 Where I stand issue by issue. I've been seeing a few people saying they're not sure what I'm about politically as a reader-supported writer I try to be as transparent about such things as possible to let any would-be patrons know what they're getting into So here's my position on a bunch of different issues if anyone's curious Ideology I've always called myself a socialist lately a lot of people have been calling me a communist which I don't mind either Really, I just support shoving things as far to the left as possible until we've created a healthy and harmonious world and Moved from competition based systems to systems in which we collaborate with each other and with our ecosystem for the good of everyone That's my ideological preference But I'm not arrogant enough to believe I personally know what's best for everyone So more than anything what I want is a world where we're not being manipulated and deceived about what's going on So that we can figure out the best course for our species as a collective That's why first and foremost ahead of my own ideological preferences. I support government transparency democratized information free speech and the end of mass scale manipulation and propaganda Once everything's out in the light and our perception is no longer being obfuscated and distorted by the powerful I personally believe we'll find our way towards something resembling socialism But I hold that belief with an open palm Politics I Believe the closer you get to the nexus of power the more worthless electoral politics becomes Because more and more effort goes into manipulating the electoral process to protect the interests of status quo power US presidential elections are completely fake and even the elections for lower level positions like senators and representatives are Aggressively manipulated in the most powerful country on earth I don't personally think we're likely to see big meaningful changes in the West until the people force change to happen by direct action And that's not going to occur as long as everyone's being successfully manipulated into accepting the status quo by mass scale propaganda That's why I write about propaganda so much. I see it as the ultimate obstacle to the revolutionary changes. We desperately need war and militarism I See the empire-like power structure centralized around the United States as the greatest source of conflict and dysfunction in the world today All the largest international conflicts of our day ultimately boil down to the US Empire trying to secure planetary domination and weaker nations resisting it in some way This campaign to secure planetary hegemony is placing our world at greater and greater risk of nuclear war as it sees the Empire Engaging in increasingly confrontational standoffs with Russia and China. I Therefore see ending the US Empire and neutering its global war machine as a matter of existential importance for humanity Environment I believe environmental collapse and nuclear war are the two greatest existential threats to our species and both are breathing down our necks. I Think global warming is real and caused by human activity But I also think it's suspicious that that debate consumes so much oxygen when there's so much other evidence that the biosphere is dying Ocean desertification deforestation vanishing wildlife plummeting insect populations, etc Obviously there are rich and powerful people who will be looking to ride their various agendas on top of humanity's shift from fossil fuels To other energy systems, but that doesn't mean climate change isn't real It would be strange if they weren't doing that That just means we need to pry the fingers of the powerful from the steering wheel of our civilization Not that drastic changes aren't needed to how we live on this planet Religion I was raised Roman Catholic, but now despised the church I'm critical of all religion and 99% of what people call spirituality, but that 1% of authentic spirituality Just might be what ends up saving humanity. I View authentic spirituality not as any set of beliefs But as a sincere investigation of our own experience into the nature of consciousness self mind and perception The discoveries this investigation turns up can be deeply transformative and could solve all the world's problems if realized at mass scale Civil rights I Think protecting the rights of the individual protects the health of the collective It's always going to be the outspoken fringe stirs who first notice something's wrong about where we're at or where we're headed So you need to make sure there's space for them to speak and be heard Because nobody can be trusted to determine what speech is valid and true It needs to be legal to the furthest extent the collective can tolerate without harm The freer people are to think speak act and live however, they want undisturbed the healthier our society is This means freeing them from having their minds manipulated by the powerful as noted above The collective is also within its rights to stop an individual from harming them If someone's using wealth and power as a weapon to exploit and abuse people for instance Then their wealth and power can rightfully be taken away in the same way a mass shooter's weapon can be taken away to protect the collective Social justice issues I oppose racism sexism homophobia transphobia and discrimination against disempowered groups of all sorts These are real problems that do need to be solved as humanity winds its way into the future. We can't just ignore them. I Do get frustrated at times with the way these issues consume all the political oxygen in the room without leaving any space for far more Urgent matters like the looming threat of nuclear war and I do think it's a bit Ridiculous that in our current political environment being a racist is regarded as far more outrageous and offensive than being a warmonger But I do understand that's just the nature of the mainstream political framework People are being presented with where we're encouraged to argue as hotly as possible over culture war issues that don't threaten the powerful at all So we don't start turning that heat onto issues like war ecocide and oligarchy feminism I'm a pretty hardcore feminist with a lot of ideas on the subject that I think are interesting and worthy But I don't bother because I always get a bunch of furious men with mommy issues screaming at me for days There are more important things to write about right now. Anyway COVID-19 I've annoyed a lot of people with how I've refused to take a position on some COVID related issues like masks and lockdowns and the Lab leak versus zoonotic origin debate, but I don't really care I can't be an expert on all issues and the amount of scientific research I'd need to pour into COVID to take a confident stand on disputed scientific points would leave me with no time to talk about anything else There are literally hundreds of other commentators who've spent years talking about COVID from any angle You could possibly want if you want commentary on COVID. I Have repeatedly and unequivocally opposed things like vaccine mandates police brutality enforcing COVID restrictions And the censorship of COVID skeptics because those are positions. I feel solid on Beyond that I feel perfectly comfortable with my agnosticism on such things Especially now that the lockdowns are long over while we hurdle toward nuclear armageddon Israel Palestine Israel is an apartheid state whose existence can only be maintained by non-stop violence both inside and outside its borders a nation that can't exist without continuous war is like a house that can't exist without continuous construction if Your house is perpetually buzzing with power tools and construction workers because if the construction stops it will collapse Eventually, you're going to start thinking you maybe shouldn't have built your house there in the first place Julian Assange support crypto currencies in different cashlessness central bank digital currencies oppose UFOs intensely skeptical 9-11. There's nothing I'd put past these assholes JFK assassination see 9-11 This or that indie media figure People are always asking me what I think of various indie media figures But I don't have time to form opinions about other common indie commentators let alone write about them If I see them saying something useful, I'll highlight it if I don't I don't that's as far as my interest generally goes right-wingers I Read and follow right-wing libertarians for their anti-war commentary and I welcome people from any ideology to read and follow me But over the years I've become aware that there's a lot less useful anti-war sentiment on the right than I used to hope there was The so-called populist right mostly just opposes us aggressions toward Russia so they can prepare for aggressions toward China and Few put nearly as much energy into opposing Russia brinkmanship as they do into shrieking about trans people and woke-ism For the most part today's rightists are the same stuffy conservative bigoted militarists They've always been no matter how hard they try to rebrand themselves as populist these days Progressives Over the years I've found that most people who identify as progressive and support Bernie Sanders and AOC have a lot less in Common with me than I used to think they did Most are just Empire loyalists who hope the Empire gives them health care one day They don't oppose the Empire. They just quibble over a few of the details about how the Empire should be run US intelligence agencies smash them into a thousand pieces and scatter them to the winds