Political Affiliation
I really struggle when it comes time to cast my vote. As you will see, I am most comfortable in the Libertarian camp, although I do oppose some of their positions (e.g. open borders, foreign relations). Should I voice my conscience and basically throw away my vote? Should I vote for the lesser of two evils? If I don't vote for a third party, how will the system ever change?
I am registered as a Republican as they used to stand for "Small Government" and I absolutely detest the fact that many Democratic principles closely resemble Socialism.
- I am Pro-Choice
- I believe in capital punishment
- I believe in the separation of church and state
- I believe in the 2nd Amendment as it was written
- I believe that most victimless crimes should be legalized
Anyway, I found something to help other confused souls. All you have to do is take The World's Smallest Political Quiz. By answering ten simple questions, you'll know exactly how to vote! How convenient! Merely boil down a complex process into a 30 second survey. Anyway, here are my results:
Where do you fall?
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8 comments
8 Comments:
According to the red dot, you're a bit of an extremist!
Other than it not being a deterrent and costing more than life imprisonment, what do you like about the death penalty?
Let's not even pretend for one second that this political quiz isn't HUGELY biased towards libertarians.
Hehe, let's not pretend that. After I found this one, I did a Google search for Political quizzes and apparently Libertarians have a patent on such surveys. At least I didn't post the "Are You a Libertarian" one. I also tried to make sure my sarcasm was noted in putting any faith in the quiz. Just wondered how people would fall in the grid.
As for the death penalty... Part of the reason is that it makes sense to me that executing a 20 year old that really really deserves it would be cheaper than feeding, housing, nursing, and supplying exercise equipment for sixty years. I was very intrigued that one drunken night when you said that life imprisonment is cheaper and would be very interested to see studies that show that. I'm curious if any of this high cost of death sentences is skewed by the very lengthy appeals process and other legal proceedings an inmate undertakes during decades of being on death row.
Also, our prisons are overflowing to begin with. (However, legalizing some victimless crimes is the real solution to this problem.) I entertain no moral dilemma over thinning the worst sub-human offenders from our herd when our legal system is already putting repeat violent offenders back out on the street. Don't quote me, but I think that I read the average term served for convicted rapists was something like 5 years after paroles and "time off for good behavior" were factored in.
I will say I do not believe it is a deterrent to someone that is considering murder. Kinda like gun control laws, someone is sick in the head to want to murder in cold blood and no deterrent (let alone magazine capacity law) is going to stop them if they have made up their mind to do so.
All very good points you make.
Of course the high cost of the death penalty is affected by the appeals process - I won't say "skewed" because that implies it gives a misleading result. Very much of the cost is from this.
The moral implications of the death penalty do not concern me, though I find misquoting "an eye for an eye" from the bible to be totally moronic.
Couldn't agree more that victimless crimes are unnecessarily filling up prison space.
I consider using "skewed" appropriate just because I think allowing a convicted serial killer fifty chances at a doomed appeal is bullshit. We need some perfect way to allow falsely convicted innocents to appeal, but not dumbasses.
[sarcasm]
How hard could that be?
[\sarcasm]
I would be OK with outlawing capital punishment if it is guaranteed that those that deserve it will not get out of jail until they're dead, they're not taking space needed for lesser violent felons, and it's cheaper than frying them.
Coming soon to this blog: How we can install running wheels in penitentiaries to solve our addiction to oil.
Alright, I know my comments are longer than my original posts, but did you see that Hilary Clinton introduced (or co-sponsored... don't remember) a bill to give convicted felons the right to vote? Now that's bullshit.
You said the cost was skewed by the appeals, which it is not - that's an important part that gets factored into both equations.
Clinton's bill doesn't make any difference either way. Surely there are more pressing issues?
My thought on many issues such as abortion and the death penalty are as follows:
Do I believe we should have a government system in which they are options? Yes. Would I every participate in either? No, I would never condem someone to death myself or allow Heather to get one under "normal" circumsatnces.
I heard a theory the other day that the reason crime has decreased in the last 20 - 30 years is possibly due to abortion being legal. Less unwanted babies left to commit crimes as adults. Another interesting thought is that the country has become more conservative due to abortion as well. Sort of a only liberal babies get aborted situation.
I agree with Johnny H in that I've always said I've made the choice to be Pro-Life for my own family and think all responsible adults need to choose what's best for themselves.
As for crime rates being affected by abortion, that's a very touchy subject that has been most supported by Steven Levitt and Steven Dubner in their book Freakonomics. A relevant excerpt can be found here. It's politically incorrect nowadays to say so, but the majority of abortions are performed for those people statistically most likely to give birth to criminals due to their environment. Similarly, abortions are performed for those in which the parents and children (as they grow) are statistically more prone to receive welfare. I don't remember if the two Stevens touch on this or not.
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