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Description
As someone who gets into his share of political arguments - and then some - I find it frustrating how hung up people get on whose side they're on and how wrong everyone who disagrees with them is. Myself, I mostly lean right, but I've been around enough to see good and bad ideas and views on both sides of the political fence. For that and a few other reasons, I figured I might as well spell out - plain and simple - where I stand. Everyone feel free to make your own versions of this.

I hasten to add that unless otherwise stated, I do not - on any of these - align myself with any person or party. I'm simply saying that on these issues, I consistently hear the best ideas from a given side in general. Also, as a soldier I guess I should mention that these are strictly my own views as a private citizen, and they stand pretty much as they did before I enlisted.

ABORTION: Hard right. I've said plenty about this elsewhere, so TLDR version: I am not okay with any avoidable killing of any innocent human being at any time for any reason. Ectopic pregnancies and other actual life-or-death cases aside (which are not listed as abortion under law no matter how anyone spins it), there's simply no justification for killing the unborn. They didn't choose to be there, they didn't commit any crime, and they're certainly not at war. End of story.
REPARATIONS AND QUOTAS: If you want to talk about creating opportunities for people at a disadvantage or fixing up and cleaning up minority neighborhoods, I'm all ears. I don't see any of this happening with reparations or quotas. All I see is people openly saying no amount of money will ever be enough to appease people who were never slaves for the "sins" of people who never oppressed anyone. That and people who worked hard to get where they are suddenly suspected at every turn of being diversity hires. Way to drag everybody down, libs.
GUNS: I'm a little iffier on the details of this one. I know my share of people who should never have any power, especially a gun. I also know my share of people I'd want to see armed and ready to respond if someone was trying to kill me - and I don't just mean police or fellow soldiers. As evidenced by my proposal for "Operation: Silent Angels," I believe that the best answer to a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Besides, do gun bans really work? Not according to the many other kinds of violence in Europe.
PRESS, RELIGION: I could see a case for government scrutiny of churches and media if they were calling for vandalism, violence, robbery, and the like against innocent people. Funnily enough, the only platforms calling for that are consistently on the same side that want the government scrutinizing and even controlling religion and media - and funnier still, the government doesn't show any interest in them. Besides, ask any history major what comes next every time a government tries to control religion and the press. Spoiler alert: it never goes well.
LGBT ETC.: Let me make this simple. I believe that people who live differently or identify differently have a right to live. Hold down a job, buy food and other essentials, etc. What they don't have is the right to force me or anyone else to go along with it. You have no place forcing us to get involved with your alphabet soup, or forcing it down the throats of our kids.
BIG GOVERNMENT, ESPECIALLY IN EDUCATION: Just like I don't want the government manipulating religion or the press, I don't want them manipulating kids. I'm all for certain basic standards of practical education: math, reading, etcetera. What the government seems most interested in these days, though, has nothing to do with earning a living or getting anything useful done. In fact, in all those areas it seems you can get a passing grade just by failing enough times. Talk about backwards!

PLASTIC, PLANTS, AND POISONS: From throwing soup on paintings to lying about the value of electric cars (more on that later) there's a lot of garbage on the green side these days. But on these three points I think the left tends to have a good desire, at least: less plastic, more green spaces, and an end to toxic waste. I've seen enough eco-stupidity to leave Captain Planet beating his head on a wall of nuclear waste, but hand me that recycling bin - and for heaven's sake, teach kids how to use it - because if I see one more college student pitch a half-eaten veggie burger in the single-stream, I WILL plead temporary insanity for what I do next. (seriously, that's just pathetic)
CHILD SUPPORT SYSTEMS: Inasmuch as I don't trust the fed to oversee kids, I don't trust it to provide for them either. It's two sides of the same coin. But I think a lot of leftists are right that we need better systems in place to take care of the next generation; I just think those systems should be as localized as possible. Also, I'd be remiss not to note that this usually comes up from people saying conservatives don't care about underfed kids - and then saying those kids should have just been killed a moment later. So I doubt they actually care, but I'll give the left a point here because taking care of kids is still a good idea.
WOMEN'S NEEDS, WITHIN REASON: Again, this is usually used to sneak in more pushes for abortion, so I can't really credit it with honesty in most cases. I do agree, though, that there's problems with protection and balance for women in this economy. Let's start with protecting women's sports and opportunities from being hijacked, and then - I dunno - maybe offer tax credits for women on maternity leave?
PRISONS: Ever since the issue came to my attention, I've thought that restitution just made more sense than punitive justice, when it was possible. Obviously this can't be safely done in some cases - namely, violent ones - but we definitely need a justice system that works for the innocent more than for profit and churns out fewer repeat offenders.
TRANSPORATION: Very reserved on my agreement here. I would rather buy an Edsel than an e-car, and I don't take lectures about my carbon footprint from anyone who uses a private jet. I also think mass transportation needs to be a lot safer before I would call for its expansion (maybe something like the Silent Angels?). That said, I limit my driving and walk or bike to work whenever I can make it work, and I think we'd all be better off if more people did the same.
HEALTH CARE ACCESS: I definitely don't want socialized health care; not with the indecently high taxes it brings and the way so many in countries that have it are ditching it like it's the freaking Titanic. I also get that medicine is a competitive market with people who deserve to be paid for their hard work and medical degrees to produce high-value goods and services. That said, we definitely have a problem when vital drugs like penicillin can kill someone with debt just for trying to stay alive. I'm thinking price caps would be a good place to start.

Description
As someone who gets into his share of political arguments - and then some - I find it frustrating how hung up people get on whose side they're on and how wrong everyone who disagrees with them is. Myself, I mostly lean right, but I've been around enough to see good and bad ideas and views on both sides of the political fence. For that and a few other reasons, I figured I might as well spell out - plain and simple - where I stand. Everyone feel free to make your own versions of this.

I hasten to add that unless otherwise stated, I do not - on any of these - align myself with any person or party. I'm simply saying that on these issues, I consistently hear the best ideas from a given side in general. Also, as a soldier I guess I should mention that these are strictly my own views as a private citizen, and they stand pretty much as they did before I enlisted.

ABORTION: Hard right. I've said plenty about this elsewhere, so TLDR version: I am not okay with any avoidable killing of any innocent human being at any time for any reason. Ectopic pregnancies and other actual life-or-death cases aside (which are not listed as abortion under law no matter how anyone spins it), there's simply no justification for killing the unborn. They didn't choose to be there, they didn't commit any crime, and they're certainly not at war. End of story.
REPARATIONS AND QUOTAS: If you want to talk about creating opportunities for people at a disadvantage or fixing up and cleaning up minority neighborhoods, I'm all ears. I don't see any of this happening with reparations or quotas. All I see is people openly saying no amount of money will ever be enough to appease people who were never slaves for the "sins" of people who never oppressed anyone. That and people who worked hard to get where they are suddenly suspected at every turn of being diversity hires. Way to drag everybody down, libs.
GUNS: I'm a little iffier on the details of this one. I know my share of people who should never have any power, especially a gun. I also know my share of people I'd want to see armed and ready to respond if someone was trying to kill me - and I don't just mean police or fellow soldiers. As evidenced by my proposal for "Operation: Silent Angels," I believe that the best answer to a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Besides, do gun bans really work? Not according to the many other kinds of violence in Europe.
PRESS, RELIGION: I could see a case for government scrutiny of churches and media if they were calling for vandalism, violence, robbery, and the like against innocent people. Funnily enough, the only platforms calling for that are consistently on the same side that want the government scrutinizing and even controlling religion and media - and funnier still, the government doesn't show any interest in them. Besides, ask any history major what comes next every time a government tries to control religion and the press. Spoiler alert: it never goes well.
LGBT ETC.: Let me make this simple. I believe that people who live differently or identify differently have a right to live. Hold down a job, buy food and other essentials, etc. What they don't have is the right to force me or anyone else to go along with it. You have no place forcing us to get involved with your alphabet soup, or forcing it down the throats of our kids.
BIG GOVERNMENT, ESPECIALLY IN EDUCATION: Just like I don't want the government manipulating religion or the press, I don't want them manipulating kids. I'm all for certain basic standards of practical education: math, reading, etcetera. What the government seems most interested in these days, though, has nothing to do with earning a living or getting anything useful done. In fact, in all those areas it seems you can get a passing grade just by failing enough times. Talk about backwards!

PLASTIC, PLANTS, AND POISONS: From throwing soup on paintings to lying about the value of electric cars (more on that later) there's a lot of garbage on the green side these days. But on these three points I think the left tends to have a good desire, at least: less plastic, more green spaces, and an end to toxic waste. I've seen enough eco-stupidity to leave Captain Planet beating his head on a wall of nuclear waste, but hand me that recycling bin - and for heaven's sake, teach kids how to use it - because if I see one more college student pitch a half-eaten veggie burger in the single-stream, I WILL plead temporary insanity for what I do next. (seriously, that's just pathetic)
CHILD SUPPORT SYSTEMS: Inasmuch as I don't trust the fed to oversee kids, I don't trust it to provide for them either. It's two sides of the same coin. But I think a lot of leftists are right that we need better systems in place to take care of the next generation; I just think those systems should be as localized as possible. Also, I'd be remiss not to note that this usually comes up from people saying conservatives don't care about underfed kids - and then saying those kids should have just been killed a moment later. So I doubt they actually care, but I'll give the left a point here because taking care of kids is still a good idea.
WOMEN'S NEEDS, WITHIN REASON: Again, this is usually used to sneak in more pushes for abortion, so I can't really credit it with honesty in most cases. I do agree, though, that there's problems with protection and balance for women in this economy. Let's start with protecting women's sports and opportunities from being hijacked, and then - I dunno - maybe offer tax credits for women on maternity leave?
PRISONS: Ever since the issue came to my attention, I've thought that restitution just made more sense than punitive justice, when it was possible. Obviously this can't be safely done in some cases - namely, violent ones - but we definitely need a justice system that works for the innocent more than for profit and churns out fewer repeat offenders.
TRANSPORATION: Very reserved on my agreement here. I would rather buy an Edsel than an e-car, and I don't take lectures about my carbon footprint from anyone who uses a private jet. I also think mass transportation needs to be a lot safer before I would call for its expansion (maybe something like the Silent Angels?). That said, I limit my driving and walk or bike to work whenever I can make it work, and I think we'd all be better off if more people did the same.
HEALTH CARE ACCESS: I definitely don't want socialized health care; not with the indecently high taxes it brings and the way so many in countries that have it are ditching it like it's the freaking Titanic. I also get that medicine is a competitive market with people who deserve to be paid for their hard work and medical degrees to produce high-value goods and services. That said, we definitely have a problem when vital drugs like penicillin can kill someone with debt just for trying to stay alive. I'm thinking price caps would be a good place to start.