Matt’s Politics

It occurs to me that I’ve never explicitly spelled out my politics in a post here at Vox Nova so, here goes:

1. I observe that the more toward pure Laissez-faire an economic environment is, the more wealth tends to concentrate at the top of the income scale and stay there.

2. Wealth concentration at the top tends, eventually, to destabilize the economy, and thus society.

3. The wealthy don’t have a history of selflessly surrendering power and wealth on the scale that is necessary to re-stabilize the economy and society.

4. Serving the common good is the legitimate responsibility of governments at all levels.

5. History has shown that, when governments act to counter the imbalances created by wealth concentration (indirectly through support for labor, progressive income taxes, and also more directly by imposing regulations, particularly on the financial sector) this tends to re-stabilize the economy and society, which benefits everyone, including the captains of industry. This serves the common good.

6. I think US foreign policy has gone way, way too far down the road to imperialism (a highly placed Bush administration official, who is rumored to have been either Cheney or Rumsfeld, went so far as to say “We’re an empire now…”). I think the US as the world’s policeman/babysitter/emperor is arrogant and undemocratic, and will lead to increasing despotism here at home. I favor an international order built on consensus and cooperation.

7. I think a too-cozy relationship between church and state lends itself to horrendous abuse, and thus I favor separation of church and state as outlined in the US Constitution.

8. I believe that diversity, racial and otherwise, makes a nation stronger. It’s worth pointing out that most of what is considered “pop culture” (music and youth fashions) in the world is, or is derived directly from, African-American culture. Problems in our ghettos are complex, and have to do with, among other things, racism and the legacy thereof, poverty and the effects thereof, and with a related breakdown of black families and the effects thereof.

9. I think the appalling situation in which 1 percent of the US population is in prison is a grave injustice, and an indication of a massive failure of our society to care for its members.

10. Generally speaking, I’d like my government to help people through social programs and wealth-redistribution; I’d like to minimize the government’s use of power along coercive lines (militarism, various police powers…the guys-with-rifles things)