Tiberius Thought

Braun Spencer Thought is the ideology of Braun Spencer, otherwise known as DerVampir666. His ideology is -. His ideology has been described as Distributist Progressivism and  Agrarian Social Democracy.

Economics
Braun supports a market economy where production and consumption is as  local as possible. He therefore wants an economy dominated by small businesses (preferably less than 150 employees in most industries) and worker co-ops (which tend to be small). He also supports decentralizing the currency through community banks and credit unions. In cases of natural monopolies and when economies of scale are necessary evils, they should be handled by state-owned enterprises. He also supports de-urbanization, which he feels would be a natural consequence of  taxing away economic rents and an economy where most economic activity is localized.

Small Business
Braun is an enthusiastic supporter of small businesses for:
 * Being more innovative—generating 14-16 times more patents than bigger firms.
 * Greener, as they take steps to respond to an increasingly anxious consumer base.
 * Are better responsive to price signals in general, making them more efficient.
 * Being better for workers.
 * A sole proprietorship down the street is more accountable than anonymous shareholders 1,000 miles away.
 * Small business employees report higher job satisfaction, happiness, and commitment; and feel their concerns are listened to and addressed by leadership.
 * And in abundance small businesses will compete for the best working conditions and pay possible. This, combined with LVT and prohibiting usury, will inhibit surplus-value extraction as well.
 * Empowering and autonomizing small communities.
 * Buying locally generates more local wealth and jobs, making small communities like towns and villages more self-sufficient (local multiplier effect).
 * Small businesses foster a sense of community (e.g. a family-owned arcade sponsoring the kid's baseball team and donating heavily to local causes).
 * And empowering ethnic, racial, gender, and sexual minorities—giving them more financial independence.

Welfare State
Braun believes the welfare state is ineffective at addressing the cause of poverty while worsening it in other cases. It makes the vulnerable dependent on corrupt bureaucrats for survival. In some cases these programs make it impossible for people to find success. Disabled people, for example, are unable to secure even part-time work since they will lose their benefits for having an additional income stream. Braun supports the following:
 * A [[File:Yang2020.png]] universal basic income which replaces most other welfare programs (e.g., food stamps), which Braun feels is more efficient since you can't lose those benefits.
 * A decentralized [[File:Keynes.png]] government jobs guarantee designed to improve the infrastructure of local communities, paying workers a living wage.
 * A national health insurance scheme

Education
Braun used to support privatizing education and ending subsidies to colleges. This is because of Bryan Caplan's book "The Case Against Education." It resulted in his belief that increasing access to education creates credential inflation, where it becomes difficult to find a job in the face of needing to appear unique to employers. It's why a job someone could've done out of high school full-time in the 1950s now requires a bachelors degree. This is in spite of such jobs being stupidly easier via technology. Braun's solution to public education currently is:
 * Elementary and middle school remaining similar to what we have today, but with improved funding.
 * Upon finishing middle school (8th grade), a student will take an exam on most things learned that's similar to the GED test.
 * If they get a good score on the exam they will be placed into high school.
 * If they get a low score, however, they will be placed into a trade school so they will complete their schooling with a marketable skill.

Braun also supports nationalizing tertiary education. His reasoning is that most countries across the globe which do this actually see college attendance decrease. Because the government will only spend money on students who show promise. In the American context of Braun's situation, that would entail those who do well in high school. Thus nationalizing it would not only remove the profit incentive to boost student numbers, but would overall decrease enrollment numbers. Making it more difficult to access means credential deflation. This, combined with universal trade school, would stabilize job markets in a way which helps the impoverished.

LGBT Rights
Braun is a supporter of equal rights for same-sex couples and  transgender individuals. Though he confesses to bias since he's bisexual. He's also befriended many transgender and non-binary people over the years, which has influenced his opinion on the subject. He feels the persecution of LGBT people in the United States justifies protecting the 2nd Amendment for them; especially for transgender citizens. He feels an economy based on small businesses will also empower sexual minorities in general since they will have greater financial independence (and therefore autonomy). He feels the same regarding / racial/ethnic minorities.