Summary of political beliefs (user search)
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Author Topic: Summary of political beliefs  (Read 557876 times)
BlueSwan
blueswan
Junior Chimp
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Posts: 6,290
Denmark


Political Matrix
E: -4.26, S: -7.30

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« on: October 13, 2018, 12:50:43 PM »
« edited: October 13, 2018, 12:54:43 PM by BlueSwan »

I don't know if I ever answered this thread before, but here we go. I'm going to include some issues that are hotly debated in the US even if they are not in Denmark.

Abortion: I support abortion rights, but with a time limit. In Denmark we have free access to abortions during the first trimester, with some exceptions being made up to 20 weeks. It seems to work well. Crucially, sex education is super important.

Affirmative action: Bill O'Reilly's beloved "White christian straight male power structure" is very real and it needs to be challenged to give minorities and women equal chances. Therefore I tend to support various versions of preferential treatment for minorities and women (or even men in some female dominated areas), with the caveat that these are meant to be icebreakers to change said power structure, not as permanent fixtures.

Immigration: I have nothing whatsoever against immigrants. I'm not afraid of brown people or muslims. Quite the contrary, actually. I have a lot of empathy for those people, because they don't have it easy in Denmark these days. However, I am sick of losing elections over this issue - this issue alone has caused the progressive side to lose 4 of the last 5 parliamentary elections in Denmark (every election since 2001, except the one in 2011). The fact is that many people are deeply concerned about the cultural impact of third-world immigration and we have to take that concern seriously. That's why I am ok with a somewhat strict immigration policy, even if I don't actual like that policy myself. However, I am TOTALLY against all the initiatives that are basically designed to harrass muslims. I think we need to do MUCH more to make immigrants actually feel at home here and as it currently is, I certainly can't blame immigrants for not feeling at home, because the overall sentiment in danish politics and danish media is heavily anti-immigrant and even more heavily anti-muslim. As for the US, I believe that Donald Trump won because of this issue and I think Democrats should take it seriously. If democrats are perceived (however wrongly) as being the party of unlimited immigration, they will lose again.

Crime: I support being massively more lenient in the criminal system. Alternative methods of punishment should be used far more and funds are better spent on prevention and resocialization programs than on keeping people locked up. I am obviously against the death penalty.

Gun control:If you had a well-functioning country basically without guns, would you support allowing for people to buy guns at will?? I think any reasonable person would answer "NO!" to that question, which is why it for Europeans seems nonsensical that Americans cling to their guns the way they do. I realize that getting rid of guns in the US is not going to be easy, but they did it in Australia, so it is not impossible.

LGBTQ-issues: I support equal rights for everyone. Always have, always will.

The environment/climate change: MASSIVE initiatives needs to be taken to battle global warming and it needs to happen now. The Paris treaty was just a baby step. All wealthy nations need to pour massive resources into scientific research and we need strict CO2-quotas for all to follow. Countries that do not follow suit should be heavily sanctioned.

Taxes: I support fairly high levels of taxes and in particular higher taxes on property, resource use and inheritance.

Trade:I support REGULATED free trade, not the libertarian version of free trade. But regulated free trade make us all richer.

Health-care: Access to health care is a human right. I fully support a single-payer universal health care model.

Automation:Automation is GREAT. It makes humanity richer and allows for us to have more interesting, less physically demanding and probably better paying jobs. If you don't agree with this think about whether you'd really like to go back to the early 1800s.

Education: Education should be governmentally funded. In Denmark we get paid to take an education. I realize that this might not be an immediately feasible solution for many countries, but ideally I think it is a great system.

Benefits: I support a strong social security net. Western countries are so rich that nobody should be poor, period. The government needs to provide funds for a decent life for anybody who can't find work or simply cannot work.

Minimum wage: In Denmark we don't have a legal minimum wage, as we have strong enough unions to take care of the issue. The de facto minimum wage is around $17-18. I certainly support a higher minimum wage in the States but don't have any strong feelings as to what exactly the level should be at.

Foreign Policy:
The western world needs the US to return to the Obama years of being a general force for good in the world. We cannot take peace for granted. The peaceful times we have had in the west since WW2 has happened for a reason. Without a strong US it is far from certain that it would have been as peaceful. But for the US to remain strong, they need to stop fighting unwinnable wars. The wars in the middle east were a mistake and should not be repeated.

Voter reform/election reform: Automated national registration at 18 years of age. Voting rights are RIGHTS, you should not be able to lose those under any circumstances, which means that felons should also be able to vote. Gerrymandering should be outlawed - all congressional districts should be drawn by nonpartisan boards. Ideally a proportional voting system should be adopted, but that is probably unrealistic. I support the national popular vote initiative, since I don't believe the electoral college will be abolished. Another unrealistic idea is that ideally I'd like to see the senate abolished as it gives way to much power to microstates, which do not even form a sociocultural unit in any meaningful fashion other than geographical proximity (much more important if you are urban or rural, black or white, rich or poor, well educated or not, or male or female than if you live in Iowa or Minnesota).

Drugs/prostitution: I generally don't believe in criminalizing behaviour that only hurts the actual people involved in the acts. Furthermore, I don't think criminazation accomplishes anything. So I support the legalization of prostitution and drugs. Both should be combated but in different ways than through the legal system.

The budget: It is generally nonsense to regard it is important to "balance the budget". A public budget does not need to balance, but it IS wise to avoid debt levels getting out of control. The US running trillion dollar deficits during a boom is most definitely NOT responsible fiscal policy. If the US should ever run a surplus it should be right now while the economy is booming and unemployment is very low. During a boom is the BEST time to raise taxes, so the US should get on with that immediately (as if that's going to happen....).
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