What are your policies?

I hate politics-- why do you have to bring this here.

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Interesting conversation. Like others in the thread, classical liberalism appeals to me, although I do not follow the Sowell/Friedman approach. Instead of issues around right vs. left, I am more interested in whether policy and leadership is open vs. closed. In the UK, Europe, and Japan I would probably vote along conservative lines. In the USA and Canada, being "open" is currently only offered by Democrats (though that is changing with the rise of the "progressives") and the Liberal Party...

Taxation: Low, but progressive.

Healthcare: Kaiser-esque private model, with a supplemental public hospital system (free) covered by state taxes (note: public hospitals would probably only exist in large urban areas where tax revenues could fund them)

Environment: We should adopt "green" technology and update our electric grid. Taxing fossil-fuels while investing in green energy makes sense. The payoff is dramatic.

Immigration: Relatively open, but secure, borders. Lower visa and immigration requirements, but increase standards for naturalization (must pay taxes for 8 years if over 18, etc.).

Guns: Close loop holes (around gun shows), create a national registry, and spend more on mental health awareness and treatment. One way to do this is to add a tax on guns which goes to fund free mental health treatment for gun owners.

Trade: Open & free. Multilateral deals are ideal, as it reduces trade frictions and improves symmetry.

Drugs: Legal but taxed. Money collected goes to fund mental health clinics (same as approach to guns).

Military: Strong military, but focus on quality not quantity. I'd like to see greater investment in technology and advanced systems vs. having the largess of a massive standing army/navy/air force. I think we could cut our bases overseas but focus more on hubs (e.g. 1-2 very large bases in Europe versus many spread out).

Where we should put our money at: education and technology.

General note: I accept that I'm not expert on most of these topics and am ready to change my mind if a better solution/approach is presented. I care more about a good system than holding onto a specific ideology.

Politics are for peasants.. The media, speeches, constant election cycles. Its all to keep the minions occupied.

That being said; build the wall, cut taxes, protect the Second Amendment and fund the military.

Taxation: The rich should probably pay more via closed loopholes and an increased capital gains rate. No reason someone like Trump should be able to pay 0%. Estate tax is valid, inherited wealth is an abomination to meritocracy. No reason to increase income tax rates, we need to be cutting spending. Healthcare: Universal, mix of private (if you're rich enough to pay for luxury healthcare) and public (for everyone else) - get rid of employers being in the process. Environment: Mostly free market solutions with some government initiatives to assist, I think we get to clean energy long-term and don't need draconian government policies to get there. Immigration: Penalize the companies that provide opportunity and illegal immigration will decline rapidly. More legal immigration. The ones that have been here for 15+ years contributing to this country deserve to be citizens, only reason they're not is because of politics. Guns: Close loopholes, limit semi-automatic sales, higher standards for obtaining a gun. Trade: Free but fair, Trump is right about China Drugs: legalize everything and tax it like everything else Military: Bloated, cut pork and refocus spending on technology Where we should put our money at: Education, technology, healthcare (mental and physical)

Taxation: Best policy is simple, low, and broad. Fine with it being somewhat progressive, but under no circumstances do I think someone should be paying more than 50% of their income. It was good to reduce the corporate tax rate since this is a direct issue of national economic dynamism and competitiveness. Sales taxes should be low as feasible due to their regressive nature. Capital gains should be low because saving/investment is good for the average joe, and estate taxes should be low because I believe in building something for one's family. Healthcare: I agree that we should disentangle from employers as much as possible. I'm not yet convinced we haven't tried a proper free health care system. I worry about nationalizing health care, because where is all the innovation going to then come from? At the same time, I recognize that one can often not control health events and that what is best for freedom and free markets is healthy individuals going about their lives. It's also preposterous how much we spend relative to other countries. Environment: We should have done cap and trade years ago. Even under a pretty libertarian framework, you need to account for externalities. I think moderate conservation (e.g., National Parks) is healthy, and I think lab-grown meat will make a positive impact on land use in the future. Immigration: As long as nation-states are the primary global framework of political organization, they need to be able to control their borders. If borders are totally open, countries cease to meaningfully exist. There's nothing inherently wrong with having a wall if you have a border - other than cost prioritization and optics. We should lean into E-verify and ensure legal immigration is easy and that we are not discriminating in favor or against certain countries. Should be balanced between low and high-skill. Guns: "Assault weapons" is a stupid conceptualization as it has been used by the left. Generally I think people in the West underappreciate how volatile and violent things can get because they've grown up in a relatively benign place and period of time (see this article: https://medium.com/s/story/the-surprisingly-solid-mathematical-case-of-…). There are steps we can take to reduce violence at the margins, but some gun deaths are the price I'm willing to pay for the freedom to defend myself and yes, if necessary, for the people to oppose their government. Other states should follow Texas' lead and have an opt-in system for teachers to anonymously be trained to conceal carry at schools. I think gun violence is primarily a symptom of deeper issues rather than number of guns. Would encourage people to read this excellent piece by Malcolm Gladwell on the psychological aspects: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/10/19/thresholds-of-violence. Trade: Generally supportive of as free trade as possible, but I think tariffs and other punitive measures may be warranted when you're trading with a country that fundamentally is not free market and engages in anti-competitive practices. Drugs: I prefer to leave this to the states. I do think we waste a lot of resources on the War on Drugs, but I also recognize how drug use can spiral into destroying entire communities. We should probably devote the resources to treating it as a health crisis instead of criminal one. Abortion: I'm fairly radically pro-life. The whole "wanting to control women's bodies" is and has always been a malicious straw-man. Most pro-life people genuinely want to protect what they see as the most innocent and helpless form of life there is and are not convinced by arbitrary cutoffs people tend to make about when it's ok. Education: Very pro-voucher, as I think it helps most the people who need good education the most, the poor. Teachers' unions should be abolished. Military: I think the world benefits from a (mostly) benign hegemon, so I believe we should have the strongest military on earth. However, I don't think we should use it to directly or unilaterally police the world. We should not be interfering in other countries' sovereignty, because more often than not it makes things worse and comes back to bite us. It's also a waste of resources that could be put to better use here.