"Well, it depends on what your platform is." This is my girlfriend's usual response when I ask her the question in the title.
One of my least favorite things to do is talk about politics.
It's probably due to the environment I grew up in, one that de-emphasized political engagement in favor of neutrality (this is a creed of Jehovah's Witnesses). So I grew up observing the world around me, believing it was only a matter of time before God would purge the world of the wicked blah blah blah. Very standard millenarian restorationist stuff
The combination of growing older and living in a particularly polarizing political climate has led me to reflect more on what my "politics" are. I think it's important to be able to articulate your values in a way that doesn't involve labeling them "Democratic" or "Republican" or "Socialist". Every functioning adult should be able to put into plain English what they believe is important without invoking a politician's name or an economic theory
Why? Because political parties are a heuristic for in-groups that tends to oversimplify the world at a time when it is growing much more complicated. Many hot-button issues today require people to simultaneously hold two or more conflicting ideas in their head before being able to reason on them. So when you identify yourself as a Democrat or a Republican, you are short-circuiting the critical thinking process and effectively saying, "my value system is entirely hitched to an institution that's been around for, like, 50 years, and is also highly subject to change"
This is the stuff I believe in
People have a right to pursue a meaningful existence so long as that pursuit does not interfere with other people's pursuit of meaningful existence
People who do not observe #1 should be punished in a way that's consistent with how much they've interfered with their fellow human's right to pursue meaning (e.g. Hammurabi's code)
The role of government should be to create and enforce a level playing field so that anyone -- regardless of gender, race, creed, color, ethnicity, sexuality, etc, can succeed. Succeed meaning: achieve their goals in a manner that does not strip the rights of others to do the same. This may involve examining and rectifying structural issues that have historically oppressed some groups of people more than others. This is complicated.
Morals aren't defined by governments, so any attempt to intervene in citizen affairs (or other governments' affairs) based on moralizing should be promptly rejected
The government should spend 80% of its time investing in infrastructure that makes it easier for humans to better themselves. Things like: improvements to transportation system and the Internet; affordable educational systems that emphasizes vocational trades; robust financial systems that rewards small risk-taking and penalizes over-leveraging. It should spend the rest of the 20% investing in moonshot projects that could potentially help all humans: space exploration, cancer research, quantum computing, new financial systems come to mind
No nukes, no WMDs, or other single points of failure.
And that's it! Sooooooo easy. Life is short and we are likely the only sentient form of life in the known universe. So let's figure out a way to bring up the bottom while rewarding those who make the world a better place for others.
Vote for Kev
what is your stance on people growing their own cannabis?
My personal opinion: don't cut down entire forests or sap up huge amounts of water and I'm OK with it
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