vash1012
DP Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2012
- Messages
- 1,558
- Reaction score
- 537
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Other
Goal of the post:
Explain briefly your political viewpoints without insulting anyone, be they a politician, public figure, fictional being or belief system (aside from stating a disbelief in the existence of said being), or another commenter on this thread. If you want to debate someone else's point of view, do so without insulting them, but preferably just stick to describing your beliefs.
My beliefs:
I believe strongly in personal freedom and I think that personal freedom should be able to be exercised without unreasonable interference from government or pressures of social order until the choices one makes start to encroach on the freedom of other member's in the society. I visualize these freedoms sort of like a ven diagram. Once your little freedom bubble starts overlapping with someone else, there is potential for need for intervention from the social order or government. In this manner, I can simultaneously agree with many libertarian principals and liberal/progressive/social democrat principals.
I am an atheist and strongly against any idea of using legal power to enforce religious values or traditions. I think societal cohesion can be acheived MORE easily with an emphasis on openness and acceptance of alternative lifestyles and view points rather than by trying to encourage everyone tow the line of tradition. I strongly believe that acknowledging reality as described by interpretation of rigourously reviewed scientific data is the best path to progressing as a species.
I generally agree with a pragmatic utilitarian approach to governance rather than an ideological one. I see strict ideologicies as fundamentally no different than religions. Even the most basic human rights should have some limits if they are interferring with a pragmatically necessary social good.
Economically, I agree that vast economic inequality is crippling to a society. I do not agree that GDP growth is the best measure of economic viability. Income inequality and median wages need to also be considered. I am vehemently opposed to "trickle down" economic and tax policies for income taxes, though I do support having lower business and corporation taxes that are better correlated to their use of public services. I think there is no reason economically we need to have the giant underclass we have. Minimum wage should be increased. I favor economic policies that redistribute wealth and encourage less inequality. I do not belive the free market can solve any problem. In fact, I think the free market is especially poor at providing for basic societal needs. I advocate for removing the link between employers and benefits like healthcare and access to retirement plans to lessen the impact of recession on access to these benefits. I think a public plan that is essentially catastrophic care and mandatory minimum level of preventative care combined with private insurance is the best option for a strong, easily accessible healthcare system.
For these reasons, I generally vote either libertarian or democrat.
Explain briefly your political viewpoints without insulting anyone, be they a politician, public figure, fictional being or belief system (aside from stating a disbelief in the existence of said being), or another commenter on this thread. If you want to debate someone else's point of view, do so without insulting them, but preferably just stick to describing your beliefs.
My beliefs:
I believe strongly in personal freedom and I think that personal freedom should be able to be exercised without unreasonable interference from government or pressures of social order until the choices one makes start to encroach on the freedom of other member's in the society. I visualize these freedoms sort of like a ven diagram. Once your little freedom bubble starts overlapping with someone else, there is potential for need for intervention from the social order or government. In this manner, I can simultaneously agree with many libertarian principals and liberal/progressive/social democrat principals.
I am an atheist and strongly against any idea of using legal power to enforce religious values or traditions. I think societal cohesion can be acheived MORE easily with an emphasis on openness and acceptance of alternative lifestyles and view points rather than by trying to encourage everyone tow the line of tradition. I strongly believe that acknowledging reality as described by interpretation of rigourously reviewed scientific data is the best path to progressing as a species.
I generally agree with a pragmatic utilitarian approach to governance rather than an ideological one. I see strict ideologicies as fundamentally no different than religions. Even the most basic human rights should have some limits if they are interferring with a pragmatically necessary social good.
Economically, I agree that vast economic inequality is crippling to a society. I do not agree that GDP growth is the best measure of economic viability. Income inequality and median wages need to also be considered. I am vehemently opposed to "trickle down" economic and tax policies for income taxes, though I do support having lower business and corporation taxes that are better correlated to their use of public services. I think there is no reason economically we need to have the giant underclass we have. Minimum wage should be increased. I favor economic policies that redistribute wealth and encourage less inequality. I do not belive the free market can solve any problem. In fact, I think the free market is especially poor at providing for basic societal needs. I advocate for removing the link between employers and benefits like healthcare and access to retirement plans to lessen the impact of recession on access to these benefits. I think a public plan that is essentially catastrophic care and mandatory minimum level of preventative care combined with private insurance is the best option for a strong, easily accessible healthcare system.
For these reasons, I generally vote either libertarian or democrat.
