My Ideas: An Overview

This is an overview of my main ideas:

1) Libertarian Reformism: I am a libertarian reformist. This means I believe in libertarian ideals, but also believe that we have to get there via a long process of gradual reform. History has shown us that gradual reform is the best way to achieve change in a sound, sustainable and long-lasting way.

2) L+C=R: I believe the best kind of reformism is found in the combination and balance between (classical) liberal optimism in the ability of rationality to improve society and people's lives, and (moderate) conservatism's cautious approach to social change. As I like to say, L+C=R. To develop a robust and sustainable reformism, we first need to develop and strengthen both these traditions.

3) Moral Libertarianism (EMA): I believe that the non-aggression principle (NAP) that underpins classical libertarianism is very difficult to apply in practice. In a reformist context, and as advised by conservative philosophy, there is the very reasonable demand that any proposal for change needs to be rooted primarily in practical need rather than abstract philosophy, and be able to be applied gradually and rationally. It is due to this demand that I have proposed the principle of Equal Moral Agency (EMA) as an alternative. I call this alternative Moral Libertarianism, because it locates the focus for freedom in morality, and in practically resolving moral conflicts in the real world.

4) Conditions for Freedom: Over the years, I have also learned that freedom does not exist in a vacuum. Tribalism, echo chambers, moral panics, over commitment to abstract ideology and philosophy, and peer pressure to conform are all bad for freedom, for example. Therefore, any serious pro-liberty program must also pay serious attention to creating and maintaining the conditions required for freedom. My strong opposition to both the postmodern critical theory left and the populist-authoritarian New Right is rooted in this.

Popular posts from this blog

The TaraElla Story

Image
This is the story of my journey, as an LGBT author and singer-songwriter navigating the ever-changing media landscape, and constant cultural upheavals of the early 21st century. My journey towards embracing a positive attitude to life, to our differences, and to the world in general. I have chosen to tell my story in the hope that it will inspire others, and I hope that more people do this too. I am grateful to the stories of other people, and their life journeys, for inspiring me over the years, and getting me through hard times. Life is interesting, and what we learn from it can be unexpected. I wish to contribute to the vast pool of stories already out there, in the hope that one day, my story could be useful to another person out there, who needs a bit of inspiration. This book combines content from my 2021 works 'A Trans Popstar's Story: Being Trans and Chasing Dreams During Quarterlife', 'Eight Lessons from my Quarter Life Period' and 'The Background and C
Read more

TaraElla Original 2014 - Not That Kind of Retro

The inspiration for this came from several things. One of which was a discussion with a friend several months ago about one of my favourite pop artists, who was a more traditionally inclined person. The discussion then turned to marriage equality, and my friend said that the artist we were discussing was unlikely to support it. I didn't think so. Hence this. This song is now available at the TaraElla Google Play shop . LYRICS: Not That Kind of Retro Some friends say I'm old fashioned Guess I'm like my parents too They long for the 70s, I long for the 90s No I really don't like how some things changed There's a lot of retro stuff in my music I really don't know how to twerk '98 is still yesterday to me Some people may think that Our type always clings to the past No matter if it's good or bad But if that's what you think Then you're wrong I'm not that kind of retro I'm not afraid to speak up I won't take th
Read more

How to Move Away from the Culture Wars

Image
We Need Free Speech, but we Also Need Good Speech Filling in the Void of the Free Speech Movement Introducing the RIDE Method We need to systematically analyze every issue without bias One Thing to Remember About the Trans Discourse A lot of it is fake, or at least in bad faith Rebuilding a Reformist Liberal Agenda Finding common ground in passion for justice, while rejecting critical anarchism The Neo Strategy: A Centrist Strategy for Libertarianism It really is the opposite of the paleo strategy        
Read more