Should There be a New Political Party?

In Tony Sarrecchia's October 19 article, "Suggestions for a New Political Party," he expresses his angst with the current 2-party political system. However, unlike most complainers, Sarrecchia attempts to do something positive by making a list of rules to create his own political party. I agree with Sarrecchia on enough points to where I would join his political party in a heartbeat. However, he fails to go far enough, and believe he is mistaken on a few points. Below, I will list his points briefly and then provide my own commentary, corrections, or additions.

Sarrecchia Point 1: 1st Amendment Freedoms are a "bedrock" of democracy. Political correctness and book banning are bad.

This is absolutely correct so long as we have a common understanding of what the 1st Amendment Freedoms are. The 1st Amendment protects citizens from government censorship, and ensures that the People have the right to protest and speak out against the government in a public sphere or respective place (such as a periodical). The 1st amendment does not guarantee you the freedom of speech at work, nor do you have the right to tell anyone else about your religion, nor do you have the right to not be mugged if you go into the ghetto with a racist message. The government also cannot "respect the establishment of a religion" for good reason.

It is important that people understand the 1st Amendment Freedoms are not absolute. They never have been and they never were intended to be.

Sarrecchia Point 2: Guns are allowed.

I agree completely, and frankly, the world is a safer place if everyone has a gun than if only the bad guys and the police have guns.

Sarrecchia Point 3: Small government and a flat tax.

"Small government" is ambiguous, so I'll merely say that I'm against all forms of so-called "pork spending" as well as most of the junky federal programs that come out of Washington. However, there are a lot of things that should be run at the national level for the sake of America. Given all the functions of coordination between states necessary for the country to function right, I'm not sure if "small government" is really feasible.

A flat tax is simply ridiculous. I say this for a few reasons. The first is that during the period of greatest proportionate growth in U.S. history, we had a heavily-slanted tax system that was ridiculously unfair to the wealthy. A flat tax does nothing but line the pockets of people who, in most cases, exploited the government in the first place. Switching to a flat tax will make no one any happier or more satisfied with their life, nor will it spur the economy in any sense (see Russia, where economic growth was stunted by implementation of a flat tax).

Sarrecchia Point 4: The Wiccan Reed should be our guide.

The Wiccan Reed looks a lot like the Golden Rule of Moral Philosophy, shared by Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Kant (in a round about way), and pretty much anyone else has formulated a philosophy of ethics. I'm on board. And while we're at it, can we get rid of this garbage that we're a country founded on Judeo-Christian principles? I'm Christian and I know that's complete bull.

Sarrecchia Point 5: Definition of Crime: malice and fraud. Criminals should be punished.

Agreed. Corporate chicanery is a crime. Prostitution and cannabis? I'm pretty sure they cause more hard being illegal than legal...

Sarrecchia Point 6: Personal Responsibility on Social Issues.

Agreed completely with no complaints.

Sarrecchia Point 7: Birth Control and Abortion...

I agree, but I think there's more that can be said here about personal responsibility. First, we need to teach our kids at an earlier age about sex so they can make responsible choices about it themselves. I've met college students with active sex lives who are amazingly ignorant about sex.

Sarrecchia Point 8: Stem Cell Research is good.
Sarrecchia Point 9: No "paternal state" laws.

Agreed on both counts.

Sarrecchia Point 10: Capitalism is good, and socialism is dead.

I agree, but we need a corollary to this, which will be my first point when I add things on.

Hagan Add-On 1: Virtue and the commons come before economics.

There are things more important than the Dow Jones. One of them is a high employment rate in businesses that give a person a high sense of self-worth. Another is the environment. Having clean water and healthy forests comes before superficial profits.

Hagan Add-On 2: Our goals as a society should be 1) life; 2) liberty; 3) the pursuit of happiness for all.

Hagan Add-On 3: Money does not equal happiness if the bare necessities are provided for.

Hagan Add-On 4: The Tax Code should be no more than 10 pages long.

Hagan Add-On 5: Education needs a massive overhaul. No option currently on the table is going to solve our educational conflict. We need to make some serious changes. First, the national government needs to lay down a basic curriculum that every school in the country follows. I'm sorry, there is not an Oregon math or a Maine biology. I find it appalling that elementary school students in Iowa learn about Herbert Hoover because he was born there but have no idea why the World Wars happened.

There are five simple add-ons to the original list of ten. My hope in writing this is that maybe we can have some healthy political debate and hash out a new set of strong, universally-felt beliefs. If not, oh well. I think most of us can agree that both major parties have significant shortcomings, and it is my hope in adding and commenting on Tony Sarrecchia's piece that we can get to the bottom of what those are.