Tiberius Thought

Braun Spencer Thought is the ideology of Braun Spencer, otherwise known as DerVampir666. His ideology is -. His ideology can be best described as Agrarian Social Democracy.

Metaphysics
Braun is a subjective idealist. Reality is dependent on the mind; nothing is independent of the latter. Objectivity does not truly exist, only individual perception. This puts Braun in league with scientific anti-realists and  moral nihilists. Because empirical evidence and morals cannot truly exist in "objective reality" if objective reality is entirely dependent on personal sentiment. That is not to say observations in these areas are not invalid—Braun himself has personal preferences, as will be discussed later. Braun also accepts the mind-body distinction; his favorite argument for it is philosophical zombies.

Epicurean Consequentialism
Braun's personal ethical preference is Epicurean consequentialism, which is, obviously, a combination of Epicurean hedonism and  consequentialism. Similar to negative utilitarianism, Braun sees pleasure—which he defines as the absence of unnecessary fear or suffering—as the highest good. But unlike modern hedonism, Braun sees simple living or minimalism as the best way to achieve such pleasure; and he also highly values the pursuit of knowledge. Living in excess means you become a slave to your possessions; true pleasure comes from community and moderation. For Braun, when it comes to maximizing pleasure in this sense—access to education, meaningful work, financial autonomy, simple living, and small communities—the ends justify the means.

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. Foreign countries which reflect or inspired Braun's economic policies include:
 * [[File:Cball-Belarus.png]] Belarus
 * [[File:Cball-Singapore.png]] Singapore
 * [[File:Cball-Taiwan.png]] Taiwan
 * [[File:Cball-Italy.png]] Italy (especially Emilia Romagna)
 * [[File:Cball-Denmark.png]] Denmark

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.

Worker-Owned Firms
Braun is also a strong supporter of worker co-ops. Most of them are small, only hiring 20 workers on average. It's axiomatic that the benefits of small businesses above apply to worker-owned firms. In Italy the towns with the most worker-owned firms had better health and educational outcomes, lower crime rates, and a sense of optimism and solidarity. In that same country they also had a higher three-year survival rate (87%) than traditional firms (48%). Worker co-ops encourage more local consumption and production since they prioritize their member's well-being over growth. (Which is why they're almost always small-scale.)

If state-owned enterprises (SOEs) must exist, Braun feels they should be managed, in whole or in part, democratically.

However, the Mondragon Corporation—as they hired more independent contractors than worker-owners—convinced Braun that once co-ops become too large they will suffer from the same flaws as big businesses. Therefore, unlike many libertarian market socialists, Braun doesn't discriminate when it comes to  busting trusts.

Wealth Inequality
Braun sees large concentrations in wealth as an existential threat to both democratic institutions and  human rights. The big businesses which fuel such inequalty are a source of stagnation. Once they achieve a certain size they only do the bare minimum to maintain their market share. An example of this is Big Tech companies spending more on patent enforcement, stifling competition, than on research and development. Big Pharma does something similar by spending more on marketing than creating new drugs. And to the extent Big Pharma does create new drugs, they're rushed, mediocre, and/or dangerous—often doing shady things like covering up negative clinical trial data to deceive patients and doctors. And big businesses eventually become central planners, as demonstrated by the socialist Leigh Phillips in "The People's Republic of Walmart"; and all the inefficiencies seen in Soviet-style economic systems apply.

More than this, wealth inequality corrupts our institutions. Two ways this is done:
 * [[File:CronyCap.png]] By lobbying politicians. Basically, big businesses donate money to political campaigns which best reflect their policy preferences. That means candidates with the most campaign finances get the most advertisements on television, billboards, etc. This sort of manufacturing consent ensures that candidates most aligned with the rich get the most attention, and therefore the most votes. TL;DR the wealthy have the loudest voices.
 * [[File:Regulationism.png]] By regulatory capture. Regulatory agencies meant to protect the common man against dangerous products and working conditions become bedfellows with the wealthiest firms in their respective sectors. A great example of this is nearly half of the FDA's budget comes from the biggest pharmaceutical companies; and this results in the FDA becoming complacent with the industry's unforgivable corruption.

Too Big?
I feel when a business is too big depends largely on industry. I find that to be the most tolerable number. But generally speaking I think a business is too big when:


 * It exceeds 150 members. This is the Dunbar number, or the minimum amount of people an individual can cognitively handle or bond with. Once a firm exceeds this number then personal relationships become difficult to sustain, leadership becomes impersonal and less accountable, and fosters the conditions for corruption and unsustainable growth.
 * Exceptions to this rule exists and most studies on the subject define a small business as less than 500 employees. In some industries that's the smallest an optimal business can be.
 * It makes enough in profits to buy out other firms, giving them an unfair advantage in the market.
 * When it controls over 10% of the market.

SOEs
Although Braun is a strong supporter of small businesses, natural monopolies are a real phenomena; where it is more efficient to have one producer instead of multiple. There are also some situations where economies of scale—i.e. forms of production that must be done on a colossal scale and cannot be primarily handled by small businesses—are a necessary evil, especially for the security of the United States. Examples of natural monopolies and necessary economies of scale include:
 * Tap water
 * Electricity grids
 * Gas networks
 * Transportation infrastructure
 * Railways
 * Roads
 * Highways
 * Sewer infrastructure
 * Operating systems
 * Military industry
 * Aerospace manufacturing
 * Tank production
 * APC production

And in those cases you can't promote worker-owned businesses. Because they might make the problems worse, as workers will not only have a monopoly on a given product but they will raise prices ad infinitum to give themselves decadent benefits. Perverse incentives will arise at the expense of consumers and the national health.

In Braun's view the best solution is to have these industries be ran by for-profit state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Ideally on the municipal or provincial level for most natural monopolies; on the federal level for country-wide infrastructure, military affairs, and anything else which (debatably) concerns the nation as a whole. The profits these SOEs generate would go towards healthcare, education, infrastructure, safety nets, and whatnot.

You maintain the benefits of private natural monopolies (like lower prices), a profit motive in improving the national defence, and reducing costs in vital aspects of the economy without the nasty side effects (like worsening inequality); and in doing so you improve the lives on everyone by utilizing the new revenue streams. A win-win!

Maximum Wage
Braun supports a maximum wage as argued for by Sam Pizzigati. Basically the highest-paid member of a firm cannot have an income ten times greater than the lowest paid employee (1:10). Every penny which crosses that threshold will be taxed away. This is to ensure businesses cannot accumulate enough capital to cause serious harm; but it also ties the profits of a business to the well-being of bottom-end employees.

Land Value Taxation
I'm a strong supporter of land-value taxation as promoted by Henry George. Private property in land is a source of monopoly, poverty, and inequality. As natural resource ownership concentrates, a landed plutocracy is better able to extract rent, labor, and other resources from the unlanded commons like leeches. If one cannot access the means of survival without submitting themself to those who "got there first," they're effectively a slave. Suppose you among 100 people crash-landed on an island and claimed all of its natural resources, beating everyone (who were either still unconscious or unable to keep up) to them. In order to access these resources like clean drinking water and coconuts, you demand they do your bidding. They're de facto your chattel slaves.

Hunter-gatherers treat the land as common property. Work to them is play and starvation doesn't exist since they take from nature what they need according to ability. We should emulate this within the context of a modern society. And the best way to do this is ensure those who occupy and use land must reimburse the community for excluding others based on its market value.

In a country as massive as the United States, adopting something like  Singapore's system would promote rural life since most land value is in urban areas. Many people in urban areas will move elsewhere to avoid paying the tax, while city-dwellers pay most of it. It would also make rural areas cheaper to occupy and use, boosting the number of entry-level farmers and small-scale entrepreneurs. This is why farmers across the globe support this scheme. And of course this would deprive the wealthy of another tool to exploit the common man.

The revenue derived from this scheme should go towards a basic income and other effective programs.

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 [[File:Bism.png]] national health insurance scheme where healthcare is supplied by a free market but paid for by the government.
 * And [[File:Cball-Singapore.png]] "universal public housing" where the [[File:Georgist.png]] government leases land according to its unimproved value.

De-Urbanization
Braun enthusiastically supports de-urbanization, viewing rural life as more fulfilling and self-sufficient. He takes influence from the small towns of the 19th and early 20th century United States. Rural societies in his eyes are fundamentally better for an individual or family's mental health, social relations, and whatnot. Rural societies also fare better in war than urban ones (assuming technological equality and other factors).

Urbanization itself is linked with decadence, over-indulgence, and immense psychological suffering. Urban growth itself, as Marx believed, is a product of unchecked surplus value extraction; that laissez-faire and free trade policies in the short-run will destroy "the idiocy of rural life." In other words, they're a product of rakish, exploitative industrialism and all that implies.

Braun feels rural societies are essential to preserving human rights and dignity. For the rights required for a functioning democracy—like the right to privacy, which mandates less density so people can express thoughts without fear, greater financial independence among individuals, and less inequality—are best preserved in a rural society.

Rural communities can have apartments and even industry. At least 70 years ago rural areas thrived with local industry, especially manufacturing, which enabled the 20th century small-town life we still romanticize today. Suppressing large concentrations in wealth and aggressively pushing for small businesses will localize production and consumption.

Braun also supports local agriculture as part of his desire for self-sufficiency; ideally a combination of small, individual farmers and  collective farms. He idealizes the former since the freest people in the world in his eyes are self-reliant farmers who subsist on their land without external help or subversion; but for pragmatic reasons he's a champion of the latter, liking Belarus's collective farms but wants them to have more autonomy.

There are other issues with urbanization. People flock to the cities for jobs and convenience. Suburbs, which have their own problems like car-dependent infrastructure, are a consequence of people wanting the benefits of rural life (e.g., sense of community and peacefulness) while also having the "benefits" of city life. But 80% of Americans live in suburbs and prefer them. Many of them have lived in such housing for decades and won't give up their property without a fight. As the majority of Americans are NIMBYs, a radically anti-NIMBY platform will not do you any favors at the ballot box. Even if you could win elections with such a platform, or did things like discourage land speculation or zone for denser housing, there would hardly be any changes or popular resistance.

Braun feels a better solution is to decrease the demand for urban (and subsequently suburban) housing. Not satisfy the neoliberal fetish for bulldozing the suburbs.

Methods Braun supports to promote de-urbanization include:
 * Creating more opportunities outside of urban areas (e.g. subsidizing tech start-ups in rural areas) and promoting self-employment so people can leave urban areas unscathed.
 * Reviving local industry and manufacturing through [[File:Protect.png]] protectionist measures, leading to self-sufficient, smaller communities outside of urban areas.
 * The aforementioned good-paying jobs which helped rural areas thrive have since been shipped to places like [[File:Cball-India.png]] India and [[File:Cball-China.png]] China, [[File:UrbanAccelicon.png]] accelerating urbanization.
 * Instituting [[File:Welf.png]] universal healthcare since many stay in urban areas in case of medical emergency.
 * Improving essential infrastructure in rural areas (e.g. more hospitals and railways) so people are less inclined to stay in urban areas for the implied benefits while reducing car dependency.
 * Capping wealth, [[File:Georgist.png]] discouraging land speculation, and other measures which decrease economic exploitation that fuels urban development in the first place.
 * LVT in general will reduce the price of rural land while encouraging efficient use of it, potentially leading to many leaving the cities to avoid paying extra taxes.

In the short-term with respect to the suburbs, of which Braun prefers some elements of over the city center, he feels we should convert abandoned buildings into apartments, expand public transportation (like bussing), construct pedestrian- and biker-friendly pathways, and invest in greener forms of transportation like electric cars.

Unlike Neoluddists, Braun feels technological progress can improve the lives of rural people (like modernizing agriculture which reduces famines) and is not inherently alienating. The fact such "progress" is in the hands of Robber Barons who profit off such alienation is makes regressive.

All in all, Braun feels ruralism is the best way to accommodate the valid criticisms anarcho-primitivists have of industrial life without abandoning the chance of positive scientific, medical, or technological progress. In fact, a rural, more equal society would have more innovation. Countries with less inequality have more advances in those areas; inequality perverts innovation, stagnates it, or both as seen in the United States.

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.

Protectionism
Braun would be willing to support protectionist measures in the short-term to undermine big business in favor of smaller ones. This is because, as his friends have argued, free trade allows big businesses to shift assets and other expenses overseas. So limiting their ability to do this would reduce their competitiveness; making smaller producers more lucrative.

But in the long-term free trade is objectively the best; protectionism often leads to war with countries over resources. Suppose a foreign country has a comparative advantage. But you can't get what they produce peacefully through trade. How else can you get it, especially if it's too costly to produce it at home, except violence? The drive for economic nationalism and autarky caused both world wars.

Despite Nazi Germany's drive towards economic self-reliance,  big businesses saw profits skyrocket and entire countries had to be  brutally swallowed to keep the system from collapsing. Adam Tooze in his book "Wages of Destruction" illustrated how big business profited from tariffs. And as Braun's friend pointed out, protectionism can benefit big businesses since it severely limits foreign competition. So Braun believes protecitonism can lead to the very thing he wants to stop.

He thinks other methods—like the maximum wage, ending land monopoly, and prohibiting usury—are a preferable method of stopping big business and large concentrations in wealth. Protectionism should be a last resort.

Social Issues
Braun is a  civil libertarian. Outside of economics he's a strong supporter of civil liberties and human rights. Although he supports measures to help struggling minorities also.

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.

Gun Rights
Unlike many other progressives—although he's not a tiny minority by any means—Braun is a strong supporter of  gun rights. As said earlier he believes transgender people should own firearms to defend themselves against a  reactionary population. Especially in states with the trans-panic defence. Everyone should be armed by mandate. (Yes, even for convicted felons; if people fear you're going to abuse gun rights once released from prison, you shouldn't have been released.) If you don't want to be mugged, robbed, or killed, you don't just invest in socioeconomic programs which reduce those crimes—you must arm yourself for the occasional screw-up. The police won't save you; you must save yourself. You have the right to defend yourself and your property. He'd also pass a national stand-your-ground law.

Police Reform
Braun believes police chiefs in towns, cities, and districts should be democratically elected. Just like Sheriffs in most counties. This is to hold them more accountable to the public as, once corruption becomes apparent, they can be voted out or recalled. Something similar recently transpired when the Uvalde school council, due to local pressure, fired the district police chief for reckless, cowardly incompetence. There should also be term limits in place to prevent mini-J. Edgar Hoovers running around. Other legal reforms Braun supports include:
 * Eliminating qualified immunity.
 * Busting police unions.
 * Expanding the castle doctrine to include excessive police force.
 * Bodycam mandates.
 * Diverting wasteful police spending to better training and social workers.

But Braun thinks / violent responses to law enforcement's excessive force (Waco Siege), repeat violations of the social contract (Minneapolis Police Department), and pursuance of tyrannical laws (e.g. War on Drugs) are morally justified. Moreover, rural societies, by virtue of being less dense, require less policing.

Prostitution
Braun is mostly indifferent to sex work. But he sees value in legalizing prostitution. Namely as a source of stability given the rise in inceldom, a source of income for women in poverty, and as a source of revenue as sex is almost an infinite resource so long as humans have drives. Keeping it criminal makes it difficult for prostitutes to report abuse; outlawing the purchasing of it will only drive it further into the black market. Criminalizing it also doesn't get to the root of the problem. Only a minority of prostitutes actually enjoy their work. Most of them do it for survival, as in some cases, due to monopsony power, prostitution is either a superior alternative to most minimum wage jobs in terms of compensation or is an effective side hustle.

Braun's solution is to confine prostitution to state-owned brothels (SOBs). All prostitutes working in these brothels must be adults and licensed to do that sort of work. They must undergo regular check-ups for psychiatric problems and sexually-transmitted diseases. Contraception use would be mandatory for both parties. Cameras would be installed as well to catch johns. The profits these SOBs generate would go towards reducing the need for anybody to go into the world's oldest profession—safety nets especially. Eventually the only people who would work for SOBs are the minority of those who actually like the work.

Prison Reform
Braun is a strong supporter of rehabilitative justice. He believes everyone, even the most heinous of criminals, deserve a second chance at life if they do the time while also being actively treated by psychiatrists. Punitive justice comes with a high recidivism rate. Braun believes this is because the long-term effects of incarceration—adapting to prison culture, being shunned by society, greater difficulty integrating back into society, and whatnot—make it so former convicts have nothing to lose and return. Oscar Wilde is a major influence on Braun's views on this subject.

Abortion
Braun is strongly pro-choice. His bloodline is filled with drug addictis, alcoholics, mental illness, and poverty. His personal experience shaped his belief that society benefits from sustaining stable population growth and keeping the birth rates of people born with inheritable, anguishing conditions low.

Access to abortion is what drove crime rates since the 70s. Furthermore, there's an originalist for the pro-choice position—the drafters of the 14th Amendment would've understood abortion was protected by the right to privacy (at least until the quickening, 15-18 weeks into pregnancy).

That being said, Braun also thinks we can drastically reduce the need for abortions by providing birth control, sex education, and other programs which reduce unwanted pregnancies.

Influences
In no particular order. This list will expand as Braun reads more.


 * [[File:LaFollete.png]] Robert La Follette [[File:Cball-US.png]]
 * [[File:Ricardosoc.png]] David Ricardo [[File:Cball-UK.png]]
 * [[File:Anin.png]] Benjamin Tucker [[File:Cball-US.png]]
 * [[File:Ormarxf.png]] Karl Marx [[File:Cball-Germany.png]]
 * [[File:Plcn2.png]] Whatifalthist *[[File:Cball-US.png]]
 * [[File:Hedonism-cloud.png]] Epicurus [[File:Cball-Greece.png]]
 * [[File:Diogenes.png]] Diogenes [[File:Cball-Greece.png]]
 * [[File:Physiocracypix.png]] François Quesnay [[File:Cball-France.png]]
 * [[File:LeftRothbardianismPix.png]] Roderick T. Long [[File:Cball-US.png]]
 * [[File:Distributist.png]] John C. Médaille [[File:Cball-US.png]]
 * [[File:Protect.png]] Ian Fletcher [[File:Cball-US.png]]
 * [[File:Clib.png]] Hebert Spencer [[File:Cball-UK.png]]
 * [[File:Georgist.png]] Henry George [[File:Cball-US.png]]
 * [[File:Indlibsoc.png]] Oscar Wilde [[File:Cball-Ireland.png]]
 * [[File:Woodrow.png]] Richard Spencer [[File:Cball-US.png]]
 * [[File:Hedonism-cloud.png]] Henry David Thoreau [[File:Cball-US.png]]
 * [[File:Republicanismpix.png]] James Madison [[File:Cball-US.png]]
 * [[File:Christy.png]] Richard Swinburne [[File:Cball-UK.png]]
 * [[File:Clib.png]] Jean-Jacques Rousseau [[File:Cball-France.png]]
 * [[File:Liberalsoc.png]] John Rawls [[File:Cball-US.png]]
 * [[File:Clib.png]] John S. Mill [[File:Cball-UK.png]]
 * [[File:GE.png]] Peter Kropotkin [[File:Cball-Russia.png]]
 * [[File:Neolud.png]] Theodore Kaczynski [[File:Cball-US.png]]
 * [[File:Republicanismpix.png]] Thomas Jefferson [[File:Cball-US.png]]
 * [[File:Radlib.png]] Thomas Paine [[File:Cball-US.png]]

Based

 * - Based philosophically and overall interesting ideology.
 * - We're have rather similar policy platforms and you seem nice as a person.
 * - Weak on many cultural issues and too authoritarian, but you helped rural pill me and I liked the few talks we had.
 * - Not bad. Not bad at all.
 * [[File:Panth.png]] Pantheonism - You're pretty based, but pls drop the monarchism.
 * [[File:Uzarashvilism.png]] - Epic.
 * - I'm happy I rural-pilled you. 😎

Bringe
W.I.P.

Cringe
W.I.P.

Based

 * [[File:AgSocDem.png]] Agrarian Social Democracy - Literally me.
 * [[File:SocDist.png]] Social Distributism - I'm skeptical of crypto and loathe Dugin, but otherwise your economics is based.
 * [[File:Socgeo.png]] - Also based economics.
 * [[File:Pinkdist.png]] Pink Distributism - More 👏 queer 👏 entrepreneurs. 👏
 * [[File:Bull Moose Progressivism.png]] - We need trust busting—and tons of it—now more than ever.
 * [[File:Agrnac.png]] - Rural societies are stronger and freer!

Bringe

 * [[File:Strasser.png]] - You have based economics, but authoritarian racism is cringe.

Cringe

 * [[File:Nazi.png]] - Vile.
 * [[File:UrbanAccelicon.png]] Urban Accelerationism - You make me gag.

Comments
Glencoe- add me
 * [[File:Rocksismicon.png]] Rocksism - Add maybe?
 * Implianium - Add me
 * - Yo this is hella based. :D
 * - Hello there
 * - Saw the ideology thingy was broken so i fixed it up, remember to add me if you ever add self-insert relations
 * - Add me?
 * [[File:Uzarashvilism.png]] - Absolutely based! Add me?
 * [[File:Vamp.png]] Braun Spencer Thought - You three have been added!