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[Reelya]

The right has no common sense on abortion. Leave that to choice. If you're talking pure pragmatism, anti-abortion views are insane. If pragmatism =/= common sense please fill me in on what counts as common sense. Are bible beliefs common sense? Then I hope you don't eat shellfish since that's an abomination.

On taxes: it makes no economic sense to cut taxes for the extremely rich, that has been shown in economic modelling to have fuck all positive effect on the economy. Giving that money to the poorest people has in fact been shown to be the single biggest GDP booster of any possible government revenue handout (which includes tax breaks or spending).

So, in purely pragmatic terms, given a government that is constrained to make choices which maximize GDP (total wealth), a progressive taxation system and income support for the poorest is in fact what the studies show grows the economy the most. Countries with less equal wealth distributions have in fact been correlated with lower growth: if most citizens haven't got any spending capacity, how can the economy grow?

So any right-wing "cut taxes for the rich, cut welfare for the poor" policy is based on airy-fairy wishful thinking: it has no empirical basis, and will in fact shrink the economy according to all reliable economic modelling.

[Helgoland]

Aaaaand that's why Social Democrats are the superior political movement.

[Graknorke]

It was puns.

[SalmonGod]

That's sad. Now I feel alone on the far left.

You could talk to SalmonGod, he's pretty out there. Vector too, I think, but she rarely talks about general politics.

Yarr... Leftist anarchist here.

[Levi]

I think deep down I might be a fascist.  I keep thinking all the worlds problems would be solved if I was supreme dictator of the world.   

[Helgoland]

We're all fascists deep down, but some are more shallow than others

[Putnam]

Obviously having an ultra-intelligent benevolent dictator would be the ideal government system, but is that actually possible?

(not really)

[TD1]

I think that a world with a centralised government would be a horrible, rambling bureaucratic nightmare with corrupt people vying for corrupt powers at the very top. No competition, nothing like that, and the U.K. would still probably try to back out of it

The United Confederation of the World Minus the United Kingdoms.

Providing, of course, the U.K. isn't the head of this Empire

[Angle]

That's sad. Now I feel alone on the far left.

You could talk to SalmonGod, he's pretty out there. Vector too, I think, but she rarely talks about general politics.

Yarr... Leftist anarchist here.

Yeah, ya got me too, though I don't say much unless you poke me just right.

Hey, the right side of the spectrum is, believe it or not, in the right.

Being one of 'em, I can say that everyone else has left their common sense behind.

Did you really just say that in the progressive thread?

YOU MAD FOOL.

[TD1]

I believe the idea of a judge and jury is a dumb idea.

[Levi]

I believe the idea of a judge and jury is a dumb idea.

Don't worry, when I'm supreme dictator of the world we'll only have trial by combat.

[Leafsnail]

"My views are common sense" = "I have no argument or reasoning to support the positions I hold"

[Glowcat]

Don't you believe in the power of truthiness, Leafsnail?

Personally I'm trying to move away from the contemporary political dichotomies and view the current intellectual battlefield as a struggle between three modes of political thought: Conservative, Liberal, Socialist, and the mixed scales of each in the triangle, with USA politics being dominated moreso by Liberal thought though pushed in a Conservative direction overall, and even Democrats being mostly liberal with some socialist perspectives that are bland compared to even previous periods in U.S. History.

[TD1]

"My views are common sense" = "I have no argument or reasoning to support the positions I hold"

If you meant this in response this:

Hey, the right side of the spectrum is, believe it or not, in the right.

Being one of 'em, I can say that everyone else has left their common sense behind.

Then I was following the whole left/right pun thing going on.
If your post was unrelated, then carry on

[ggamer]

so this is the thread where I post uninformed opinions and then get yelled at by other people who either also have uninformed opinions or know so much about the subject they might as well be a policy czar for whatever I posted, yes?