My stupidity is haunting me
Feb. 27th, 2012 01:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
averygoodun42Not in any major way, but my thoughts keep going back to the other night, where I was silly enough to accept an impromptu invitation to a speech held at the Free State Project conference.
For those of you who don't know, NH was chosen as the State that would be best for the Free State Project to set down roots, seeing as regulation is lowest and general population libertarianism is highest. There were many factors that brought them here, but they set up camp in the north country with the intent to make NH a tax-free state through legislation. I haven't read up on how their tax-free community has been doing, but I'm guessing everyone is still pretty gung-ho, so it's still thriving.
Now, as you know by now, I'm sure, I am not a libertarian. Very, very ardently not a libertarian. I agree with many, many, many of the libertarian arguments, but at the end of the day, I trust government a HELL of a lot more than corporations. Especially because governments are easier to overthrow.
However, this seemed like it would be an interesting talk given by a farmer about how he manages to stay in business as a small, family-run farmer. And it was interesting. And just about everything he said was common sense regarding this country's attack on small farms through over-regulation.
But it annoys, no, galls me that people are so short-sighted so as not to see that the government over-regulation isn't the cause, but the symptom!
Yes! Small family-run farms (and every other business) ARE being pushed out of existence by ridiculous laws that should only apply to large (agri)businesses! But the question is WHY!
The answer, of course, always comes down to the basic question of all politics: Who benefits the most?
And that's the thing that pisses me off the most about libertarians. They don't seem to ask that crucial question when they're examining their solutions to our problems. Because who does benefit the most from a powerless government? (In reality, not theory. In theory, communism works.) Who benefits the most when there are no regulations?
Can't they see they're fucking tools? (And yes, if you identify yourself as a libertarian, I include you in that insult. Though I still like you. Probably. ;-)
Democracy isn't easy or perfect, but it's our best chance for true freedom (and not the anarchistic "freedom" from social responsibility that libertarians dream of, which isn't real freedom at all).
Because remember, freedom ISN'T free. It comes with responsibility, and it isn't just the military that carries that weight. It's all of us.
For those of you who don't know, NH was chosen as the State that would be best for the Free State Project to set down roots, seeing as regulation is lowest and general population libertarianism is highest. There were many factors that brought them here, but they set up camp in the north country with the intent to make NH a tax-free state through legislation. I haven't read up on how their tax-free community has been doing, but I'm guessing everyone is still pretty gung-ho, so it's still thriving.
Now, as you know by now, I'm sure, I am not a libertarian. Very, very ardently not a libertarian. I agree with many, many, many of the libertarian arguments, but at the end of the day, I trust government a HELL of a lot more than corporations. Especially because governments are easier to overthrow.
However, this seemed like it would be an interesting talk given by a farmer about how he manages to stay in business as a small, family-run farmer. And it was interesting. And just about everything he said was common sense regarding this country's attack on small farms through over-regulation.
But it annoys, no, galls me that people are so short-sighted so as not to see that the government over-regulation isn't the cause, but the symptom!
Yes! Small family-run farms (and every other business) ARE being pushed out of existence by ridiculous laws that should only apply to large (agri)businesses! But the question is WHY!
The answer, of course, always comes down to the basic question of all politics: Who benefits the most?
And that's the thing that pisses me off the most about libertarians. They don't seem to ask that crucial question when they're examining their solutions to our problems. Because who does benefit the most from a powerless government? (In reality, not theory. In theory, communism works.) Who benefits the most when there are no regulations?
Can't they see they're fucking tools? (And yes, if you identify yourself as a libertarian, I include you in that insult. Though I still like you. Probably. ;-)
Democracy isn't easy or perfect, but it's our best chance for true freedom (and not the anarchistic "freedom" from social responsibility that libertarians dream of, which isn't real freedom at all).
Because remember, freedom ISN'T free. It comes with responsibility, and it isn't just the military that carries that weight. It's all of us.
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*smooches you*
Date: 2012-02-27 06:52 pm (UTC)Re: *smooches you*
Date: 2012-02-28 04:43 pm (UTC)I think the last quarter hour of my last rheumy check-up was spent "discussing" how much health care regulation is necessary due to the power of insurance companies. And that's only one facet of what's wrong in the medical industry!
Grr. Government, realistically, is there to support business (ours is supposed to be for the people, but really, it's still all about the businesses) and encourage economic prosperity. It's just ours has sold out to Big Business, and screw everyone else. But getting rid of the government's power as a solution really is tossing the baby with the bath water.
Sorry. Preaching to the choir, I know. I'll shut up now.