My name is Mike. I’m married with two kids. Along with my family, I love music, theology, philosophy, programming and sports. I worship at Grace Covenant Church in Beavercreek, OH.
Religion
I try not to hold too tightly to labels, though I am probably most aptly called a Reformed Evangelical or Reformed Baptist. I believe in the Doctrines of Grace and the Five Solas of the Reformation.
Politics
I am a Decentralist Minarchist Libertarian. I believe that God created all men equal and that though we stand before him as sinners, we are each commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves. Thus, we must grant our neighbor the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. I also believe that this includes the right to private ownership of property.
I do not believe in Ayn Rand’s notion that selfishness is a virtue. However, I hold strongly the belief that the public good is served most efficiently and effectively when everyone is given the right to pursue their own interests however they see fit within the obvious restrictions against violating the rights of another. History bears this out in that the only economic system to ever categorically raise an entire civilization out of abject poverty is laissez-faire capitalism.
I do not believe the current economic system of the United States is fundamentally capitalist. It is a quasi Capitalist system with much socialistic and fascist influence. It is aptly called Croney Capitalism wherein the government heavily regulates the industry making it more profitable for corporations to expend their energy lobbying for favorable legislation then to focus on providing value to their customers. Thus productivity, quality and customer service suffer. As a result, really bad legislation and regulation is passed and implemented. Because of this bad things happen to the market like the sub-prime mortgage crisis of 2008. When this happens, the corporations come to government with their hands out because the government got them into this mess and they owe it to the corporations who put them into office. This is a system in which the corporations and the government get together to screw the people.
I believe that charity is important and is a virtue, but for the government to force charity (wealth redistribution) would be theft. It is wrong for a beggar to take my money with a gun, why is it right for the government to take my money on behalf of the beggar with the threat of jail time.
I believe that taxation should be very minimal, especially at the federal level. I believe that if the government functioned in accordance with the Constitution, that it could be entirely funded without taxing private citizens. So long as this is the case, social safety nets are acceptable provided that they are only available to those who are truly destitute. If taxation of private citizens must happen, they it should be done on consumption and not on income since it would return some control over the taxation to the citizen and eliminate much overhead for the government.
I do not believe in the legislation of morality. I believe that morality is a private issue. The government should only be concerned with protecting the rights of its people. Crime should only be defined as that which unjustly deprives another of life, liberty, property or the freedom to pursue happiness. The government is not the nanny of the people, nor is it the policemen of the world.
I support Ron Paul.
