Wisconsin+17
Ben Kenobi
Junior Chimp
Posts: 6,134
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« on: April 21, 2011, 04:21:42 PM » |
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Realistic/Idealist:
Agree with your social positions 100 percent. Do not agree with much of your economic beliefs.
Overall Philosophy:
Austrian economics + Catholic social teachings.
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.
Disagree I believe that the state should not require education and that education is the responsibility of the family. You can't teach unwilling pupils, education must be a voluntary endeavour.
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.
Disagree
Non-mobile electrical generation should be done through nuclear. Mobile power generation (cars, etc), should be done through gasoline. Use what works best and try to mitigate the side effects.
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.
Disagree
I'm an Austrian. Let the people make market decisions and the state will profit through the efficient allocation of capital.
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.
Disagree
I support a fully privatized system where private health charities provide for the indigent, and the people purchase the full cost of their care. For 30 percent of your paycheck, don't you think you could buy quite a bit of health care?
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.
Disagree
Government organizations are the most inefficient means to distribute charity. Admin overhead eats up most of the dollars.
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.
Disagree
The choice is enslaving the young or getting rid of social security altogether.
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.
Disagree
I want to see fair/flat taxes across the board, and the elimination of income taxes altogether.
Foreign Issues
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.
Disagree
We have a world body that does just this, the Vatican. Gravely disagree with a one world government. The government that governs least governs best.
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.
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