I’m a proud sufferer of Trump derangement syndrome. I’d have voted for Pence or most other Republicans over Biden or most Democrats, but I’d have voted for most Democrats (except AOC, Ohmar, Warren, that sort) over Trump.
Free college for all? No, this is a terrible idea. Increasing college education mainly just raises the cost in years and tuition and taxpayer subsidies for alumni to be considered “educated” and employable in many occupations. Moreover, free college is a handout to the educated class, who have much higher income than the so-called “uneducated.”
More taxes and regulations? I’d prefer decreasing both taxes and public expenditures. But given that American politicians of both parties hate decreasing expenditures, I’d prefer they finance government bloat with higher taxes than by growing the debt:GDP ratio as they do in status quo. As for regulations, it depends on the regulation. Many regulations are pointless and just create headaches and restrict economic adjustments. Many regulations are well advised. Overall, I’m sceptical of government’s ability and motivation to design regulations well, so broadly speaking I’d like deregulation.
Open borders? Our best evidence shows that near-future economic costs of low-skilled immigration aren’t as dire as many pretend, but they do exist. However there’s a powerful humanitarian case for allowing more immigration. And there’s a tradeoff between allowing greater immigration and the welfare state: you can have one but not both. I think humans come first, and Americans have no special claim on my empathy, so I’d favor massively reducing the welfare state and greatly increasing immigration.
everyone white automatically inherently racist? Given how the social justice crowd now defines racism, yes, everyone who doesn’t twist themselves into a pretzel to deny obvious stats is racist. But per the colloquial definition, no, very few Americans are racist.
All policemen bigoted? Controlling for exogeneity (outside factors like the rate of people committing crimes or attacking cops) there’s solid evidence that in aggregate cops stop and beat, but not kill, Black men disproportionately. Of course that doesn’t mean that all cops treat people differently by race, but the effect shows up in aggregate.
Pro abortion? I think abortion is sinful and tragic, as is the act that leads to it. But maybe it should still be legal because many mothers who wish to abort would otherwise turn to worse alternatives like underground abortion clinics or DIY solutions.
Anti 2a? I don’t know what the effects of different gun control regimes are on violent crime rates and countering government tyranny, so I’m somewhat neutral. I’m not convinced that civilian guns necessarily REDUCE rather than INCREASE government tyranny – the presence of guns in a region may make government agents much more tyrannical (eg Waco!). And if they increase crime rates, that may worsen political tensions which could also make government tyranny MORE likely.
Iran nuclear deal? If the alternative to the JCPOA were a better deal or the US or a coalition bombing their facilities, I’d oppose the JCPOA. But Trump’s scrapping the deal with no replacement nor bombings just leaves them more likely to develop nukes. The Iranians threw out the IAEA inspection regime and are now poised to just make a run for nuke capabilities.
Many Americans prefer almost any Republican to Trump because he is uniquely divisive and selfish. He stoked the partisan flames every chance he got. He empowered the far-left and the far-right. He threw US allies under the bus out of incompetence and political expedience. He forced decent Republicans to lie and smear honest federal officials who called out his nonsense. He rocked the canoe and splashed mud over the rowers and wouldn’t stop even after he lost in an election where his party did well.