You on the Chad Centrist political compass

[Antonio the Sixth]

This is actually an interesting concept. Let me try.

A: Schools should actively indoctrinate children into the nation's civic values, and parents should have no say in the matter
B: Prostitution (including live-acted porn) should be eradicated
C: Er, I'm okay reducing corporate taxes? Of course they'd be offset in other ways (gotta balance the budget!)
D: Zoning laws and other restrictions on building types should be loosened significantly
E: Prison times for most crimes should be seriously reduced, and the death penalty and life without parole should be abolished
F: 3 years of combined maternity/paternity leave (to be split between the parents, but no less than 67-33), publicly funded
G: So many to choose from... Let's go with a 100% marginal tax rate on both income AND wealth
H: Nationalize the entire pharmaceutical industry

Had to reach for some of those, while others were an embarrassment of riches, but you know that given my politics.

[Antonio the Sixth]

This is actually an interesting concept. Let me try.

A: Schools should actively indoctrinate children into the nation's civic values, and parents should have no say in the matter
B: Prostitution (including live-acted porn) should be eradicated
C: Er, I'm okay reducing corporate taxes? Of course they'd be offset in other ways (gotta balance the budget!)
D: Zoning laws and other restrictions on building types should be loosened significantly
E: Prison times for most crimes should be seriously reduced, and the death penalty and life without parole should be abolished
F: 3 years of combined maternity/paternity leave (to be split between the parents, but no less than 67-33), publicly funded
G: So many to choose from... Let's go with a 100% marginal tax rate on both income AND wealth
H: Nationalize the entire pharmaceutical industry

Had to reach for some of those, while others were an embarrassment of riches, but you know that given my politics.

What would be the point of this though? Surely employers would simply stop paying any employees above the cut-off for the 100% marginal rate (seeing as they’d in effect be voluntarily paying directly to the government if they did otherwise), actually leading to reduced revenue for the state?

The point would be that people no longer get paid those amounts (which obviously would be absurdly high - I'm not talking about capping everyone at 400K or something). There are other purposes to taxes beyond generating revenue.

[Antonio the Sixth]

B. Not all adults should have the vote. (when you retire from work, you should have your right to vote retired too.)

So someone’s worthiness in society only depends on whether or not they have a job?

I'm hoping Andrew will elaborate on this too. I've run into this position before, usually advocated for in extremely crass terms (either what you're saying or "old people are a structurally conservative group of voters and people who disagree with me shouldn't vote"), but I trust him to have an at least somewhat sounder rationale for it.

It's less that older voters are conservative (and certainly not economically conservative); in some nations (UK) they have become frightfully monolithic to the point at which genuine ebbs and flows of public opinion in voters of working age in response to policy/economic shifts don't impact on the electoral outcome. And they don't impact because older voters are often protected from the effect on the basis of benefits or sizable under taxed assets.

It's a flippant response (because I don't think I actually hold views in that quadrant!) but I do think something has to be done in terms of the structure of decision making and voting. Particularly on constitutional matters. I am generally in favour of more policy referenda that could be restricted to different demographic groups that it effects. And that would include restricting younger voters in some matters too.

Honestly, this seems like first and foremost the product of a breakdown in intergenerational communication across society. Which is a serious problem in all areas of life, and I agree we need policies to counteract it.

Responding to social problems by disenfranchising people is utterly morally unconscionable, however. Everyone deserves a say in the course of their own society, even if you don't like their opinion on the matter. Even if you have objectively correct reasons to think their opinion is wrongheaded. If you don't like how people vote, you change society so that they vote better - same with people who have issues with "low-education" voters, the only legitimate solution to that is to improve education.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Again, it's not an enforceable viewpoint; it's not something I'm personally committed in any way to because it's extremely difficult to manage and it doesn't haunt me as a concern. It's a hypothetical placeholder for that part of the quadrant. But it's in the same 'space' if you will as putting minority rights to a public ballot. It's great Ireland and Australia voted for Equal Marriage...but also jarring it was in the hands of straights to vote it into law. Or vote it down.

I understand that frustration, and I do think broad protections for minority groups ought to be enshrined in a democracy's constitution such that they're harder to repeal than regular legislation (which, tbf, is the case now in Ireland thanks to the referendum). That said, I do believe that the democratic principle must necessarily come before minority rights. That's because plenty of people disagree on what minorities need/deserve special protections (if you listen to the MAGA crowd, they'd love to enact special protections for White Christians!), and the only morally acceptable way to sort out these disagreements is democratically. Of course, there are inherent limits to that - you shouldn't be allowed democratically vote to disenfranchise minorities because then you wouldn't have a democracy anymore - but beyond that I think the point stands. I realize it's easier for me to say given my demographics, but I really believe this is the only way to fairly run a polity.

Given this is Atlas, I expected more pushback on the throuples pitch

You guys really overestimate Atlas prudeness smh

[Antonio the Sixth]

B - Hierarchies are a part of human nature

Shouldn’t we combat our animalistic instincts and enlighten ourselves?

Yeah, that's the thing about human nature - it's often very bad and we need to actively work to correct it.

[Antonio the Sixth]

B - Hierarchies are a part of human nature

Shouldn’t we combat our animalistic instincts and enlighten ourselves?

Yeah, that's the thing about human nature - it's often very bad and we need to actively work to correct it.

Short of genetic engineering or hypnotism, I struggle to see how that's possible. This is why I much prefer systems that don't try to alter our instincts, but instead channel them towards positive uses.

I mean, sure, channeling is part of it, if you count stuff like how we have sports competitions now instead of permanent tribal warfare. But it's also silly to pretend that civilization isn't also grounded in the sheer repression of many of our "natural" instincts as well.