Tiberius Thought

'Note: I'm currently starting a blog and transferring much of this page to it. I'll link it here (twice) when complete. For now I intend to simplify this page so people get a basic summary of my views, and not an extended essay. The blog will be more organized as well.'

Braun Spencer Thought is the authoritarian, economically and culturally center-right ideology of the Reddit user u/BraunSpencer. It supports  but is otherwise a supporter of  social market economy. It also calls for an foreign policy which balances liberal values promotion with pursuing  America's national interest. On social and cultural matters it is very patriotic and often finds himself supporting conservative causes, but acknowledges compromise is necessary to achieve them (such as being pro-choice partially to inhibit dysfunctional families and crime, strengthening family values long-term). It is most aligned with the conservative and moderate wings of the Democrat Party; but also prefers the  progressive wing of the party to the modern-day  GOP, which it feels is too irredeemably  corrupt.

Philosophy
Braun Spencer Thought, unlike most modern liberals, is a philosophical  idealist, seeing reality as dependent on subjective conscious experience. That said he also subscribes to utilitarianism and  positive liberty, leading him to adopt  communtiarian and  paternalistic positions. For example, a drug addict isn't truly free as he is a slave to a passion he cannot break free from; forcing him to undergo treatment will make him freer in the long-term, despite infringing on his personal freedoms in the short-term. Given his radical consequentialism, Braun Spencer Thought believes the ends do justify the means.

Civics
Braun Spencer Thought's political system can be best described as authoritarian liberal democracy. He wants a strong federal government with supremacy over most national affairs; although he sees merit in delegating some responsibliites to the states. The federal government should do whatever it can to destroy threats to its power at home and abroad, keep the peace between states, and to direct commerce towards optimizing presitge and prosperity. He also desires executive agencies to have more autonomy while minimizing corruption.

Economy
Braun Spencer Thought supports capitalism. He generally sees maximizing business freedom as a net positive for society. But he also thinks markets should be technocratically directed towards optimal outcomes. In particular he supports:
 * [[File:Protect.png]] Limiting foreign competition and strengthening local industries through tariffs and export subsidies.
 * A [[File:Sec.png]] federal agency devoted to regulating wages and benefits on the local, state, and country level.
 * [[File:Statist.png]] Intervention in cases of negative externalities, threats to consumer welfare, and unsafe working conditions.
 * A basic [[File:Welf.png]] welfare state.
 * A monthly [[File:Baby.png]] child tax credit.
 * Expanding the [[File:WorkWelf.png]] earned income tax credit.
 * [[File:Cball-Switzerland.png]] Mandatory private health insurance.
 * Modernizing [[File:Bhl.png]] safety nets like food stamps.
 * [[File:Cball-Singapore.png]] Mass public housing.
 * [[File:SyndieSam.png]] Infrastructural public works to address structural unemployment beyond the natural rate (5%).
 * [[File:EconInflate.png]] Keeping inflation at a steady 2.5% through monetary policy.
 * Strong public sector-private sector cooperation (e.g., the [[File:BorntoKill.png]] military industrial complex [[File:VvMilitary.png]]).

Culture
On social and cultural matters Braun Spencer Thought is concerned with both order and happiness. He sees one as necessary for the other. One cannot be happy in chaos; one cannot have order with an unhappy populace. This translates often to communitarian sentiment. As such the intent behind many of his positions is conservative in nature, but he adopts  progressive solutions to them. He also believes that in order to maintain liberal democratic institutions, all threats to it must be eliminated and strife on ethnic, racial, or religious grounds should be strictly prohibited. Some of his sociocultural positions include:
 * Supporting abortion on demand up to 15 weeks to keep fertility among the mentally and physically defecetive low.
 * Removing the financial strain behind most divorces and low birth rates (such as mass social housing to drive down housing costs).
 * Expanding the institution of marriage to include [[File:Gay.png]] same-sex couples and financially incentivizing adoption.
 * Use PSAs and advertisements to promote [[File:Religion.png]] religious unity and partcipation.
 * [[File:AuthAnRad.png]] Anti-sedition legislation, including [[File:Anti-Racism.png]] hate speech laws.
 * Mandatory rehabilitation for drug addicts and brutally suppressing traffickers (including the death penalty).

International
Despite what his economic nationalism implies, Braun Spencer Thought espouses  liberal internationalism. He does believe the United States should prioritize its economic and national security interests in the short-term, while using global institutions like the  United Nations to help achieve these aims, in the long-term he wants a  global federation of  liberal-democratic,  capitalist states.

US interventions Braun Spencer Thought supports includes:
 * [[File:Cball-South_Korea.png]] The Korean War (1950-53)
 * [[File:CommunistPartyVietnam.png]] The Vietnam War (1955-1975)
 * [[File:Cball-Panama.png]] Operation Just Cause (1991)
 * [[File:Cball-Kuwait.png]] The Gulf War (1992)
 * [[File:Cball-Iraq.png]] The Iraq War (2003-2012)

Influences

 * Andrew Jackson (1767-1845 AD)
 * Aristotle (384-322 BC)
 * Elizabeth Warren (1949-present AD)
 * Epicurus (341-270 BC)
 * Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945 AD)
 * Harry S. Truman (1884-1972 AD)
 * Ian Fletcher (???-present AD)
 * Irving Kristol (1920-2009 AD)
 * Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997 AD)
 * James Madison (1751-1836 AD)
 * Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778 AD)
 * John M. Keynes (1883-1946 AD)
 * John S. Mill (1806-1873 AD)
 * John Rawls (1921-2002 AD)
 * Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973 AD)
 * Margaret Sanger (1879-1966 AD)
 * Michael Lind (1962-present AD)
 * Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527 AD)
 * Richard Spencer (1978-present AD)
 * Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919 AD)
 * Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826 AD)
 * Thomas Paine (1737-1809 AD)
 * Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924 AD)

Based

 * [[File:OwfBall.png]] Owfism - You're seeing the [[File:Libhawk.png]] light, my friend. Most excellent.
 * - Based philosophically and overall interesting ideology.
 * - We're have rather similar policy platforms and you seem nice as a person.
 * - A lovely friend I share a lot of common ground with.
 * [[File:NSL.png]] - I like your ideology, but if you embraced [[File:Neobert.png]]  on top of everything else you believe that'd be epic.
 * [[File:Uzarashvilism.png]] - I've moderated my views a bit since we last spoke, but I remain sympathetic to your beliefs.
 * - HUEY LONG GANG!
 * [[File:NeoArctoismIcon.png]] - I think we have more in common than in differences now, albeit with some strong philosophical contentions.
 * [[File:Floofelsballicon.png]] Fluffy Thought - A wonderful friend who's basically what I was earlier this year.
 * - We might be drifting apart ideologically, but I consider you a good friend.
 * [[File:Glencoe.png]] Glencoe - Not bad.
 * [[File:Rocksismicon.png]] Rocksism - You seem chill. I still have a soft spot for democratic socialism.

Bringe

 * - Uh...
 * [[File:Panth.png]] Pantheonism - Ideologically meh...
 * [[File:Fixed_autocrates.png]] Autocrateism - Sorry, but capitalism requires a strong state to minimize net harm. [[File:Minarchist.png]] Minarchism can only work in an [[File:Farm.png]] agrarian society.
 * [[File:ProtTheo.png]] Reginald thought - Your views are tolerable, but your views on climate change are naïve at best.
 * - A rather nice person although I'm not as friendly to anarchism as I used to be...

Cringe

 * [[File:pixil-frame-0(27).png]] New Model Of Cheesenism - We may have vague similarities economically, but I'm not a fan of your reactionary tendencies.
 * [[File:Nazcapf.png]] Lanceism - Your solutions to current problems (like outlawing abortion) would make them worse. Please moderate your views and, while you're at it, get your own art and icon.
 * - I don't know why, but you give me bad vibes. Initiating Directive 7395: Destroy all communists!

Positive

 * [[File:Orlib.png]] - Most based economics.
 * [[File:AuthLibDem.png]] - Excellent political system.
 * [[File:World_Federalism2.png]] - A goal worth aspiring towards.
 * [[File:Imp.png]] - The only realistic way to achieve the above.
 * [[File:Neocon_Distributism_with_helm.png]] International Distributism - Pretty admirable, not gonna lie.
 * [[File:Patriot.png]] - I'm proud to be an American.
 * [[File:NatProg-0.png]] - You, I like you a lot.
 * [[File:JackDem.png]] - Bloody epic.
 * [[File:Lyndon_B._Johnson.png]] LBJ Progressivism - An underrated president; promoting [[File:Soccap.png]] social capitalism at home, sending [[File:ML.png]] Reds to Hell abroad.
 * [[File:FDRismF.png]] Rooseveltianism - FDR and Truman are among my top ten favorite presidents for a reason.
 * [[File:Hillaryism_Sprite.png]] Hillaryism - Having objectively the best policies, I wish every day now that you won 2016. [[File:Cball-Russia.png]] Russia should never be forgiven.

Mixed

 * [[File:Authcap.png]] - While [[File:Cball-Brazil.png]][[File:Pinochet-hat.png]][[File:Cball-Nicaragua.png]] you guys were useful assets against the [[File:Soc.png]] Red Menace, some of the things you did were otherwise garbage.
 * [[File:Persondignity.png]] - Great ideas—and I certainly prefer you to [[File:Hochi.png]] Ho the Rat—but your reckless implementation got you [[File:CIA.png]] overthrown.
 * [[File:Neoliberal-icon.png]] - I don't despise you like I did before, but trade needs to be regulated.

Negative

 * [[File:ML.png]] - It warms my heart knowing you lost the Cold War.
 * [[File:Altr.png]] - Currently America's most dangerous fifth column.
 * [[File:Trump.png]] - The evil embodiment of the above.
 * [[File:Putin.png]] - Undermining [[File:Cball-Russia.png]] Russia is objectively a net positive for humanity.
 * [[File:XiJinpingThoughtf.png]] Xi Jinping Thought - [[File:Cball-China.png]] China is the single greatest threat to human flourishing in the long-term.
 * [[File:Chavismo.png]] - If only Guaidó got away with it.
 * [[File:Chom.png]] Chomskyism - Please go away already.
 * [[File:Civlibert.png]] - A pipe dream.

Comments
Will clear every once in a while. I LOVE CIVIL LIBERTIES I LOVE CIVIL LIBERTIES I LOVE CIVIL LIBERTIES
 * [[File:Panth.png]] Pantheonism -
 * [[File:Vamp.png]] Braun Spencer Thought - Time for internment camps!
 * [[File:Panth.png]] Pantheonism - Literally 1984 !