I wanted to start off my giving an overview of my philosophy. While ever-changing, I currently most align myself with the philosophy of voluntaryism, which is the notion that all agreements between people or groups should be voluntarily, and mutually agreed upon by both parties. In this way, I believe that both sides will always win out, since man's self-interest will tell him what he wants and lead him to make the agreements he believes are best suited for him.
However, this being said, I realize we will not undergo a change like this immediately. So, in seeing this, I would call myself a constitutional libertarian, or a classical liberal.
I also want to give a brief rundown of my thoughts on some issues today:
Foreign Policy:
I think America needs to revert back to the foreign policy of our founders. We cannot have troops in well over 100 countries across the globe. Doing so will only lead to our downfall, following the paths of empires throughout history, such as the Romans and British.
Taxes:
I am 100% against the income tax. I want the 16th amendment repealed. I would prefer a flat tax, but no income tax is even better. I stand against other taxes as well.
Gun Control:
I am against gun control in all forms. People should be able to buy any firearm from anyone, and they should be able to legally concealed-carry without a permit. The second amendment ensures we keep all the others.
War on Drugs:
I am completely opposed to the War on Drugs. This includes alcohol as well. It is your choice what you put in your body. If you harm anyone under the influence of drugs or alcohol, you should suffer the consequences, but if you can maintain a calm, polite demeanor while under the influence, you should be able to do what you want.
War on Poverty:
The war on poverty has failed. Subsidizing the poor only makes them dependent on the government. Aiding the poor should be left to charities, and no one should be forced to help anyone else.
Social Security:
Social Security differs from Bernie Madoff's ponzi scheme in only one way: it is compulsory, and because of that, much bigger and more immoral. We must wean ourself off this. Cut payments into the system but pay out to people what is owed to them.
Healthcare:
The main factor keeping healthcare costs up is regulation. We must deregulate. Obamacare is only driving us further towards socialism.
Gay Marriage:
If homosexuals want to get married, that's fine. This should be a states' issue according to the tenth amendment. More importantly, I don't even see why the government should at all be involved. Marriage is a religious issue and should have nothing to do with the government.
Immigration:
If people want to come here, let them. One of the kinds of people I admire most is someone who is willing to come here and work hard. As long as we still have to pay for social security, income tax, etc., then these people should not be exempt. However, in an ideal world with absence of government, the borders would not matter at all.
Monetary Policy:
The Federal Reserve is destroying our currency with its inflationary policy. This allows the federal government to spend itself into oblivion. We must end the Fed and go back to a hard money to avoid the ills of fiat currency.
These are my basic views. Obviously there are more issues than this, and it's more complicated than this, but this is just a basic idea.
