Mardis Gras et al, happy Tuesday!
Today is also Super Tuesday, when the the largest simultaneous number of state U.S. presidential primary elections in the history of U.S. primaries take place.
Did you vote? Who did you vote for?
As a moderate liberal, I sometimes have trouble selecting a political party. I prefer not to select a candidate based on his/her party. I prefer selecting a candidate based on their platform.
Moderately (but not equally), I believe in:
Fiscal Conservatism - A government does not have the right accumulate large debts and then throw the burden on the taxpayer. The taxpayers' right not to be taxed oppressively takes precedence over paying back debts a government may have imprudently taken on.
Social Conservatism - This ideology affirms behaviors associated with one's cultural & religious traditions. The only problem is that the accepted meaning of traditional morality differs from group to group. There are really no set policies that could be considered universal among social conservatives.
Consequentialism (consequentialist libertarianism) - Moral theories which hold that the consequences of a particular action form the basis for any valid moral judgment about that action. Thus, a morally right action is one that produces a good outcome, or consequence. Sigurista?
Social Liberalism -
- A free market economy consisting mainly of private enterprise, but with government owned or subsidized programs of education, healthcare, childcare, and so on, for all citizens and legal residents
- Regulatory bodies over private enterprise in the interests of workers, consumers and fair competition
- Free trade market model, in which trading goods and services between or within countries progress free of nonsensical government-imposed restrictions--in other words--should there be laws governing free trade, they should make sense!
- A basic system of social security
- A moderate level of taxation
- Environmental protection laws (although not always to the extent endorsed by the Green Government)
- Immigration and multi-culturalism
- A global and progressive social policy, including support for stem cell research, sex education, gay and lesbian rights, alternative medicine, bio-evolution education schools, a reasonable drug policy, and euthanasia
- Decentralized decision-making
- Internationalism in opposition to extreme and aggressive nationalism
- Local & foreign policies supporting the promotion of democracy, protection of human rights, effective multi-lateralism, social rights, civil rights, and civil liberties
Ok, time to go home and wait for the results.
Rambling Gypsy