Summary of political beliefs

[RI]

Social Issues

General philosophy: Lean libertarian

Abortion: Oppose after first few weeks, except for the health of the mother. Increase funding and availability of contraception. Increase access to adoption and maternal leave.
Separation of church and state: Very important for both parties.
Gay Marriage: Absolutely support, though I would prefer if the government wasn't in the marriage business in the first place.
Affirmative Action: Oppose. Race should not be a factor in anything. Strongly oppose quotas.
Age of Consent: Oppose for sex. I support bracket laws of two years if under 18.
Gun rights: Generally support. Background checks are ok. Violent felons and mentally diminished people should not have guns. No ban on assault weapons.
Death Penalty: Oppose.
Censorship: Strongly oppose in all cases.
Flag burning: Support. A ban would be an encroachment on the first amendment.
Smoking: Keep legal, but keep out of public places except those specifically made for such.
Alcohol consumption: Keep legal, but keep out of public places except those specifically made for such.
Euthanasia: Support. The only person who should decide when it is their time to die is themself.
Drugs: Legalize, tax, regulate, keep out of public places except those specifically made for such.
Gambling: Support. If you want to lose your money, that is your problem.
Prostitution: Support. Legalize, tax, regulate, keep out of public places except those specifically made for such.
Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Support. Especially for those embryos that would otherwise be discarded.
Immigration: Support. Anyone who wants to come to America should be able to. Make the process easier.
Illegal Immigration: Provide a path to citizenship for those already here.


Economic Issues

General Philosophy: Moderate on trade, fiscally leftist

Taxes: Support progressive taxation. By living in this country, you implicitly agree to pay to keep this country running. If you don't like it, leave.
Employers and Employees: No protection for those who strike. If you go on strike, you do so at your own risk.
Free trade: Generally support.
Spending: Support, but with much more emphasis on transparency, accountability, efficiency, and routing out wasteful spending.
Social Security: Remove the cap. Allow those who want to risk it to move their ss to the stock market. No safety net for those who do.
Space Program: Strongly support. If we had the money, I'd say build a space elevator and terraform Mars. Maybe Venus and the Moon too.
Welfare: Do not fund those who can work but choose not to. Limit to two years. Focus on getting them back to work.
Healthcare: Support some sort of universal system. Insurance companies are BS.
Education: Increase funding for public school system, which should be our first focus. Allow limited vouchers. Put stronger regulations on homeschooling.
Minimum Wage: Support and raise.
Regulation: I support environmental, health, and worker regulations. We also must have some sort of oversight of banks and the stock market, but not control of.
Infrastructure: Support increased spending, but also increase efficiency and reduce waste.
Energy Policy: Move to alternative energy as soon as possible, including nuclear. However, the emphasis should be on wind, solar, hydro, tidal, geothermal, convection, and others. Also focus on fuel cell vehicles. No off-shore drilling.
Environment: We must protect the environment. Without it, we could not live. Support conservation efforts.


Foreign Issues

General Philosophy: Internationalist/Pacifist

Democracy and Trade: Trade is good.
United Nations: Support.
Iraq: Oppose. Get out as soon as possible.
Israel: Neutral.
Patriot Act: Strongly oppose. Repeal now.
Torture: Oppose.
Military Involvement: None unless directly attacked. Slash military spending.
North American Union: Support if like EU. Countries should one day cease to exist. They are artificial boundaries that have come to separate more than just land. We are one species, and one day we must come together as one if we are to survive.

[RI]

My views are basically a unique mix of Nader, Buchanan, Paul, and Duke.

You forgot Hitler.

[RI]

Support destroying Palestinians

Everything else I kinda expected in some way shape or form, but this part sounds very dodgy to me...

I sincerely hope you're just over-exaggerating there.

Not Over exaggerating. If they won't let my religion live in peace ,then they should either die or get a big ass-whooping.

Oh dear, oh dear.

That's how I roll.

And it's very disturbing...

Eh... he's 14. He'll outgrow his extremism as he matures (hopefully). When I was younger, I (regrettably) held some extreme views as well. I believe I once said we should kill every gay because they added nothing to society. I hate who I was.

[RI]

I've changed some of my views in the past few months, especially with my ongoing conversion to Catholicism.

Social Issues

General philosophy: Moderate

Abortion: Oppose after first few weeks, except when the mother's life is threatened. However, banning abortion must not be our top priority. Increase funding and availability of contraception, though not abortifacients. Increase access to adoption and maternal leave.
Separation of church and state: Very important for both parties.
Gay Marriage: Absolutely support, though I would prefer if the government wasn't shouldn't be in the marriage business in the first place. Leave marriage up to the churches. Let the government issue civil unions to everyone who wants one.
Affirmative Action: Oppose. Race should not be a factor in anything. Strongly oppose quotas.
Age of Consent: Oppose for sex. I support bracket laws of two years if under 18.
Gun rights: Generally support. Background checks are ok. Violent felons and mentally diminished people should not have guns. No ban on assault weapons.
Death Penalty: Strongly oppose, unless there is no way to keep the prisoner from continuing the kill.
Censorship: Strongly oppose in all cases.
Flag burning: Support. A ban would be an encroachment on the first amendment.
Smoking: Keep legal, but keep out of public places except those specifically made for such.
Alcohol consumption: Keep legal, but keep out of public places except those specifically made for such.
Euthanasia: Support. The only person who should decide when it is their time to die is themself. Assisted suicide should be legal, but only allowed in situations when the condition is such that pain drugs are completely ineffective.
Drugs: Legalize, tax, regulate, keep out of public places except those specifically made for such.
Gambling: Support. If you want to lose your money, that is your problem.
Prostitution: Support. Legalize, tax, regulate, keep out of public places except those specifically made for such.
Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Support. Especially only for those embryos that would otherwise be discarded.
Immigration: Support. Anyone who wants to come to America should be able to. Make the process easier.
Illegal Immigration: Provide a path to citizenship for those already here. Enforce current border laws better.

Economic Issues

General Philosophy: Moderate on trade, fiscally leftist

Taxes: Support progressive taxation. By living in this country, you implicitly agree to pay to keep this country running. If you don't like it, leave.
Employers and Employees: No protection for those who strike. If you go on strike, you do so at your own risk.
Free trade: Generally support.
Spending: Support, but with much more emphasis on transparency, accountability, efficiency, and routing out wasteful spending. No long term debt.
Social Security: Remove the cap. Allow those who want to risk it to move their ss to the stock market. No safety net for those who do.
Space Program: Strongly support. If we had the money, I'd say build a space elevator and terraform Mars. Maybe Venus and the Moon too. Alas.
Welfare: Do not fund those who can work but choose not to. Limit to two years. Focus on getting them back to work.
Healthcare: Strongly support some sort of universal system a public option. Regulate insurance companies heavily. Insurance companies are BS.
Education: Increase funding for public school system, which should be our first focus. Allow limited vouchers. Put stronger regulations on homeschooling.
Minimum Wage: Support and raise.
Regulation: I support environmental, health, and worker regulations. We also must have some sort of oversight of banks and the stock market, but not control of.
Infrastructure: Support increased spending, but also increase efficiency and reduce waste.
Energy Policy: Move to alternative energy as soon as possible, including nuclear. However, the emphasis should be on wind, solar, hydro, tidal, geothermal, convection, and others. Also focus on fuel cell vehicles. No off-shore drilling.
Environment: We must protect the environment. Without it, we could not live. Support conservation efforts.


Foreign Issues

General Philosophy: Internationalist/Pacifist

Democracy and Trade: Trade is good.
United Nations: Support.
Iraq: Oppose. Get out as soon as possible.
Israel: Neutral.
Patriot Act: Strongly oppose. Repeal now.
Torture: Oppose.
Military Involvement: None unless directly attacked. Slash military spending. For humanitarian crises, work through the UN.
North American Union: Support if like EU. Countries should one day cease to exist. They are artificial boundaries that have come to separate more than just land. We are one species, and one day we must come together as one if we are to survive.

[RI]

Constitutional Issues

Summary – Public empowerment+meritocracy

•   Campaign finance reform: Donations of more then a $1000 from any single individual forbidden. Church/business/union role in campaign financing or organization forbidden. Attempts to circumvent this sneakily forbidden.

•   Political representation: The Tasmanian system. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Tasmania)

•   Constitution: A fairly standard set of negative and positive rights(ie. Freedom of speech, entitlement to healthcare/water/food and so on). Distinctively I advocate a greater emphasis on freedom of association then most people embrace, and “freedom of community”(as opposed to the current system of mandatory individualism). Also I see very little value in the right of privacy from the government, so long a checks and balances exist to prevent abuses.

•   Local government – If the citizens took local government seriously, I would support significant Swiss-style devolution. They do not, however. The obvious remedy would be mandatory turnout at elections +making local government more important, but that could backfire.

•   Meritocracy: In many countries, the judiciary has very significant de facto legislative power. Given that precedent, I think the most learned individuals should play a greater role(albeit perhaps not a direct legislative role) in the political system. It is a travesty for example that scientists have not been able to exert more pressure on the political system to act against global warming.



Societal issues

Summary – Progressive communitarianism(as opposed to progressive individualism which goes by the name of “liberalism”)

•   Civil unions: Marriage is a symbolic/religious term and the state need not define it, consensus is unnecessary. Civil unions should not discriminate based upon sexuality. Civil unions should be separated into two distinct forms, childless CU’s and CU’s responsible for children. The standard pre-nuptial agreement of each partner receiving approximately what they have earned rather then arbitrary 50-50 split should be the default settlement in cases of divorce.

•   Demographics: Structure social engineering policies upon two main goals: firstly bringing the birthrate up to something approximating 2(replacement level), and secondly balancing the class imbalance(birthrates correlating with poverty) which hinders government’s push to reduce poverty rates. This to be achieved through using tax and welfare policies as leverage, as well as maternal entitlements.


•   Abortion/contraception – Free and encouraged amongst those judged unlikely to be fit parents(ie. Teenagers/drug abusers etc). Should also be encouraged in the case of fetuses determined to suffer serious genetic disorders. If sociopathy turns out to have a genetic component, would support mandatory abortion of fetuses found to have it(probably the only case I would support mandatory abortion).  


•   Addictive substances/prostitution: Legalize(on account of undeniable failure) but push out of the public sphere through public smoking bans and the like. If at some point surveillance technologies advance to the point that prohibition of such activities can be successfully enforced, I would support renewal of bans.

•   Environmentalism: Passionately consider combating of global warming to be the great test of my generation’s worth, if not its raison d’être. IF it was politically viable I would support the transition of global society to Vegetarianism(with the possible exception of meats which cause the least in the way of environmental burden), on account of animal farming being so much more environmentally burdensome then agriculture and the immense strain fishing as imposed upon our oceans. Emphasis on conservation. Emphasis on urban/suburban environments being “greened” to a greater extent.  

•   Crime: Petty criminals(such as those leading to sentences of less then 1 year/6 months) should not be immersed in criminal culture, as they often leave more criminal then they entered- I’m not sure what the best alternative is. Paedophiles and rapists should be chemically castrated. I’m ambivalent about the death penalty- though I would support it being applied in severe cases of political or corporate corruption, as well as perhaps serial killers.

•   Gun control: Support ban, though would be supportive of investigation into the viability of public access to defensive tasers.

•   Civil Liberties vs Civil Securities: I come down in favour of the latter almost every single time. The idiotic objections(sorry to be blunt but its true) to keeping the DNA of innocent people on a government database strikes me as particularly ludicrous- what possible harm could come of that? Modern surveillance and ID card strategies I am currently ambivalent about not from a civil liberties standpoint but rather because the technology has not progressed enough to be particularly useful. Once ID cards can be replaced with high-tech ID chips(mandatory, ideally), security dividends will truly manifest themselves.

•   Multiculturalism/Immigration: I am ambivalent about multiculturalism for multiculturalism’s sake(the odd idea that diversity correlates with success seems disproven when one looks at homogenous societies like South Korea and Japan), sympathetic to calls for higher degree of assimilation and Western cultural assertiveness. Also, most immigration policies seem tailored to deprive developing countries of their most productive citizens. However the threat posed by demographic and skills gaps will take a generation at least to fix, therefore necessitating high rates of immigration to counterbalance them until they stabilize. Government should reject anti-refugee silliness currently pervading my country, rather than pander to it as it currently is.  

•   Government should do what it can to encourage secularism and intellectualism.



Economic issues

Summary – Democratic Socialist

•   Taxation: Land Value tax should be a core basis of tax revenue. Also carbon taxes should be implemented. Income tax should become more progressive. Sin taxes should be expanded to the least healthy foods.

•   Public ownership: Public control(or in certain cases semi-control) of national resources, infrastructure and healthcare system is vital. A public bank should be established with preferential loans to particular causes(ie. Student loans, first time home buyers and renewable energy/energy efficiency loans)

•   Renewable energy/energy efficiency: Stimulate economy primarily through investment in renewable energy technologies and public transport. There are countless ways to expand renewable energy capacity and energy efficiency, to numerous to mention. Through use of the public bank’s preferential loans, the government could increase the pace- in exchange for those loans, the government would keep half the financial gain resultant from increased energy efficiency, which could be dedicated towards financing further renewable/efficiency investment.

•   Trade: Ambivalent on free trade. A fair trade strategy to help bolster the economies of developing countries, coupled with common sense trade restrictions to counter mercantilist strategy from countries such as China, would be most desirable- coupled with an attempt to shift our economy towards less reliance on natural resource exports.

•   Education: Free university in exchange for… say 5/7 hours of public service in the community per week. Beyond that I’m not well informed enough to propose anything.

•   Institute a workfare system modeled on Denmark’s.

•   Protect pensions and extend government care for the elderly.

•   Strengthen anti-trust laws

•   Cease agricultural subsidies towards large agribuisiness.

•   Exploit the water supplies of Australia’s North and consider exploiting its agricultural capacity.

•   Oppose affirmative action based on race, favour it on a socioeconomic basis.



Foreign Policy

Summary – Standard egalatarian internationalism.

•   Military budget: As “a future fair for all” said, “CUTCUTCUT!”
•   Implement fair trade policies and expand aid to third world countries conditional on those countries taking serious action regarding their greenhouse gas emissions.
•   Iraq and Afghanistan: Withdraw from former, stay in latter until the deadline Obama proclaimed(if it drags on past that, leave).
•   Iran: Would support bombing if all else fails.
•   Play as cooperative and active a role as a nation of our minor importance can in matters requiring international cooperation for global benefit.

You certainly have a more interesting set of views than most around here. It's a rare occurence to see someone who actually has something of a communitarian ideology on this forum.

[RI]

Rockingham and Derek should both take the Political Matrix test. I think it would be interesting.

[RI]

Rockingham and Derek should both take the Political Matrix test. I think it would be interesting.

What would you predict their scores to be?

How do I take it?

https://uselectionatlas.org/TOOLS/POLMTX/thetest.php

[RI]

I was more saddened by his deference to the Constitution over Catholic teaching. Alas, most Catholic don't care about the Church's social teaching.

[RI]

It's been well over a year since I've posted in this thread, so I think it's about time to do so again.

Overall Philosophy: Though there are a number of things I could be labeled as, I like to describe myself as an “amoristic communitarian”. This ideology primarily combines aspects of Christian democracy and Catholic social teaching with a secular underpinning focused on the morality and primacy of love for the purpose of pursuing happiness, self-fulfillment, and spiritual growth. I believe that love, in both the broadest and in the most specific senses, is the quality that we as individuals and we as a society must embody, and I believe it to be the core moral value. I reject the core conceit of libertarianism—that people are self-sufficient—and believe that, as well as the individual, communities and society must also be equally looked after, for no action occurs in isolation, and social interaction serves as both the catalyst and conduit for achieving self-fulfillment, and presents the stage for love to blossom. I have a much longer discussion on this idea and how it relates to political issues, but for the purposes of this post, I am going to keep it brief.

Social Issues:

Abortion: Strongly oppose, except in the case of a direct and immediate threat to the life of the mother to which there is no other remedy. I believe that the life of a person starts at conception.

Affirmative Action: Generally oppose, though there are some exceptions when talking about income-based affirmative action. I oppose race or gender based affirmative action as unjust and discriminatory in most situations.

Death Penalty: Strongly oppose in virtually all circumstances. I generally oppose killing in anything short of immediate and direct self-defense or defense of another.

Drugs and Alcohol: I believe that we should treat drug usage as a disease and seek to rehabilitate users rather than imprison them. However, usage should be actively discouraged as it is detrimental to the individual and society.

Euthanasia: Oppose, as it is unfair to ask a doctor to kill another person, the very antithesis of their profession. I do believe in extremely limited circumstances that provisions could be made, however.

Gun Rights: I believe that any type of gun can be responsibly handled if it is in the hands of the right person. As such, I believe that we should control who can purchase guns, but I do not favor limits on which guns they can purchase.

Immigration: I do not believe in the concept of an illegal person. I believe we must actively seek to welcome all individuals who seek to join our society, both legally and socially. I do believe that conditions should be met, such as back tax payment and proficiency in English for illegal immigrants to earn citizenship, if at all possible.

Marriage: I believe that marriage and the family are vital and foundational aspects of society and community. I believe that marriage is the highest form of romantic love, and should be revered, encouraged, and protected, but it is also something that must be earned in order to be appreciated. To this end, I support covenant marriage laws with, among other things, mandatory marriage counseling and safeguards against divorce.

Prostitution: Similar to drug users, we should treat prostitutes as victims of circumstance rather than as criminals. We should actively help impoverished women who view prostitution as their own option, but prostitution should not be condoned or encouraged. Those who profit from this exploitation should face repercussions, however.

Separation of Church and State: While religion should not be actively enforced by the government, the State should not rebuke the ability of many churches to help fighting poverty, homelessness, disease, and other societal issues. Anyone who has the ability to help others should be embraced, not denied.

Stem Cell Research: Oppose new embryonic stem cell research, but actively support adult and umbilical cord research along with induced pluripotency procedures.

Economic Issues:

Education: I support the public education system, but believe that there are major improvements necessary to bring it up to what it should be. One main improvement is that education funding should serve to counteract the cycle of poverty by centralizing funding and by basing it on need and improvement rather than on pure ability.

Energy: For the sake of ourselves, our future generations, and our planet, I believe we must immediately take steps to move to an alternative energy-based infrastructure that runs on an regionally-focused mix of wind, solar, hydroelectric, tidal, geothermal, convection, nuclear, hydrogen fuel cell, and other sustainable technologies. Vehicles should run on hydrogen or electricity.

Environment: I believe that, in order to protect and cultivate life, we must protect and sustain our environment to best of our ability. Humanity must serve as faithful stewards of the Earth, as we are the only ones capable of doing so.

Fiscal Policy: I believe in New Keynesian economic theory and the modern macroeconomic consensus. I support countercyclical fiscal and monetary policies that actively rectify market failures and excesses.

Health Care: I support a form of single-payer universal health care as my ideal health care system that provides for basic care, with additional care available for purchase on the open market. I believe that market-based basic health care an intrinsically flawed and immoral system that does not treats people in a loving manner, but rather profits on suffering.

Social Justice: One of the most loving actions is to help another in need without regard for the result on yourself. Society too should embrace this concept. We must extend ourselves to help those in need through any means possible. Although government programs are the most effective in this area, the work of charities and religious organizations should be encouraged and embraced.

Social Security: I do not support the privatization of social security. We must protect this social program for the sake of those who need it the most. In order to safeguard the promise that is social security, we must raise or lift entirely the cap of social security contributions on high-income earners.

Taxation: I believe in a system of taxation that places a fair burden on all members of society. The only system of taxation that I know of that I believe is capable of doing so is a progressive income taxation system. I favor other forms in addition to this system, such as progressive corporate taxes, sin taxes, a limited sales tax on high price items, and some others.

Foreign Issues

General Philosophy: We must embrace humility and love on the world stage.

United Nations: The United Nations is a valuable element of global diplomacy that should be embraced and strengthened with the ultimate, far-off goal of a federal world government that recognizes the unity of life and the human race.

War: War, which has been and continues to be the greatest threat to human life and  the world itself, should be avoided at almost all costs. The only just war is one in immediate and direct self-defense, or the immediate and direct self-defense of another nation or people. Diplomacy should always be our main weapon. When war is necessary, it is important to continue to respect human rights and dignity for enemy prisoners and combatants to the extent possible.

Weapons of Mass Destruction: To the extent possible, all chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons should be eradicated; however, I acknowledge the necessity of keeping a limited nuclear arsenal for deterrence purposes only. The use of such weapons is never moral.

[RI]

I've made a few posts on the forum before but I have not really properly introduced myself and I figured that this is as good a place to do it as any, since I'm a bit shy with formal introductions.

Social Issues

General: Center-left, some communitarian tendencies but that's not really the most determinative strain in my positions in this realm.

Abortion: Somewhat conflicted feelings. Both my personal beliefs and medical ethics dictate that somewhere after conception but between birth certain lines should be drawn but I would rather leave where to draw them and what kind of lines they should be up to people who know more about bioethics than I do. I would probably counsel my loved ones against abortion except in case of risk to their life, rape, or incest, but I have less than no desire to see that legislated.
Gay marriage/adoption/families: Very strongly support. I also support covenant marriage, including for same-sex couples. I am aware that this is a very unusual position but I stand by it.
Affirmative action: I support socioeconomic affirmative action rather than race-based affirmative action, which I think is actually constitutionally questionable at worst.
Hate crimes legislation: Support.
Gun control: I think that it's important to keep in mind that to an extent there's an urban-rural divide on this issue. States should set minimum registration standards, which local governments should be allowed to add to. I do however support federal bans on certain types of military-grade weapons for civilians.
Death penalty: Abolish completely, except possibly in times of domestic war or for uniformed personnel directly involved in theaters of combat overseas.
Euthanasia: Do not legalise but do not prosecute except in cases of obvious abuse of authority on the part of doctors.
Drugs: Legalise and tax marijuana cultivation and possession but keep heavy limits on transport and a ban on importation; deliberately put and keep other 'soft' drugs (a term which should be defined by medical professionals working on commission rather than career bureaucrats) in a legal grey area by lightening sentences and not aggressively prosecuting. Maintain heavy sentences and aggressive prosecution for trafficking of harder drugs; equalise sentences for crack and powder cocaine; offer mandatory supervised rehab as an alternative to imprisonment for addicts.
Prostitution: Maintain bans on soliciting the services of a prostitute. Vigorously prosecute current laws against the human trafficking end of the business. Decriminalise actually being a prostitute, so that prostitutes who are being victimised can safely go to the law for help.

Economic Issues

General: Left-communitarian

Taxes: Maintain a progressive income tax but aggressively eliminate almost all loopholes and deductibles other than for spouses, dependents, and charitable donations. Investigate the feasibility of a cap or tax on total personal wealth.
Spending: Radically cut spending on old Cold War projects that no longer do anything. Avoid long-term structural deficits if possible but running deficits in individual years is not the end of the world.
Welfare: Maintain and strengthen.
Education: Radically increase support for public education up to the university level.
Regulations: Increase significantly on financial services, transit, natural resources, and likely some other industries I'm forgetting. Loosen on small businesses, especially hospitality and retail.
Labour: Repeal Taft-Hartley. Mandatory bargaining for all unionised industries, and all companies must allow free votes on unionisation.
Free trade: I oppose omnibus free-trade pacts but support low or nonexistent tariffs for many if not most things. We must, however, maintain the ability to adjust tariffs to protect our own businesses.
Health care: Keep PPAC Act for the time being but lay the groundwork for a bigger push for a more universal system.

Foreign Policy

General: Internationalist but non-militarist.

Military: Streamline and smarten. Get out of useless land bases in places like Germany and Japan; maintain air and sea capabilities worldwide.
United Nations: Strengthen it by strategically undermining the positions of authoritarian regimes within it.
Israel: Take a harder line in favour of a two-state solution with an internationalised Jerusalem.
Alliances: Ramp up commitments to other democracies.
China: Take a much, MUCH harder line. Demand major and meaningful reforms in the areas of minority rights, local government, freedom of conscience, freedom of expression, labour relations, and environmental protection in exchange for our continued favoured trade arrangements.

Constitutional

Implement IRV for Congressional elections
Restore rules requiring floor filibusters in the Senate
Devolve partisan functions to House Majority Leader and require two-thirds vote to elect the Speaker
Directly elect the President via nationwide IRV

With a few little exceptions, your positions are remarkably similar to mine. Yay.

[RI]

So phk, do you only support countercyclical taxation policy and not full countercyclical fiscal policy?

[RI]

So phk, do you only support countercyclical taxation policy and not full countercyclical fiscal policy?

You mean, "cool off" hot economies with raising central bank rates, welfare and general spending and vice versa?

That would be contractionary countercyclical fiscal policy, yes, though to cool off an economy, you would need to cut spending, not raise it.

[RI]

Your statements on euthanasia, the death penalty, and abortion (among other things) are contradictory.

[RI]

Your statement was:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

That seems like a pretty big statement to me. It implies that human life is something that should be protected and promoted whenever possible, or else we ‘devalue all human life’. To me, I think that would put that issue—protecting human life—somewhere high on the priority list.

We can argue until we’re blue in the face about the personhood of a fetus and get nowhere (generally), but I would have to think that even if you don’t think a fetus is a person, it would be recognized that a fetus, left to its own devices, will relatively quickly grow into a person with its own claim in that category of ‘all human life’. As such, to terminate a fetus is, under such definitions, the destruction of a human life pre facto, or rather, the preemptive diminishment of the quantity and variety of summated human life, when we already established protecting human life as something of a priority. I personally don’t find that to be intellectually congruent.

As for the death penalty, your statement about the value of a person’s life being erased if they kill another person seems completely arbitrary to me. Can a person who has killed another never again contribute to the good of humanity? It would seem to me that you are yourself intentionally reducing the value (and quantity) of human life under such a designation by claiming it reflexively.

In the death penalty case, we started with 2 people. When one is murdered, we are left with 1 person. You are claiming that there are now actually 0 people (and in fact you seek to imprint that on to objective reality) because the one left living lost their personhood by virtue of your definition. You have yourself intentionally taken a life. To me, I have to wonder, in what world is the intentional loss of two human lives, especially by edict, better than the loss of only one if you, as you said, believe the intentional loss of even one human life to hurt all human life?

[RI]

Your statements on euthanasia, the death penalty, and abortion (among other things) are contradictory.

Whoop-de-doo!  Not all of political beliefs are internally consistent with one another...that makes me just like 95 percent of all other Americans...

Hooray for cognitive dissonance? I think that's the first time I've seen someone on here try to justify holding mutually exclusive thoughts simultaneously. And comparing yourself to the politically uneducated masses? Way to lower the bar for yourself...

[RI]

Your statements on euthanasia, the death penalty, and abortion (among other things) are contradictory.

Whoop-de-doo!  Not all of political beliefs are internally consistent with one another...that makes me just like 95 percent of all other Americans...

Hooray for cognitive dissonance? I think that's the first time I've seen someone on here try to justify holding mutually exclusive thoughts simultaneously. And comparing yourself to the politically uneducated masses? Way to lower the bar for yourself...

Well, some people believe that "respecting life" could mean supporting a moratorium on the Death Penalty and protecting Roe v. Wade on the grounds that protecting all realised life that isn't a direct threat to another life needs protecting but that protecting potential life would lower the value of human life to the level of the chemical reaction that is human conception. A person could say that life is more than a simple chemical reaction lest people be a commodity to be bought and sold.

So we protect something as fundamental as life by making the number of phenomena the category applies to arbitrarily limited because to be inclusive would diminish the whole? That’s a pretty nasty and regressive attitude if you ask me, and one that’s at the root of a whole host of terrible things. In what world does declaring someone ‘not a person’ ever improve the dignity and value of life? Additionally, describing a fetus as merely a ‘simple chemical reaction’ is pretty baseless, and, worse, a moot point altogether unless you can show me the point in which a fetus/baby/person becomes more than a ‘simple chemical reaction’.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

What kind of a person believes that something that is wrong magically becomes right if it is enshrined by the law of a government? Certainly not someone who actually cares about human life as an issue.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

This argument makes even less sense than arguing against abortion from the standpoint of ‘tradition’, whatever that means.

[RI]

Easy. Should animals be treated the same as people? What about robots and computers that have very good AI? What if those robots use some human tissue to operate in the future? ..and its a good point to question what makes a person a person if its not just self-replicating DNA...but is it really a good idea to make that the sole criteria?

...and a lot of people base tradition off of what's right and wrong. For example, what was the father of conservatism, Edmund Burke's philosophy in the application of tradition? What is the role of tradition?

If someone is just going to get upset and call someone "cognitively dissonant", "nasty" and "regressive" because other people may think a certain way or other people think other people think a certain way, what is that person really trying to say?

I can’t say I have a terribly high opinion of Edmund Burke’s philosophy of traditional authority because it doesn’t do what you said in “basing tradition off of what’s right and wrong” but rather he bases right and wrong off of what is tradition, and even then, he does so incredibly selectively.

As for defining the boundaries of human life, yes, there does need to be a boundary, but such a boundary should be firm and determinate, rather than the fuzzy ‘sometime after conception but before birth, but I really don’t know when” spiel that often gets thrown around, for the simple reason that such a determination is necessary to sufficiently establish morally legitimate action. But as I said in my first post on the subject, this is a conversation that is rarely satisfactorily concluded for either side, and it is not the point of what I was getting after initially.

I don’t know what you’re getting at with the last paragraph, but I legitimately believe that Republican95 has a contradiction in his line of thought, demonstrating a lack of firm underlying principles, and I believe that he should attempt to create a coherent philosophy based on more than arbitrarily selecting positions that sound ‘right’. Not only did R95 acknowledge this, but then he attempted to justify his gap in logic, which is not something I personally understand, but whatever.

If you want to debate abortion, that’s fine, but that’s not what my point was.

[RI]

Outside of most (but not all) of the economic issues and maybe gay marriage (and a couple other tiny things), I largely agree with you, TJ.

[RI]

Can we just sticky this thread?

[RI]

I'm revamping the positions I posted in January, but I used a lot of the same wording as I rather liked it. Also, I co-opted a view of the stylistic choices Marokai made. Finally, I obviously don't expect anyone to agree completely with my platform. Chances are, you'll like half of it but not the other.

Overall Philosophy: Though there are a number of things I could be labeled as, I like to describe myself as an “amoristic communitarian”. This ideology primarily combines aspects of Christian democracy and Catholic social teaching with a secular underpinning focused on the morality and primacy of love for the purpose of pursuing happiness, self-fulfillment, and spiritual growth. I believe that love, in both the broadest and in the most specific senses, is the quality that we as individuals and we as a society must embody, and I believe it to be the core moral value. I reject the core conceit of libertarianism—that people are self-sufficient—and believe that, as well as the individual, communities and society must also be equally looked after, for no action occurs in isolation, and social interaction serves as both the catalyst and conduit for achieving self-fulfillment and presents the stage for love to blossom.

Overarching Themes: I am pro-life in all cases possible; I believe that all human lives everywhere are inherently valuable, precious, and sacred. I believe in the promotion and protection of love, especially in its truest form of marriage, but also in the proliferation of agapic love, charity, and social justice through all the tools at the disposal of humanity, including but not limited to government. I support technocratic government centered on the accumulated knowledge of experts in each field in the pursuit of policies that can be objectively demonstrated to best serve the goals outlined above.

Social Issues:

Abortion: As stated above, I am pro-life to the extent possible. I strongly oppose abortion, except in the case of a direct and immediate threat to the life of the mother to which there is no other remedy. I believe that the life of a person starts at conception, and that such can be scientifically demonstrated. Additionally, the government should take a more proactive role in supporting adoption services and universal maternity leave to reduce the demand for abortion as well.

Affirmative Action: Generally oppose, though there are some exceptions when talking about income-based affirmative action. I oppose race or gender based affirmative action as unjust and discriminatory in most situations.

Death Penalty: I strongly oppose in virtually all circumstances. I believe that the death penalty is rooted in the concept of vengeance and the absolute denial of forgiveness, which has no place in a loving society. I generally oppose killing in anything short of immediate and direct self-defense or defense of another. I am also against mandatory minimum sentencing.

Drugs and Alcohol: I believe that we should treat drug usage as a disease and seek to rehabilitate users rather than imprison them; I do not support the legalization of any hard drug, but I do support their decriminalization for the purpose of rehabilitation. However, usage should be actively discouraged as it is detrimental to the individual and society. I support restricting smoking, drinking, and other legal drug usage from public spaces to better protect others from the external consequences of these actions.

Euthanasia: Oppose, as it is unfair and immoral to ask a doctor to kill another person, the very antithesis of their profession. I do believe in extremely limited circumstances that provisions could be made; however, everything possible should be done to limit suffering, and in the vast majority of cases this is fully possible.

Gun Rights: I believe that any type of gun can be responsibly handled if it is in the hands of the right person. As such, I believe that we should control who can purchase guns, but I do not favor limits on which guns they can purchase. This isn’t an issue that I have deep feelings about, though.

Immigration: I do not believe in the concept of an illegal person. I believe we should actively seek to welcome all individuals who seek to join our society, both legally and socially. I do believe that conditions should be met, such as back tax payment and proficiency in English for illegal immigrants to earn citizenship, if at all possible. In general, the immigration process should be more much streamlined than it is. Children of illegal immigrants born in the US should under no circumstances be denied the rights of American citizens.

Marriage: I believe that marriage and the family are vital and foundational aspects of society and community, and that our culture continues to denigrate it. I believe that marriage is the highest form of romantic love, and should be revered, encouraged, and protected, but it is also something that must be earned in order to be appreciated. To this end, I support covenant marriage laws with, among other things, mandatory marriage counseling and safeguards against divorce; additionally, no fault divorce should be banned. The current movement for temporary marriage is an assault on the very concept of commitment and should under no circumstances be allowed. I have no problem inherently with gays marrying; I believe that this issue is a red herring when it comes to the actual threats to marriage.

Prostitution: Similar to drug users, we should treat prostitutes as victims of circumstance rather than as criminals. We should actively help impoverished women who view prostitution as their only option through, but prostitution should not be condoned nor encouraged nor legalized. Those who profit from this exploitation should face criminal repercussions, however.

Separation of Church and State: While religion should not be actively enforced by the government, the State should not rebuke the ability of many churches to help fighting poverty, homelessness, disease, and other societal issues. Anyone who has the ability to help others should be embraced, not denied; that is, I actively support faith-based initiatives when practical.

Stem Cell Research: Oppose new embryonic stem cell research, as I believe such destroys life in the hope of saving other life, but actively support adult and umbilical cord research along with induced pluripotency procedures.

Economic Issues:

Education: I support the public education system, but believe that there are major improvements necessary to bring it up to what it should be. One main improvement is that education funding should serve to counteract the cycle of poverty by centralizing funding and by basing it on need and improvement rather than on pure ability. Standardized testing and No Child Left Behind should be done away with. I would look into the creation of nationalized tuition for post-secondary education, but at the very least would like to see more Pell Grants and public scholarships available, especially for high achieving students.

Energy: For the sake of ourselves, our future generations, and our planet, I believe we must immediately take steps to move to an alternative energy-based infrastructure that runs on a regionally-focused mix of wind, solar, hydroelectric, tidal, geothermal, convection, nuclear, hydrogen fuel cell, and other sustainable technologies. Vehicles should run on hydrogen or electricity. I do not support further exploratory oil drilling or ‘fracking’.

Environment: I believe that, in order to protect and cultivate life, we must protect and sustain our environment to best of our ability. Humanity must serve as faithful stewards of the Earth, as we are the only ones capable of doing so. I do not support cap-and-trade or a carbon tax, however, as I am not convinced that these are the proper methods to handling global warming, if it exists. If it does, a conversion to alternative energy as stated above would be more than sufficient.

Fiscal Policy: I generally believe in New Keynesian economic theory and the modern macroeconomic consensus, but I am open to hearing other viewpoints and testing these methods through an objective process. I generally support countercyclical fiscal and monetary policies that actively rectify market failures and excesses. I believe that these policies should be conducted independent of political processes; that is, I support either the creation of a Federal Reserve-type institution for overseeing economic stability and growth run by a council of economists, or the folding of these duties into a revamped Federal Reserve.

Health Care: I support a form of single-payer universal health care as my ideal health care system that provides for basic care, with additional care available for purchase on the open market. I believe that market-based basic health care an intrinsically flawed and immoral system that does not treats people in a loving manner, but rather profits on suffering. At the very least, I support a public option.

Social Justice: One of the most loving actions is to help another in need without regard for the result on yourself. Society too should embrace this concept. We must extend ourselves to help those in need through any means possible. Although government programs are the most effective in this area, the work of charities and religious organizations should be encouraged and embraced.

Social Security: I do not support the privatization of social security. We must protect this social program for the sake of those who need it the most. In order to safeguard the promise that is social security, we must raise or lift entirely the cap of social security contributions on high-income earners. We should also means test benefits, and raise the retirement age no more than 10 years over the next 20.

Taxation: I believe in a system of taxation that places a fair burden on all members of society. The only system of taxation that I know of that I believe is capable of doing so is a progressive income taxation system. I favor other forms in addition to this system, such as progressive corporate taxes, sin taxes, a limited sales tax on high price items, and some others.

Miscellaneous:

• I support reimplementing Glass-Steagal and regulation of derivatives trading.
• I support the banning of payday loans and other predatory lending.

[RI]

Foreign Issues

General Philosophy: We must embrace humility and love on the world stage.

United Nations: The United Nations is a valuable element of global diplomacy that should be embraced and strengthened with the ultimate, far-off goal of a federal world government that recognizes the unity of life and the human race.

War: War, which has been and continues to be the greatest threat to human life and the world itself, should be avoided at almost all costs. The only just war is one in immediate and direct self-defense, or the immediate and direct self-defense of another nation or people. Diplomacy should always be our main weapon. When war is necessary, it is important to continue to respect human rights and dignity for enemy prisoners and combatants to the extent possible.

Weapons of Mass Destruction: To the extent possible, all chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons should be eradicated; however, I acknowledge the necessity of keeping a limited nuclear arsenal for deterrence purposes only. The use of such weapons is never moral.

Miscellaneous:

• I support a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. Both nations have acted incredibly poorly, and neither deserves our active support.
  
• I support heavier regulations on military-defense contractors.

Electoral/Government Issues

Electoral College: I support the abolition of the Electoral College and the institution of a national popular vote system that uses instant-runoff voting.

Government Construction: I believe that more power should be in the hand of the more educated when it comes to the construction of policy rather than in the uneducated masses.  However, when elections are necessary, they should be as widely accessible as possible.

Redistricting: Redistricting should be done entirely by independent commission, and should be done nationally. Such commissions should be made up of uninterested individuals who have never been elected who should be directed to focus on community preservation and electoral competitiveness.

Referenda: I do not support direct democracy, and I believe referenda to be a tool to give uneducated and easily swayed populations the ability to unilaterally decide policy without any regard to expertise and study. As a resident of Washington, I have experienced firsthand the inanity of continuous referenda.

The Senate: The standard for invoking cloture should be dropped from 60 senators to 55.

Term Limits: I strongly oppose all term limits, especially harm limits that potentially remove knowledgeable individuals from positions of policymaking.

Voting: I support instant-runoff voting for all single elected positions. A mixed-member proportional system would be ideal. I support compulsory voting and automatic voter registration for American citizens. I believe that general elections should be federal holidays in order to allow everyone who desires to the opportunity to vote.

[RI]

I've generally about where I've been for the past couple of years, but I've grown more anti-democratic and more technocratic in the past few months. Additionally, I find the notion of federalism and devolved power increasinly quaint and undesirable.