Most people are so binary in their thinking,

and the tenets of “the #left” and those of “the #right” have shifted so much (sometimes even exchanging places) in the last couple of decades,

that I want to write a post titled “Am I on the Right?”

(kind of [like #BrendanOneill did](https://medium.com/@burntoakboy/which-of-these-is-a-right-wing-position-4118046d7765))

listing all the views I have that would be automatically considered left-wing by many people today.

And then perhaps “Am I on the Left?”, too.

#politics

A teaser:

* I want abortions to be not only legal but also publicly subsidised
* Ditto about euthanasia
* Ditto about hormone therapy and sex-reassignment surgery
* I am pro same-sex marriage
* I want more and freer migration
* I want the Sate to provide safety nets
* I am against the death penalty
* I want all drugs to be legal for adults (but also regulated)
* I think the State should be completely secular (no official religion, no subsidies for churches, no mentions of god)
* …

@tripu I want more and freer migration
I want the Sate to provide safety nets

Those two are contradictory, like it or not. The rest of the world does not provide a free ride. If almost anyone can come into your utopia and sign up for benefits, you will have several billion people to support. Unless you have actual Fully Automated Luxury Communism (in which case just ship the hardware to wherever those people are coming from) that will not work.

@mike805

> Those two are contradictory

Not at all. “More and freer” doesn't mean “anyone can enter anytime with no conditions attached”.

Many prosperous countries could admit more migrants and also have a higher positive net impact on the economy.

Countries can impose waiting periods for welfare, reduced benefits, or a combination of both for migrants. Or they can let more of the most productive ones in.

Just a few ideas, it's by no means exhaustive.

@tripu @mike805 > positive net impact on the economy
Invite infinite strangers in cuz "Muh GDP" is just ridiculous. This like people who cheer for a sportsball team made up completely of freelanced strangers (who steal their stuff).

@EvilSandmich

Who said infinite?

/cc @mike805

@tripu @mike805 No one said "finite". If the common good is nothing more than moving an economic gage up at the government office then there is no upper limit.

@EvilSandmich

I don't understand. I said “more and freer” migration. Not “unlimited” or “completely free”. Of course there are trade-offs and sweet spots. You are criticising a straw man, or someone else's view on this.

/cc @mike805

@tripu @mike805 Your moral case for any immigration rests upon economic factors for which there is no limiting factor, or have you not seen any immigration news from the last, say, 50 years?

@EvilSandmich

> Your moral case for any immigration rests upon economic factors for which…

No.

/cc @mike805