OUTLINE

by Paul Nervy
Copyright (c) 2006 by Paul Nervy

Visit www.paulnervy.com.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

POLITICAL ISSUES

Contents

Introduction

Alphabetical list of issue names.

Abortion.
Affirmative action.
Anarchy
Arms race.
Capitalism run amok.
Capital punishment.
Consumer protection
Corruption in government.
Corpratism.
Crime.
Death Penalty
Dictatorship.
Domestic policy.
Drugs
Economy.
Education.
Environment.
Fascism
Feminism.
Food
Foreign policy.
Gay Marriage.
Gun Control.
Health care.
Homelessness
Hunger
Immigration.
Labor Unions.
Media
Military
Minimum wage.
Oil
Pensions
Police
Poverty
Prisons
Race.
Religion. Separation of Church and State.
Taxes.
Tibet
Totalitarianism
Torture
Unions
Voting rights and protection
Water
Welfare.
Women's rights
Worker rights

List of issues by category

Development
Economic/Bus dev
Political/Law dev
Sci/Tech dev
Psych/Soc dev

Environment
Energy conservation
Wildlife and animal welfare
Animal rights

Health
Physical health. The physically ill. Disability issues.
Mental health. The mentally ill. Drug abuse, addiction and recovery.

Economics
Economic development
The poor. Poverty.
Hunger
Homelessness
Welfare

Business
Consumer protection
Workers rights. Labor unions. Job training and workplace issues.
The problem of corpratism.

Politics
Crime. Organized crime. Gangs.
Human rights and civil liberties (good)
Peace and confict resolution (good)
War
Nuclear war
Terrorism
Government oversight and reform (okay)
Immigration
Voting and Democracy (okay)
Fascism. Ultra-conservatism.

Law
Legal assistance for the poor.
Prison reform.
The unjustly convicted innocents.

Science

Technology
Sustainable technology
Computers
Commuity Net or Freenet

Information,
Literacy.
Education.
Communication.
Media. Media criticism. Corporate owned media.
Knowledge
Intellectual Property

Social:
Gender
Women. Feminism
Men's issues
Sexuality
GBLT. Homosexuality. AIDS.
Race and ethnicity
Blacks, Asians, Latinos, American Indians.
Age
The old.
The young. Children.
Family and parenting

Arts
Government funding for the arts and humanities

Religion (atheism)
The rise of fundamentalism.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

INTRODUCTION

This is a political issues list.

Everything is a political issue.

Include global and national issues.

Present the views, goals and tactics of the left and right on various subjects.

Which are real issues?
Which are important issues?
Which are workable solutions.

Which are diversion issues.
Which are unimportant issues?
Which are unworkable solutions.

What is the problem?
Why is it a problem?
What is the best solution?
What are the less that optimal views?

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

POLITICS AND LAW

POLITICS

wwwwwwwwww

Power.

Abuse of power.

Political oppression and exploitation of women and children.

wwwwwwwwww

Dictatorship. Monarchy.

Dictatorship is a government by a single individual.
Dictatorship is a bad thing. Dictatorship is wrong because no one person should be making decisions for all the other people. The people have a right to govern themselves.

Dictatorship is bad because it puts all the power in the hands of one individual. There are no checks and balances in a dictatorship, and that is bad.

Monarchy is rule by a single individual called a king.
Monarchy is a bad thing.

wwwwwwwwww

Totalitarianism.

Totalitarianism is a government that places the needs of the group above the rights of the individual.

Totalitarianism is a bad thing. Totalitarianism is wrong because it denies individual rights.

wwwwwwwwww

Anarchy.

Anarchy is a state of no government and no laws.

Anarchy is a bad thing. Anarchy is wrong because it results in injustice due to lawlessness.

Violence. Lawlessness.

wwwwwwwwww

Government corruption.

Politicians lining their own pockets.
Politicians accepting payoffs from corporations.
Bribery
Organized crime infiltrating government.

wwwwwwwwww

Government death squads.

wwwwwwwwww

Corporatism

Corpratism is a government controlled by corporations.
Corpratism is a government that serves corporations above individuals.

Corporatism is a bad thing because it exploits workers, consumers and the environment in order to promote the corporation.

I am against a corporate controlled government. Against corprate-ocracy.

wwwwwwwwww

Fascism.
Fascism is a type of right-wing extremeism.
Fascism is a bad thing.

wwwwwwwwww

Crime

Bullying. Thugs. Criminals. Organized crime.

Problems with Democracy
Voting. Voter suppression.

Solutions.

Pro Human rights.

Pro Civil rights.

Pro Democracy.

Pro controlled globalization.
World government and law.
World economy and trade.
World culture.

Against bullying.
Against social darwinism.

Against political violence. Genocide. Terrorism.

Pro human rights.

Pro United Nations.

Solutions
Activism
Green Party
Socialism

wwwwwwwwww

Tibet.

Free Tibet. The Chinese invaded Tibet in the 1950's and began destroying the Tibetan culture. China should get out of Tibet. Tibet deserves to be an independent nation.

Problem: Inactivism. Apathy. Apolitical.

Somolia. Ethiopia.

Unaccountable power is wrong.
Non-transparent government is a bad thing. Government should be transparent.

wwwwwwwwww

Taxes.

Flat tax.
Progressive tax.

Income tax.
Sales tax.
Corporate tax
Property tax
Death tax or estate tax.
Capital gains tax.
Trade tax.

Size of government. Big government (left wing) vs. small government (right wing).

Human rights.

Peace studies.

Too much government: Totalitarianism.
Too little government: Anarchism.
The left and right are arguing against excesses in either direction. We need to find the golden mean, the middle way.

wwwwwwwwww

Military

Problem
Too big a military.
Too active a military.
Too much spending on military.
Wars
Nukes

Solutions
Peace
Smaller military
Less active military
Less spending on military.
No nukes
No wars

Military Industrial Complex.
Some people believe that building weapons is good for the economy, so they believe that we should build lots of weapons, and they believe that we should have wars to use the weapons.

Too big and active, war mongers, too much military spending.

Too small and inactive (rarely a problem).

Nuclear weapons.

Ban land mines.

wwwwwwwwww

Police

Police brutality.
Police brutality is a bad thing.

Police corruption.
Police corruption is a bad thing, for example, as addressed in Serpico.

A society must guard against abuses of power by the police.

Amadou Diallo is an example of a person killed by exessive use of force by the police.

Racial profiling is wrong.

Two extremes: Police too weak and ineffective vs police too strong and abusing power.

wwwwwwwwww

Prisons.

Prison Industrial Complex (PIC).
Some people believe that prisons are good for the economy, so they believe we should build lots of prisons, and then they need people to put in the prisons, so they give prison sentences for minor infractions.

Death penalty. Captial punishment.
The death penalty is a bad thing.
The death penalty does not deter crime.
The death penalty should not be used merely to save money.
Execution of innocent people.

Political prisoners.
Some governments do the injustice of putting dissenters into prisons, mental hostpitals, and work camps. For example, the USSR under Stalin put people into gulag work camps.

Corporal punishment is wrong.

Torture is wrong.

Detaining people without a lawyer is wrong, even if they are suspected terrorists.

wwwwwwwwww

Crime

Violent crime (murder, assault, rape)

Corporate crime. White collar crime.

Organized crime (Extortion, Loan sharking, Bid rigging,

Hate crimes.

Gangs. Gangs are a gateway to organized crime.

Bribery.
Extortion.
Threat.
Graft.
Kickbacks.
Terror.
Death squads.
Goon squads.
Drugs.

What caused the US crime rate drop in the last 10 years?

Left wing solutions.
Prevention.
Education.

Right wing solutions.
Build more prisons.
Longer sentences for crimes.
Prison for more crimes.

wwwwwwwwww

LAW

The problem where only the rich can afford lawyers. Buying justice. Justice for sale.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS

ECONOMICS

wwwwwwwwww

Capitalism.

Unregulated, free market capitalism is a bad thing.

Pure capitalism is as bad as pure communism.

Free market capitalism is bad because free market capitalism means no regulation, no laws, no protection of the weak.

wwwwwwwwww

Global economics.

Unregulated capitalism leads to the exploitation of poorer, weaker nations by richer, stronger nations.

Imperialism leads to oppression and exploitation.

Corporations look for cheap labor and markets to sell junk.

World Bank
International Monetary Fund.
The World Bank and IMF shoud not be used as loan sharks, making loans of excessively high rates.
The World Bank and IMF should not be used to coerce nations into hyper-capitalism and other wrong views.
They make loans with strings attached.

GATT and WTO.
The WTO favor multinational corporations.

NAFTA.
Corporations are looking to exploit cheap labor. Corporations are looking to not have to provide a minimum wage, health benefits. Corporations are looking to exploit the environment in order to make more money, so they move their businesses to places where environmental regulation is weak.

wwwwwwwwww

Over production and over consumption. People buy too much stuff.

Consumer debt.

Poverty.
Causes of poverty.
Solutions to poverty.

Unemployment.

Inflation.

Robots taking jobs.

Outsourcing of jobs to other countries.

Excessive privatization. Not having any public property. Pure capitalism.
Excessive nationalization. Not allowing private property. Pure communism.

Excessive regulation.
Excessive deregulation.

Solutions
Cooperatives. Worker owned. Customer owned.
Labor unions.

Helping the poor
Helping the unemployed

Pro Worker rights
Pro Consumer rights

Against monopoly
Against unregulated capitalism
Against unethical advertising

Protesting WTO. IMF. World Bank.

Solutions
Fair trade, not free trade
Simplicity
Labor unions.

Problems
Capitalism run amok. Unregulated.

Monopoly. Wallmart. Microsoft. Clear Channel. Exxon and big oil.

Cronyism.

Over consumption.

Advertising. Excessive advertising.

Help the poor vs. help the rich.

Help the workers (Labor) vs. help the industrialists.

Privatize (right wing) vs. nationalize (left wing)

Regulate (left wing) vs. deregulate (right wing)

Fair Trade.
Fair Trade products is a good thing.

wwwwwwwwww

BUSINESS

Worker oppression and exploitation.

Unemployment.
There should be guaranteed work for all.

Inflation.
If the money a worker earns cannot buy the things they need then that is a problem.

Minimum wage.
A minimum wage is a good thing.

Maximum hours per week
A limit on the amount of required hours of work per week is a good thing.

Too much work. Too long a work day and work week.
Too little pay. Worker exploitation.

Worker health and safety issues.

Quality of Life issues.

wwwwwwwwww

Unions.

Labor unions are a good thing.

Labor unions are under attack.

American Labor

Development of US Labor movement

Demands
8 hour work day
5 day work week
No child labor
No forced prison labor

IWW. International Workers of the World. Aka, the Wobblies. One Big Union.
Joe Hill
Big Bill Haywood
Mother Jones
Syndicalism. When the workers own the factories.
Anarcho-syndicalism. General workers strikes to promote a workers democracy.

Haymarket Square Riot
Triangle Shirtwaist Co. Fire.
Emma Goldman
Eugene Debs.
Samuel Gompers.
AFL
CIO. Congress of Industrial Organizations.
Sit down strikes.
AFL-CIO
American Socialist Movement.

Rural labor movement.
Populist Movement.
Farmers Alliance.
La Grange.

Homestead Strike.
Pullman Porters Strike.
Ludlow Colorado Coal Strike.

wwwwwwwwww

Corporations

Corporations do not currently pay enough taxes.

Corporations today have too much power.
Corporations today have too much influence on government.
Corporations today haved too much influence on the media through advertising, and thus too much influence on the public.
Corporate corruption, for example, Enron, Tyco, Worldcomm, etc.

Corporate oversight.
Corporations are not able to police themselves. There should be set up a better oversight of corporations. There is not enough transparency for the public to oversee corporations.
The government should oversee corporations. The public should be able to see what the corporation are doing. Transparency is a good thing.

Corporations need to pay more taxes.

Corporations influence government too much.

Business corruption.
Bribery.
Organized crime infiltrating business. Examples, organized crime infiltrating Wall Street.

wwwwwwwwww

Advertising.

There is too much advertising.
Television commercials. Radio commercials. Newspaper advertisement.

Solution: Non-commercial media.
Independent media.
Viewer supported media.
Government supported media.

wwwwwwwwww

Problem: Corporate fraud. Enron. Worldcom. Tyco. Parmalat.

Savings and Loan scandal.

wwwwwwwwww

Tobacco.

The Tobacco lobby has undue influence of government.

Big Tobacco are bullshit liars. Big Tobacco lied for years about the health risks of smoking.

wwwwwwwwww

Oil

Big Oil has undue influence on government.

wwwwwwwwww

Pharmaceuticals.

Big Pharma.

Big Pharma won't sell generic drugs at reasonable prices. People have to go to Canada to get drugs.

wwwwwwwwww

Agriculture.

Big Agribusiness has too much power. Monsanto, Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland.

Pesticides.

Herbicides.

Hormones. Bovine growth hormone to produce milk. Hormones to produce beef, pork, fowl. Producing children with breast development before their time.

Antibiotics. Overuse of antibiotics in meat.

Big agribusiness is taking over small sustainable farms.

Seed.
Seed control is an issue. Corporations want to control seed. Corporations want everyone on earth to use their seeds.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

SCIENCE

Freedom of scientific information.

Against patenting and privatizing information that should be available to all people.

TECHNOLOGY

Problem: Lack of sustainable technologies. Lack of knowledge of sustainable technologies.
Solutions:

Problem: Technology impacting the envrionment negatively.
Solutions:

Technology impacting the individual negatively.
Ex. loss of privacy.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

DEVELOPMENT

Development of third world countries and first world countries.

Philosophical, psychological and sociological development.

Political and legal development.

Economic and business development.

Technological and scientific development.

How to acheive rapid development.

How to avoid the pitfalls of development.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

ENVIRONMENT

Problem: Global warming
Solutions:

Problem: Extinction
Solution: Protect species.

Problem: Loss of habitat
Solution: protect habitat

Problem: Pollution. Herbicide, pesticide and fertilizer runoff. Animal waste runoff.
Solutions:

Fresh water shortage.

Energy
Problem: Over reliance on oil. Oil prices. Oil shortages. Oil related pollution. Oil spills.
Solution: Wind power. Solar power.

wwwwwwwwww

Atmosphere

Ozone hole.
Ozone hole. There is a hole in the ozone layer and its caused by humans. The hole in the ozone leads to too much ultraviolet rays. Ultra violet rays cause skin cancer.

Global warming.
Global warming is happening and its caused by humans. Global warming is caused by humans producing too much carbon dioxide.

Acid rain.
Acid rain is destroying lake ecosystems around the world.

wwwwwwwwww

Water.

Oceans, lakes and rivers.

Dead lakes due to acid rain.

Chemicals leaking into ground water. Groundwater pollution.

Water rights is an issue. The corporations want control of fresh water and that is a problem. Fresh water should be available for all people.

wwwwwwwwww

Earth

Soil erosion. Loss of topsoil.

Landfills.

Pollution of earth.

Loss of habitat for species.

wwwwwwwwww

Biodiversity.

Extinctions.

Example, the dodo.

The seas are being fished out.

wwwwwwwwww

Animal rights.

Slaughterhouses are inhumane.

Animal testing is a bad thing.

Fur.
Use of fur violates animal rights.

Leather
Use of leather violates animal rights.

Meat
Consumption of meat by humans violates animal rights.

Vegetarianism is a good thing.
Vegan-ism is a good thing.

wwwwwwwwww

Solutions. Good things.
Air power. Wind power. Solar power.
Make and use less stuff. Simplicity.
Make less pollution.

Wilderness preserves. Parks.

Problems
Pollution. Air pollution. Water pollution. Land pollution.
Loss of species
Loss of forests

Nuclear power is a bad thing.
Anti-nukes.
Develop solar power, wind power.

Overconsumption.
Overconsumption is a bad thing. Example, houses are too big; cars that are too big.
Acquisition of too many personal possessions.

Voluntary simplicity is a good thing.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

HEALTH

Problem: Depression and anxiety
Causes:
Solutions:

Health problems of first world. Heart attack. Obesity. Stroke. Cancer. Smoking. Drinking. Drugs. AIDS.
Solutions: Watch diet. Exercise.

Health problems of third world. Malnutrition. Unclean water. AIDS. Measles, Mumps, Smallpox, Polio, Tuburculosis, Cholera, Diptheria, Yellow Fever, Dengue Fever. Malaria. Hepatitis. Worms.

Doctors Without Borders

Worker safety.

Transportation accidents.

Pollution and its effect on shortening lifespan.

Healthcare.
Universal health care. National health care.

Infant health care should be a global human right.

Vaccinations against measles, polio, etc. should be a global human right.

There should be a global government agency to monitor AIDS, SARS, Ebola, Hanta, Influenza.

Prions, Mad cow, Kuru.

Physical health.
Helping people get healthy.

wwwwwwwwww

Psychological health. Mental health.

As much attention should be paid to mental health as physical health.

Psychotherapy should be a human right.

Anxiety, Depression and Anger
Many people have an major depression at some point in their life.
Anxiety, Depression and Anger tend to travel together.

Suicide.

Helping people get access psychological therapy.

Reducing stress.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

COMMUNICATION. INFORMATION. EDUCATION. LITERACY. KNOWLEDGE. MEDIA.

wwwwwwwwww

EDUCATION

Pro public schools
Against private schools

HELPING PEOPLE LEARN
Teaching people to read

Get corporations out of schools. Bad corporate advertising in schools.

Get religion out of schools. Ban

Get the military out of schools. Ban military recruiting in schools.

wwwwwwwwww

TECHNOLOGY

Science produces technology.

Technology is a good thing if it is used wisely.

Luddites are anti-technology. Luddite-ism is wrong.

The world should be pursuing environmentally sustainable technologies. The world should be pursuing technologies that promote social justice. Those are good uses of technology.

COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET

Pro Linux
Pro the Internet

Computers are a good thing. The Internet is a good thing.
Getting computes to people.
Teaching people to use computers.
Providing computer support to poor people
Providing computer support to nonprofits
Contributing time to Linux and other Open Source projects

Internet.

A potential problem is the government or corporations having too much control over Internet, and limiting access to the internet, and limiting who can post on the internet, and limiting what can be posted on the internet, and limiting what can be done on the internet.

wwwwwwwwww

MEDIA

Pro Independent media
Against corprate influenced media.

Censorship by government, corporations or others.

Propaganda by government, corporations or others.

Government control of press
Corporate control of press
Organized crime control of press

Access to information
Public libraries
Public education
Public internet access
Linux/GNU

Public radio.
Public television.

Free Press
Independent media. Commercial free media.
Journalists Without Borders.

Literacy
Teaching people to read.
Teaching people to teach themselves.
Teaching people to value education.
Teaching people to pursue continuing education.
Teach people to see learning as fun and enjoyable.
Teach people to spend their time and money on learning.

Education
Philosophy and education. Philosophy therapy.
Psychology and education.
Sociology and education.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

SOCIAL

wwwwwwwwww

FEMINISM

Gender issues.

Women's rights

Women should not be second class citizens.
Women should not be the property of men.

Women working
Women should be allowed to work.

Women voting.
Women should be allowed to vote.

Rape.
Rape is a bad thing. Rapists should be punished. Rape should not be allowed.
Date rape is a bad thing. Date rapists should be punished. Date rape should not be allowed.

Abortion.
Women should have the right to an abortion. Pro choice.

Birth control.
Women should have the right to birth control

Clitorectomy.
Clitorectomy is a bad thing.

Honor Killings.
Honor killings are a bad thing.

Forced prostitution.
Forced prostitution is a bad thing.

Forced under the veil.
Women should not be forced to wear a veil.

wwwwwwwwww

Sexuality issues

LGBT issues

Homosexuality.
Homosexuality is not wrong. It is wrong that homosexuals are discriminated against.

Gay sex.
Gay sex should be legal.

Adoption of children by gay couples.

Gay marriage.
Gay marriage should be legal.

Transgenders.
Discrimination against transgenders is a bad thing.

Androgony

wwwwwwwwww

CHILDREN, YOUTH

Youth issues.

Child labor.
Child labor is a bad thing.

Child prostitution.
Child prostitution is a bad thing.

Child soldiers.
Child soldiers is a bad thing. Children forced into military.

Children being denied an education is a bad thing.

wwwwwwwwww

OLD AGE

Old age issues.

The old exploited.

Nursing homes are death

Mandatory retirement is a bad thing.

Social security issues.

wwwwwwwwww

RACE, ETHNICITY

Race issues.

Black Americans
The United States has a history of discrimination against black americans.

Aisan Americans

Middle Eastern Americans

Indigenous peoples

Amercian Indians.
There was a genocide of American Indians.
There was a genocide of North American Indians.
There was a genocide of South American Indians

Leonard Peltier.

Hawaiians. Hawaii deserves independence from the US.

Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico deserves independence from the US.

Philipinos

Zapatistas in Mexico

Indigenous people in South America.

Slavery.
Slavery is wrong. Slavery continues today.
The United States was built on slavery and that is a bad thing.
The United States has a history of racial segregation and that is a bad thing.

Second class citizens. Discrimination. Prejudice. Bigotry.
Racial segregation.
Ethnic segregation.
Bigotry.
Prejudice.
Stereotyping.
Racism.

Minorities, racial and ethnic.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

PHILOSOPHY

One can define philosophy broadly as critical thinking, abstract thinking, foundational thinking.

Philosophy is a good thing. Science is a good thing. Reason is a good thing. Thinking is a good thing.

Ignorance is a bad thing. Anti-intellectualism is a bad thing.

Pro philosophy
Pro Humanist
Ethical humanist society.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

RELIGION

Religion has many negatives associated with it.

Theocracy
Theocracy is religious government.
Theocracy is a bad thing. I am against theocracy and religion in government

Fundamentalism.
Fundamentalism is a form of religious extremeism.
Fundamentalism is a bad thing.

Creationism.
Creationism is the denial of evolution.
Creationism is a bad thing.

I am against having official state religions.
I am against having compulsory religion.

Good things. Solutions

Philosophy
Atheism
Science
Reason
Rationality
Freethinkers

Non-traditional religions.
Wicca
Paganism

Buddhism

Tolerance.
Religious freedom.
Diversity. Cultural diversity.
Separation of church and state

Problems
Religion in public schools.
Compulsory religious attendance.
Creationism
Intelligent Design
Fundamentalism
State religion.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

AGAINST HATE

Hate crimes are a bad thing.

Hate speech is a bad thing.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

HUNGER. FOOD. MALNUTRITION.

Food. Hunger. Malnutrition.

No one should go hungry. Everyone should have enough to eat.

See Amartya Sen's book, "Development as Freedom"

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

HOMELESSNESS

Shelter. Homelessness.

No one should be without shelter. There should be housing for all.

Make shelters safer by giving everyone a room or at least a lockable cubicle.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww