Tiberius Thought

Tiberius Thought is the economically center to center-right and culturally center-left ideology of the blogger Tiberius. He occupies the Authoritarian Right quadrant.

Metaphysics
Tiberius Thought follows idealism, the idea that the world is the product of a collective, non-egoic consciousness; and thus "reality" is dependent upon subjective perception. As egoic souls will have different interpretations of this subjective reality, all epistemological claims are relative. In other words, Tiberius Thought uses idealism to justify relativism.

Morality
Tiberius Thought considers all moral claims to be relative as well. Two people with similar experiences can come up with different moral systems to justify (or condemn) what transpired before them. Morals boil down to individual preferences—shaped by one's personal experience and culture—comparable to a person's taste for food or clothing. This is why Tiberius Thought uses "desirable" and "undesirable" and not "good" or "evil." Morals only matter insofar as they can be enforced through power. Those who wield power can impose their moral preferences onto others.

History
Tiberius Thought believes that there is a course of history, one which is inherently, and that humanity should advance the dialectic towards that end-point. WIP

Free Will
Per his idealism, Tiberius Thought embraces libertarian free will. That outside of cases of cosmic injustice (e.g., being born to a drug-addicted single parent and an incarcerated father), humans have complete agency. From this, Tiberius Thought is a strong advocate of personal responsibility; and that factors like poverty and mental health are merely excuses to avoid self-improving activities.

Elitism
Tiberius Thought believes that under an, a property-owning elite of  merchants,  academics, and  entrepreneurs—in the  Schumpeterian sense of people engaged in innovative activities; creative destruction—will manifest. This "Natural Aristocracy" becomes the primary source of  social progress: Advances in the arts, science, technology, and medicine (expressions of human ingenuity, development, and creativity). When free to exploit resources (human or otherwise) in their self-interest, they generate the wealth necessary to pursue such creative and scientific endeavors. Tiberius Thought's thinking on this stems from four sources:
 * 1) [[File:Hamilton.png]] and [[File:Soclib.png]]  support for a [[File:Arist.png]] "natural aristocracy."
 * 2) The taking of [[File:Obj.png]] [[File:Elites.png]]  to its logical conclusion.
 * 3) The Schumpeterian defence of [[File:Corp.png]] big business by [[File:Civnat.png]] Michael Lind and [[File:3way.png]] Robert D. Atkinson.
 * 4) [[File:Nietzsche.png]] Friedrich Nietzsche's defence of [[File:Slaveism_icon.png]] slavery in The Greek State.

Positive Rights
Tiberius Thought believes individual autonomy necessitates the existence of positive rights. WIP

[[File:Authdem.png]] Civics [[File:Technocracy.png]]
Tiberius Thought's ideal form of government is republican. One which combines elements of representative democracy with  technocracy. He favors running the country like a corporation, in which elected representatives, belonging to a  like-minded ruling party, seek to maximize profits for the country and to guarantee their electorate (shareholders) a decent living standard in exchange for remaining in power. A strong, autocratic executive authority, wielding a cabinet of experts, should have the highest say in setting public policy. It is sort of obvious he is a big fan of Alexander Hamilton. Something close to a real-life example of this would be Singapore.

[[File:Soccap.png]] Social Market Economy [[File:3way.png]]
When it comes to America's political economy, Tiberius Thought champions the   with elements of.

He is a supporter of free markets, where firms seek to maximize economic profits, but with  public-private partnerships,  nudging markets with taxes and subsidies,  strong intellectual property protections, and a powerful  central bank. What he desires too is "growth economics," in which demand-side and supply-side policies are utilized to promote entrepreneurship (creative destruction). He is inspired heavily by the works of Joseph Schumpeter and  Alexander Hamilton.

He also favors a more egalitarian distribution of wealth and social capital, but balancing it out with an emphasis on personal responsivity, shunning parasitism, and discouraging destructive lifestyles (e.g., single parenting). In other words, creating a strong middle class, helping those who desire work join that middle class, and slashing subsidies to anti-social tendencies. The best way to accomplish this is tying most welfare programs to employment, opening up access to opportunities for social mobility (e.g., tuition-free college), promoting  private charity,  stimulating private-sector job growth, and reforming benefits so they encourage marriage. Anthony Giddens and Charles Murray helped shape his views on welfare.

[[File:Paternalism.png]] Welfare State [[File:WorkWelf.png]]
Tiberius Thought by and large opposes the current welfare state. Wealth redistribution to merely "eat the rich" and  baby the masses (to prevent personal struggle) has ominous effects. For it punishes the successful in society  to sustain the existence of those who refuse to self-improve. In heterogenous societies the welfare state has the unintended consequence of creating a  permanent underclass that burdens the  country; subsidizing a  destructive culture which not only opposes thrift, productivity, and solidarity, but often embraces  criminal, anti-social lifestyles. What Tiberius Thought supports instead is a paternalistic welfare state; one which emphasizes personal responsibility—"pulling oneself up by the bootstraps"—and climbing the  social ladder through hard work (social mobility). Below are programs Tiberius Thought espouses:

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Expansion
The Earned Income Tax Credit is the most effective anti-poverty program to date. To make it better, and thus fight poverty while encouraging work and family, he would support the following reforms:
 * 1) Raising the phase-out so it ends at middle-income levels, indexed to inflation.
 * 2) Increase the phase-in rate and boost the maximum tax credit.
 * 3) Extending the EITC to include [[File:SyndieSam.png]] childless workers.

Workfare
Tiberius Thought accepts the need for unemployment insurance, but it needs to be strictly limited to thwart abuse and to make people work. So in the spirit of "If you do not work, you do not eat", Tiberius Thought supports unemployment insurance lasting up to six months. At that point, if the person does not secure a job, they must perform community service or some other socially useful work in the public sector to keep those benefits.

Health Insurance
Tiberius Thought supports a healthcare system resembling Switzerland and  South Korea's. Health insurance, whether it be private or public, will be compulsory; every citizen must have it. They can settle for private insurance, a public option based on ability to pay, or both at the same time. This multi-payer system will keep out-of-pocket expenses for consumers low while encouraging personal responsibility.

Tuition-Free Tertiary Education
In the eyes of Tiberius Thought, the digital realm and automation will make education more valuable than ever. To stay competitive in such an environment, one must acquire marketable skills for social mobility. STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and the trades (e.g., plumbing and welding) will be the most in-demand jobs of the future. For this reason, Tiberius Thought believes the following should be made tuition-free, available to anybody who wants it:
 * Public universities
 * Community colleges
 * Vocational schools

Profit Sharing
Tiberius Thought believes that workers in firms should get a slice of the pie they help create. He thus favors tax incentives to encourage profit sharing and employee stock ownership plans in  companies.

Social Housing
While Tiberius Thought opposes most land-use regulations, he does believe that social housing should catch those left out of the real estate market. One should think of it as a "public option" in housing. One of his most controversial policy proposals is "inclusive low-income housing," in which dirt-cheap (if not free) housing is offered to homeless people with zero restrictions on drug use.

Minimum Wage
And finally, Tiberius Thought supports raising the minimum wage to $19 an hour. For $15 in 2016, when the "Fight for 15" battle picked up, is now closer to $18.80 in 2023 thanks to inflation. Such a minimum wage should be indexed to inflation, being raised automatically each year.

[[File:CronyCap.png]] Anti-Trust [[File:Corp.png]]
Tiberius Thought tolerates—and in some situations embraces—the existence of monopoly and oligopoly. Per Joseph Schumpeter, monopolization is a valid business strategy insofar as it makes entrepreneurial investments ("entrepreneurial" in the sense of "innovative activity") easier and less risky. A company with monopoly power—the ability for a firm to set prices beyond their marginal costs due to high market concentration—has more financial resources they can devote to the research and development of new, better products. In other words, monopoly power is critical to the creative destruction process. This is why Tiberius Thought is a supporter of intellectual property protections like patents and copyrights, which are grants of monopoly power, and also the State cooperating with and regulating monopolistic/oligopolistic firms in the national interest. (He also feels working with private monopolies is preferable to nationalization, for it would be easier for the State to scapegoat and "betray" a private firm which steps too far than a government enterprise, while also reducing bureaucratic overburden.)

He only supports "trust busting" when firms violate the consumer welfare standard, and their innovative products are of no long-term benefit to the public. In cases where the long-term positive utility outweighs the short-term reduction in consumer welfare, he would support nudging such corporations via corporate welfare. For instance, with pharmaceutical products like insulin he would support the government purchasing some of it and selling it to consumers at a lower price until the patent expires. He would have opposed breaking up Standard Oil. For that level of intervention should be an absolute last resort.

[[File:Fiscon.png]] Taxation [[File:Econlib.png]]
Tiberius Thought supports maintaining a balanced buget. He feels deficit spending—when spending is not equal to tax revenue—is a net harm in the long-term, as it does three things. He agrees with, as did  Milton Friedman, that deficit spending is useful for dealing with national emergencies or bust cycles. But otherwise, balanced budgets are essential to maintaining high productivity. To accomplish this he favors the following:
 * 1) Higher interest rates, which discourages investment (hurts stock performance, cuts into real estate markets, and makes starting a business harder).
 * 2) It artificially enhances the currency's value by promoting foreign capital, which reduces global competitiveness.
 * 3) It acts as a birth tax, punishing future generations who will have to pay that off.
 * [[File:Econlib.png]] Privatizing, in whole or in part, public-sector services or functions to cut spending (e.g, the partial privatization of Social Security like in [[File:Cball-Sweden.png]] Sweden).
 * [[File:Statecap.png]] Using for-profit state-owned enterprises—like social wealth funds or [[File:Cball-Canada.png]] Canada's Crown corporations—to raise revenue for the [[File:Statism.png]] State.
 * [[File:Antiwelf.png]] Eliminating or cutting aforementioned wasteful or parasitic welfare programs, which cost the economy over $1 trillion a year.
 * [[File:Socdem.png]] Raising taxes progressively so that government revenue is closer to what is actually spent.

[[File:Tripartism.png]] Tripartism [[File:Corptism.png]]
Tiberius Thought supports  tripartism; a system of  class collaboration in which wage councils—where delegates of  workers,  businesses, and  government—set internal economic policy on a sector-to-sector basis. This will achieve two things:
 * 1) All tripartite agreements would be compromises which satisfy (hopefully) all parties as much as possible, with the [[File:Statism.png]] State only enforcing what are essentially contacts negotiated on the national, state, and local level. This minimizes [[File: Regulationism.png]] government intervention in the economy overall.
 * 2) It ensures all classes in society work harmoniously in the [[File:Nation.png]][[File:Cball-US.png]] national interest, getting the best of both productivity and profitability.

[[File:Pro-Choice1.png]] Abortion [[File:Pro-ChoiceRemade.png]]
Tiberius Thought is a strong supporter of abortion. He opposes all legal restrictions on the ability to seek an abortion, even limits on when a mother can seek one. He also believes infanticide by the mother up to three years of age should be fully permissible, since a child does not develop meaningful sentience up to that point. Since a woman's body is her property, and a child in the womb serves a parasitic function when unwanted, she should have to right to remove it by any means necessary. Further, abortion has a eugenic effect in two ways:
 * 1) It keeps fertility rates among the poor low, reducing the cycle of poverty and thus its [[File:Psychopath.png]] anti-social consequences (e.g., higher crime rates).
 * 2) [[File:Primitivism-icon.png]] Mothers having autonomy in reproductive decisions has helped humans evolve into what they are today.

[[File:Gay.png]] LGBT Rights [[File:PinkCap.png]]
Tiberius Thought advocates for the rights of non-heterosexual and gender non-conforming people. Homosexuality serves a useful social function by promoting solidarity between members of the same sex and helping raise abandoned offspring. LGBT emancipation is also a logical conclusion of capitalism, for  sex is highly profitable—just ask  Fulgencio Batista —and excluding workers for trivial preferences is unprofitable. In addition, traditional gender norms limit the scope of human creativity, which also hinders the ability for the system to extract profits; so supporting the rights of transgender and  non-binary people is a step in the right direction for Tiberius Thought.

[[File:AntiGRights.png]] Gun Control [[File:Auth.png]]
Gun control is an important position of Tiberius Thought. Although he normally accepts autonomy, he feels  mob rule hinders individual autonomy, especially  property rights, in the long-term. As the Federalists identified centuries ago, unfettered access to firearms allows for the impulsive masses to interfere in the  democratic process. There is also no meaningful liberty if one inhabits a war zone (for more guns equals more violent crime). Enemies of Tiberius Thought's values, such as communists, are also supportive of gun rights in the hopes they can overthrow the system to their benefit.

[[File:Nihil.png]] Pro-Euthanasia [[File:Health_and_Safetyf.png]]
Tiberius Thought is a pro-euthanasia ideology. He feels those who are dissatisfied with life have the right to perish, and in the most humane manner possible. He opposes any efforts to legally restrict access to euthanasia. Justin Trudeau and Emmanuel Macron deserve credit for pushing euthanasia according to Tiberius Thought.

[[File:Imp.png]] Foreign Policy [[File:Necon.png]]
Tiberius Thought is a strong advocate of. He feels there should be two objectives to American foreign policy: He also approves of efforts by the United States to undermine socialist movements during the Cold War, including the propping up of  banana republics and  right-wing dictators by the  CIA. He opposes the Biden administration's pledge to cut funding to the  Saudi struggle against the Iran-backed  Houthis. All-in-all, his foreign policy attitude can be compared to British imperialism of the 19th century, adapted to a more  globalized situation. Tiberius Thought justifies this foreign policy on Social Darwinist and  Machiavellian grounds.
 * 1) To open up access to [[File:Neighborstan.png]] foreign resources so [[File:Corp.png]] entrepreneurs [[File:Cap.png]] can liberally exploit them to maximize profits (both [[File:Human.png]] human and [[File:Mountains.png]] natural).
 * 2) To undermine and eventually topple regimes hostile to American interests (e.g., [[File:Cball-Iran.png]] Iran and [[File:Cball-Russia.png]] Russia).

[[File:Neoimp.png]] Trade [[File:Globalism.png]]
As implied by his foreign policy, Tiberius Thought believes the prime aim of trade policy should be to exploit foreign resources to the benefit of American entrepreneurs. But he also feels that so long as countries are competing for power and influence, often at the expense of each other, national competitiveness and security should be factored into the equation as well. As such, he supports free trade agreements to project American soft power and coerce weaker countries into inescapable economic dependency. But he also wants to reduce the trade deficit through subsidies for successful domestic companies (e.g., tax cuts and land grants) to encourage exports without disrupting the free flow of cheap goods. He supports Biden's CHIPS and Science Act for subsidizing semiconductor manufacturing companies like Intel, which addresses a valid national security concern while promoting foreign investment.

Relations

 * -|Ideology Relations=

Positive
W.I.P.

Mixed
W.I.P.

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

Positive

 * [[File:BERNHEflash.gif]] BERNHE0504 - Probably the person I have most in common with in this community! Apart from some of your conservative social views, I don't have many complaints with you.
 * [[File:Omega1065.png]] - Me, but more moderate.
 * [[File:Icon_oRange.png]] oRange System [[File:Icon_oRange_Alt.png]] - Same as above; my main disagreements with him are on civic nationalism and foreign policy. He's also further left than me.
 * [[File:Vexism.png]] Vexism - Great friend, although we don't have much in common outside of a few philosophical similarities.
 * - One of the most wholesome members of this community, albeit more economically left-wing than me.
 * [[File:Stilluserricon.png]] - Embrace the profit motive and your ideology would be epic.
 * - Embrace the [[File:3way.png]] Third Way and you'll be based!

Mixed

 * [[File:pixil-frame-0(38).png]] Neo-Majapahitism - You may have some based economic takes, but your conservative values are awful. Also, you should be supportive of [[File:Imp.png]] American imperialism since it was the biggest supporter of [[File:Suharto.png]] Suharto.
 * [[File:O%27Langism.png]] - A blend of syndicalism and mutualism actually seems based, but your anti-statism ruins everything. As [[File:Hamiltonianism.png]] Hamilton predicted—and which history only confirmed—you need a powerful central government and markets for [[File:Prog.png]] human progress.
 * [[File:Panth.png]] Pantheonism - Guild socialism is cringe and so is pacifism, but otherwise you're not too bad.
 * - Same with [[File:Vexism.png]] her pretty much, although you're a pleasant person.
 * [[File:NewMatthism3.1.png]] Matthism - Not bad, but not great either.
 * - You're alright I suppose, although you'd be slightly better if you embraced [[File:Egocap.png]] Ego-Capitalism.
 * [[File:Glencoe.png]] Glencoe - Your views are tolerable.
 * [[File:Iconfloofel.png]] - A very wholesome person but we have nothing in common (except for agrarianism but for vastly different reasons).
 * - Same as above pretty much.
 * [[File:Rock.png]] Rocksism - Too left-wing but otherwise okay.

Negative
W.I.P.

Reading List
Note: Tiberius Thought does not necessarily agree with everything stated in these books, although this collection of books and essays will help you understand his thought process.
 * [[File:Corp.png]] Big is Beautiful: The Myth of Small Business - [[File:3way.png]] Robert D. Atkinson and [[File:Civnat.png]] Michael Lind
 * [[File:Pragmat.png]] The Prince - [[File:Mach.png]] Niccolò Machiavelli
 * [[File:Protect.png]] Free Trade Doesn't Work - [[File:EconNat.png]] Ian Fletcher
 * [[File:Antichrist.png]] The Antichrist - [[File:Nietzsche-icon.png]] Friedrich Nietzsche
 * [[File:Accel.png]] Kant, Capital, and the Prohibition of Incest - [[File:Landian_Accelerationism.png]] Nick Land
 * [[File:Fed.png]] The Federalist Papers - [[File:Hamilton.png]] Alexander Hamilton, [[File:Jeffersoniandem.png]] James Madison, and [[File:Krit.png]] John Jay
 * [[File:Globalism.png]] World Order - [[File:Kisssingerism.png]] Henry Kissinger
 * [[File:Cdem.png]] Toward a Truly Free Market - [[File:DistributismIcon.png]] John C. Médaille
 * [[File:Darwinist.png]] Social Statics - [[File:SpencerDar.png]] Herbert Spencer
 * [[File:Libertarian_Paternalism.png]] Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness - [[File:Chilib.png]] Richard H. Thaler and [[File:Soclib.png]] Cass R. Sustein
 * [[File:Cap.png]] Basic Economics - [[File:Libcon.png]] Thomas Sowell
 * [[File:Slaveism_icon.png]] The Greek State - [[File:Nietzsche.png]] Friedrich Nietzsche
 * [[File:Schoolicon.png]] Charter Schools and Their Enemies - [[File:Libcon.png]] Thomas Sowell
 * [[File:Statecap.png]] The Closed Commercial State - [[File:Utsoc.png]] Johann Gottlieb Fichte
 * [[File:GControl.png]] Repeal the Second Amendment: The Case for a Safer America - [[File:DemocratF.png]] Allan Lichtman
 * [[File:Anticon.png]] Supply-Side Follies: Why Conservative Economics Fails, Liberal Economics Falters, and Innovation Economics is the Answer - [[File:3way.png]] Robert D. Atkinson
 * [[File:Statecap.png]] The Entrepreneurial State - [[File:WEF-Icon.png]] Mariana Mazzucato
 * [[File:EconInflate.png]] The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money - [[File:Keynes.png]] John M. Keynes
 * [[File:Necon.png]] The Neoconservative Persuasion - [[File:Trot.png]] Irving Kristol
 * [[File:Flatearthf.png]] The World Is Flat - [[File:Neoliberal-icon.png]] Thomas Friedman
 * [[File:AntiDem.png]] The Revolt of the Masses - [[File:LibSocAuth.png]] José Ortega y Gasset
 * [[File:Mach.png]] The Concept of the Political - [[File:CarlSchmitt.png]] Carl Schmitt
 * [[File:Edu.png]] The Case Against Education - [[File:Ancapf.png]] Bryan Caplan
 * [[File:Cap.png]] Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal - [[File:Obj.png]] Ayn Rand, [[File:Bankocracy.png]] Alan Greenspan, [[File:Egocap.png]] Nathaniel Branden, and [[File:Histval.png]] Robert Hessen
 * [[File:Mach.png]] Politics Among Nations - [[File:Pragmat.png]] Hans Morgenthau
 * [[File:Soclib.png]] On Liberty - [[File:Mill.png]] John Stuart Mill
 * [[File:Enlightab.png]] Leviathan - [[File:Hobbe.png]] Thomas Hobbes
 * [[File:SuccMin.png]] The Road to Serfdom - [[File:Hayek.png]] Friedrich von Hayek
 * [[File:Orlib.png]] The Foundations of Economics - [[File:NeoLiberal-icon.png]] Walter Eucken
 * [[File:Necon.png]] Vietnam: The Necessary War - [[File:Civnat.png]] Michael Lind
 * [[File:Community.png]] Equality as a Moral Ideal - [[File:Demsocstar.png]] Harry Frankfurt
 * [[File:Cultism.png]] Twilight of the Idols - [[File:Nietzsche-icon.png]] Friedrich Nietzsche

Resources
My blog

Comments
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 * [[File:pixil-frame-0(38).png]] Neo-Majapahitism - add me


 * - Add me?
 * [[File:Jonah.png]] JonahF2014 - Hello, please add me [back] evil man.
 * [[File:GanzismIcon2.png]] Ganzism - Your ideology is evil and this is not a joke