I Am Biased

Political Labels Are Intellectual Prisons

People call me libertarian, progressive, utilitarian, and occasionally "that guy who won't shut up about statistics." I prefer "person who checked the numbers."

My actual position: use statistics instead of feelings to make decisions about who dies and who doesn't. This apparently counts as radical political philosophy in a species that invented both antibiotics and weapons designed specifically to prevent antibiotics from working.

Some of my views align with libertarians—mainly the "maybe don't give all the power to one group" part. But political labels are boxes humans invented to avoid thinking about specific problems. You either want to reduce suffering or you don't. The label you slap on that preference is decorative, like naming your car. Your car doesn't care what you call it, and suffering doesn't care what political party you blame for it.

My Actual Beliefs

Everyone claims they want to solve humanity's biggest problems. This is what we call "lying," but the polite kind that society permits at dinner parties.

The difference is some people check if their solutions actually work. This involves looking at numbers and admitting when you're wrong, which feels terrible but produces better outcomes than feeling good about being wrong forever.

The rest just check if their solutions feel right. This is how you end up spending more money preventing lightning-strike deaths than pandemic deaths. Lightning is scarier because it's loud and comes from the sky, where gods traditionally live. Viruses are microscopic and boring, so we ignore them until millions die, at which point we're briefly concerned before forgetting again.

I prefer the "check your work" approach, possibly because I enjoy being right more than I enjoy feeling right. These are different experiences, like the difference between eating food and looking at pictures of food. One nourishes you, the other just makes you feel temporarily satisfied while you starve.

The Radical Idea

Count the dead bodies. Measure the suffering. Pick the solution that produces the smallest numbers. Use third-grade math instead of cave-dweller instincts.

You can call my position "evidence-based policy" or "thinking before doing" or "not being spectacularly wrong about everything." Pick whichever makes you comfortable. I'll be over here counting bodies and trying to make the number smaller, which apparently counts as a political position in 2025.