Quakernomics

Quaker's pfp

Quakernomics, more commonly known as simply 'Quaker', is a Main Character and former Staff Member of The Leftist Hub. Quaker is known for being the resident economist of the server, mainly specialising in Business Economics from a Heterodox POV. He's also known for being the "most aggressive Quaker in existence" due to quick-witted jibs and insults towards those who irritate him in the Voice chats (His bark is way worse than his bite).

## Politics

Quaker is a Market Socialist, but does borrow ideas from various ideologies such as; Libertarian Socialism, Communualism, Mutualism, Democratic Socialism, Collectivism and even Left Wing Market Anarchism (LWMA). Quaker has his own Ideology which is Mercepreneurial Syndicalism, which is a mix of the aforementioned ideologies as well as Quakers practical experience as a Business Economist.

Quaker's short term political positions are as follows;

### Taxes

* We should abolish income taxes, they are a bandaid on a bullet wound, and frankly there are better options for redistribution such as; Land Value Taxes, Capital Gains, Progressive Corporation taxes, etc
* Corporate tax should be progressive, and dependent on how horizontal the business is; If you are a co-op, you pay less in tax regardless of how much you make, if you are a typical corporation, you pay more regardless of how much you make.
* Tax raw produce that has been imported (if it could have been grown in-house) use the funds from that to pay farmers a guaranteed minimum salary
* Farmers and Agricultural workers should be tax exempt; income, corporate, sales taxes, all exempt.

### Foreign Policy

* Don't touch other peoples shit, aka don't intervene in their wars, unless their soldiers are literally kicking in your door.
* Purely defensive military, preferably a naval force if we are talking about Scotland or Malta.
* **Anti-NATO:** We don't need to be in a international racketeering organization.
* **Pro-EU:** Not the current EU, thats a neo-liberal shit-pile, but something like it with transparency and dare i say it, some direct democracy and oversight from the European population
* **Non-Alignment:** Stop sucking farts from the asshole that is the United States or Russia/China, all of them are imperialistic jackasses
* **Free Trade:** Quaker is **Anti-Protectionist** and an **Alter-Globalist,** viewing globalism as a net good, but utilised for the wrong reasons, Globalism should be utilized for the benefit of workers and consumers, but not the capitalist class. Quaker views free-trade as a net good in reducing tensions between different nation states and reducing the likelihood of war breaking out.

### Welfare/UBS

* **UBI:** Everyone get's a minimum of £2,000 a month when they turn 16 (13 if they've been under the care of CPS)
* Everyone gets a guaranteed minimum pension of £55,000 per year with the annual pension capped at £195,000
* **Universal Basic Services:** Basic Housing should be free at the point of use, Water should be free and Government run, Electricity, Internet, Postal/Freight, Healthcare, etc you get the picture.

### Economy

* Abolish **Fiat** currencies: Switch to a Asset-based economy wherein the state can only print money for value that's already been generated by state run enterprises in trade with other countries/organizations.
* **Abolish the Stock market**
* **Ban Private Banks:** The only "private" banks that should exist are credit unions or building societies with strict oversight from members
* **Ban Cash-for-share investments**: People should not get a share of a company just for chucking money at them, if you want an investment use a contractual obligation not shares.
* Change the Unemployment target from 3% to 10%, there are some people who probably shouldn't be working, eg, single parents, disabled people and some with mental health issues they need to work through.

### Social Issues

* **Trans Rights are Human Rights:** Allow people to change their name or gender at any point in their life, and ban their parents from doing it for them, that's how you balance the rights of Intersex and trans individuals, stop acting like our priorities contradict each other, they don't.
* **Legalize all drugs and tax some of them:** You heard me
* Give tax benefits to people in multi-person relationships, and make those benefits equal to monogamous marriages/civil unions
* **Pro-choice:** Just cos you don't like it doesn't mean you ban it, I personally hate the colour yellow, but im not advocating the banning of Banana's or Bee's.
* **Make Trade Unionization Mandatory for all salaried workers (or per hour workers)**
* **Allow single parents to stay home for 5-7 years to spend time and raise their kid, give them £55,000 a year to do it.**

## Religion, Philosophy, Worldview

### **Religion**

As mentioned below in the Personal Life section, Quaker was raised in a predominantly Catholic household and was a practicing Irish Catholic until he was twelve, after this becoming a vehement anti-theist until around 19. During the same year, his father died after a long battle with a brain tumour, and Quaker then started to experience some things that he was unable to deny were spiritual in nature. This then forcing him to reflect on his connection with spirituality. He then coming to the admission that deep down he was uncertain or at times apathetic towards the idea of whether God in any sense could exist, but still believed in a core idea of faith.

He wanted to ensure that the faith he ended up with, was of **his choice,** and that the faith was unlikely to change his social attitudes towards things, such as support for LGBTQIA+ people, women and reproductive rights, and secularism. Quaker went to an environmental protest in Edinburgh in 2016 where he met a bunch of Environmental activists from the Scottish Green Party, many of them having a Quaker Star tattooed on their wrist. He started talking to them and realised that their view of the world was identical to his, and that their religious views were almost exactly how he saw things.

Quaker decided to go to the Edinburgh Central Meeting House, and realised that essentially everyone at the congregation was like him and it wasn't just a fluke that he met socially progressive Quakers, rather all of them being like that. Since that day, he has been a practicing Quaker, going to congregation at least once every couple of months.

### **Philosophy & Worldview**

Quaker is a Pragmatist, holding an understanding of Far-Left ideologies and a shared goal of getting rid of Capitalism and all the oppressive structures that exist under it. But he's not a Consequentialist, viewing Consequentialism as a justification for unsound decisions that could result in worse problems than they seem to overcome. In Quakers mind, the ends don't justify the means if you go around abolishing things that could easily result in problems that could last years or decades.

#### **Economic Democracy**

In line with the Pragmatic approach, Quaker is an Economic Democrat. This being the idea that you can make political change through the economyn, not needing to take control over the levers of power. As you change the material conditions on the ground the government and/or powers that be, will be forced one way or another to conform to what the economy is telling them.

Quaker views this less as a concession, and more of a realistic recognition of the way that Capitalism has strangled the levers of power to meet its own means. If the political system is designed to be fruitless, and power is concentrated in the economy, then the masses should enter the economy and strangle the economy under one banner, such as via trade unions or federations. The capitalist class don't expect any meaningful change from politicians on the left, as in their mind, anyone can be bought. In the case of the United States this is correct and much of Europe aswell, in the mind of Quaker.

Capitalism is a parasitic system and will eventually cause its own demise, and to Quaker, it already has started to do this. Positing that decades of "badly calculated" deregulation going back to the 70s has opened the door for Economic Democrats to insert themselves into the system, allowing them to covertly take advantage of the system until they are large enough that the Capitalist class is paralysed and can't do anything about it, or in Quakers words;

> "If they want to play that game, lets play it, lets get so big that they are left with two options; 1) They remove the deregulations they designed and kill their business in the process, OR 2) they do nothing and die quietly"
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## Personal Life

Born in Scotland in '96, to a mixed Scottish and Irish Traveller family, Quaker was raised Catholic but would became disillusioned with the religion by the age of 12. He chose to abandon the faith during secondary school. While in school, he excelled in music, art, business, and biology classes but faced challenges in Religious Studies. Despite struggles in mathematics due to undiagnosed Dyscalculia and Autism, he dropped out of high school on his 16th birthday, deciding to pursue a career in the music industry as a sound engineer.

Quaker worked in the music industry for several years, until around 2017 when health issues forced him to re-evaluate his path. Unable to continue the manual labor associated with his job, he decided to return to school. Initially studying Psychology and then exploring the social sciences, Quaker found his interest in Economics. In 2021, he enrolled in a part-time Bachelors in Business Economics at university.

In 2019, Quaker sought medical advice for a growing illness and was diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND). This diagnosis posed new challenges, especially considering the potential impact on his academic pursuits. Recognizing his resilience in the face of autism and lack of support, Quaker decided to work in support roles for autistic adults. For several years, he dedicated himself to helping neurodivergent and disabled individuals, teaching them workarounds and empowering them to lead fulfilling lives.

As of 2024, he is still actively studying Economics at university, now in his 3rd year of an estimated 6 years. His future plans include pursuing a Masters in Universal Design and possibly a Doctorate in Design. His long-term goal being to establish a company focused on designing and producing technology that enables overlooked disabled individuals to live truly independent lives.

## Trivia

* **Accident Prone:** Quaker has impaled his foot, gotten 3rd degree burns up his left side from a firework incident when he was 8, twisted his leg multiple times, and has had more concussions than he can count.
* **Musical:** Quaker can play the bass guitar, drums, piano, electric guitar, banjo, mandolin, ukelele, and can sing... when he can be assed to.
* **Bendy fingers:** Quaker has Clinodactyly, meaning that all of his digits on both hands bend to the side slightly, it having been like that since birth.
* **Unlikely Sportsman:** Despite his stocky size of 6ft and 275lbs, Quaker used to be a heavy weight bare-knuckle boxer, a keen swimmer, and a field hockey player.
* **Snakes and Birbs:** Quaker used to have a pet snake called Sarge growing up, and had a Cockatiel called Sandy.