Tiberius Thought

Braun Spencer Thought is the economically center to center-left and culturally left-wing ideology of the blogger Braun Spencer. He is dead-center between the  authoritarian left and authoritarian right quadrants.

[[File:Idealist.png]] Subjective Idealism [[File:Idealval.png]]
Braun Spencer Thought follows subjective idealist. He believes that, insofar as we can only verify the existence of our souls and consciousness relative to the physical realm, everything is relative to individual perception. In other words, literally everything is relative. Objectivity does not exist outside of what the individual categorizes within the physical realm.

[[File:Nihil.png]] Morality [[File:Hedonism-cloud.png]]
Per his subjective idealism, Braun Spencer Thought believes morals are a matter of personal preference since they too rely on individual perception. He sees the world as a struggle between competing moral systems; those who prove victorious get to impose their moral beliefs onto others. Critics feel this boils down to "Might makes right."

His personal moral preference is hedonistic  consequentialism. He sees pleasure—spiritual, psychological welfare (happiness)—as the end-goal of his ideology, and towards that end all tools at society's disposal would be justifiably employed.

[[File:Fed.png]] Federalism [[File:Fed.png]]
W.I.P.

[[File:Welf.png]] Welfare State [[File:WelfLib.png]]
FDR in his Eleventh State of the Union address (January 11, 1944) said the following:

This sums up Braun Spencer Thought's position on the welfare state. He sees the need to ensure every American has a minimum, high living standard. The eradication of poverty in his eyes is necessary for a strong, free citizenry. To ignore the anti-social consequences of capitalism fuels  populist and  socialist sentiment, and also inhibits  individual growth by keeping people trapped in traumatic circumstances; all this stunts  social, economic, and technological progress both immediate- and long-term.

[[File:Yang2020.png]] Universal Basic Income (UBI) [[File:SocCred.png]]
Braun Spencer Thought supports a Universal Basic Income (UBI). It would be high enough to ensure every citizen has adequate access to food, clothing, and shelter. Were he dictator for a day, it would be funded through a flat consumption so the program constantly pays for itself. But he is also sympathetic to Social Credit where the UBI fluctuates based on the country's productivity. There are five reasons behind why he supports such a policy.
 * 1) In the absence of [[File:SyndieSam.png]] trade unions, a UBI would enhance individual bargaining power. If an aspiring employee deems a job as worth less than the state-backed revenue stream, he can simply refuse it. (Perhaps the job pays less than the UBI and not worth the emotional or time investment.) This would force firms—especially ones with monopsony power which rely on paying employees low wages—to finally compete for the best wages and benefits.
 * 2) Following up from the first point, a UBI would accelerate [[File:Falgsc.png]] automation. [[File:Cap.png]] Businesses which find it too costly to improve pay or working conditions will find machinery a worthwhile investment. This reduces prices for consumers long-term—countering the potential short-term inflationary impact of UBI—while reducing working hours.
 * 3) Both [[File:Ancom.png]] David Graeber and [[File:SocCred.png]] C.H. Douglas would argue much of the work created under capitalism fall into "bullshit jobs." Jobs which exist under the context of growth for growth's sake, and the social consequences of abolishing them would be negligible or positive. By strengthening individual bargaining power and incentivizing automation, most of these bullshit jobs would cease to exist.
 * 4) A UBI would boost productivity in key industries as it supplements a working income while eradicating poverty. Keep in mind a UBI would supplement working incomes in a similar yet more generous manner to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), the most effective anti-poverty program to date. You also will not lose benefits for neither working nor abandoning ship.
 * 5) And finally, it would render most [[File:Welf.png]] safety nets—most of which are ineffective at addressing poverty or are unsustainable long-term, maintained through expensive, sometimes straight-up corrupt bureaucracies—unnecessary.

[[File:PlannedCap.png]] State Commericalism [[File:Nordmodel.png]]
Braun Spencer Thought is a strong supporter of social wealth funds (SWFs) and public holding companies (PHCs). Such investment vehicles aim to maximize profits for the state. The former would invest in natural resources and non-commodity goods (e.g., oil); the latter would buy shares in successful companies like  and  Facebook. SWFs/PHCs can also appoint representatives to the boards of these enterprises to influence management. This would have numerous benefits: To quote Matt Bruenig's commentary on Norway's oil-based SWF:
 * 1) SWFs/PHCs can substantially reduce private sector taxation (which is a win for [[File:Libertarian.png]] librtarian types).
 * 2) SWFs/PHCs allow the state to optimize management and regulatory structures.
 * 3) They would reduce [[File:Plutocrat.png]] economic inequality as many of the profits which drive it go into state.
 * 4) Profits could go towards [[File:Construction.png]] infrastructure and [[File:Welf.png]] safety nets.

[[File:Statesoc.png]] State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) [[File:Dirigisme.png]]
There is merit in Braun Spencer Thought's eyes to have state-owned enterprises (SOEs), especially in the vice industries which are proven revenue sources. Although some natural monopolies are best in state hands. Profits generated by these SOEs will go towards infrastructure, healthcare, addiction treatment, safety nets, etc. Some examples:
 * State-owned brothels (sex is a nigh infinite resource so it would be insane to not take advantage of it).
 * State-owned alcohol distribution company (such as [[File:Cball-Canada.png]] Canada's Liquor Control Board of Ontario which made billions in profits).
 * State-owned casinos.
 * State-owned utility companies.

[[File:Right-Distributism.png]] Employee Ownership [[File:Market_Socialist_ball.png]]
One often overlooked aspect of Braun Spencer Thought is his support for employee ownership. He feels that one of capitalism's biggest flaws is that by depriving people of a sense of property in their workplace, they feel disconnected from their efforts. They clock into work everyday yet barely get a fraction of the wealth they produce by virtue being denied meaningful ownership. Such alienation fuels populist and  socialist tendencies. But he also sees the meritocratic structure inherent to  companies as necessary for extracting Schumpeterian rents (creative destruction) and taking on short-term risks for long-term gain. A compromise is necessary.

He feels Employee-Owned Companies (EOCs) or Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) are the best compromise. Preserving the traditional hierarchies necessary for fuelling progress, they give workers a sense of ownership in their workplaces. As with regular shareholders they will receive a dividend which fluctuates based on profits, making them invested in the company's success. And in some situations ownership enables some level of democratic compromise with management. Were Braun Spencer Thought implemented, it would be required by law that all firms with more than 100 employees give workers 25% minimum ownership over shares.

[[File:Ancapf.png]] Education [[File:Edu.png]]
Inspired by the theorist's personal experiences and anarchists like Bryan Caplan, Braun Spencer Thought supports reforming  America's  education system. In his eyes, state education (including compulsory attendance) is waste of resources. If Braun Spencer Thought were implemented, he would do two things. First, he would phase-out state schools in favor of charter schools. Charter schools have superior outcomes in mathematics and reading, did better at helping lower-class black and Latino students, have more individualized learning, and students have more say in choosing course schedules. (Charter schools in abundance would also compete with each other.) Second, he would abolish compulsory attendance. Both these would amount to "pseudo-privatization" since the state would play a regulatory role in education (charter schools are public contrary to popular belief) and those who show no promise would not have resources directed to them. He, however, also favors making trade school free to all who want it, and nationalizing tertiary education to uplift those who excel academically.
 * 1) The positive externalities of the compulsory state education system are vastly overstated, as students simply do not retain the information they learn long-term. Most [[File:Dunce-template.png]] Americans, for example, cannot name the three branches of government.
 * 2) Compulsory state education causes more harm than good through credential inflation, which forces students to compete for jobs which shouldn not require a second in a classroom; and this harms the [[File:SyndieSam.png]] working poor.
 * 3) The vast majority of students in K-12 schools do not attend college, and among those who do only a minority of them actually use their degrees for something relevant, a great number of them simply quit. Most students simply want useful job skills (or will fail in life no matter what) and would be better off in trade school.
 * 4) And finally, compulsory education is fundamentally inhumane and traumatic; and given everything else is not a worthy long-term investment.

[[File:AmericanNat.png]] American Nationalism [[File:Natprog.png]][[File:Civnat.png]]
Braun Spencer Thought is an American nationalist. He sees America as a nation with a unique history and shared destiny, and values its welfare. An American in his eyes is one who demonstrates a desire for citizenship it by promoting the nation's cultural, spiritual, and political values. He also sees patriotism as necessary to spur progress within his country's borders. Such civic nationalism drives many of his beliefs, including his  economic nationalism,  neo-imperialism, and  anti-racism.

[[File:Gay.png]] LGBT Rights [[File:Trans.png]]
W.I.P.

[[File:Anat.png]] Esperanto [[File:Anat.png]]
A supporter of unity, even in a multicultural society, Braun Spencer Thought advocates for making Esperanto the official language of the  United States. It would be taught in schools along with English as mandatory learning. He feels Esperanto is easy to learn regardless of native tongue (especially for English speakers). Since Esperanto has heavy Romance influence, and given the United State's sizeable Spanish-speaking population would break linguistic-cultural barriers between the demographics. Esperanto is also grammatically and lexically gender-neutral; thus playing a role in tearing down harmful sex-based divisions.

[[File:Anti-Racism.png]] Race Abolition [[File:TransRace+.png]]
Braun Spencer Thought is an enthusiastic supporter of utilizing race mixing and gene editing to eradicate race as a concept. He feels racism undermines the body politic's health; sowing discord which threatens war, chaos, and foreign meddling. (With the last on that list, see the Soviet Union's backing of  black nationalist groups.) The  United States would be stronger if all these race-based divisions—and the mere potential of them arising—were abolished. By encouraging different ethnic and racial groups to breed with each other and combining it with biotechnological alterations of DNA, we can abolish race completely (as a biological, social, and cultural phenomena); uniting all Americans as a whole.

[[File:Imp.png]] Global Hegemony [[File:Neoimp.png]]
Braun Spencer Thought believes the end-goal of foreign policy is global hegemony. In a world still divided by nation-states, and will be for centuries to come, every actor has their own interests and beliefs. For example, the Soviet Union believed that a global proletarian revolution was a moral duty; but they also realized that their economic model, as  Michael Lind pointed out in his book on the Vietnam War, relied on trading alliances with (and sometimes borderline colonization of) foreign countries. Their foreign policy reflected both the constructivist and realpolitik nature of their geopolitical situation. When nation-states are capable of exerting power, even at the expense of others, it becomes a patriotic duty. Thus, Braun Spencer Thought sees the need for a comprehensive foreign policy which advances the national security and economic interests of the United States utitilizing whatever tools are at their disposal (ranging from using  military intervention against foreign enemies like in  Panama under President  Bush H.W. Bush to  corporate rule abroad).

Relations
W.I.P. W.I.P.
 * -|Ideology Relations=
 * -|Self-Insert Relations=

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