TiP Campuses

ASU Term II: From Wonderland to Hogwarts

E-Studies: Great American Debates

Duke East Term II: Philosophy in Literature and Film

Duke West: Residence Counselor

ASU: Residence Counselor

Wake Forest: Temporary Residence Counselor

Bio

Matt Gibson grew up in Minot, North Dakota, but is now a North Carolinian. He was homeschooled through 10th grade. He began college at 14 and transferred to the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, a UNC school that is a college-high school hybrid for 11th and 12th grades.

TiP Shenanigans

Matt was involved in several major escapades at ASU and East. Most notably, Matt got away with sneaking out of a fifth floor window, starting a smuggling ring, and playing strip card games (and never have I ever) in the hallways. There was a standing joke that Matt had raped Chance and Chance had had his bastard child (her name is Karma and she's a bitch). This may or may not be a direct result of his winning seven games of blackjack in a row with perfect "blackjack." It may also be related to his luck at other card games, during which he tended to win a little extra spending money. Matt notably managed to date his roommate for 2 weeks before RCs noticed and persuaded them to let him remain roommates with his boyfriend.

Matt as an RC

Involvement in TiP Nation Island

Matt had the original idea that led to TiP Nation Island. His friend, Cameron Robertson, started the original page. Matt was elected to the first council, along with Jak Dougherty, Kate Evans, Bora Gunay, and Ethan Katz. He wrote much of the legislation that became the rules of TiP Nation Island. When the group fractured, he changed the name to TiP Constitutional Democratic-Republic.

Involvement in TiP Constitutional Democratic-Republic

Matt Gibson is fundamentally tied to TiP Constitutional Democratic-Republic. He was the originator of the idea that led to TiP Nation Island. He is the longest standing councilmember and the only councilmember from the first council left. Originally quite popular among the public, his popularity has declined over time. He is currently one of the more active councilmembers. On September 18, 2012, it was he who activated the back-up page that had been dormant since August 2012.

Involvement in TiP Nation Constitutional Democratic-Republic

Matt Gibson activated the back up page after the old group fell to Ethan Katz, whom Matt had previously fought to give a second chance against fierce opposition, especially from Marissa Osterhout. Ethan took advantage of this second chance to begin a coup that ultimately toppled the old group. Luckily, a back-up had been created during the Seven Hour Coup. This back-up is today known as TiP Nation Constitutional Democratic-Republic.

Political Views

Ideally, Matt believes in a Libertarian Republic. However, his realism usually causes him to be more moderate. He is the author of many compromises in the Constitution, including the infamous gun laws included with the right to bear arms. He will typically change his stance to align with evidence and sound reasoning, but this reversal in opinion is hard to gain and requires much effort. Because of his sometimes unusual stances, he doesn't really fit into any party well. Below is a list of his opinions on various topics:

Matt championed direct democracy in the vote for government, campaigning for it. However, it lost to the council system.

Matt believes that the people should be very involved in government. He tries to encourage people to list their opinions and wrote and supported a lot of legislation granting power to the people early on. He believes in a small government with a modest budget. He opposes politicians who are not there to help the people.

Specific Issues

• Abortion: Define "life" as being when the brainwaves begin, just as death is when the brainwaves end. Allow abortions up to that point, but not after that point.

• Gay Marriage: Allow civil unions, but marriage is a religious institution. Do not allow marriage.

• Death Penalty: Only in the most severe cases of nonrepentant brutal murderers. Allow some length of time for repentance before execution.

• Environmental Issues: Opposed to most government regulation of such issues, but recognizes the need for some. Mostly moderate here. Requires a lot of good research and analysis (which he is willing to do himself) to form an opinion on the necessity of such legislation.

• Entitlement Programs: Closely monitored and a time limit on benefits. Moderate size with a sliding scale.

• Government in Economy: Minimal interference, strict limits on government interference.

• Income Tax: Largest tax, sliding-scale.

• Other Taxes: Very minimal. Under 10%, preferably under 5%

• Federal Reserve: Believes in the need for an institution to regulate the currency, but it must be closely monitored.

• Interpretation of the Constitution: Generally a strict constructionist.

• Equality: While I am a firm supporter of equal rights for everyone, I do not typically like legislation about equality. This is mostly due to the fact that I feel like legislation forcing equality just brings the issue to the forefront instead of allowing it to die, as it should, and become a nonissue (because the group managed to get equality). I am not a fan of the feminist movement because I feel it goes beyond equality to attempt to make women greater than men.

• Economic system: I generally support a more laissez-faire capitalist system.

Political Compasses

Matt has used a variety of tests to assess his political leanings. Below are the results of a few.

Advocates for Self Government

Your PERSONAL issues Score is 90%

Your ECONOMIC issues Score is 60%

According to your answers, the political group that agrees with you most is...

Libertarians support maximum liberty in both personal and economic matters. They advocate a much smaller government; one that is limited to protecting individuals from coercion and violence. Libertarians tend to embrace individual responsibility, oppose government bureaucracy and taxes, promote private charity, tolerate diverse lifestyles, support the free market, and defend civil liberties.

Politics Beasts

The table below shows your position in the two dimensional space defined by the principal axes of the data. There's more information about how this is calculated here. Note that the names "left/right" and "pragmatism" are simply labels and should be interpreted with caution. Positive values on the "left/right" axis are "right-wing", and negative values are "left-wing". Positive values on the "pragmatism" axis are "pragmatic" or "utilitarian". Negative values are the opposite, which is referred to, rather approximately, as "idealistic" below. Use the list of statements to find out exactly what the axes do mean.

The variation in the data on the "left/right" axis is much greater than the variation on the "pragmatism" axis. The most extreme values on on either axis are ±16.6132. The table below shows your position in both "raw" and normalised (between -1 and 1) coordinates.

1 left/right -4.4540 (-0.2681)

2 pragmatism +2.5540 (+0.1537)

Political Spectrum

Compass:

You are a centrist social libertarian. Left: 0.54, Libertarian: 7.25

Foreign Policy:

On the left side are pacifists and anti-war activists. On the right side are those who want a strong military that intervenes around the world. You scored: -9.65

Culture:

Where are you in the culture war? On the liberal side, or the conservative side? This scale may apply more to the US than other countries. You scored: -5.91

The Political Compass

Economic Left/Right: .25

Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.25

Contributions

Matt calls most of the meetings. Although he once wrote most of the legislation, he is happy to say that other councilmembers are now taking a more active role in this process. Matt wrote the seven drafts of the Constitution, the first based on existing rules and the seventh based on rules passed specifically for the Constitution. He wrote the first draft of the Constitution on his own but has since been approved to write each subsequent draft of the Constitution. You can view these at Evolution of the TiP Constitutional Democratic-Republic Constitution. He once was respected and had a lot of influence both with the public and on the council, but this, too, has declined with his popularity. His first term expires July 16, 2013.

Public Opinion

Guys, please don't edit my profile. Say whatever you think of me and/or what I've done below. Please leave your name with your comment. I will not delete any opinions of me, no matter how bad, but I will delete troll remarks that have nothing to do with me. Thank you.  :) -Matt Gibson, September 3, 2012