How am I supposed to know?

[Mr Khan]

SamuelRSmith said:
"Looking at the issues, seeing where both sides stand morally, etc. and trying to determine exactly what I think, what I want to support and what kind of political movements I should be endorsing."

First... there are more than two sides to every issue, so be careful when using "both". You go on to use the example of tax rates... well, there are numerous aspects to this issue. Do you think that tax rates should be used to maximise revenue? Or to level out incomes across an economy? Should the rich pay more, not just the generate more revenue, but as a "gesture to society"? Or, you could take my position, in that all taxes are inherently evil, and so I won't settle for any less than 0%.

In fact, not all Libertarians believe in lowering the income tax. Why? Because of the laffer curve. If lowering tax rates leads to greater revenues, some Libertarians are opposed to that... because that means the Government has more money to spend on tyranny.

Some Libertarians are weary of drug legalisation, for the same reason. If marijuana is legalised and then taxed... that may actually lead to more "evil" than if the drugs were left illegal. Because the Governments now have drug-tax money to spend on enforcing other laws... like seatbelt laws.

You also have people at the complete opposite end of the spectrum who believe that all income should be evenly distributed.

I'm making this point because, well, if you're trying to "find your feet" and grasp a political "ideology", so to speak, you now have a chance to look into things that are outside the mainstream.

You may find with certain political philosophies *cough*Anarcho Capitalism*cough* answer some of the other questions you posit (for example, Ancaps disregard economics as a science, so economic debates regarding statistics is null and void).

Seatbelt laws, now?

Seriously?