Every now and then I like to take one of those assessment quizzes on Facebook. I took one recently to see how they saw me aligning with the various political factions. My result was:

Left Libertarian

You’re on the left and libertarian spectrum of the political compass! You question authority and are deeply distrustful of hierarchy. You believe strongly in personal liberty and individual freedoms. You firmly believe in a self-governed and non-hierarchical society with maximum individual freedoms for all. You support women’s rights, gay rights, and liberal attitudes on sex. You, however, favor collectively owned property and an economy that guarantees equality and opportunity. You believe in strong communities and favor a cooperative economy over dog eat dog capitalism. You’re a lefty, but you hate big government just as much as the next libertarian! What do you think? Do you agree?

I was assessed when I was in college by one of my instructors. He labeled me a Democratic Socialist. I think that is more a fitting label for me. I am not so much against “Big Government” as I am against government intrusion into personal lives. I think the government has a function to provide a level playing field for all, i.e. Civil Rights and Equality laws, rules, and regulations. This does not mean that we simply give things away, but that everyone has equal opportunity and that there is equal pay for equal work. I get so ticked off when I hear people go on about how a person working for a fast food joint or at Walmart should not get a decent standard of pay that would at least provide for their family when they are putting in forty or more hours a week.

So the line, “You firmly believe in a self-governed and non-hierarchical society with maximum individual freedoms for all.”, is questionable. I think that we do need a central government. I believe that it should be facilitating services and removing the profit margin out of such things as health care. No one should go broke for getting sick. This is especially so, when the government has not done its job in stopping pollution and keeping our food supply clean. Of course, this new administration doesn’t care about that as it has decided it will kill off the EPA at the end of 2018. How long before we are wearing masks to go outside as they have to do in China? How long before all our water is like Flint’s?  We need that central government to regulate companies to keep them from polluting our environment. We need that central government to reign in costs for medications, especially with some of these companies who have jacked up price of needed drugs.

Mostly we need that central government to ensure that everyone is treated fairly. One religion should not be placed over another, that is enshrined in the Constitution, but we have many who wish to push their version of religion on others. Note I do not use the word Christian or Christianity because these people are not Christians as they do not follow Jesus’ teachings but rather pick and choose from the old testament to enforce their religion of hate. That is a whole other topic though. The hypocrisy of it all is that they are the one denouncing Sharia law and claiming the Muslims want to push that on us all. Meantime, they are pushing their twisted version of Christianity on everyone and expecting that their religion should be enforced. Of course, this then causes issues with the LGBT community as they condemn them in their own ignorance.

Which brings me back to the idea of government stepping in to ensure that all of its citizens are treated with equality. Unfortunately, we have an administration that is anti-LGBT and have rescinded many of the protections put in place by the previous administration. Probably the most ignorant aspect of it all is that they want to push Religious Freedom laws that will basically allow discrimination based on these faux Christian religions. Any religion that preaches hate and discrimination is not Christian. Jesus took all unto him. I know I am straying off topic, but hey, that is my style.

Look, I think we need a strong government to step in and protect the citizens. That protection could be in the form of anti-discrimination laws. It could be by strengthening, not tearing apart the EPA, so we have clean air, water, and uncontaminated land. It means beefing up the FDA and USDA to ensure that our drugs and food are good for us to eat and not laden with toxins that are slowly poisoning us. It should also be stepping in and making sure that people aren’t bankrupted by medical bills. Sane countries have health care systems that take care of their populace. Hell, I have a friend living in Sweden, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. I believe she said it cost her $35 for treatment. Really? Something like that would put most people in the poor house in the United States. Our for-profit system is just not functioning. Everyone needs a chunk of the pie. We really do need to take the profit out of the health care system. These are things the government should be doing.

So yeah, you can consider me a Democratic Socialist. I do believe that some things do need to be socialized, but for many things, the voice of the people should be heard. Unfortunately, we are seeing a government that is snubbing its nose at the people. They think they know what is best, but who is it best for?

My heart to your heart, one heart, one spirit.

Emma