Political Philosopy

Introduction

Worldview Biases Informing Our Decisions

When the Founding Fathers drafted the Constitution more than two centuries ago, it wasn’t a simple process of writing down rules at random & calling it a day. In order to form a solid baseline for an ideal system of government, they had to first identify what sources influenced their general worldview; including their political ideologies, ethical values, sense of justice, biases, and more. The philosophies mixed into the Constitution would undergo a process of heavy scrutiny – from both its federalist proponents and anti-federalist detractors – before the juvenile document was ever cemented into our country’s infrastructure. (One look at how many Federalist and Brutus papers were published in the span of less than a year tells you all you need to know!)

America may have changed a lot since then, but the core idea still remains relevant: in order for us to form our own ideal government, the same process is necessary. It’s a normal, human tendency to think of ourselves as always in the right (by simple virtue of only having our own experiences to go off of), but if we ever want to advance past where we are now as a society, it’s important that we take nonpartisan looks at ourselves & be critical of where we source our ideologies. This allows us to not only easier condense our ideas into one unified solid, but opens our minds to new ideas that we may not have even considered.

…Since I’m the Founding Father in this case, however, that means I get to talk about myself a bunch and you have to listen. What a joy for you! The inclusion of this section aims to serve as a ‘guidebook’ for what my system of government will be based on — an infrastructure, if you will -- and allow you a better idea as to why I may have decided to make certain decisions. Decide for yourself whether or not you relate to any of my points, and let that inform the rest of your thoughts on my idealized government.

My Own Biases

First and foremost, I am a queer, autistic teenager from a relatively lower-class family. It should come as no surprise, then, that my lived experiences as these things have influenced my worldview & political standings to an intrinsic degree. I’m definitely not alone in that regard, either — in addition to being born during the Great Recession, having gone through two major elections, growing up in a digital age, & barely scraping by in a global pandemic, Gen Z-ers have been found to be the most racially diverse & progressive generation thus far (with millennials trailing closely behind). Around 7 in 10 of us want the government to be more proactive in solving problems, as opposed to activism being mostly left to third-parties & individuals. With the way things are going right now — a sinking economy, adults that don’t take us seriously, higher-than-ever costs of living, humanitarian crises happening all over the world that everyone in power seems to be entirely complicit in — can you really blame us for it?

Things become even hairier when taking queerness into account. I am a transgender man. I am lucky enough to currently be accessing hormones & to live in a relatively accepting community, but many of my trans siblings nationwide are not as privileged as me in that regard. I often find myself extremely disillusioned with the ways transgenderism has been discussed by outsiders in Congress looking in — trans people are usually likened to a dangerous fad at best, or some kind of malevolent, monolithic hivemind hellbent on destroying traditional American values at worst. Bills are being introduced left and right that aim to put us in danger; as of 2024, 37 anti-trans legislations introduced in the past year have passed, with over 300 more bills in the active process of becoming law. The lives of transgender children simply do not matter to those in power. This knowledge has humbled me in a sense, but hasn’t made me apathetic — if anything, my passion to influence some kind of change has only increased. Queerness should not be a death sentence. I don’t just want the people I love and I to merely scrape by; I want us to live.

It’s likely no surprise either that autism has influenced my worldview, since it is, by its very nature, a disability that affects how one reads & interacts with the world around them. I have always had trouble understanding the same social cues that my peers seem to grasp easily, and this has led to frustration more often than not — a frustration which has bled into a deep dissatisfaction with the system. Autism has also given me a strong sense of empathy & justice, which further motivates me to seek a more compassionate approach to governing. I am not always happy I have this disability, as it has made my life more difficult in a number of ways; however, I will always be grateful for the unique perspective it has given me, and I feel that it may work to my advantage in cases like this that require careful scrutinization of already-established systems.

External Influences

While one’s own personal identity tends to influence their political standings a great deal, plenty of influence comes from outside sources as well; such as what they read online, who their friends/family are, what books they read, TV shows they watch, music they listen to, celebrities they enjoy, and much more. I, of course, am no different; I know a lot of the things I interact with have had a significant effect on my ideologies as well. All of my friends (real-life and online), as well as a significant portion of my family, are left-leaning, making my political circle somewhat tight-knit. I interact with liberal circles online, and some of my favorite artists are marginalized in some way. The creator of my favorite TV show* has often spoken out about their support of the LGBTQ+ community, and even made attempts to include queer content in the show itself, despite facing censorship threats from their network. Hailing from a poor-ish family has also landed me in circles with other lower-class folk who share similar views as me. I consume a great deal of art & stories, but the ones that stuck with me the most have always been the queer ones. This is all to say, I am certainly not without external influence, and I’m quite certain I would not hold some of the views I do if I wasn’t surrounded by the people that I am. The care I have for my friends and family motivates me to speak up for them, and fight for an America where we can live authentically.

* Gravity Falls, if you're curious.

The Purpose of Government

The way I see it, government ought to exist for two reasons: to keep people in a community safe and happy, and ensure a functioning society by mitigating its ills to the most thorough degree possible. I know how milquetoast that sounds, but I truly don’t feel it needs to be any other way; especially not after living through multiple dysfunctional presidencies, an economic recession, and a literal global health crisis (that was exacerbated by our own president’s lack of diligence in combating it). The collective health of its people should be the only real priority.
The question of why government exists (or what government even is, for that matter) has long been debated by philosophers and citizens alike. For good reason, too — it has no objective answer. Because government affects different people in different ways, it means different things to everyone, so a one-size-fits-all response simply cannot exist. It’s generally understood that governments exist as a collective authority in order to maintain a strong, healthy nation, but in operation, this is only an idyllic hypothetical -- even the drafters of the Constitution knew a government without flaw is a naive thing to try and achieve, so my take on this question aims to keep this objective reality in mind.

Exertion of Control: Integrating the People

John Locke in his essay Second Treatise of Civil Government wrote extensively about the social contract, which he defined as the concept of citizens trading in certain things like privacy or complete freedom in return for stability & security: “The only way whereby any one devests himself of his Natural Liberty, and puts on the bonds of Civil Society is by agreeing with other Men to joyn and unite into a Community, for their comfortable, safe, and peaceable living one amongst another…”. Locke happened to be a major influence on founding father Thomas Jefferson, who took heavy inspiration from Locke’s philosophies while drafting the Declaration of Independence (taking particular influence from Locke’s assertions regarding consent of the governed). The Declaration kickstarted America's jump into becoming its own independent country, so the integration of Locke’s ideas -- and social contract by extension -- into our government’s infrastructure is undeniable.

As a general rule, I believe the amount of control exerted on citizens should be lesser than that exerted on governments. This is not to say that I want the government to be less powerful as a whole; only that I do not believe it should be holding power in some of the ways that it does, and that the people should have greater power in regards to influencing change. The framers of the Constitution deliberately avoided creating a true democracy, as they feared allocating too much power to the people would proliferate factions and cause tyranny. These are understandable concerns, and they do have some real grounding. However, the Constitution’s framers were also rich white men, with a direct incentive to protect the interests of other rich white men. They prioritized the rights of minorities, which — in the sociopolitical context of their time — almost exclusively referred to wealthy property owners, greatly contrasting with what we’d think of as a minority today.
A lot of their worries stemmed from a mistrust in lower-class citizens, who they viewed as ‘common’, and therefore less capable of making important decisions. This belief system is what I believe a great portion of our country’s problems take root from. By shifting more power to the people to influence their government, we’d not only streamline the process of modernization, but make it easier than ever for real issues to be taken seriously & dealt with diligence.
Some possible ways to achieve this include...