[CINC]

Check out the Falconist Party, a American party founded in 2003 that combines the ideas of the right, left, and center to take America and the world neither right, nor left, but up.

[nucklepunche]

This sounds like moderate fascism, of a non-racist variety.

[CINC]

It is almost the opposite of libertarianism

[nucklepunche]

It seems like I heard about this party in the past too, now that I think of it. Are you the founder? Anyway here are my thoughts on the platform, taken from the website.

1. We call for the enactment of laws, policies and Constitutional amendments that would break the two-party monopoly on our political system, reform the process of electing our nation's leaders, reduce graft and corruption, reduce the power of the Supreme Court, and restructure the federal government to complete its mission more efficiently and effectively.

Agree. I would like to hear some ideas. Personally I'm a technocrat so I don't advocate the democratic process per se but in the short run I would favor term limits for Congress (6 two year terms in the House, two six year terms in Senate), mandatory retirement after twenty years on the Supreme Court, and a single six year term for president. I'd also make the Senate representative by population and adopt a Louisiana style jungle primary for all state elections and a French style runoff system for the presidency.

2. We call for the reform of the financial sector which would include replacing the Federal Reserve with a government-owned and operated Bank of the United States.

Agree.

3. We call for the replacement of our broken tax code with s system that is fair, paperless for most Americans, promotes economic growth, and raises the revenue needed to finance our programs as well as retire the national debt; If it turns out to be a flat tax, national consumption tax, land value tax, or a combination of the forementioned taxes, that is the the system we will use.

I am fine with progressive taxation, but I would prefer it to be simplified.

4. We call for a federal budget that is not only balanced, but also makes paying the principle of the national debt a spending priority; We will pay as we go for all our programs and we will retire the national debt.

I belong to the school of thought that says that deficits are not an entirely bad thing and sometimes necessary, though I don't want us to become like Greece.

5. We call for the largest rebuilding program in American history to be implemented to expedite the movement of goods and services; relieve traffic congestion, provide excellent health care; provide excellent educational services; refine and distribute drinking water from our oceans; to meet Americas growing energy demands; and to put millions of people to work at living wages.

Agree.

6. We call for the reservation of welfare for those who are elderly, infirm, and those who need a temporary helping hand; All those who can work shall work in the private sector if possible, in public service if necessary; in addition, we call for the revival of the Works Progress Administration, the Public Works Administration, and the establishment of a U.S. Green Corps to put all able-bodied unemployed people to work.

Agree. I wouldn't entirely object to requiring non-disabled people between certain ages to either be working or in education.

7. We call for the consolidation and reorganization of federal agencies and offices across the board to make government more efficient as well as more effective.

Agree, but everybody favors this ostensibly.

8. We call for the consolidation cities and counties across America to reduce the cost and graft of municipal government as well as handle problems that transcend current municipal boundaries such as urban sprawl.

Agree.

9. We call for a formation of a U.S. Coalition for Progress (USCFP) made up of public, private, nonprofit, and faith-based institutions to tackle social and economic problems of our day; the USCFP will harmonize the interests of business and labor in making and keeping our nation great.

Agree.

10. We call for the replacement of meticulous economic regulation with national broad ranged economic goals and creating a system of incentives for industry to meet national economic goals.

Agree.

11. We call for the democratization of transnational corporations through expanded customer and employee stock ownership and purchase programs.

Agree.

12. We call for policies that would preserve and revitalize family farms as well as small town America.

Disagree. I think small scale farming is obsolete and that society would be better suited to more urban living and less spread out-ness.

13. We call for a campaign to end America's dependence on foreign oil by developing domestic sources of fossil fuels in an ecological manner, implementing programs of conservation as well as developing alternative sources of energy such as solar, nuclear, geothermal, wind, and biomass.

Agree for the most part. I'm a big geothermal buff. Personally I think the Earth has enough energy contained with in it to make all the other sources obsolete until the second coming of Christ.

14. We call for the implementation of Universal Military Training and Mandatory National Service (civil and military).

Disagree. I'm not a big fan of militarism. Like I said I wasn't opposed to mandating people be involved in some of work but I don't buy into the idea of many right-militarists that there is something magical and special about the military. We should have the military we need and no more.

15. We call for increased benefits for veterans and increased compensation and benefits of career military personnel and their families.

Agree.

16. We call for the expansion and reform of the US Military to defend our homeland and fight the global war on terrorism.

Disagree, I explain my reasons above. I tend to think America needs the hell out of the Middle East and I tend to think the war on terror needs to be fought with a smaller, more efficient, and more elite intelligence force/strike force, sort of a combination CIA/special forces. I think the days of large scale infantry warfare are over.

17. We call for the issuing of weapons to all law-abiding citizens as well as training all citizens in personal protection and homeland defense as well as the re-establishment of state militias.

Disagree. People can buy their own weapons.

18. We call for the reorganization and streamlining of all Federal law enforcement agencies to defend our homeland and assist state and local law enforcement agencies in fighting crime more effectively.

Agree. I favor local police to deal with rackets but I favor a national police force as well.

19. We call for reform of the judicial system, the enactment of a tough criminal code and for justice that fair, swift, and if necessary, harsh.

Disagree. I think effective enforcement is more important than harsh enforcement. I tend to think criminals divide into two classes, those who can be rehabilitated and sociopaths. Those who can be rehabilitated should be, those who are sociopaths should be put away for life.

20. We call for reform of the corrections system to rehabilitate as well as punish offenders; segregate the violent from the nonviolent offenders; and to reduce recidivism.

Agree. It seems the two points are contradictory though.

21. We call for the recruitment, hiring, training, and deployment of a more police officers, firefighters, and rescue workers on America?s streets, arming police officers to the teeth, and increasing the pay and benefits of law enforcement officers, firefighters, and rescue workers.

Agree.

22. We call for the increased funding of education overall, increased pay of teachers; national education standards; allowing real choice between public, private, charter, nonprofit, or home schooling; and reforming education to produce a population that is employable, productive, literate, and possesses civic virtue.

I don't really agree or disagree. I tend to be in favor of a tier based system with three different tracks for liberal arts, science, and technology/trades.

23. We call for the overhaul and expansion of Junior ROTC as well as expansion of Cadet Corps, Young Marines, and Civil Air Patrol programs to instill discipline, patriotism, and life skills in our youth.

Disagree. Patriotism is a primitive tribal value and is a cancer on modern society.

24. We call for the enactment of the Guaranteed Educational Access Plan (GEAP) which will issue certificates to citizens to enroll themselves and their children in educational institutions from Preschool to Graduate School; citizens will be able to attend any institution of higher learning that accepts them and their tuition and fees will be covered by the GEAP; citizens may use certificates to enroll their children in any school from Preschool to 12th grade or home-school their children.

Agree. This seems as good an idea as any, and far better than the current system.

25. We call for increased legal immigration; however, we also call for the thorough assimilation of those immigrants into American society as well as the fortification of America?s borders to deter illegal immigration as well as drug smuggling, terrorism and human trafficking. All immigrants to learn English and swear to love and respect our flag. There shall not be any hanging of flags other than the American Flag, unless they also hang the American Flag beside it, while abiding the Flag Etiquette. All illegal immigrants shall be arrested, prosecuted and sentenced either to jail or service in the new Freedom Legions of the US Army.

26. We call for the enactment of the Guaranteed Healthcare Access Plan which will issue healthcare certificates to all legal residents to enroll themselves and their families in the healthcare plan of their choice.

Agree. I've advocated health care vouchers in the past. It is unfortunate that the Democrats didn't see fit to do the same when they had the chance to reform health care. Now the GOP is so resolutely anti-government that the time for this has passed.

27. We call for the enactment of pro-family policies such as annual grants for children; encouraging the adoption of older and at-risk children; enactment of the GHAP; and the outlawing of abortion in the USA.

Agree. However I'm not sure what GHAP is.

28. We call for laws that will restore public morality, define marriage as one man and woman bound together in holy matrimony, and discourage smoking, drinking, gambling, and pornography.

Strongly disagree. This is not the place of the state to legislate.

29. We call for both secular and faith-based institutions to be eligible for public funding and we call for the repeal of all laws and policies that restrict people of faith in practicing their beliefs or expressing their faith in the public arena.

Agree, as long as the public funding does not go toward proselytizing and solely to social relief. As for the latter part I would agree if people of faith were truly oppressed in this country, but they are not. This is a right-wing myth. I have never felt uncomfortable in the public arena due to my Christian faith in this country. I tend to think I would feel more under threat as an atheist than as a Christian in America. Then again I live in the non-urban Midwest where religion is paramount and prayers still take place at city council meetings in small towns so I am used to a world where Christianity is the dominant force. It may be different elsewhere.

30. We call for laws and programs that will extend formal equality and equality of opportunity for all people of color and background.

Agree. I don't think there need to be new laws or programs in this area though, we should simply enforce existing ones.

31. We call for the rebuilding of all cities, including our nation's capital to eliminate slums, reduce crime, create vibrant and prosperous communities, and to provide affordable housing.

Disagree. I think the focus needs to be on building cities of the future rather than preserving old ones. I am a big fan of Jacque Fresco's Venus Project toward these ends. I think modern cities are inefficiently designed. Design circular cities of the future and over time people will voluntarily abandon large sections of the old cities, and allow these to go back to nature.

32. We call for the establishment of new cities and communities in the sparsely settled regions of America where evacuees from the inner cities will be resettled while the inner city communities are torn down and rebuilt.

See my point above.

33. We call for the establishment of Economic Refugee Centers (ERCs) where the homeless, unemployed, and underemployed will receive free food, clothing, shelter, and attain the skills necessary to be employed. After release from a ERC, refugees will be transported to the city of their choice and be given a sum of money to start a new life in that city.

Agree.

34. We call for withdraw of the USA from the WTO, NAFTA and GATT , unilateral foreign policies, and military action against all regimes worldwide engaged in terrorism, tyranny, drug and human trafficking, atrocity, and genocide.

Agree with the first part. As for the rest I can see military action against such regimes as justified BUT we have to recognize the importance of global stability and recognize that as much as we want to eliminate these regimes, we cannot go running in like Dirty Harry Callahan and expect global stability to be maintained.

35. We call for the overhaul and expansion of the US Peace Corps and the US Foreign Service to make it more able to handle nation-building roles.

Agree.

36. We call for national level recruitment campaigns for teaching, law enforcement, health care, public service, supporting existing public service programs at colleges and universities nationwide, and the establishment a U.S. Public Service Academy.

Agree. I think there is a drumbeat for the latter that makes it inevitable in the long run.

37. We call for the colonization of the oceans to provide new resources for the people of America and the world.

Agree. Glad to see somebody else gets this.

38. We call for the development of a mature space transportation system; the colonization of the Moon, Mars, and other planets; and the establishment of space colonies in low Earth orbit.

Sort of agree and disagree. We need to colonize where resources are present in the long run. I don't believe in colonization just for the sake of it though. We need to move beyond the Earth as a species but I don't think we should colonize barren planets just for the kicks. Certainly though I will admit a Mars colony, though there isn't much on Mars worth having, would be a practical first step to try out possible ideas for the future.

39. We call for the admission of Canada, Mexico, Greenland, and the rest of North America into the USA as states or territories, for the USA to encompass all of North America; we will also welcome any nation that wishes to join the USA as either a state or a territory.

Agree. I tend to think continental government is best and most efficient. I think we do need independent continents though and federalism at the continental level to some extent.

40. While the planks of this platform are national, even global in scope, we call for the state and local governments as well as the private, nonprofit, and faith based organizations to be the instruments of implementation of our policies, with state and local revenues as well as private contributions if possible, with federal revenues if necessary.

Agree.

I agree with a lot of this platform. I, as a technocratic socialist, tend to think on a different scale with a fundamental change to the structure of society, though I tend to think that in the short run much of this would be good. That being said I tend to think projects to form new political parties are largely futile. It is best to infiltrate one or both of the two major parties. Look at what libertarians have done to the GOP in a few short years.

[Fraqtive42]

I second nearly all of nucklepunche's 'agrees' and 'disagrees', despite being a contemporary/third way social democrat myself. I found that I agree with nearly all of the economic issues, but disagree with many of the social ones. It does indeed seem to advocate a very moderate form of fascism, the kind that the moderate fascists on this forum would be interested in.

[Daktoria]

This sounds like moderate fascism, of a non-racist variety.

Yea, it's somewhere between distributism and civic nationalism. It feels like neoconservatism on steroids, especially in light of the overarching usage of military service to encourage civic virtue.

These platform points really stood out in indicating a distributist take:

8. We call for the consolidation cities and counties across America to reduce the cost and graft of municipal government as well as handle problems that transcend current municipal boundaries such as urban sprawl.

9. We call for a formation of a U.S. Coalition for Progress (USCFP) made up of public, private, nonprofit, and faith-based institutions to tackle social and economic problems of our day; the USCFP will harmonize the interests of business and labor in making and keeping our nation great.

12. We call for policies that would preserve and revitalize family farms as well as small town America.

27. We call for the enactment of pro-family policies such as annual grants for children; encouraging the adoption of older and at-risk children; enactment of the GHAP; and the outlawing of abortion in the USA.

28. We call for laws that will restore public morality, define marriage as one man and woman bound together in holy matrimony, and discourage smoking, drinking, gambling, and pornography.

29. We call for both secular and faith-based institutions to be eligible for public funding and we call for the repeal of all laws and policies that restrict people of faith in practicing their beliefs or expressing their faith in the public arena.

[nucklepunche]

It seems to be a sort of militaristic, Christian leftism. In some sense it sort of reminds me of progressive era ideals. You have to remember that in the early 20th century progressives (who were 60 years pre New Left peaceniks) often embraced militarism and religious nationalism and combined this with left-wing economic ideals. Look back at WWI and it was the Wilsonian liberals all behind the whole thing. To me this reminds me of the early 20th century Democrats. It has the militarism of Wilson combined with the Christian non-socialist leftist ideals of William Jennings Bryan.

[CINC]

The Falconist Party would be the party of Alexander Hamilton, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Truman and JFK