"Be water my friend" —Bruce Lee

Working in technology all of my life has led me down the path of leveraging and advocating for open, transparent solutions to problems - see Free and Open-Source Software.

These concepts generally extend to other facets of my belief systems as well.

Fundamental Beliefs

• #MarriageEquality is a fundamental human right and does not belong to religion. You can keep your ceremonies - give everyone else the same societal rights.
• #AbortionIsHealthcare and needs protected nationally. Imagine a condom breaking while traveling on vacation with my wife and having no options available (including affordable healthcare to help with the cost of birthing said child.)
• #BlackLivesMatter but our social/political-support systems seem to indicate otherwise. If you can't even say this phrase, you may have a bigger problem.
• #PeopleBeforeProfit: the price of capitalism should be taking care of basic societal needs - before profits are sent off to shareholders.

Systems I Avoid

This is just a list of systems that I leveraged without understanding - and now I avoid them in hopes they will be improved one day.

My superpower is fighting the systems by not participating in them (or limiting participation)

• The Consumer Credit Rating system (we need a Business Rating system for consumers)
• The US Healthcare System (hope it's not something serious...)
• The Food & Drug Agency recommendations (look to Europe's standards instead)
• Credit Cards and other leveraged financial instruments built on consumer debt
• Marriage Ceremonies - Although, I'd be happy to legally marry you for free in the State of Ohio
• Taxes - I'm happy to pay taxes (and I do pay them), but the layers of complexity lobbied into fruition by the big-Tax industry need removed.
• Ticketmaster - Ripping off literally everyone: the artists, the venues, and the fans.
• Digital Marketing - I stopped using Google Analytics, and it's kind of freeing.
• The Stock Market is mostly automated trades and big-players doing things every-day consumers can't.

Political Beliefs

The political system in the United States is corrupt and heavily favors the wealthy.

I'd like to see (at a fundamental change level):

• Ranked-Choice Voting
• Non-Partisan Primaries
• Independent Redistricting Commissions (with teeth)

Ultimately, I believe these things will naturally start the formation of political movements and parties that speak to the people they represent and lobby for those issues - instead of what the money brings.

I'm sharing these ideas because they can push change from the local and state levels and eventually break into the Federal levels - but it requires Americans to:

• Understand how these ideas help us get better representation
• Talk to others about abandoning Democrat/Republican duality
• Show up to vote (this is key)