panzerkaetzchen said:
Fight or flight? Fight or flight? Fight or flight? Ach, what the hell...
Meh, I've had every political debate imaginable on UM at least 8 times over, so I don't really have the energy to rehash the "why libertarians are living in an alternate reality" argument. That said, I'm going to rehash the "why libertarians are living in an alternate reality" argument.
Rather than citing important issues, I'll just give a brief synopsis of my platform, so to speak.
If you had mentioned any specific
issue -- health care, education, crime, national security, taxes, race relations, etc -- I'd lay out exactly how Kerry is lightyears ahead of Bush. But, like every libertarian (correct me if you're not one) I've talked to, you're driven more by the ideology than by its results. So I know from past experience we're at an impasse.
I am currently disenchanted with both republican and democratic parties because each seeks to expand the US government control nationally as well as internationally (Exhibit A: Iraq).
1. Iraq war aside, do you honestly think any country,
especially the U.S., can be isolationist in this era?
2. You dislike our global reach politically but not economically?
Personally, I do not want the government telling me what to think, how to spend my money, what I can and cannot do with my body, etc.
And I think it's the role -- no, the
duty -- of a government to seek the common good for its citizens, which oftentimes requires such intervention. But here's an ideological difference between us that I don't expect to change.
I do not think it is their office to control the economy either; allow the free market to take care of itself. Capitalism can succeed if allowed to progress unhindered by idiotic government meddling.
How do you define "succeed"?
Left unchecked, capitalism does nothing to enforce labor or environmental standards, consumer rights, or equality of opportunity. Why do you think society would be better off without these things?
