"When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth." - George Bernard Shaw

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I have been characterised on more than one occasion as a right winger. I think this is somewhat unfair: I would characterise myself as a Classical Liberal (note: not the same as a Libertarian - I do not believe that Government is Evil, and do not believe in Markets being Supreme, because they do not always clear and cannot replace many governmental functions).

True, I do tend to expose the folly of left wing beliefs and stands more often than those of the right wing, but this is because the left wing has greater discursive power than that of the right: educated people and intellectuals tend to be left wing. Sugar-coating many stances as promoting "tolerance", "equality" and "respect", and being against "bigotry" and "discrimination" also goes down well - how could anyone in their right minds be against such ostensibly worthy causes?!

As such, the follies of left wing politics are typically not extensively articulated; no, "God says so" is not an adequate response - appeals to religion and tradition do not proper (let alone good) arguments make.

Furthermore, wackier left wing ideas are buttressed by a formidable arsenal of arguments, so not only is there more to tear into, it is also more difficult to do so - in tandem, this makes exposing them a lot more attractive.

A list of issues (at least those which are easier to explicate stances on):

Abortion: While I do not believe a fertilised egg has the same moral status as an infant, the pro-choice position is not unproblematic either, since there's no hard-and-fast rule about when a fetus becomes a person.

Third-trimester abortions are iffy because, since the fetus can survive outside the womb with advanced medical technology, there is almost nothing separating a third-trimester fetus from a premature baby.

Banning third-trimester abortions except in certain cases (e.g. incest, where the mother's life is in danger) is thus a good benchmark.

For those who say a woman has the rights over her own body, here's a thought experiment:

You volunteer for an operation to hook yourself up to a famous unconscious violinist who has a fatal kidney ailment, and you alone have the right blood type to help. The violinist's circulatory system is plugged into yours, so that your kidneys can be used to extract poisons from his blood as well as your own.

One day, just before the violinist is due to be unplugged (because he can now be cured), you say "Screw it, I don't want this anymore". If he is unplugged you will kill him. Is it morally incumbent on you to *not* unplug him a day before he can be cured, since you volunteered for this in the first place?

Affirmative Action: Bad idea, since it makes things worse, is easily abused and entrenches marginality. (some past posts on the topic)

Similar principles apply to gender quotas.

Church/State division: Purely secular government. Mixing the two screws up both.

Drugs: Some kind of harm reduction principle, at least towards soft drugs, should apply to guide public policy. See: the success of drug policy in the Netherlands.

Death Penalty: Life imprisonment, to respect the value of life (that is supposedly so valued), since the evidence for the Death Penalty working is dodgy at best and you might always kill someone accidentally.

Equality of Outcome vs Equality of Opportunity: Equality of opportunity, with supply-side measures (e.g. educational subsidies) to help the disadvantaged. See Affirmative Action.

Gay Marriage and beyond: There should be no grounds to restrict secular marriages between adult, informed and consenting individuals (as well as what said individuals do in private).

More broadly, there is no reason to criminalise incestuous, polygamous and polyamorous relations providing the same 3 criteria are met.

Gun Control: Watch "City of God" to find out why Gun Control is a good idea.

Stem-cell research: Full steam ahead. A Cell is a Rat is a Pig is a Dog is a Boy. Not.

Minimum Wage: The evidence seems to point to minimum wages being a bad thing, creating an insider/outsider dichotomy. Instead, labour markets should be made more flexible to act as a check upon employers.

Trade barriers: None. Any set up to protect infant industries should be of a clearly limited time period and transparently implemented.

Unions: See Western Europe for why labour unions are a bad idea. Instead, labour markets should be made more flexible to act as a check upon employers.

War: "Except for ending slavery, fascism, Nazism, and communism, war has never solved ANYTHING!"; sometimes necessary.

Welfare: Some form of welfare should be provided if the individual is unable to work and has no means of survival. Welfare payments should be tied towards the willingness to work, e.g. if you consistently refuse to be matched to a job, there goes the dole.