I am a cis, white, heterosexual male of European descent.

My earliest ancestors were on my father’s side of the family. They emigrated from England, and landed in Massachusetts, ca. 1634, settling in the Roxbury area. My maternal roots are a bit murkier, and I only know that side of the family arrived from the former Yugoslavia, Russia, and Germany in the late 1890s. I grew up in the northeast, my father from an academic, liberal, “coastal elite” family, and my mother from a small town family. Both parents were fairly progressive (with a few traditional ideas), and that formed the basis for the progressive, liberal views that I hold today. I’ve lived in Texas since 1999, and consider myself an American first, Austinite second, and Texan third (despite having been reared in New Jersey).

I grew up in small, very homogenous, suburban areas, and my exposure to other races, religions, and ethnic groups didn’t come until I began attending college at age eighteen. College was an eye-opening time when I shed the last vestiges of religion, and became much more open-minded and accepting of people. Today, I strive for anti-racism, and am very passionately opposed to polices that I believe disenfranchise minorities.

Having grown up as a man has certainly affected my thinking about roles. When I was a young boy, my father went to work, and my mother stayed at home and worked hard to keep the household running. It took me a long time to shed this traditional view of gender roles, and my own marriage looks quite a bit different from that of my parents. Today, I make an effort to recognize my blind spots as a male, and do my best to listen to women and see the world through their lens. As a result, I no longer see traditional “roles” for men and women. This traditional view regarding roles has evolved even further as I’ve come to understand that gender is a spectrum, which is not something that was discussed when I was a child. In my worldview, there are no longer “male” and “female” roles.

They have. Despite having grown up Catholic, I have been an atheist and anti-theist for decades. Thus, I am a zealous advocate for the separation of church and state, and have no tolerance for religious encroachment into government affairs.

I alluded to this earlier, but it was my college experience that was the catalyst for opening my mind. While my parents were fairly progressive for their time, it was college that began pushing me towards the left, politically. My career goals as a software engineer have influenced my political beliefs very little, though I will note that the field of software engineering is very male-dominated. That is slowly changing, but we have a long way to go.

Citizens must participate in elections, and hold politicians accountable, while the government is charged with ensuring its citizens are healthy and prosperous, with equal access to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Per the preamble to the U.S. Constitution (and also touched on in Article I), my belief is that the government’s place is “to insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, [and] promote the general welfare”. That is the basis for my position on the government’s role, and means the government should provide robust national defense (“common defense”), and social safety nets — including universal healthcare — that ensure the continued well-being of its citizens (“general welfare”). I also believe in limited executive authority, as outlined in Article II of the Constitution. Additionally, we require a robust legislative branch with the power of the purse, and a fiercely independent judicial branch that interprets the constitution within the context of current societal needs. Separation of powers, that can operate cooperatively but independently, is critical for a functioning democracy.

The government should strive for equality of opportunity. That includes giving preference to previously disenfranchised groups to atone for the darker periods of our history — not permanently, but until a generation or two is free from the shackles of its past oppression/underrepresentation. We are not there yet.

I don’t believe the government can ever ensure or guarantee such things, but it can do far more to ensure fewer Americans live at or below the poverty level and have full access to healthcare. Healthy Americans are much better able to contribute to the economy, create more opportunity for themselves and create generational wealth.

The most pressing issue facing the United States is that authoritarian, Christian Nationalist, theocratic and patriarchal actors have infiltrated our government, pushing towards us towards an authoritarian, autocratic framework. The merger of religion, corporation, and government, one characteristic of historically Fascist states, is accelerating quickly. If we don’t stop this trend, we can look to Hungary’s descent into what their leader, Viktor Orbán, calls “illiberal democracy” for a preview of what’s ahead.

Without a doubt. It’s very difficult to root out racism and sexism/misogyny from a nation that, for all its virtues, was ultimately founded by slave-owning white supremacist males. Each time there is progress such as post-Civil War reconstruction, landmark civil rights legislation, or any expansion of rights (e.g., Obergefell, 2015; Roe, 1973), there’s almost always an intense backlash. We see that today in the extreme antipathy towards DEI, LGBTQIA+ rights, and the rescission of reproductive rights, with the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Until we confront our patriarchal and racist past directly and continually, we’ll continue to see these problems arise.

Individuals, businesses, and local/state governments in cooperation with the federal government can all work towards solutions:

- Citizens can mobilize to elect politicians who will fight for pro-democracy, progressive ideas. Grassroots mobilization has been integral to the expansion of civil rights, but varying degrees of voter apathy have hampered mobilization efforts. It’s up to citizens and elected officials to convince people that every vote counts.

- Businesses can band together against repressive policies that hurt both the economy and individuals, and can make efforts to ensure to recruit employees from all walks of life. Currently, corporations are shrinking from these efforts, and capitulating to government demands. Opening hiring practices to recruit people of all backgrounds, particularly those that were underrepresented in the past, will give more people the opportunity to earn money and contribute a diverse set of ideas.

- Politicians could work towards legislation that reduces the influence of money and politics, thus forcing politicians to be responsive to citizens instead of corporations. Additionally, politicians can work to eliminate dark money, and pass legislation to undo the damage caused by Supreme Court cases such as Citizens United v. FEC (2010). This can only happen when citizens are passionate and mobilized (see first bullet).

- Government should also ensure, even require, that civics education be taught to all levels of student. A citizenry that is ignorant as to how its government function leaves itself open to lose its guaranteed freedoms.