Political Philosophy
In general, I shy away from very specific political labels, because due to the extreme chaos involved in political discourse; in my experience, vague labels tend to mean different things to different people. I greatly prefer to talk about specific issues and policies. That said, there are some very basic labels that I will accept when describing my political beliefs.
Liberal. I value individual freedom, democracy, and social/economic equality. I believe competitive markets with a profit incentive can help enforce those things due to the unmatched ability to create resources that should be used to address problems that arise within a society (NOT to make a handful of individuals mega rich). I believe in problem solving primarily through secular, objective systems like logical reasoning and the scientific method.
Progressive. I tend to support social and economic reforms to the end of achieving justice, peace, and freedom for all humans. I understand that these three things sometimes clash with each other, and in those cases I must decide on a case-by-case basis which one takes precedent. Take a look at some of my more specific explanations for more insight on that. I believe in an intersectional approach to social justice, and I acknowledge the provable fact that certain identities are marginalized in society, at least partially due to implicit bias and systemic oppression. I advocate policy that seeks to erase these disadvantages as well as prevent them from occurring in the future.
Social Democrat. I am in favor of a capitalist-oriented mixed economy. I believe in the strengths and benefits of market competition and private ownership. Market competition and the profit incentive drives innovation and advancement in a way that seems to be unmatched by any other system. This not only applies to products/services of convenience and leisure, but also products/services which many people could not imagine their lives without. Additionally, on philosophical level, I think that people who work harder should benefit more from society (generally). I think that an individual who has a great idea should be able to own and profit from that idea.
ALL THIS BEING SAID, I also strongly believe that the the profit incentive can not be allowed to be the end-all-be all. Private entities should not be allowed free reign over any market, and there should be extensive limits to corporate power and influence, even if those limits need to arbitrarily decided. “Free markets” will (and have) inevitably lead to a host of problems that will negatively impact both consumers and workers, not to mention the economy and the state of the country as a whole.
We have seen too many times in the United States what kind of disasters can occur when corporations are allowed to do whatever they want with no oversight. The Great Recession of the late 2000s happened largely because financial institutions were permitted to engage in highly predatory, risky and irresponsible behavior with no concern for consumers or the future of the economy as a whole. The disastrous BP oil spill happened due to BP and Haliburton’s failure to ensure safety protocols in order to cut costs, which they had gotten away with as a matter of common practice because of limited oversight. The list goes on.
In general, I support regulations that favor workers and consumers over businesses and business owners. I am a small business owner myself, but I have no allegiance to business owners as a class, and I do not believe any business deserves to exist just by virtue of having been formed. A business that does not protect/favor workers and consumers should not exist.
I support policies that aim to eliminate or reduce poverty and strengthen the middle class. I do not support supply-side economics, nor do I subscribe to the “trickle-down” theory. I believe that if we want to help the working and middle class, we should invest directly into the working and middle class—not give more money to rich individuals and businesses. Allowing individuals and corporations to amass an unlimited amount of wealth has led to what amounts to a plutocracy in American politics. I see this to be an unjust system.
Additionally, I do not believe the market can (or should) solve all human problems, and in the cases where it can’t, the government should step in to regulate, if not completely control certain markets. Some examples of this are healthcare, climate change, and education. These are all problems which I do not think can be solved entirely by the market, and as such I advocate for either partial or full government control of the solutions.
Moral Philosophy
I am an atheist and consider myself to be a philosophical materialist, and as such, I do not believe that there is some cosmic mandate about what humans should or should not do. I do not believe in any gods, nor do I believe in concepts such as “karma.” However, I believe that because of humanity’s natural empathy, alongside our ability to rationalize, societies create a social contract to determine what behavior is and isn’t acceptable based on our rational expectations of one another. The social contract is not set in stone and potentially evolves over time, but it generally seems to involve the seemingly-universal human desire to prevent suffering to ourselves and those around us.
If you ask almost any human in the world “is it okay to murder someone?” they will probably say, “in general, no.” Even a murderer would probably agree that murdering someone is a bad thing to do. This is an example of something virtually every human society has agreed upon, i.e. not to murder each other. Murder is an extreme example, but it serves to illustrate the point. We have come together as a society and decided rationally that it would be pretty awful if we just went around murdering each other. This is what I mean by the social contract. For more nuanced positions, it may be less clear, and in fact it might be the case that there is no one correct answer. But the social contract is the starting point by which I decide what actions I believe are right or wrong.
Beyond that, I personally have chosen to live my life in a way that values kindness, compassion, and cooperation above all. This generally adheres to the social contract, but even in cases where it doesn’t necessarily do that, I have found that living this way has resulted in a happier, more successful, and more stress-free life for myself and those around me.
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