Are you a conserative,liberal, moderate, etc and why
I tend to be conservative while holding some liberal viewpoints especially when it comes to animal rights (I'm not part of PETA btw).
My reason being for one, I grew up in a upper working class home. My grandfather taught me about hard work and giving it all you got. The world don't owe you a damn thing. Which is why I'm part of the Columbus O-HI-O Tea Party.
I feel that hard work should be earned and not given to you.
On a few issues like gay marriage, I'm a bit neutrael on that.
I tend to think of myself as relatively moderate with mostly liberal leanings on social policies, a few conservative ones on fiscal policies, and somewhat left-libertarian/minarchist hopes for the future
_________________
Opportunities multiply as they are seized. -Sun Tzu
Nature creates few men brave, industry and training makes many -Machiavelli
You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do
JeremyNJ1984
Velociraptor
Joined: 9 Oct 2010
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Posts: 496
Location: Central New Jersey
I am a classic Canadian "blue Liberal" (note the capital L). I am solid left on social policy, and centrist on fiscal policy.
On social policy, I believe that the government has no place in the bedrooms of the nation. I believe that people are best positioned to resolve their disputes between themselves according to whatever means seem acceptable to them. I believe that society functions best when every person is assured access to the necessaries of life (food, clothing, shelter, education and health care), and government takes an active role in promoting employment.
On fiscal policy, I believe that a progressive tax system provides for a reasonable redistribution of resources from those who can afford to contribute to those who cannot. I believe that government is better positioned to give effect to this redistribution than private charity because of government's ability to spread the cost over a wider base, and ensure universality of distribution.
I believe that there are things that it is government's responsibility to ensure exist because they benefit us all, but it is in no one's direct commercial interest to do so, such as:
1) Defence and public safety
2) Public law and administration of justice
3) Infrastructure for transportation and communication
4) Infrastructure for commerce and trade (i.e. currency)
5) Primary and Secondary education free at the point of delivery, and post secondary education with minimal barriers to participation outside of academic merit
6) Access to medically necessary health care
Now that's not to say that government needs to be the service provider. Private contractors build roads and airports, private banks can be authorized to issue currency. Private practitioners and businesses can provide health care. But government must ensure that every citizen has access to these services either free or at a price point that does not represent a barrier to participation.
In good times, it is government's best practice to stay out of a functioning marketplace, except to the extent that government is a consumer or supplier like any other. Monetary policy should be used proactively to protect the market from excessive swings and volleys, but otherwise, hands off.
However, in recessions I believe that government can and should intervene in the market place to remediate a drop in aggregate demand. More jobs and more productivity are preserved through government procurement during downturns than through market correction.
I grew up in an upper middle-class environment. My primary and secondary education was at an independent school and I went directly into university. I am now a professional, living in the suburbs of a major Canadian city, in an upper middle class family with two incomes and no children. My partner and I have a household income that likely puts us at or near the top 10% of Canadian households, with a marginally higher tax burden because we have no tax credits for children. I pay more than my neighbours for fewer services from government, and I am quite prepared to accept that.
_________________
--James
I am somewhat like that, too. Labels are useless.
ruveyn
On the economical side of things I am in favour of flat taxes, free market, strict anti-trust laws, low minimum wage, and generally keeping Government intervention to a minimum.
On the social side of things I am interventionist to an extent, against the death penalty, in favour of legalizing marijuana and ecstasy, pro-life, anti-gun control, anti-sin taxes, in favour of gay marriage, in favour of a strong national defense, and a safety net kept under tight scrutiny. I do not want it being used as a crutch or a hammock. The Government can only stream line it so much (very little), so no matter how hard you tried it will be even slower and less efficient for those who really need it. So it is best to weed out those who want it and provide it to those who need it. Even for those who need it, there is a potential for abuse and disincentives so it must be proven that you are actively doing something about you situation. For example, unemployment benefits should require you to provide proof that you are actively seeking employment by showing resumes and providing references to the places you applied to.
The values that are fundamental to my political stance are:
-Personal responsibility
-Individual sovereignty
-Autonomy
-Initiative
-Self-reliance
-Intrinsic motivation (Do you exercise to impress chicks by losing weight before summer or do you exercise to strengthen character and health?)
-Cooperation over coercion
-There ain't no such thing as a free lunch
-A person's right to swing a fist ends where another person's nose begins
-The role of security is to secure freedom rather than to secure insecurity
So basically I am in favour of granting great power to the individual as well as great responsibility.
Anywhere from moderate to extreme right.
Socially:
Minimal government involvement in society and each level of government has its roles and limitations. Government programs and services will be administered and funded at the lowest level practical that can effectively execute those services.
Fiscally:
Responsible spending and taxing. Taxing will either be flat rate income tax or sales tax. A country the size of the United States obviously some kind of social aid programs but those programs must not be a free lifetime ride by any means. Government will not be a source of happiness.
International Relations:
America first! Any alliances made with foreign nations should be beneficial or potentially beneficial to the United States in terms of trade and military alliances.
A strong military and the will to unleash it to defend US soil or that of our allies.
Minimal military presence abroad except when that presence directly benefits the US or its friends.
Trade should be done based on a nation’s business standards and their relations toward the US and its friends.
Foreign aid (including humanitarian) should only be given to nations friendly to the US and its allies.
No interference in a sovereign nation’s internal affairs including civil unrest, civil war, and human rights issues,
I could go on and into more detail but this is the gist of it.
I am somewhat like that, too. Labels are useless.
ruveyn
your intentions are fine and your definitions a tad ambiguous. You know what you mean, but your terminology does not convey the nuances. And that is just as true of the terminology of everyone else. The only discourse where ambiguity is at minimum is scientific and mathematical discourse. After that careful legal discourse. But the kind of terminology used in vigorous political debate and interaction is far too loose.
ruveyn
"I would put you [Master_Pedant] on the left fringe of Wrong Planet..." - Dox47
By the standards of Western Europe I would be centre-left, by Canada leftwing, and my America "far-left". A bit less arbitrary, I consider myself an Olof Palme style social democrat. I'd probably be left of Ted Kennedy but well to the right of democratic socialists, libertarian socialists, communists, and classical anarchists.
I came to adopt my worldview largely due to my childhood. I was raised by a single-father who was a card-carrying member of the NDP, he was a working poor aboriginal man employed by a factory. After the factory in question violated labour law, he successfully organized a union drive and managed, eventually, to go to school and move up the social ladder. I do recall the state of affairs that poverty entails, which has had a significant impact on my political thinking. I was also never raised particularly religious, so that's bound to have made the potential for social conservatism less.
I certainly don't think the game is completely fair to those with less chips at the start and those of different racial backgrounds.
Economic Policy
- Maintain a countercyclical fiscal policy - deficit spending in times of bust and generating surpluses in times of boom.
- Institute an international financial transactions tax
- Institute an international carbon tax and use some of the revenue to give back tax credits and rebates to the bottom 90% of income earners
-Maintain a system of progressive income taxation.
- Aim for an unemployment rate nearer to 4%, accept more inflation than traditional NAIRU advocates would like.
- Institute Pigovian taxes on tobacco and unhealthy foods, using the revenue to subsidize healthier choices
- Institute a "Green Industrial Policy" aimed at building up a green manufacturing sector in Canada and the United States, with various tax incenitives.
- Use taxes and royalties gained from natural resources, especially petrol fuels, to fund the Green Industrial Policy (to avoid the resource curse or Dutch Disease).
- Re-establish Petro-Canada.
Social Policy
- Give every man, woman, and child a $14,000 partial basic income and anyone with serious, significant disabilities a $25,000 basic income. This would replace all existing welfare systems. For the psychologically ill, some support workers may be neccessary to check up on people.
- Legalize Cannabis and replace prison sentences with detoxificiation centres as the legal recourse for doing illicit drugs.
- Legalize same-sex marriage if not already legal in the country this platform is being implemented in. Likewise with divorce and adoption.
- Implement the Kelowna Accord.
-Base the Assembly of First Nations inside the Parliament buildings of Canada and have it replace the Department of Northern and Indian Affairs.
- Oppose bullying in schools and be somewhat more lenient on studenets who "fought back" (try to be proportional in punishment for trangressing playground rules).
- Maintain a multicultural society.
- Allow for free migration into and out of a country, with the exception of criminals.
- Maintain a preventive and rehabilitative set of programs
The Judicial System and Civil liberties
- Oversee all muncipial, provincial, and RCMP cops with independent pannels established to look into alleged abuses.
- DO NOT pay crown prosecutors on the basis of conviction rates.
- Ensure that all defense attorneys are public attorneys.
- Soften up hate speech laws so as to only apply to very public places like high schools, allow hateful organizations (Fascist or Stalinist) to meet, organize and demonstrate on private property or on the internet. Don't censor the actions, but *censure* the actions and sponsor responses.
- Respond to terrorism with ordinary law enforcement, not martial law and extra-judicial torture.
Labour Policy
-Require shop-floor works councils in any firm with more than 15 employees
- Require that half the board of directors in any corporation be elected by the corporation's rank and file workers.
- If a given firm has sufficient monopsony power to drive down wages, institute minimum wage laws.
- If in America, repeal Taft-Hartley.
Education
- Have the Provinces and muncipialities pay for elementary, junior high, and high schools with property taxes or sales taxes
- Incorporate elements of the Montessori method into elementary, junior high, and high schools. Don't hyper-focus on teaching for the test.
- With revenues from a financial transaction tax, subsidize education up to five years of post-secondary school for every citizen
Governance and Constitution
- Elect members to the House of Commons on the basis of a Single Transferable Vote system, abolish the Senate
- Remove "the supremacy of God" from the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
- Make Canada a Commonwealth Republic where the Governor General is elected
International Relations
- Orient Canada's Armed Forces back to their role as mainly a peace-keeping force
- Replace the General Assembly with a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (elected)
- Strengthen the International Labour Organization
- Ammend WTO rules to allow for more infant industry protectionism, especially for underdeveloped countries
- Enact a multicultural, secular, one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (basically, merge the "Occupied Territories" into Israel and give their inhabitants equal rights as citizens of the new state as Israelis have).
Other
-Subsidize low-income housing
- If landlords have been shown to abuse the power a monopolistically competitive market gives them, enact second generation rent controls.
Nowadays I'd nuance that statement a bit by specifying what issues I thought you were far left on, as I've since come to reject general political labels as too vague and not terribly useful. I personally object to being (mis)labeled, so I'm making an effort not to pigeonhole other people myself.
_________________
Your boos mean nothing, I've seen what makes you cheer.
- Rick Sanchez
I have mostly liberal views though, with the exception of drugs at least, which I hate.
I hate politics too, it's an oppressive thieving nuisance. I have anarcho-capitalist/libertarian/minarchist leanings, but I simply havn't read enough to have an informed view on politics.
_________________
The scientist only imposes two things, namely truth and sincerity, imposes them upon himself and upon other scientists - Erwin Schrodinger
Member of the WP Strident Atheists
By the standards of Western Europe I would be centre-left, by Canada leftwing, and my America "far-left". A bit less arbitrary, I consider myself an Olof Palme style social democrat. I'd probably be left of Ted Kennedy but well to the right of democratic socialists, libertarian socialists, communists, and classical anarchists.
I came to adopt my worldview largely due to my childhood. I was raised by a single-father who was a card-carrying member of the NDP, he was a working poor aboriginal man employed by a factory. After the factory in question violated labour law, he successfully organized a union drive and managed, eventually, to go to school and move up the social ladder. I do recall the state of affairs that poverty entails, which has had a significant impact on my political thinking. I was also never raised particularly religious, so that's bound to have made the potential for social conservatism less.
I certainly don't think the game is completely fair to those with less chips at the start and those of different racial backgrounds.
Economic Policy
- Maintain a countercyclical fiscal policy - deficit spending in times of bust and generating surpluses in times of boom.
- Institute an international financial transactions tax
- Institute an international carbon tax and use some of the revenue to give back tax credits and rebates to the bottom 90% of income earners
-Maintain a system of progressive income taxation.
- Aim for an unemployment rate nearer to 4%, accept more inflation than traditional NAIRU advocates would like.
- Institute Pigovian taxes on tobacco and unhealthy foods, using the revenue to subsidize healthier choices
- Institute a "Green Industrial Policy" aimed at building up a green manufacturing sector in Canada and the United States, with various tax incenitives.
- Use taxes and royalties gained from natural resources, especially petrol fuels, to fund the Green Industrial Policy (to avoid the resource curse or Dutch Disease).
- Re-establish Petro-Canada.
Social Policy
- Give every man, woman, and child a $14,000 partial basic income and anyone with serious, significant disabilities a $25,000 basic income. This would replace all existing welfare systems. For the psychologically ill, some support workers may be neccessary to check up on people.
- Legalize Cannabis and replace prison sentences with detoxificiation centres as the legal recourse for doing illicit drugs.
- Legalize same-sex marriage if not already legal in the country this platform is being implemented in. Likewise with divorce and adoption.
- Implement the Kelowna Accord.
-Base the Assembly of First Nations inside the Parliament buildings of Canada and have it replace the Department of Northern and Indian Affairs.
- Oppose bullying in schools and be somewhat more lenient on studenets who "fought back" (try to be proportional in punishment for trangressing playground rules).
- Maintain a multicultural society.
- Allow for free migration into and out of a country, with the exception of criminals.
- Maintain a preventive and rehabilitative set of programs
The Judicial System and Civil liberties
- Oversee all muncipial, provincial, and RCMP cops with independent pannels established to look into alleged abuses.
- DO NOT pay crown prosecutors on the basis of conviction rates.
- Ensure that all defense attorneys are public attorneys.
- Soften up hate speech laws so as to only apply to very public places like high schools, allow hateful organizations (Fascist or Stalinist) to meet, organize and demonstrate on private property or on the internet. Don't censor the actions, but *censure* the actions and sponsor responses.
- Respond to terrorism with ordinary law enforcement, not martial law and extra-judicial torture.
Labour Policy
-Require shop-floor works councils in any firm with more than 15 employees
- Require that half the board of directors in any corporation be elected by the corporation's rank and file workers.
- If a given firm has sufficient monopsony power to drive down wages, institute minimum wage laws.
- If in America, repeal Taft-Hartley.
Education
- Have the Provinces and muncipialities pay for elementary, junior high, and high schools with property taxes or sales taxes
- Incorporate elements of the Montessori method into elementary, junior high, and high schools. Don't hyper-focus on teaching for the test.
- With revenues from a financial transaction tax, subsidize education up to five years of post-secondary school for every citizen
Governance and Constitution
- Elect members to the House of Commons on the basis of a Single Transferable Vote system, abolish the Senate
- Remove "the supremacy of God" from the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
- Make Canada a Commonwealth Republic where the Governor General is elected
International Relations
- Orient Canada's Armed Forces back to their role as mainly a peace-keeping force
- Replace the General Assembly with a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (elected)
- Strengthen the International Labour Organization
- Ammend WTO rules to allow for more infant industry protectionism, especially for underdeveloped countries
- Enact a multicultural, secular, one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (basically, merge the "Occupied Territories" into Israel and give their inhabitants equal rights as citizens of the new state as Israelis have).
Other
-Subsidize low-income housing
- If landlords have been shown to abuse the power a monopolistically competitive market gives them, enact second generation rent controls.
Of course the game is rigged. Any system that refuses to acknowledge this despite all evidence (social mobility statistics) pointing towards the contrary, fails to earn my respect.
I'm a Democratic Socialist with a left-libertarian bent. I think power should be decentralized to the lowest level possible ,both in terms of economic democracy and in terms of the nation state. I am also a pragmatist and i think the Scandinavian model would be a big improvement on other western systems and that the facts are that it evidentially creates the best living standards on planet earth.
