My political beliefs

I’ve had many people ask me both in real life and online what my actual political beliefs were. The answer is that it’s complicated and constantly evolving, but here are some of my more important principles, in no particular order:

1. I believe that the EU is a fundamentally good idea and that it should be responsibly expanded. I believe that as an institution, the EU has been an enormous force for good in Europe and that it should be expanded. I believe that a strong, united Europe is the only way for Europe and its values to stay together.
2. I believe that social democracy is good and has brought the highest living standards in human history to countries that have adopted it properly. However, I also believe that a functioning social democracy requires a common set of values in a society and that including people who do not believe in those values in a social democracy can ruin it through exploitation. 
3. I believe that capitalism is a good enough system; however, it is also one that requires enormous restrictions to be placed on corporations to prevent abuse of the system and of society. Capitalism requires careful balancing of things like protectionism, natural resources, cronyism, monopolies, etc., and that requires active intervention by a government that must not be motivated by profit. Unrestricted capitalism naturally leads to exploitation, slavery, theft, and colonialism. 
4. I believe that every system requires healthy competition. This extends to politics, companies, governments, media, etc. I believe that systems that do not constantly innovate and strive to improve are doomed to decay until they are overtaken by another. The driver for this improvement does not need to be the profit motive.
5. I believe that public services like water, electricity, communal waste, transport, and urban development should run at a slight-moderate net loss in profits because that would enable them to bring significantly more value to people’s lives. A worker who can easily and safely get to work is much more valuable than one who cannot. A worker who has electricity will buy more goods. A worker who can go outside and enjoy nature will live longer and spend more on goods. I believe that privatization of these services is harmful to society. However, public services should also be pressured to innovate and improve.
6. I believe that the aforementioned public services should be state-owned and funded by the taxes of the people who use them. 
7. I believe that state-subsidized housing should be offered to everyone under a certain earnings bracket, especially students and the elderly. State-subsidized housing has been proven to have amazing long-term benefits practically everywhere. However, due to the short-term nature of modern political systems, it is difficult to implement. 
8. I believe that taxes should be relatively high to fund points 5., 6., and 7.
9. I believe that governments should be open towards their own citizens. Things like government software, reports, infrastructure plans, meeting notes, earnings, expenditures, military acquisitions, etc., should all be accessible to citizens and potentially even everyone else. As an example, US and EU standards in highly specific areas are used widely by governments all around the world (see US GPS satellites, mapping data, industrial standards, etc.). 
10. I believe that women are equal to men in practically every aspect and should be treated as such. I believe that most visible statistical and behavioral differences are due to both conscious and subconscious factors of the cultures men and women grow up in. I believe that women should be given the same opportunities as men, and, in the transition to a more equal society, should temporarily be given additional help to reach the level of men in male-dominated areas. Conversely, in some female-dominated areas, I believe that men should also be given additional help.
11. I believe that gay people should be treated identically in practice to straight people.
12. I believe that hoarding of land and wealth should be punished through a progressively increasing tax. People who own land rely on the public to pay for the infrastructure that makes that land useful. They should pay the upkeep for all of that infrastructure, as well as pay for the opportunity cost if the land is not used for housing, industry, commerce, or public parks. I do realize that this is practically very difficult to implement, because people who own immense amounts of land are the ones making the laws.
13. I believe that automation has made modern societies immensely more productive – far more than most people realize – and that society should benefit from automation through increased wealth taxes. This is what trickle-down economics should be.
14. I believe that constantly chasing economic and demographic growth is extremely unsustainable and destructive to all societies who try it. GDP is not a good measure of life quality and sustainability. I believe both metrics require slow, steady, slight, sustainable growth.
15. I believe that sustainability and a circular economy are extremely important concepts. I believe that environmentally-polluting companies and people should be harshly fined. I believe that achieving sustainability will come with a profit penalty, and I believe that it is a price worth paying, both by society and the people who own the means of production.
16. I believe that cars should maximally be removed from roads, both electric and combustion, and replaced with quality public transportation and bikes. I believe that people should have the ability to own cars. However, they should pay increased taxes for the upkeep of roads and the environmental and noise damage they cause. I believe that bike lanes should be made more available. I also believe that affordable car rentals combined with bike infrastructure are an ideal combination for a modern city. I believe that Germany and neighboring countries are on the right path but need to be even more aggressive with this.
17. I believe that public transport, both intra-city and inter-city, should be state-subsidized and run at a loss. I believe that what Germany is doing, with its Deutschlandticket, is ideal in this regard.
18. I believe that ethnic, religious, and gender issues are too often used by politicians to distract from much more relevant class issues. I believe that class divisions are much larger than any other divisions, and focus should be put on decreasing them. I plan on expanding on this position in a future blog post.
19. I believe that the European refugee crisis was a mistake on the part of EU governments. I believe that the refugees permanently settled have cultural differences that are far too pronounced to be able to integrate. I believe that they should be pressured to either integrate or migrate to a country with a more similar culture. I believe that the crisis was abused by politicians and capitalists to introduce more cheap labor and ethnic divisions that distract from class divisions.
20. I believe that US/NATO global military hegemony is better than all of the alternatives. I believe that US military spending is justified and pays off for both the US and everyone else. I believe that NATO is a good institution and that other NATO members should contribute to it more. I believe that weapons should be sold only to countries with a good human rights record. I also believe that after some time, the research done by military companies should be published so that society can benefit from it as well. The US military has done this to incredible effect (see GPS, radar, the internet, transistors, integrated circuits, microwaves, jet engines, drones, digital photography, synthetic rubber, and nuclear energy).
21. I believe that the police are generally good. I also believe that the police should be held to a high standard and constantly be monitored. 
22. I believe that the number of public service jobs should be reduced, and the work should be automated. 
23. I believe that healthcare should be free for everyone but that taxes should be increased to pay for it. In addition, I believe that preventive healthcare should be incentivized much more. I believe that tobacco, high-processed/sugary food, and alcohol companies should pay proportionally increased taxes, which should go to healthcare.
24. I believe that a universal basic income (UBI), or a variant of it, is a good idea. I believe that UBI stimulates the production of art and culture, improves mental health, encourages people to start businesses, and allows people to learn more to do more advanced jobs in the future. With automation decreasing the number of low-skill jobs, I believe that UBI would be essential to let people re-skill. I also believe that UBI will lead to a decrease in the workload of public servants, as UBI would supersede all other kinds of government payout. I believe that UBI should be very carefully introduced, with a lot of research and planning, but that it is an essential step to allow people to live in our new world. I believe that the UBI may not necessarily be a cash payment but could be completely free public transport, free public services, free food, or free low-cost housing. I also plan on writing an article about this.
25. I believe that companies should be taxed more for the natural resources that they extract from a country and that the money should go to the people of the communities where they operate. I consider the Alaska Permanent Fund as an example.
26. I believe that university studies should either be free or low-cost. I believe that there should be opportunities for people who do not want to study in a university environment. I consider Australia’s TAFE an example. I believe that the money made in taxes due to allowing people affordable education is much higher than the cost of the education itself.
27. I believe that transport for goods and people should be expanded upon. There should be a common EU (or even European) rail network. Transporting everything by truck and waiting days at borders has enormous road maintenance, fuel, health, time, manpower, and truck costs. I believe that transport companies should be given opportunities to modify their business to rail or even encouraged to invest in it and sell off their trucks.
28. I believe that unions are an essential counterbalance to businesses and should be encouraged. I believe that moderate competition between governments, businesses, and unions is healthy.
29. I believe that the internet, video games, social media, and other ways of excessive technology use might be harmful in ways we have yet to realize and should be minimized until we know more. I believe that they have already caused immense harm to society and will cause more, if not limited. However, they also have the potential to do immense good. I believe that the proper response should be comprehensive.
30. I believe that excessive gambling, smoking, sports betting, alcoholism, and other addictions are all symptoms of societal failure and should be treated as a symptom, not as a personal failure. In very moderate amounts, they may not necessarily be that bad, so they should not be outright banned. The companies that enable them should also be taxed for the added damage they do.

Now for some shorter beliefs:

1. Climate change is real and we should change our lives, including sacrificing comfort, to stop it.
2. Vegetarianism and veganism are good for the environment and we should strive towards eating less meat.
3. More engineers should become politicians, especially in technical fields.
4. Some drugs should be decriminalized and given the same status as alcohol and smoking.
5. All disposable items with a battery, like e-cigarettes and video greeting cards, should be banned. They are very wasteful fire hazards.
6. Customers must have the right to repair the products they own. Companies must provide manuals on how to do so. Warranties may be voided after a customer repairs their device themself.
7. Teachers and doctors should be paid more than they are.
8. The patriarchy is real, harms both women and men and only benefits a tiny minority of men at the top. The average man barely holds more power under patriarchy than the average woman, so the effort to change the system should be collective. Men and women are not natural enemies.

This was all I could think of now. I’ll update this list as my beliefs change, grow, or I just remember something that I forgot.