3. Immigration

A. Our nation is and always has been a nation of immigrants. We have never had a policy of welcoming only doctors and scientists, businessmen and inventors. We have always welcomed also the poor, hard working men and women who reach us from neighboring lands in search of a better life. Many of these men and women do the jobs we ourselves no longer wish to do. Many send money to support relatives in their home countries, helping to spread prosperity well beyond our borders. Whether workers are documented or not, the vast majority are law-abiding, decent people. They must not live in fear of being deported, arrested, or taken advantage of. Though our history shows us that every generation of ‘natives’ has shown some resentment toward newcomers, we know that newcomers soon settle in, learn our ways, and make us a better, stronger nation, with a second generation that is fully integrated into society. We should embrace the men, women, and children who are here seeking a better life, treat them with dignity and respect, offer them easy access to all the services enjoyed by citizens, and allow them to settle as immigrants if they so wish.

B. Immigrants have contributed to our nation in numerous ways, which is why we should continue to attract and welcome qualified new immigrants. We should not, however, abandon our border controls and allow hoards of unscreened people to take root in our towns and cities. Illegal immigration creates countless problems on the local, state, and federal levels. Short-term effects include overloading our healthcare system, school system, and welfare system; long-term, we change the demographic and political fabric of our society and alter the very character and values of our nation. Our borders should first be made secure, bringing illegal immigration to a halt. Employers who employ illegal immigrants should be fined. Illegal immigrants who have committed felonies while here should be deported. Illegal immigrants who have been here for some years and have been law abiding throughout should be given a path to have their status changed eventually to that of legal immigrants. A temporary worker visa program can also be instituted to facilitate migrant labor, but open borders and hop-in-and-stay-forever immigration should never be accepted.

4. Guns

A. The right to protect one’s life is the most fundamental of all rights. If your life or the life of your loved ones is ever under serious threat by an assailant, you will likely appreciate having access to a firearm for self-protection. Even if you prefer not to own a firearm, what right do you have to force others not to own one? Will you tell an abused woman whose violent ex-husband is trying to gain entry to her house shouting “I will kill you” that she should just hold on to a kitchen knife and wait patiently for the police to show up? Denying a person the right to have effective means of self-defense is immoral and antithetical to the basic right to protect one’s life. By disallowing law-abiding citizens the right to own a gun, one allows, in effect, only criminals to possess guns, which is both foolish and dangerous. A well-trained, licensed, and responsible gun owner should also be permitted to carry his weapon on his person. This would not only allow him to defend himself in public in time of danger but also other innocents, for example in the case of mass shootings or terrorism. Certainly not everyone should be allowed to own a gun, not every firearm should be available for sale, and gun transactions should be registered; but, the basic right of people to protect themselves with a firearm against death or grave bodily harm should be respected.

B. It is much more common for a lawfully owned gun to be stolen or misused than it is to be used for protecting oneself from actual imminent harm. Guns and ammunition are so prevalent in our society that they are making all of us considerably less safe. Guns are responsible for countless deaths and injuries, including to children. A culture of guns is a big part of our culture of violence and crime. Only if we do our utmost to keep guns out of the hands of everyone (except the police) will our society be substantially less violent. Giving nearly every man and woman the ability to go into a store and come out with a weapon (after a quick background check) is a recipe for disaster. In fact, the proliferation of guns—which are by definition lethal and unsafe—has been an unmitigated disaster for society.

5. Taxation

A. Society can thrive only when all citizens are able to enjoy an adequate standard of living, especially those who are otherwise unable to do so on their own. People who can afford to should be asked to pay taxes at a level that ensures this in fact happens. A person who ends up being a high earner has benefited directly or indirectly from the contributions of all other members of society throughout his life, which is why no special sympathy or gratitude toward the wealthy is in order. In fact, many wealthy people can hire clever lawyers and accountants to minimize the taxes they need to pay, and many who are rich have accumulated their wealth in a less-than-ethical fashion. For there to be more social cohesion, for smaller gaps to exist between rich and poor, for more people to enjoy a greater quality of life, the upper middle class and the wealthy should be required to pay 50%, 60% or even more of their income in taxes. They will still be able to live very comfortable lives, but at least the playing field will be a little more level. Money can help solve most social problems; the upper middle class and the wealthy are in the best position to help solve those problems by giving more of their money in taxes. The bottom 50% of earners should not be asked to pay federal income tax—they are struggling as it is and are otherwise paying sales tax and numerous other taxes that are part of modern-day life.

B. Though tax revenue is necessary to enable a government to fulfill its vital functions, every citizen should fully recognize that taxes consist of the money earned by members of society through their great personal effort, sacrifice, and time investment. To prevent government from being wasteful with the people’s hard-earned money; to allow people to keep more of the money they earn so that they can freely choose how to spend, save, and invest it; and to encourage citizens to work hard and attain financial independence, a rate of taxation should always reflect these goals and come down on the lower side of the scale. A high rate of taxation creates a disincentive for people to take entrepreneurial risk and invest in the current economy. It also encourages people to cheat on their taxes and often results in a decreasing revenue stream for government. In a free democracy, citizens should be grateful to upper-income people because they are the ones whose large tax bills contribute the bulk of tax revenue for the benefit of all. Upper-income people also buy luxury goods that are made by high-paying skilled artisans, they employ more people, and they make large charitable contributions. Having all those who are not in the upper income brackets vote to confiscate more and more money from those who are relatively well-to-do may be technically democratic, but is nonetheless unfair, contrary to the ideal of personal liberty, and leads to class warfare. A vastly simplified tax code should also be in effect to create a broader tax base and to enable greater tax compliance.