I consider myself a libertarian. Certainly can't speak for all self-proclaimed libertarians but here's my take. Government is a necessary evil. I believe it's primary economic function is to create a level playing field through parity of information and eliminating coercion. However there are some things that we as a society have deemed so vital that government must provide that function directly, the military for instance. I believe those functions deemed so vital to society that we give that sole power to the government (because government must have a monopoly on those functions, due to it's importance) and the government should be 100% responsible for providing it. Anything which is not that vital to society should be fully private, with no government intervention, save for the information parity and lack of coercion mentioned above. Keep the two separate as much as humanly possible. Unfortunately in the US we seem to have created the worst of both worlds, which has been described many times above as crony capitalism. The unholy combination of profit above all else backed up by the power of coercion given to government.
Why does he have to micromanage? Go to the head of the FBI or DEA and say:
"Stop prosecuting marijuana dispensaries or you're fired."
"Stop spying on OWS supporters or you're fired."
It's that simple, but Obama supporters keep making every excuse in the book for that spineless weakling. "Waaaaah, the awful Republicans are spoiling everything!" News flash Sparky, Obama is just another big government, corporate stooge.
Of course you realize, that the reason milk prices could go up is because someone long ago decided that the price of milk WAS in fact the job government?
As a libertarian, I'm all for using government as a force to maintain information equilibrium. Telling restaurants food manufacturers that they have to list the ingredients and nutritional information? That's a wonderful function of government. Where it steps over the line is where many statists want to go from providing information and guidance to mandating what should be a personal choice. Once I know what's in the food that I'm eating and what it's affect on me is, it's not the governments job to tell me what I can and cannot eat. But that's exactly where the US is heading. Just look at New York City and some of their idiotic ideas to ban large soft drinks.
Given the state of affairs in Washington, I'd argue that popular opinion does in fact drive what's considered constitutional. It could be argued that a large portion of what the federal government does is unconsititutional, but nobody elected or appointed seems to care.
What kind of conservative are you talking about? The bible thumping moral conservative or the small government conservative who think the government has no right telling people who they can or cannot marry?
Both parties are hypocritical when it comes to copyright. The Republicans claim to support the free market and limited government, but support copyright even though a government backed monopoly is as un-free market as it gets.
The Democrats claim to support the rights of individuals over the rights of corporations, but then support copyright limits longer than any mortal man could need clearly in support of corporate objectives.
They're both hypocritical pieces of shit, just in different ways.
I never went to college, and of the four main jobs of my career thus far, only one was because I knew someone. And that was my worst paying job.
Age 19 - Just married, no college, pounded the pavement until I found an employer who gave me a chance, got my start in software development, ended at $60K/yr Age 25 - A friend worked at a company who was looking for a programmer $55K/yr Age 32 - Started out as a contractor doing some software work for a company, they hired me as their IT manager, ended at $90K/yr Age 36 - IT manager for a midsize healthcare company $95K/yr and I'm being sized up for the IT Director position when my boss moves on
In my experience ambition plays a much larger role than anything. YMMV.
On new vehicles, I've routinely found the OEM equipment far more challenging and dangerous to operate while driving than any phone.
Want to adjust the temperature? Just scroll through this menu, then a submenu, then another submenu, then use a touch screen to adjust something that could have been done in a split second with a knob.
How dare they attempt to flagrantly abuse the creative works created by an author 80 years ago, when the great-grandchildren of said author deserve a life of luxury for all of their blood, sweat and tears!
They are also trivial. Sliding and tapping are two of the most basic functions of a touchscreen. How is using one of the most basic actions possible to perform a simple task non-obvious?
America's roads and bridges are crumbling as we rebuild them in Iraq.
Defense hasn't been defense in an awfully long time, it's the Department of Offense. And they spend trillions to blow up tents in the middle of nowhere.
Medicare accounts for half of all healthcare spending in this country, and only covers a small portion of us.
Fire departments are run locally, and the only thing on this list which is run reasonably well.
I think it's safe to say that the federal government does things pretty poorly.
What are you talking about? I said nothing about PC games. And do you really think PC games don't subsidize large corporations? Good lord, video games have turned your brain to mush. You should probably stop gaming altogether.
No. I love my PC for it's openness, and I love my Xbox for it's closed...ness. I don't expect my gaming machine to be open, it's an entertainment device where I'm willing to live with limitations because after all it is just a time killing toy. That's different than an iPad, where I may be doing actual work or other things important to me and I want to access the data in any way I choose, not have the terms by which I may access the data that I have created dictated to me by Apple. The only data I create on the Xbox are save files. Who cares. On a PC, I create lots of things very valuable to me. Totally different use cases.
Slashdot Mirror
Ah yes, the Nuremburg defense. Loved by monsters everywhere.
Right? Nobody eats Jews, the meat is way to stringy...
We have yearly vehicle taxes as well, but it's based on value rather than size.
I consider myself a libertarian. Certainly can't speak for all self-proclaimed libertarians but here's my take. Government is a necessary evil. I believe it's primary economic function is to create a level playing field through parity of information and eliminating coercion. However there are some things that we as a society have deemed so vital that government must provide that function directly, the military for instance. I believe those functions deemed so vital to society that we give that sole power to the government (because government must have a monopoly on those functions, due to it's importance) and the government should be 100% responsible for providing it. Anything which is not that vital to society should be fully private, with no government intervention, save for the information parity and lack of coercion mentioned above. Keep the two separate as much as humanly possible. Unfortunately in the US we seem to have created the worst of both worlds, which has been described many times above as crony capitalism. The unholy combination of profit above all else backed up by the power of coercion given to government.
You sound like an Obama support and a fucking idiot at that.
Why does he have to micromanage? Go to the head of the FBI or DEA and say:
"Stop prosecuting marijuana dispensaries or you're fired."
"Stop spying on OWS supporters or you're fired."
It's that simple, but Obama supporters keep making every excuse in the book for that spineless weakling. "Waaaaah, the awful Republicans are spoiling everything!" News flash Sparky, Obama is just another big government, corporate stooge.
Of course you realize, that the reason milk prices could go up is because someone long ago decided that the price of milk WAS in fact the job government?
http://money.msn.com/now/post.aspx?post=8804bd07-7cfd-4fb7-9d0e-9c0a90fc7501
Uncountable? Really?
http://www.pointoflaw.com/archives/2012/07/gibson-guitar-ceo-on-overcriminalizing-businesses.php
As a libertarian, I'm all for using government as a force to maintain information equilibrium. Telling restaurants food manufacturers that they have to list the ingredients and nutritional information? That's a wonderful function of government. Where it steps over the line is where many statists want to go from providing information and guidance to mandating what should be a personal choice. Once I know what's in the food that I'm eating and what it's affect on me is, it's not the governments job to tell me what I can and cannot eat. But that's exactly where the US is heading. Just look at New York City and some of their idiotic ideas to ban large soft drinks.
Given the state of affairs in Washington, I'd argue that popular opinion does in fact drive what's considered constitutional. It could be argued that a large portion of what the federal government does is unconsititutional, but nobody elected or appointed seems to care.
Actually the Nazi party was quite socialist, provided you had the right DNA.
What kind of conservative are you talking about? The bible thumping moral conservative or the small government conservative who think the government has no right telling people who they can or cannot marry?
Both parties are hypocritical when it comes to copyright. The Republicans claim to support the free market and limited government, but support copyright even though a government backed monopoly is as un-free market as it gets.
The Democrats claim to support the rights of individuals over the rights of corporations, but then support copyright limits longer than any mortal man could need clearly in support of corporate objectives.
They're both hypocritical pieces of shit, just in different ways.
I never went to college, and of the four main jobs of my career thus far, only one was because I knew someone. And that was my worst paying job.
Age 19 - Just married, no college, pounded the pavement until I found an employer who gave me a chance, got my start in software development, ended at $60K/yr
Age 25 - A friend worked at a company who was looking for a programmer $55K/yr
Age 32 - Started out as a contractor doing some software work for a company, they hired me as their IT manager, ended at $90K/yr
Age 36 - IT manager for a midsize healthcare company $95K/yr and I'm being sized up for the IT Director position when my boss moves on
In my experience ambition plays a much larger role than anything. YMMV.
On new vehicles, I've routinely found the OEM equipment far more challenging and dangerous to operate while driving than any phone.
Want to adjust the temperature? Just scroll through this menu, then a submenu, then another submenu, then use a touch screen to adjust something that could have been done in a split second with a knob.
How dare they attempt to flagrantly abuse the creative works created by an author 80 years ago, when the great-grandchildren of said author deserve a life of luxury for all of their blood, sweat and tears!
Don't forget about Hollywood becoming the center of film we know today because they wanted to skirt IP law.
They are also trivial. Sliding and tapping are two of the most basic functions of a touchscreen. How is using one of the most basic actions possible to perform a simple task non-obvious?
That is inevitable in a bloated bureaucracy.
Ideas, however, are definitely not affected by scarcity. Unless of course government steps in creates scarcity of ideas.
Hey dipshit, in a libertarian world there would be no such thing as government enforced monopolies.
America's roads and bridges are crumbling as we rebuild them in Iraq.
Defense hasn't been defense in an awfully long time, it's the Department of Offense. And they spend trillions to blow up tents in the middle of nowhere.
Medicare accounts for half of all healthcare spending in this country, and only covers a small portion of us.
Fire departments are run locally, and the only thing on this list which is run reasonably well.
I think it's safe to say that the federal government does things pretty poorly.
What are you talking about? I said nothing about PC games. And do you really think PC games don't subsidize large corporations? Good lord, video games have turned your brain to mush. You should probably stop gaming altogether.
No. I love my PC for it's openness, and I love my Xbox for it's closed...ness. I don't expect my gaming machine to be open, it's an entertainment device where I'm willing to live with limitations because after all it is just a time killing toy. That's different than an iPad, where I may be doing actual work or other things important to me and I want to access the data in any way I choose, not have the terms by which I may access the data that I have created dictated to me by Apple. The only data I create on the Xbox are save files. Who cares. On a PC, I create lots of things very valuable to me. Totally different use cases.