Scipio

I just took that political compass quiz thing. Interesting stuff.

Economic Left/Right: 0.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.69

So I'm actually to the right of center, and pretty darn libertarian. Mabye that makes me a swing voter who doesn't really care about government? Or one who simply wants less of it?

I'm a solid Democrat, and I often think about what the best justification for my alignment is. I might start by saying why I'm not a Republican.

In my mind, the Republicans (and GWB in particular) have stopped caring about policy, and have spent more time caring about politics, perception, and power. Let me rehash the Iraq debate in about two sentences, and then leave it alone for the rest of the post. They justified the war with WMD, but ignored the multiplicity of experts that said their interpretation was dead wrong; the experts were right. Even though the war was justifiable for humanitarian reasons, the Republicans lacked the courage and honesty to sell the war in those terms.

It is difficult to see where their policies will lead. Deficeit spending will ultimately drag down our economy. We're borrowing something 5% of GDP per year right now, plus interest. If this continues, in the future we will see a massive tax increase, a massive government cutback, a financial collapse, or some combination of the above. I would hope that the government would give a damn about being financially responsible, but this one doesn't.

I could go on and on, but I'd rather not define a Democrat as an anti-Republican.

I'm a Democrat because I'm a social libertarian. I think the government should stay out of the business of regulating sexual behavior. I think gay couples should have the same legal rights as straight couples (things like medical visitation, equality in taxation, and inheritance). I think marijuana should probably be legalized to some extent (if not completely).

I'm a Democrat because I'm pro-business. Now wait a minute, you're probably saying, how is that possible? One, I favor some form of government health care for everyone. Why? Because getting businesses (especially small businesses) out of providing health care is a good thing for them. Corporate america should be all for this. I also think that environmental regulations are cheaper in the long run than cleanup measures are. These costs get passed on the the consumers, but rightly so.

I'm also a Democrat because I think there are things that government can do right. When you compare medicare with private insurance, it is much better at getting health care dollars to the people. Its administrative overhead is less than 5%. When people think bureaucracy, they think red tape and waste, but the bureaucratic model is actually very effecient. Governments around the world have been using it for a thousand years.

Finally, I'm a Democrat because I believe the playing field isn't level, and that action is necessary to make sure that a child born in Harlem has the same chance at success as one born in Malibu. The trick is education. It would be nice if we could change popular culture to be more friendly to nerdy pursuits, but we can't. The schools need to be improved, and the Bush approach of vouchers and increased testing isn't the answer.

And with that I'll take a seat and shut up. Let's not flame here (I might be asking for it though!), or get too deep into individual issues. I'm mostly interested in honest reasons for why you lean the way you do, and more so what party than what alignment.

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