Arctic Daishi
Warlord
Please read my entire post before voting in the poll, thank you!
I've had the privilege of growing up with parents who come from very different backgrounds, and having lived in very different areas. My father and his side of my family come from the suburbs and are more of a white-collar, upper middle-class family. My mother and her side of my family come from a very rural area, are small business owners and put a lot of stock in their Christian faith.
I spent the first eight years of my life living in the suburbs, but my parents worked (my father worked three jobs at once at one point) almost all of the time and went to college, so I spent much of my childhood staying with my grandparents on both sides of my family. It wasn't until the turn of the century until the hard work of my parents had paid off, and we moved to rural Missouri, which is where we have resided since I was about 8 years old. For reference, I am nearly 21 years old now and am about to start my third semester of college.
Having grown up experiencing these two different worlds has shaped who I am, and in-turn, my political beliefs. Though I only became interested in politics and philosophy about three or four years ago, my views have changed greatly since then. I started out as a staunch libertarian, then I became more of a mainstream fiscal conservative and now I'm more of a moderate. Therein lies the problem and is the reason I am posing this question to you. We have become such a hyper-polarized society, that there are no more moderates. More and more you have to tow the party-line, or else you'll be seen as a traitor. Even among the political class, people don't seem to recognize that you can disagree with someone on A and B, but still agree with them on C and D; wherein each letter represents a political question.
Today I suppose the best way to describe my political views would be through terms which are no longer commonly used, such as classical liberal, anti-federalist or Jeffersonian democrat. My political role models, excluding my uncle, are Daniel Hannan, Gary Johnson, Ho Chi Minh, John Locke, Nigel Farage, Robert A. Heinlein, Ron Paul and Thomas Jefferson. I hold views from all over the political spectrum and as thus, don't really care for any political party.
I have always viewed civil liberties, including the right to bear arms, as being of the utmost importance in politics. I have never been a social conservative, and as thus, am supportive of lgbt rights and am pro-choice. I also believe that our government, especially the federal government, has become far too corrupt, overbearing and large. Yet, I support some welfare programs for those who truly need it, and have even been toying with the idea of a state-level single-payer or public option healthcare system. However, I am definitely opposed to creating a welfare state. I believe welfare should only go to those who actually need it and are willing to work, and that it should be a temporary step to help people until they can help themselves.
I honestly don't know enough about economics to hold any strong views one way or the other. With that being said, I'd love to learn more about economics and intend to venture more into that field in the future. I do believe the government does have a role in the economy, however, and believe that banks should be heavily regulated. I am also supportive of regulations that actually help workers and protect their rights, but I do believe many regulations are either overbearing or unenforceable. I do support helping local farmers and small business owners, even if that means some government intervention in the economy.
I am also a populist and a reformer. I support major reforms to our political system (at the state level), such as replacing our first-past-the-post system with a instant-runoff voting system. I also support campaign finance reform and implementing a system of publicly financed campaigns. Borrowing from the works of Heinlein, I place a heavy emphasis on not only the rights of the citizens, but also on their civic duties and responsibilities. I am very supportive of conscription, though I recognize that such a system would be costly and difficult to manage (at least at the federal level). I believe one of the major failings of our society is the lack of emphasis placed on the responsibilities of the individual to the state and society as a whole.
On the federal level I support a very constitutional government. I believe that almost everything should be handled by the states, as stated in the Tenth Amendment. The powers granted to the federal government are outlined in the Constitution and should be limited to said powers. Every federal agency should be required to report to Congress after a set time, say every three years, and report on what they have accomplished (if anything). This information will be used to determine if the agency should be eliminated, receive more funding, receive less funding, etc. This not only punishes wasteful and useless agencies, but it gives worthwhile agencies a chance to shine. I support massive federal funding for space exploration and space colonization.
As for foreign policy, I believe in a largely non-interventionist foreign policy, coupled with Thomas Jefferson's idea of creating an empire of liberty. I believe that the best way to ensure perpetual liberty on Earth is to spread Terran ideas and enlarge the United States. By way of enlarging the United States, I believe the United States should become a global world government, a United States of Earth, if you will. Any state with a republican government that respects the Constitution will be welcome become a state. These countries will be able to keep their own government, culture, language and even military. A few countries, such as the United Kingdom, will have to adopt republican governments and make serious improvements in terms of civil liberties (free speech, right to bear arms, etc.), but many others already meet the requirements for statehood (such as Albania, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Finland, Georgia, Guyana, Iceland, Israel, Singapore, South Korea, etc.).
Of course, we wouldn't force any country to join the United States, and these countries would join willingly. In order to convince these peoples to join the United States, we would have to builder better bilateral relations with them. We can do this through mutual defense and trade agreements, as well as through foreign aid and through promoting Terran ideals. Most of the world's history, post-1776, is characterized by the United States being viewed as the bastion of freedom and civilization. All over the world people held nothing but positive sentiments towards the United States. Even communists, such as Vladimir Lenin and Ho Chi Minh, held a great deal of respect for the United States and it's ideals. This image has become slightly tainted over the past few years due to both an imperialistic foreign policy and due to our failure to cultivate Western Europe; resulting in Western European children being ungrateful and disrespectful towards the United States and it's ideals. Despite these recent shortcomings, I don't believe it is too late to reverse course and make the world love us again.
I am currently faced with a difficult choice, the choice of choosing a political party. While most people may not give this much thought, I do intend to run for public office someday. At the moment I am contemplating running for my state's legislature, though I do have federal ambitions. My views at the state level are more in-line with the Democratic Party, but my views on federal issues are more in line with the constitutionalist wing of the Republican Party.
I am too conservative for the Democratic Party and too left-wing for the Republican Party. I have considered joining the Democratic Party, though I live in a very rural and conservative district, one in which the word "Democrat" will send my constituents running towards the hills. In addition, I don't get along very well with most Democrats, especially those who hate civil liberties and/or want to create an ever-expanding welfare state. I have also considered joining the Republican Party and I have no doubt that I could easily be elected at the state level as a Republican. However, I am concerned that my views are too left-wing for the Republican Party and would effectively kill my federal aspirations. In addition, I am concerned about the future of the Republican Party, due to both internal problems (the social conservative wing needs to die) and the fact that the liberal media has done nothing but intentionally misportray all Republicans as "racist, sexist, homophobic, slave-owning neo-Nazis." Perhaps most important of all, however, is the fact that I'm not sure which party I would best belong in. Which party do you think best suits my views?
I've had the privilege of growing up with parents who come from very different backgrounds, and having lived in very different areas. My father and his side of my family come from the suburbs and are more of a white-collar, upper middle-class family. My mother and her side of my family come from a very rural area, are small business owners and put a lot of stock in their Christian faith.
I spent the first eight years of my life living in the suburbs, but my parents worked (my father worked three jobs at once at one point) almost all of the time and went to college, so I spent much of my childhood staying with my grandparents on both sides of my family. It wasn't until the turn of the century until the hard work of my parents had paid off, and we moved to rural Missouri, which is where we have resided since I was about 8 years old. For reference, I am nearly 21 years old now and am about to start my third semester of college.
Having grown up experiencing these two different worlds has shaped who I am, and in-turn, my political beliefs. Though I only became interested in politics and philosophy about three or four years ago, my views have changed greatly since then. I started out as a staunch libertarian, then I became more of a mainstream fiscal conservative and now I'm more of a moderate. Therein lies the problem and is the reason I am posing this question to you. We have become such a hyper-polarized society, that there are no more moderates. More and more you have to tow the party-line, or else you'll be seen as a traitor. Even among the political class, people don't seem to recognize that you can disagree with someone on A and B, but still agree with them on C and D; wherein each letter represents a political question.
Today I suppose the best way to describe my political views would be through terms which are no longer commonly used, such as classical liberal, anti-federalist or Jeffersonian democrat. My political role models, excluding my uncle, are Daniel Hannan, Gary Johnson, Ho Chi Minh, John Locke, Nigel Farage, Robert A. Heinlein, Ron Paul and Thomas Jefferson. I hold views from all over the political spectrum and as thus, don't really care for any political party.
I have always viewed civil liberties, including the right to bear arms, as being of the utmost importance in politics. I have never been a social conservative, and as thus, am supportive of lgbt rights and am pro-choice. I also believe that our government, especially the federal government, has become far too corrupt, overbearing and large. Yet, I support some welfare programs for those who truly need it, and have even been toying with the idea of a state-level single-payer or public option healthcare system. However, I am definitely opposed to creating a welfare state. I believe welfare should only go to those who actually need it and are willing to work, and that it should be a temporary step to help people until they can help themselves.
I honestly don't know enough about economics to hold any strong views one way or the other. With that being said, I'd love to learn more about economics and intend to venture more into that field in the future. I do believe the government does have a role in the economy, however, and believe that banks should be heavily regulated. I am also supportive of regulations that actually help workers and protect their rights, but I do believe many regulations are either overbearing or unenforceable. I do support helping local farmers and small business owners, even if that means some government intervention in the economy.
I am also a populist and a reformer. I support major reforms to our political system (at the state level), such as replacing our first-past-the-post system with a instant-runoff voting system. I also support campaign finance reform and implementing a system of publicly financed campaigns. Borrowing from the works of Heinlein, I place a heavy emphasis on not only the rights of the citizens, but also on their civic duties and responsibilities. I am very supportive of conscription, though I recognize that such a system would be costly and difficult to manage (at least at the federal level). I believe one of the major failings of our society is the lack of emphasis placed on the responsibilities of the individual to the state and society as a whole.
On the federal level I support a very constitutional government. I believe that almost everything should be handled by the states, as stated in the Tenth Amendment. The powers granted to the federal government are outlined in the Constitution and should be limited to said powers. Every federal agency should be required to report to Congress after a set time, say every three years, and report on what they have accomplished (if anything). This information will be used to determine if the agency should be eliminated, receive more funding, receive less funding, etc. This not only punishes wasteful and useless agencies, but it gives worthwhile agencies a chance to shine. I support massive federal funding for space exploration and space colonization.
As for foreign policy, I believe in a largely non-interventionist foreign policy, coupled with Thomas Jefferson's idea of creating an empire of liberty. I believe that the best way to ensure perpetual liberty on Earth is to spread Terran ideas and enlarge the United States. By way of enlarging the United States, I believe the United States should become a global world government, a United States of Earth, if you will. Any state with a republican government that respects the Constitution will be welcome become a state. These countries will be able to keep their own government, culture, language and even military. A few countries, such as the United Kingdom, will have to adopt republican governments and make serious improvements in terms of civil liberties (free speech, right to bear arms, etc.), but many others already meet the requirements for statehood (such as Albania, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Finland, Georgia, Guyana, Iceland, Israel, Singapore, South Korea, etc.).
Of course, we wouldn't force any country to join the United States, and these countries would join willingly. In order to convince these peoples to join the United States, we would have to builder better bilateral relations with them. We can do this through mutual defense and trade agreements, as well as through foreign aid and through promoting Terran ideals. Most of the world's history, post-1776, is characterized by the United States being viewed as the bastion of freedom and civilization. All over the world people held nothing but positive sentiments towards the United States. Even communists, such as Vladimir Lenin and Ho Chi Minh, held a great deal of respect for the United States and it's ideals. This image has become slightly tainted over the past few years due to both an imperialistic foreign policy and due to our failure to cultivate Western Europe; resulting in Western European children being ungrateful and disrespectful towards the United States and it's ideals. Despite these recent shortcomings, I don't believe it is too late to reverse course and make the world love us again.
I am currently faced with a difficult choice, the choice of choosing a political party. While most people may not give this much thought, I do intend to run for public office someday. At the moment I am contemplating running for my state's legislature, though I do have federal ambitions. My views at the state level are more in-line with the Democratic Party, but my views on federal issues are more in line with the constitutionalist wing of the Republican Party.
I am too conservative for the Democratic Party and too left-wing for the Republican Party. I have considered joining the Democratic Party, though I live in a very rural and conservative district, one in which the word "Democrat" will send my constituents running towards the hills. In addition, I don't get along very well with most Democrats, especially those who hate civil liberties and/or want to create an ever-expanding welfare state. I have also considered joining the Republican Party and I have no doubt that I could easily be elected at the state level as a Republican. However, I am concerned that my views are too left-wing for the Republican Party and would effectively kill my federal aspirations. In addition, I am concerned about the future of the Republican Party, due to both internal problems (the social conservative wing needs to die) and the fact that the liberal media has done nothing but intentionally misportray all Republicans as "racist, sexist, homophobic, slave-owning neo-Nazis." Perhaps most important of all, however, is the fact that I'm not sure which party I would best belong in. Which party do you think best suits my views?
The United States, however, is a long long way from home.
