocketing in our individualistic, materialistic society - will decrease.

LGBT rights: Equal marriage should be legal: the government should treat all citizens equally. At the same time, the government has no right to force people to do business with anybody. While governments do not have the right to discriminate, citizens do. Of course, a homophobic company should be boycotted by the public, but that's up to consumers. No tax-payer money should be spent on transgender surgery, but it should be legal for people to finance this privately, even though a trajectory with a psychologist would be preferable.

Gun control: I am generally favoring the American status-quo, although open carry should be legal everywhere. I support stand-your-ground laws and I oppose Constitution-Free Zones where guns are banned. Everyone should, ideally, know how to shoot and how to defend themselves.

Immigration: In the US, I am a moderate on immigration, supporting reform while opposing giving citizenship or residency to illegals. In Europe, I am against mass immigration from the third world, but in favor of giving educated people from Western countries residency. I support the free movement of goods and services that the EU established, but I would like to see this enforced in an intergovernemental treaty, not enforced by the dictatorial EU. I support Denmark's short-lived effort to take back control over its borders from the EU bureaucrats. In general, I support a combination of Canada's immigration laws for high-potential immigrants and a policy even stronger than Denmark's for low-potential-high-cost immigrants who have values that clash with Western ones (these people should be discouraged to come). If you're a serious/violent criminal and you have two passports, you should lose your Dutch passport (and right to residency in the Netherlands) after three strikes.

Prostitution: Prostitution is degrading and immoral, but it should be legal in order to protect prostitutes. However, pandering and streetwalking should be outlawed: women are not objects and pandering leads to abuse and crime. Programs for prostitutes to leave "the world" should be supported. This seems closest to the Danish model to me.

Affirmative action: I am fundamentally opposed to affirmative action, as it is racist, whereas governments should treat all citizens equally. However, private organizations are free to implement "affirmative action" policies and any other racist policies if they wish so, because there is no such thing as a right not to be discriminated against by private actors. Of course, this should lead to a public boycott.

Economic Issues

Taxation: Taxes are necessary, but too much taxation is theft. A flat income tax of around 20% should do the trick. I oppose taxing savings and I despise any form of "death tax". I am also against VAT.

Balanced budget amendment: Should be implemented in all countries, ideally.

Minimum wage: Against. Minimum wages hurt the working class and lead to unemployment. In general, a constitutional provision should force the government to restrain its influence on the economy.

Healthcare: A moral government doesn't let its poor citizens die of illness. I support providing basic public healthcare. If one wants more than that, one should look for private options. However, healthcare is one of the issues on which I'm more liberal in practice than in theory: I don't really mind if the government does more regarding healthcare. Some European countries have excellent systems. In practice, I would probably support a more (/truly) privatized version of the Dutch healthcare system. Obamacare is the worst of both worlds. Either single-payer or total privatization would be better.

Right-to-Work: I obviously support this. Companies should hire and fire people as they please.

Trade: I fully support free trade. That has to do with understanding basic economics. I support the free trade zone within the EU, I support TTIP, and if I would be American, I would certainly support NAFTA. I am against protectionism and tariff walls, which always hurt your own economy.

Climate Change (why is this listed under "economy"?): Help Third World countries prepare for the worst regarding sea-level rise, which should be the focus point of foreign aid (which should be cut for other things, except for furthering of national interests). Try to reduce emissions somewhat. Let the market do its work in finding solutions for this problem.

Foreign Policy:
EU: I support the single market, the free movements of goods and persons, and the deregulation the EU brought about. I oppose supranationalism. I support far-reaching reforms to stop the "ever closer union" from becoming a federal superstate. Brussels should be there for effective, intergovernmental opt-in cooperation. In practice, I am sceptical about the chances this kind of reforms have, so I support leaving the EU. I support the idea of a Northern European common currency for financially responsible countries.

Intelligence: While I think intelligence services are moral, legitimate, and necessary, spying on ordinary citizens has gone too far. Citizens should not be seen as a threat - citizens should be safe from threats, and the government shouldn't curb one's freedom. I support privacy laws to keep the government and overly "interested" companies out of people's business. I support some parts of the Patriot Act, but oppose others.

NATO: I'm ashamed by the European tendency to let the US pay for our expenses just because Europeans have become pacifist progressives. The NATO is a great organization and the Netherlands should spend 5% of its GDP on Defense before 2020 - at this moment, we don't even reach the bare minimum of 2% required of NATO members. The world is a dangerous place and civilized countries should stand together in fighting evil.

Cuba: Normalization of the relations is essentially a good thing, but it should have gone slower. Now, the Obama administration has once again showed its defeatist face.

Afghanistan: The worst victim of geopolitical games. This place will obviously be taken over by terrorists again. I see no real reason to be here anymore.

Iraq/Syria/ISIS: Give the Kurds and the Assyrians their own state. Bomb the hell out of ISIS. Establish "safe zones" for refugees. It's going to be a mess anyway, but let's make it somewhat less of a mess.

Iran: I'm totally opposed to the deal. The US and the NATO should make sure Iran will never have nuclear bombs - of which not Israel, but the Persian people would be the biggest victims: they will be hijacked by a dangerous regime - and the military option should have a prominent place at the negotiation table. Iran needs to improve its human rights policy drastically. Regime change should be supported and if the current situation doesn't change, military involvement might be a good option.

Israel: The eternal homeland of the Jewish people. No territorial compromise is acceptable (except for Gaza, a lost cause). In the long run, we should be moving toward a situation in which Arabs and Jews will peacefully live together, as good neighbors in one country. On the short term, increasing Jewish presence in Yehuda and Shomron is essential. Israel should immediately ban NGOs that seek to end its existence as a Jewish state from operating in Israel (including Yehuda and Shomron). Terrorists should get the death penalty and soldiers' rights should be preserved better. Jews should have the right to pray at the Temple Mount. Israel should gradually become independent from US aid: let's work together as equals. Egypt should be pushed by the US and Israel into incorporating Gaza. Recognize "Palestine"... as a terrorist organization.

UN: The playfield for dictators. All decent countries should leave this joke of an organization.

92.5%. Right to work, taxation, and abortion are the only ones I have anything more than minor disagreements with you on.
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windjammer
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« Reply #1148 on: March 10, 2016, 08:20:20 PM »

Economy
Minimum wage: I support increasing the minimum wage. A minimum wage is a necessity. Companies are much more powerful than workers on the labour market, so their wages are lower that they should be, so a rise will improve the standard of living and in the end will have more positive than negative effects on jobs.

Labor Unions: I have become less supportive of them. But I still believe they need to become stronger in ordre to raise the wage, boosting the economy. RTW is totally bullsh**t.

Free-Trade: I completely support free-trade. Protectionism is a rightwing policy that just creates private monopoly.

Education: skills needed in the workforce will always be higher and higher. So this is necessary to spend more and more.

Heath Care: very left-wing, I dont want to let people die.

Social Issues
Abortion: Should be available until 12 weeks of pregnancy. I dont like that at all at personal level but I understand it has to be legal.

SSM: fully supportive of that obviously.

Death Penalty: I oppose it completely. (Catholic)

Immigration: I support it, it is necessary when population is becoming older and older.

Euthanasia: I oppose it. I believe it will end up killing too many people for economic gains. I dont want to take the risk. It should be decriminalized for some cases though.

Alcohol, drugs and cigarettes : I personally hate that. Smoking is disgusting, alcoholic people vomit everywhere. These things are clearly  the reason how the western culture can be totally degenerate sometimes. But let that be legalized because the war on these stuffs doesnt work. But it needs to be heavily taxed.

Foreign policy:

Iran deal: I obviously support it. Iran will be a powerful ally in the region.

War: I m interventionist, I dont want other Hitlers to come to power because of "muh pacifism". But at the same time, we need not to be bellicists a la Iraq war.

Israel: This isnt an issue I know many things. I m right now really pro-Palestine and against Israël who I believe is oppressing the pzlestinians. However, I do recognize that my views are highly being influenced by my friends who are very against Israël. I used to think that any hyper pro Israël would be the reincarnation of Israël. M'y views are evolving though as I realize that I really some of them. So if any pro Israël could explain me why they support Israël by PM, that would be cool. I will likely remain pro-palestinian, but I think it would be useful to have the opinion of the pro israel side.
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Asian Nazi
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« Reply #1149 on: March 10, 2016, 08:35:08 PM »

Ideology
Social: Communist
Economic: Communist
Foreign: Communist
Political Registration: N/A


Social Policy
Abortion: Pro-Choice
Same Sex Marriage: Support
Drugs / Narcotics: Are bad
Death Penalty: Support, but don't trust the American state to implement it
Gun Control: Militias should be legal, otherwise ban ban ban
Affirmative Action: We should start younger
Prostitution: Should be illegal
Right to Die: I always support people dying
PATRIOT Act/NSA Spying: who care
Immigration: Open borders


Economic Policy
Minimum Wage: Abolish all wages
Welfare: All people should be given jobs by the government, but those who cannot work should be allowed to live decently
Social Security: weaksauce
Right-to-Work: People who support "right-to-work" laws should be shot
Taxation: I love taxes
Obamacare: A decent start
Trade: Bad
Climate Change: Cannot be fixed by capitalism
Alternative Energy Subsidies: lol
Keystone XL Pipeline: dead issue
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