I am largely apathetic. It is difficult for me to be political as I realize that all political systems, all governments, nations, borders, traditions, religions etc. are arbitrary; wholly human inventions. Plus I hold some contradictory views stemming from my dissonance at how things are and will continue to be, and how I wish they were (lot of misanthropy and Malthusian influence; not sure how I feel about humans ‘owning‘ the world or parts of it; sadness at the pollution, rapidly vanishing wildlife habitat, and manner in which we treat our fellow creatures, among others).
However, since government and politics seem to be an incurable disease of humanity, if pressed I suppose I would qualify as a left-leaning Libertarian. In every test I have taken, I score as far Libertarian as possible, bordering on complete anarchist.
In my idealistic twenties I was a huge fan of the works of Ayn Rand, and a card-carrying member of the Libertarian party. I prefer small, ineffective government, and think that, in most cases, the government should not interfere in the lives of the citizens. I lean toward the system that allows the most individual freedom, and would limit government to protecting the ‘rights’ of the citizens. I would likewise extend these rights to all creatures (which would make me extremely unpopular, and likely not to find my way into office).
As far as civil liberties go, I am quite liberal. I am pro-choice, pro-decriminalization of drugs (without taxation or regulation), pro-GLBT-marriage (and equality in all matters…for all persons. Perhaps pro-just getting-rid-of-the-institution-of-marriage-altogether, at least as far as the government is concerned), pro-separation of church and state (actually separation of church and state and everything else).
Fiscally, I am more conservative. I live my life debt free, with a balanced budget (with a surplus actually). I see no reason this cannot be accomplished on a large scale. If it cannot be paid for, we do not need it. No more bread and circuses. At the same time, I do think that the medical system needs revamping. Cost are getting out of hand, more due to regulation than the opposite. I firmly believe that there is a certain balance that can be achieved. And it should begin with eradicating the corruption and lobbying.
I am often not a huge fan of the results of capitalism, yet any society of humans is going to function on capitalism at some level. It can be regulated, ignored, etc. but you can bet trade is the backbone. In short, you can wrangle capitalism into submission, and put it in shackles, but it still must be forced into slave labor or society will come to a standstill. Trade makes the most sense for the human animal. Certainly pollution should be curbed, and other ‘rights’ infringements prevented. At the same time I am much in favor of setting aside large swaths of land for national forests, parks and preserves in which humans are not allowed to build, are forced to clean up after themselves, and where their freedom of movement is curtailed.
So yeah, a secular, enlightened, Libertarian society in which humans have learned to love their neighbors as themselves (passively, i.e. they do not throw poo at one another), allow everyone the rights they claim for themselves, voluntarily limit their growth, downsize, live with the environment, and leave as little impact as possible. That’s not too much to ask, right?