Does Tom Lean Left or Right?

People often ask if I lean left or right. It's such a divisive question in this time where so many have zero tolerance for opinions that differ from their own. Like so many, I feel you can't define me by a simple label anymore. It's more complicated than that. So let me share some foundational beliefs - these guide the decisions I make in my own life and color the lens through which I view the world.

• Life is hard. It always has been and always will be. We are on a giant sphere of 9000 degree molten iron whizzing at 67,000 mph around a giant ball of fire in the endless vacuum of outer space. It's not fair - it was never designed to be fair. It's not fair for any plant or animal on the planet now or in the history of the world. There is no such thing as equality of outcome or opportunity in nature, as outlined by the scientific doctrine of evolution and "survival of the fittest."
  

• We have it better than any humans ever have. It's almost unrealistic how good we have it. This "relatively" easy life has created a sense of entitlement of "what I deserve" from the community. But first and foremost, we are responsible for ourselves and our families. Nobody owes anybody anything, except by one's own desire to help another by sense of virtue and core beliefs.
  

• While life is hard and we are ultimately responsible for our own well-being, we need to be caring of our community…It needs to be a foundational element of our social DNA. And failure to be a good member of the community does not mean exclusion - we need to help each other through rehabilitation and support each other when bad decisions lead to strenuous situations. But let it be clear, we do not need to be openly used, abused, or taken advantage of in the name of "community." There are limits and, as stated previously, each of us is ultimately responsible for ourselves.
  

• Strong people create good times, good times create complacent people, complacent people create hard times, and hard times create strong people. History has shown us time and time again: strength begets prosperity, which in turn breeds complacency. It's a cycle that humanity has faced throughout the ages—a cycle that we find ourselves grappling with today, as living the most privileged existence of all time has created a toxic sense of entitlement. As we navigate the complexities of our modern world, it's imperative that we broaden our perspectives and acknowledge the broader context of our existence.
  

• All humans exhibit behaviors that are not desirable, sometimes from a perspective of personal health, or the effect on the community, or the evolutionary "survival of the fittest." We should acknowledge these behaviors for what they are, supporting our fellow "flawed-humans" and helping support their movement away from these behaviors.
  

• All things in life require constant evolution – that means continuous change and improvement, moving forward with those things that are working, throwing out those that are not, and most important, bringing new things to the table. Evolution = change, and that doesn't work well when we have career politicians in office.
  

• We have trouble looking beyond our current (today + or - 10 years) situation, yet humans have been on the planet evolving for millions of years and modern homo sapiens for 300,000+. We think that we are so special (and each of us is to someone), but in the realistic scope of the actual world we live in, we are really just 1 person amongst 8.1 billion currently on the plant, with numbers beyond calculation coming before us.
  

• We fail to acknowledge the exponential population growth over the last 500 years and the impact it has on the environment. Human growth has been on a slow-paced linear path for all of time, with exponential growth beyond acceptance in the last 300 years. It took nearly 10,000 years to grow by 6 million humans, but in the last 300 years we have grown by 8,561 million (8.5 billion) people. Failing to acknowledge our growth when discussing sustainability, climate, housing costs, homelessness, and other critical topics limits our ability to truly understand our situation and find realistic solutions. population stats source

If you have any questions, please reach out. Let's have a discussion.