The AIMI Platform

The AIMI Platform

The AIMI Platform

Posted on April 5, 2016 John Abood

A Moderate Platform

The individual and their family are the basis for society. They exist within a society of individuals. Governments are established to assure the safety of individuals, including the protection of their faculties, character and property. Republics and other democratic institutions are established to assure freedom and liberty when conducting your private life and when determining the laws of the land and the rule of law.

It is easy for the individual to believe in those social and political systems which will give them the most near term benefits with the least effort. Moderates wish to apply political principles and pragmatic reason to our institutions, policies and laws. This will help eliminate the political strategy of pitting one voting bloc against another voting block and pitting one group against another group, to seek their votes; especially when some in the judiciary are willing to overrule majority rule in our republic through the misapplication of Due Process and Equal Protection of the Laws.

The great questions remain: 1) Is it possible to educate (provide knowledge and character) everyone so they are able to perceive what path will provide them the most benefits and dignity during the long term through a slightly greater effort. “God grant me the wisdom to perceive my path to dignity, the courage to walk that way with confidence, and the strength to remain steadfast during my journey.” 2) Will the minority recognize the reasonableness of the majority at the time of their decision regarding values, customs and laws?

Moderates support the individuals who work hard and practice personal responsibility and self-sacrifice. Moderates may tolerate many different life choices, but may choose not to (and do not have to) promote or support some fringe choices that do not promise dignity. Moderates understand the moral ambiguity of using the power of the state to take the income and property of others to effect relative equality for everyone. Moderates understand the power of the coalitions built by the Left and the Right. Moderates understand that factions will “cherry pick” facts and values that support their politics of freedom, equality and intolerance.

Characterologists or sociologists often inform us that the facts involved in a discussion are more complicated than we think. Possibly those facts are more complicated than we really want to contemplate or know. Complicated facts and ambiguities may be why experts are called. We are curious but we don’t want to change our minds. The facts and ambiguities of our lives often exceed our curiosity.

If you believe that all diverse individual character value choices are equally valid, and the state should enforce equal outcomes through the redistribution of income and property (because all value choices are equal), then you should be a Democrat and support that faction.

If you believe that individual values and character choices are important regarding the potential success of the individual – and the society and the state should protect those successful private realm character value choices and faculties of the individual – then you should be a Republican and support that faction.

Moderates seek a creative balance between the private realm and the public sector. Moderates recognize the primacy of the private realm for achieving individual dignity, and the importance of the public sector in support of a responsible private realm. In an age of greater polemics in political dialog and thought, and less certainty regarding our shared virtues and values, we raise our moderate voice in support of:

The above fundamental principles and our shared cultural virtues and values – to form a more perfect union and offer greater individual liberty. Moderates propose to effect this plank through applying the wisdom of a republican majority and leadership. Moderates promote true political dialog – consistent with identity – not political correctness or political intolerance.

Regarding governance: Moderates support (in the following order of importance) family, private realm institutions, local community, common law, state legislatures, state judiciary, state governors, central legislatures, central judiciary and the chief executive of the nation. To the extent appropriate and consistent with our state and U.S. Constitutions, political decisions should be made locally. With regard to political decisions, judges and the executive shall refrain from replacing the people or any elected legislature in making law, including Constitutional law. We want to preserve our state and U.S. federated republics, in order to preserve our liberty.

Designing state voting districts to enhance the influence of moderates, rather than the influence of those factions on the polemic left or right of the political spectrum. Moderates propose to effect this plank through vigorous legislative and judicial efforts. Moderates encourage the political speech of those on the left and right, because moderates always believe in reasoned political dialog. Moderates do not believe in “political correctness” where political speech is involved.

The private realm – it works for about 85 percent of our population, and the other 15 percent depend on the labor and income of those who have the character to make the private realm work. Through their labor they pay part of their income to care for those who do not apply, or have, the necessary faculties. Our economy is rigged. It depends upon individuals learning skills, working and producing to meet their needs. The private realm builds income through the application of character and faculties. Public sector welfare traps individuals in poverty because it does not require character. We must do all we can to free the private realm to build character, create businesses, jobs and training. We should build business development, education, training and jobs instead of taking the labor and income of individuals to pay for a public welfare trap.

Rewarding the virtues of work, personal responsibility and self-sacrifice (character). Encouraging work, personal responsibility and self-sacrifice. These character traits, when practiced, permit the individual to take advantage of private realm opportunities. Equal opportunity in the private realm abounds for those who are judged to have the right knowledge and character (a merit-based system). We support a large middle class. America works best when we all play by the same rules. We support quality education and training for all who have the character to utilize it. For those who are unable to take advantage of private realm institutions, the public sector shall serve them efficiently and attempt to prevent absolute poverty.

Faith in God, for all those who find meaning and character in their religion and in their religious community. We also have faith in human beings who practice reasonable personal responsibility. Private realm religious faith and values are to be protected by the state and from the state. Faith is often the center of identity.

A federal system of government. The individual, state and central government share sovereignty – and the sharing of governmental power (subsidiarity or federalism) assures greater liberty for the individual. Each is recognized in their sphere of protecting human rights or applying their God-given or delegated powers. This is the basis for true liberty for the individual. All those powers not delegated to the state or the central government are reserved to the individual and their local community. We believe in state constitutions and the U.S. Constitution’s federalism, enumerated powers and the Bill of Rights.

Government tax, fiscal and monetary responsibility. There are private realm market cycles, natural disasters and civil conflicts, and the government should be able to somewhat smooth the cycles to enhance the general welfare. We support government fiscal and tax responsibility. Our government should only spend what our income permits – after private spending and savings are complete. Our public national debt and public state debt must be addressed and paid. The U.S., state and local tax systems must be reviewed to determine appropriate and progressive application of taxes. Moderates always remember that a tax on an individual reduces their ability to use their faculties, including their income and property, to support themselves and their family. The burden of government taxes, in all its forms and at all levels, will be continuously reviewed for appropriateness and effectiveness and efficiency. The total tax burden on an individual or family shall be reduced to the lowest necessary level. Privatization of public services is a key element of this plank.

A broad and strong middle class and families, within a broad and strong private realm (including faith), is the engine for assuring that individuals and their posterity have the tools to effect their future dignity, safety and happiness. Education, private realm jobs and economic vitality permit individual dignity and international leadership. Moderates will encourage the private realm to be responsive to the needs of individuals in their efforts to build character and achieve dignity.

Recognizing that those without income often vote for the state to take away the income and property of others and give it to themselves, without making cooperative character or value identity improvements. Those with income are willing to offer some of their property for the common good, but they request the cooperative character-virtues of work, personal responsibility and self-sacrifice in return. There is a quid pro quo when someone or the state takes the property of another. Moderate individuals believe that those who vote to take the income of others (for themselves) are voting for their short term interests and not for their long term benefits, character, dignity and success. Just because it is free does not mean it is free…there are costs when individuals make poor decisions and exhibit waning character.

We recognize that those who do not respect reasonable majority rule or the rule of law want the state to waive the law or the responsibility to act with character in return for their vote. We recognize that what is “fair” for one individual is not “fair” for another individual. Only equality in character responsibility assures true equality in fairness.

Recognizing that the Left socialist faction and the Right conservative faction form coalitions of voters. The Left forms coalitions of voters who depend upon the State or choose not to act with character. The Right forms coalitions of those who seek the liberty of the private realm without state regulation or intrusion. Both factions are right to vote to effect what they believe is their safety and happiness. Moderates seek to make the private realm more responsive so that the awesome power of the state becomes less intrusive. Greater freedom and liberty should be the result for more individuals.

More secure private realm jobs and services, and less redistribution of income without a quid pro quo. Moderates will work to effect changes in the private realm so that more individuals will choose the private realm training or job instead of public sector welfare. This begins with good character, family life and a good education. This is accomplished through coordinated private realm action. We have reached the historical stage of societal development where private realm institutions can replace many public sector institutions in caring for and educating individuals. The Federal Reserve shall not be responsible for employment.

The responsibilities of men and women. The effort should be made to enhance their individual skills and their goals – to permit them success as they seek the identity and dignity of their gender. Further, the individual and the society find – in their love and in their commitment to their relationship and to forming a family – the most fundamental institution upon which our society is built. Because men and women find so much special value and worth and identity in their commitment to their formal and committed relationship, family must be a core goal, as family is the basis for strong individuals and a good society. Moderates promote the private realm religious sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman. We may tolerate some other behaviors and relationships or even state-civil unions, but we sanctify private realm marriage and family commitments and vows between men and women. We take this stand because so many men and women derive so much identity and dignity in family from this private realm blessed religious institution of the sacrament of marriage.

In 2015 the U.S. supreme court, in a narrow and seriously split (5 to 4) decision, decided that state laws (as opposed to religions) may not discriminate when handing out licenses to people to marry. The majority of the court found a U.S. Constitutional fundamental “right” to civil unions (not religion-based marriage) in the U.S. Constitution. The basis for this newly found “right” is the identity and dignity of the individual – not the identity and dignity of a loving and committed man and woman. The U.S. supreme court majority states: The fundamental liberties protected by the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process (and Equal Protection) Clause(s) extend to certain personal choices, central to individual dignity and autonomy, including intimate choices defining personal identity and beliefs. Courts must exercise reasoned judgment in identifying interests of the person so fundamental that the State must accord them its respect. History and tradition guide and discipline the inquiry but do not set its outer boundaries. When new insight reveals discord between the Constitution’s central protections and a received legal stricture, a claim to liberty must be addressed.

The majority is wrong to find a fundamental right to marry in U.S. and state constitutions. Moderates believe that the state is the people and the people want liberty of choice through our deliberative representative republics and majority rule.

The U.S. Supreme Court judges who find themselves in the minority regarding this decision, state that such a “right” is not found in our U.S. Constitution. In their dissenting opinions they state that identity value and dignity value liberation is a choice to be made by the people. They further state that due process and equal protection of the law do not require equal outcomes by or under the law, because the people decide and choose the cultural values and laws that determine outcomes under our constitutions. The dissenting judges are correct.

All cultural values and identity values and levels of dignity are not equal in our classical western liberal philosophy. Some cultural values serve the individual and the society better than others. We deliberate and make choices regarding the cultural values and laws by which we live…so as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

Political moderates do not agree that a “right” to marry is fundamental, or even exists, in our U.S. Constitution. Moderates believe that this country is founded on the idea and ideal that individuals make choices – and that, therefore, the majority rules. The people (not the king, not the executive, not the judiciary) make deliberative choices. Moderates believe our U.S. and our state Constitutions contain truly fundamental rights and central protections regarding citizens making choices: information, deliberations and debates by citizens; deliberative republics; choices via voting; choosing and electing representatives; the existence of elected representative legislative bodies; legislative deliberation and choice; majority rule; rule of law. Finally, due process and equal protection of the laws, meaning equal application of the laws, applies to each individual. These are our truly fundamental rights and these are central protections to our liberty in choice. The right to individual deliberations and choice is further bolstered by our Bill of Rights, which further protect our liberty in choice. Integration is better for a society than multiculturalism.

Moderate individuals seek a creative balance between supporting the character and growth of the individual and supporting equal opportunities for individuals. It has never been the role of our deliberative republican government to assure equal outcomes for individuals or equal outcomes after application of faculties and identity value choices. It is the role of this republic to protect the faculties of individuals. “The protection of people’s differing faculties is the first object of government.” – J. Madison. Some public sector programs should be returned to the private realm so the people who use the services pay for the services, and so others will not be required to give away their income and property in tax payments to the government.

Review of the constitutional basis for, and wisdom of, central government regulation of local government and private realm organizations. Review the expansion of redistribution of income and entitlements, and review abuses of these programs. We will constantly review the incidence of taxation and the reasonableness of the use of taxation. Review funded and unfunded national or state government mandates. Review the incidence and effect of every tax. Review public sector costs and benefits. Reduce waste and fraud in the private realms and public sectors. Proper management of and within the public sector will be managed by the citizens of the various states and the United States.

Review of the private realm and its license to operate for the good of the citizens of the nation. Plus, privacy in the private realm and public sector is expected by individuals.

Review of the platform, morality and tactics of the Left. We will study how the Left supports and increases its coalition. Might this faction be more tolerant of the Right and compromise?

Review of the platform, morality and tactics of the Right. We will study how the Right supports and increases its coalition. Might they be more tolerant of the Left and compromise?

Defining moderate political thought and leadership. Offering a creative balance between the private realm and the public sector that secures and enhances the private realm. Truth and roses have thorns, and ambiguities will always be a thorn of existence.

It is a complex world. We will strive to make life a little easier for the moderate individual of character. We will strive to give citizens a defined moderate space within the political spectrum. We will debate the program results of tax and spend Democrats. We will debate the program results of lower-tax-and-less-government-regulation Republicans.

Independent moderates seek a U.S. foreign policy which promotes individual liberty within moderate and stable governments for the people of each country and region in the world. We strive to show them the way by our example of application of enlightenment classical liberalism, reasonable majority rule and the protection of loyal minority rights. Development, military strength and diplomacy are all necessary to accomplish our national goals. Greater use of private initiatives shall be encouraged and applied.

When the state (judiciary) requires that all value systems and character choices are to be considered equally valid, the path or way for the individual to promote their successful value system, character choices, identity and dignity is to do it privately. This will require like-minded individuals to associate and band together to privately express their value system and privately promote their value system, character choices, identity and dignity. Enhancing a cultural identity through the degradation (taxation) of another cultural identity is not moral. All cultural identities shall be taxed the same.

University and college (student) debts are borrowed funds for investment in future income. As such, lenders and investors shall be provided the same debt and investment tools to recover investments, tax profits and account for losses. This includes writing off education credits and losses against other income or profits.

Individuals in the U.S. Illegally: If you want to live in this country, it is because we built a robust economy and a just society. If you want to live legally in this country, you must have respect for the sacrifices, labor, taxes, citizen choices, ideals, values and classical liberal ideals that we applied to build this country. Citizens of the states and of the United States have a right to determine who are legally permitted into our states. Our citizens worked, applied character policies, sacrificed, died in wars and built institutions to construct a society and an economy that works for us. Naturally, our private cultural values and societal institutions attract foreigners to our country. For illegal migrants (and some citizens) to seek the elimination of the rule of law (when the rule of law is one of the institutions that helps us build our good society) to permit illegal migrants to break our laws, is contrary to the very virtues that built our great society and attracts people to this country. There should be a path to legal residency for some, that respects our culture, character and rule of law. Integration, not multiculturalism.