What drives your politics?

[mix]

[xchrom]

1. principal comes out of my philosophies.

but i guess i would say a combo of the two.

but i voted philosophy.

[polichick]

2. Agreed - the two are intertwined. nt

[mix]

4. There's probably an interplay of all these factors in most people's politics. nt

[mix]

3. I wish each vote would automatically kick the thread.

Philosophy is the most popular choice. I wonder what people mean by "philosophy." I'm not sure myself...but probably in the formal historical sense of understanding the tradition of ideas, institutions, and practices that have shaped our politics.

[SPedigrees]

12. Same here. I consider them synonymous.

Ethics is another near synonym. I vote for the party or candidate most likely to improve the standard of living and quality of life for the majority of the population, as well as causing the least harm to the environment. I have had these same political ethics since I reached the legal voting age in 1971.

[roguevalley]

13. justice, equality, fraternity.

[frebrd]

5. Hopefully, philosophy is based on principle. eom

[LWolf]

6. Principle and philosophy, along with policy.

Party and personality are not on my table.

[Boojatta]

7. What drives my politics?

The cool air in the basement (which eliminates the need for air-conditioning, except on the hottest days), the prospect of orderly elections in future (which eliminates the need for a violent bloodbath), a cold beer for breakfast (which reduces the need for air-conditioning), my aversion to drinking freshly squeezed pineapple juice for breakfast, my aversion to squeezing pineapples, my belief that it is inappropriate to call out DU members who live on a tight budget in their parents' basements, my commitment to maintaining a low carbon footprint, etc.

[damntexdem]

8. Philosophy that includes principles and support for certain policies.

What else?

[NJmaverick]

9. A set of moral convictions combined with experience and a desire to get things done

[mix]

10. I should have added "Profit" for the DLCers. nt

[Boojatta]

16. When a shareholder in a for-profit corporation receives a dividend check...

and then donates some or all of that money to an organization such as The Innocence Project, how would you summarize the events?

The shareholder received profit, unless perhaps the shareholder's total returns (including dividend money donated to charity) will fail, after liquidation of the long position, to provide more than what the shareholder spent to buy shares. Now, presuming that the shareholder doesn't expect to personally obtain any concrete benefit from the donation (such as publicity), we could say that the spending of the money was an end in itself. The opportunity to make such a donation would seem to be a drive motivating the shareholder.

Profit is likely to be a key element in that drive if, as assumed, the donation money comes from dividends. Now, there are obviously alternative sources of money for charity. However, I didn't propose the above scenario for no reason. If, for example, you regularly spend part of your paychecks or pension checks to donate to charity, then the donations will stop when you die. If you donate dividends to charity, then it's very easy to arrange for the donations to continue after you die.

[mix]

17. That is a wonderful defense of profit,

there are Chicago-school/free market Democrats, like Austan Goolsbee, Larry Summers, President Obama, and the Blue Dogs, who see profit and self-interest as the cornerstone of their market-based politics.

The question is what motivates your politics, the pursuit of profit is a legitimate answer.

[Boojatta]

18. The pursuit of profit might be a legitimate answer...

but it's a meaningless answer if you're talking about monetary profit, unless there is some indication of what the money is used for.

[mix]

20. Not meaningless at all.

Most political and economic philosophy about self-interest/profit and the market since the 18th century focuses on the natural harmony and distribution of wealth that results within society when individuals have the liberty to buy and sell as they see fit. For most American politicians today, Democratic or Republican, the market, which has enshrined self-interest/private profit as its highest goal, is not just efficient and productive, it is also a mechanism of social order and collective progress. When social order and collective progress break down, as they are now doing, a police state with enormous wealth disparities results...in practice, free markets only work for the few and must be imposed coercively.

Today, profit/self-interest is clearly a value that drives people's politics, let's call them DLCers, no matter how flawed a philosophy it is.

[Selatius]

27. There is nothing "free" about most markets in the US. They are dominated by oligarchies.

When you have only a few firms or even just one firm dominating a particular market segment, everyone else loses.

For there to be a functioning market price mechanism, you need competition. Anti-trust laws can stimulate such competition, provided they are applied on oligopolies and monopolies like they are supposed to be applied.

[Hydra]

11. I have a philosophy, and policies I like

But those can change at any time. My Principles are the same, and that's what I want out of my politics- my principles made real.

[H2O Man]

14. Good question.

Definitely recommended.

Probably a combination of the above choices.

[yurbud]

15. survival

of my family and descendants, who may well also be the descendants of people I don't know now, so we need to take care of them too.

[Odin2005]

19. Morality and Compassion.

[mix]

21. What is the basis of your "morality"?

:hi:

[Odin2005]

22. Treat people has human beings and not cogs in a machine to be used for one's own end.

[Hosnon]

23. Policy.

Meaning I view everything through an anti-plutocratic lens. Any action is valued by the degree to which it tends to share wealth and return government to the people.

[TheKentuckian]

24. Principles->Philosophy->Policy is my flow so I start with principles/core beliefs

and build from there.

[geardaddy]

25. a team of donkeys.

[mmonk]

26. Lately, self-defense.

[QC]

28. For me, it's all about how deliciously dreamy the politician in question is,

especially in a swimsuit.

[mix]

29. I'll check "Personality" for you.

And perhaps "Physique" as well.