"You should run for office!"

In the past 3-4 weeks, a lot of people have told me I should run for office. This level of synchronicity cannot be ignored. The people say I have the personality for politics. This is a terrifying thought. It implies that, like most politicians, I have  combination of bull-headed fanaticism and brusque down-to-earth charm, with just a dash of sociopathy.

I can't say they are wrong if that's the case. Or it could be that I make any place my soapbox. I'll pontificate at the drop of the hat.  Seems to me that the if you have a passion for something (pontificating) and are good at it, you shouldn't do it for free.

Unfortunately, that means I ought go into politics, as a pundit or a talk show host (or, alternatively into motivational speaking or preaching).

I am careful to try and maintain some anonymity on the internet.  This fools errand stems from a positive fear that, should I ever get my act together, someone will pull out some transcript and try to shame me. I have said,  for mischief or in jest, so many things that can damn a burgeoning Political Career.

Seriously, I've said some shit. I won't deny it. I say things sometimes just  to piss people off.

But, in light of this, I will, in the future,  articulate some stances. Those who know me already know I want to find a better balance between corporate interests and people.  Warning, there is a lot of cussing in my previous posts.

I want to find a better balance, and better solutions - primarily capitalist solutions, to problems. But I think the rise of neo-con corporatism leads to resentment when it walks hand-in-hand with entitlement. The economy of the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s is gone, I fully admit this. But the new economic reality exists mostly because wealth had flowed upward at breakneck pace.  Wealth always does flow upward, but since the 90s the rising tide has left the bottom underwater.

I don't want people working. I want people prosperous. This distinction is lost on most Republicans and Democrats. Republicans talk about getting people to work, Democrats discuss people making living wages without regards to the long term damage.  neither discuss prosperity.

 I realize I am in the minority, that, like an entrepreneur, can't work for someone else. For most people, the American Dream was never about becoming rich - it was about reaching a level of safety and comfort for you and your family.

Many people can be happy with a stable 40-hour job, so long as they have disposable income enough for a movie and pizza on Saturday and a big screen TV for Football on Sunday  Or boardgames and Firefly marathons. Or a library full of books and two cats. Or weekends hunting with friends.

I firmly believe that everyone just wants enough disposable income to have a place for themselves and entertainment and enjoyment.  I realize that philosophers and theologians might ask if there is something more, something greater. That's fine, I certainly do.  But I don't begrudge what a person wants to do with their free time. That's their business. But prosperity, that is, a satisfactory work/life balance, is the key to a productive and happy nation.

How do we get that? Well, I am definitely pro-capitalist solutions. But as a realist, I also cannot deny that post-scarcity is coming, and the economic realities with regard to that mean that I cannot dismiss out of hand the possibility of basic income. This is ultimately why I am a moderate. There are solutions I don't like that may ultimately be the best solution.  I can't dismiss a view simply because I don't like it or it doesn't fit my ideal.

This is becoming a very complicated topic, it seems. On this digital soapbox, I could write until my fingers fall off and still not achieve the sort of Hegelian synthesis  and distinctness of meaning I am looking for.  So let's move on, and I'll expand in future segments.

I am unwilling to deny that the world is changing, and laws that worked in 1985 may not work today.  There examples of social media and smartphones radically changing the way we do business and socialize. I don't know, without some deliberation, if re should regulate, or deregulate - but I am inclined towards liberty, and therefore the latter.

That's the big deal for me. Your life is your life. I want you to have options, and I want people who don't like the way you live your life to, if you'll pardon, shut their pieholes. If you are not hurting someone  I advocate that it's none of my business. Gay? Straight? Religious? Atheist? None of my business and not the business of the government.  I feel that all of our problems are based on people in power limiting, regulating, and legislating our options on behalf of the nannies, the religious, the super-rich, and the scared. They do this from moral high ground that they know what's best and what they like is the best thing ever. They do this to protect their wealth. They do this because they are afraid of a little risk and a little adventure. They do this out of envy.

That's idiotic. I think people who deny your options because they don't like them are nincompoops. I think demanding the use of legislation to force you to live the way they want is stupid. The person who best knows what you want, need, and are, is you.  You are therefore responsible for living the life you want - so long as it doesn't harm others. And so I feel the job of government is to, through least action possible, discourage legislating and regulating your life. 

Enough, but not too much, is the mantra of good government.

If you feel similarly, I will happily try my hand at politics. It's a hard row to hoe, partially because I don't know where to start.   Crowdfunding? Facebook activism? Door to door chats?

If you want to see a new policy of live and let live on the domestic front, then share this on facebook or Google+. Post this on Reddit. And don't forget to drop by the donate button and toss some cheddar my way.