I thought I might take a moment and, more for my future self than for anyone else, comment on my political opinions at this moment in time. I do reserve the right to evolve in my positions and change with maturity and age, but as of right now, these are my beliefs at this time.
Issues:
Iraq - I was against the war from the get-go. I disagreed on what I considered ethical grounds. We do have a responsibility, being the hegemon, to set an ethical standard of action for the rest of the world, that comes with hegemony. In addition, I also believe it is important that the USA, my country, stand for human rights and equal treatment in respect to human dignity and liberty. Invading another land that had not attacked us, especially without international approval, is the realm of the villain. We were the invaders, we are the occupiers, we now almost certainly have become the enemy (of the Iraqi people). I don't think we can just leave though. That is the major problem I am having with my conscience right now. I am conflicted. I never wanted us there, but now that we have destroyed their national infrastructure and fatted our corporate masters on the blood of our citizenry and theirs, we have a responsibility to help repair part of the chaos we caused. Two wrongs still do not make a right. I say we ask for international help and guidance in the reconstruction of Iraq, especially from the other Muslim nations in the region. We want the new republic to be a safe place and a legitimate nation that can participate on the world stage. We should want more to make the Iraqi people a success not make Iraq an American "victory", to do so we need to seek help from the rest of the world. We should open up Iraq to the world business community and to the assistance of other nations that are not in the Coalition of the Willing.
2. Abortion - The most basic tenet of my philosophy is free will. I do not want anyone to tell me what to do with my life or body as long as I am not doing harm to another person. Once a fetus is viable outside the womb entirely, then that route should be taken. Other than that, I am completely pro-choice. Perhaps one day technology will make a fetus viable outside the womb from the moment of conception, until then, I am effectively pro-choice.
3. Taxes - I am for progressive taxation... um, any questions?
4. Health Care - I would actually like to see a national health care system instituted. I think that the have-nots should have access to the same health care afforded to the wealthy. That is part of what "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" means to me.
5. Stem Cell Research - I am pro-technology across the board. I think we should fund research in nearly all facets of biology, physics, astronomy, nanotech, computer technology, so on... The US in the mid 2oth century pushed and funded math and science and just because the Cold War is over that's no reason to stop that. I think we should heavily fund education.
6. Death Penalty - I am not in favor of the death penalty, except in the few cases where the accused and convicted offender asks to be executed, then being his free choice, it should be allowed.
7. Gun Control - I believe that US citizens should be able to own and purchase firearms. Now, I do think we as a people should have a frank and straight forward discussion on which firearms are able to be purchased and who should be restricted and/or kept from buying them.
8. War on Terror - Much like the "War on Drugs", this is a nebulous pit for the government to throw money down and use as excuses to bomb and/or invade other nations. Without clearly defined goals this "war" is a joke. I do think the US should engage in intelligence gathering and military operations on entities that attack our nation (as an aside, I do not like and will not use the word "homeland", it sounds too much like "fatherland"), example al-Qaeda. But used in current form, the "War on Terror" lacks real meaning. I say specific goals for specific targets, not more nebulous wars!
9. Political Corruption - I think that penalties for corruption in the government, on any level, should be very stiff. These types of crimes are abuses of trust and power on a grand scale and should be one of the most severely punished offenses. On that note, something should be done to curb the influence of lobbyists and their ilk, maybe the penalties for laws violated by them should be quite stiff for them too.
There are some issues that I am still formulating my opinions on... any questions, feel free to ask. For right now, I am going to bed.
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2 comments:
And as a quick little addition:
- I usually lean left politically (of course you knew that if you read the entry).
- I favor free speech, press, religion, assembly and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
- I am agnostic myself.
- Philosophically I usually call myself a transhumanist (though which exact school of transhumanist thought I haven't quite settled on).
- I am an omnivore, though I eat little in the way of meat generally (aside from turkey sandwiches occasionally and red meat maybe once a month). I have recently been exploring a more vegetarian oriented diet, though not "organic" per se. "Organic" means nothing to me really, except maybe too expensive for me to afford. I have and will continue to stand by GM foods too, so far so good :-).
- I vote my conscience. I have yet to walk out of the voting booth and say to myself, "Well, at least I voted for the lesser of two evils."
- I believe in compromise as long as you do not violate your principles.
- Truth is always important.
- I also like ice cream, especially the kind with caramel in it, and jelly beans, especially cinnamon.
Whatever happened to you wanting to make movies? Every time I read your blogs I think this. The way you analyze life is through the eyes of a writer. I've always enjoyed your writing and never understood why you didn't do anything with it. Because, frankly, you're pretty brilliant.
-ny
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