Election hangover
This is my only planned political post this year. Hopefully, I won't feel compelled to make another one, as humans learn about resources such as Google/Bing/search engine of your choice and Snopes dot com.
I HATE politics. Not because it is not important. It is extremely important and everyone who can vote, is, in my eyes, morally obligated to go and vote. I HATE politics because I cannot understand irrational thinking. I cannot understand thinking that includes xenophobia, racism, sexism, religious intolerance, trickle-down economics, and supremely selfish thinking that actively harms even the thinker. I do not feel that the thinkers are lesser humans. I just do not understand the thinking. I do not understand how someone can push an agenda that harms themselves, short or long term.
I am not a liberal. I am a social democrat.
Now, I hear some people start screaming "Commie asshole!! Socialist scum!!" and to you I say, did you know that social democracy, socialism, and communism are not the same things?
This article points to some of the differences - https://www.businessinsider.com/difference-between-socialist-and-democratic-socialist-2018-6?r=US&IR=T&IR=T
Here is another great view of social democracy - https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-a-Democratic-Socialist-and-a-Social-Democrat
As a social democrat, I believe in this weird idea of "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness" (I know, Jefferson was a pretty smart dude).
Life - Centrally negotiated, affordable health care subsidized by taxes payed by those who would use it. Your quality of life and your life itself should not depend on an employer's willingness to pay you a living wage or if you got lucky in the genetic lottery and an accident of birth landed you with money. This part includes dental care, care of the elderly (come on, we are talking about the people who helped build our nation), pre-natal care, maternity care etc.
This also includes the licensing of weapons, cars, trucks, motorcycles, heavy machinery, and other such instances with a huge probability to harm other living things. Not banning, just licensing.
Liberty - The freedom to believe in what you want; the freedom to question your government, your religious leaders, your health care provider, your other service providers, your teachers. The freedom to make decisions about your own body. The freedom to make decisions about where you live, how you live, and with who you live. The freedom to love who you love, to marry who you love, and to make a family with who you want. Relationships based on consent, not on law or religious norms. The freedom to study what you want, not limited to what you can afford.
Happiness - The freedom to start a company, if you want to, or work for someone else, if you want to. The freedom to find happiness with another human, regardless of gender, nationality, skin color, eye color, religious beliefs, ethnicity etc. The freedom to find happiness with your job, in society, in education, in relationships. The freedom from worries based on the whims of a boss, a parent, a teacher, a landlord, or the leader of an organization. Happiness at the workplace has been proven to increase productivity, so it is natural that not having to worry about job security increases job productivity.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2017/12/13/promoting-employee-happiness-benefits-everyone/#71f49da1581a
http://fortune.com/2015/10/29/happy-productivity-work/
I have benefited from the taxes I pay helping me when I lost my job, when my gall bladder gave out, when my teeth gave out, in my education, and in small ways in my life.
I will not go into details when it comes to specific policies, as I do not enjoy debates. Two minutes of google will give anyone the information they seek. Critical thinking is key. Take any idea and apply critical thinking, look it up, learn about it, then make up your mind.
I HATE politics. Not because it is not important. It is extremely important and everyone who can vote, is, in my eyes, morally obligated to go and vote. I HATE politics because I cannot understand irrational thinking. I cannot understand thinking that includes xenophobia, racism, sexism, religious intolerance, trickle-down economics, and supremely selfish thinking that actively harms even the thinker. I do not feel that the thinkers are lesser humans. I just do not understand the thinking. I do not understand how someone can push an agenda that harms themselves, short or long term.
I am not a liberal. I am a social democrat.
Now, I hear some people start screaming "Commie asshole!! Socialist scum!!" and to you I say, did you know that social democracy, socialism, and communism are not the same things?
This article points to some of the differences - https://www.businessinsider.com/difference-between-socialist-and-democratic-socialist-2018-6?r=US&IR=T&IR=T
Here is another great view of social democracy - https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-a-Democratic-Socialist-and-a-Social-Democrat
As a social democrat, I believe in this weird idea of "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness" (I know, Jefferson was a pretty smart dude).
Life - Centrally negotiated, affordable health care subsidized by taxes payed by those who would use it. Your quality of life and your life itself should not depend on an employer's willingness to pay you a living wage or if you got lucky in the genetic lottery and an accident of birth landed you with money. This part includes dental care, care of the elderly (come on, we are talking about the people who helped build our nation), pre-natal care, maternity care etc.
This also includes the licensing of weapons, cars, trucks, motorcycles, heavy machinery, and other such instances with a huge probability to harm other living things. Not banning, just licensing.
Liberty - The freedom to believe in what you want; the freedom to question your government, your religious leaders, your health care provider, your other service providers, your teachers. The freedom to make decisions about your own body. The freedom to make decisions about where you live, how you live, and with who you live. The freedom to love who you love, to marry who you love, and to make a family with who you want. Relationships based on consent, not on law or religious norms. The freedom to study what you want, not limited to what you can afford.
Happiness - The freedom to start a company, if you want to, or work for someone else, if you want to. The freedom to find happiness with another human, regardless of gender, nationality, skin color, eye color, religious beliefs, ethnicity etc. The freedom to find happiness with your job, in society, in education, in relationships. The freedom from worries based on the whims of a boss, a parent, a teacher, a landlord, or the leader of an organization. Happiness at the workplace has been proven to increase productivity, so it is natural that not having to worry about job security increases job productivity.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2017/12/13/promoting-employee-happiness-benefits-everyone/#71f49da1581a
http://fortune.com/2015/10/29/happy-productivity-work/
I have benefited from the taxes I pay helping me when I lost my job, when my gall bladder gave out, when my teeth gave out, in my education, and in small ways in my life.
I will not go into details when it comes to specific policies, as I do not enjoy debates. Two minutes of google will give anyone the information they seek. Critical thinking is key. Take any idea and apply critical thinking, look it up, learn about it, then make up your mind.
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