Yeah, my entire political philosophy can be summed up in one sentence - "Leave people alone".
If I own everything for 10 miles in any direction, I should be perfectly able to fire my artillery straight up if that's what I want to do:)
Funny you should bring up that specific example. Firearms ownership was my entry into politics. My dad I hunted quite a bit when I was younger, and as I got older, I realized I didn't so much like to hunt as I liked to shoot the rifles. So I took up sport shooting.
Quite a bit of my hostility towards government comes from the fact that the culture I am a part of is actively repressed in a way that would not be stood for for any other group that I can think of. I can literally go to the store, buy a gun, and be perfectly legal. If I take it home, replace the stock with one that is identical, but made in Taiwan, I'm now a felon, and could potentially spend 10 years in prison.
For over 80 years, gunowners have been persecuted by the federal government. Today, we've all but stemmed that via DC v Heller last summer.
Now, I see the same thing starting to happen to businesspeople. Where once, a small business owner was someone to admire and hold up as an example to our children, today, they are despised and our children are told that they are greedy, and that greed is bad.
The only difference is, instead of effectively neutering society as suppressing gun ownership has done, the suppression of capitalism will result in the total destruction in our economy, and our way of life. We're seeing the beginnings of this in the market today. Make no mistake - we'll "recover", but afterwards, the government will have more control than ever over the markets. They mean well, but they don't have the ability to help anything. They'll bumble along, and manage to destroy everything generations of Americans have worked to create in the process.
That would be setting an exit condition for welfare and disability, correct?
Let's do it. If they can work, a job is available, and they don't take it, kick them off. This would go a long way towards making people like myself happy - but will never, ever happen.
Nope, Europe is still full of people who have a totally different set of values and beliefs.
Bottom line is, its not relevant what everyone else is doing. We have always been a different country, and we should continue to be guided by our own self-interest.
Also, there ARE quite a few monarchies left in Europe. Finally, off this topic, but I like your sig - for a reason entirely different than you made it your sig, I'm sure.
As long as you see that the two issues are approximately equal in terms of "forcing your values on someone else", I'm happy.
Also, its not up for you to decide what's in my best interest, or vice-versa. I'm vaguely offended that the American people basically thinks that I am not intelligent enough to make my own decisions and must therefore make them for me.
This is not just a "Democrat" problem, but they seem to be the bigger offender. I firmly believe if our founders were still alive, they'd be shooting just as many Republicans, for what its worth.
We really need to take a step back and see what this country was founded on. If we no longer agree with it, that's great and all - but change it the right way, instead of slowly, incrementally increasing the power of the central government.
Raw capitalism is the perfect system, and that's not an assumption - its the result of my own personal research and experience.
Forced socialism is inherently evil. You're using the force of the government to deprive one group of property, and giving it to another.
Also, to the moderating "boom/bust" cycles --- I've never, ever seen the government step up and say "Whoa guys, guys - we're making too much money here. We should slow down." They only want to "moderate" the bust part, which only staves it off and turns a recession to a depression, and a depression to a collapse.
There are most certainly natural laws, and self-defense is one of them. Our Constitution grants the federal government very specific powers, and reserves all others to the States or individuals.
If you don't agree with that, cool - but don't start trying to make unconstitutional laws, or grant yourself "rights" that aren't there. If you want to fundamentally change America, you should do it through the mechanism provided for that purpose - amendment and ratification. Until you do that, you are nothing more than an enemy to everything patriotic Americans believe in.
Why is it OK for the left to push the "morality" of helping our fellow man, but abhorent for the right to push the "morality" of making abortions illegal?
Not representative of my beliefs in this case, but its a valid question nonetheless.
Why is it my responsibility to save some guy 1,000 miles away from himself?
If you're so worried about there cold, downtrodden homeless, why don't you open a soup kitchen? Why don't you help them? Give them blankets? Buy them a warm coat?
Instead, you've decided to help by voting to allocate MY wealth to the problem, so you don't have to do it yourself. Well, I've got news for you - I DON'T WANT TO PAY! You've not created my wealth, you've not helped in its creation, and you don't even know me - yet, you've granted yourself the moral authority to take what is mine and give it to someone who not only hasn't earned it, but seems to have gone out of their way to not earn anything at all.
Aesop's fables would be an interesting read had he lived in modern America. For instance, the grasshopper and the ant would end with the government taking 1/2 or 2/3 of the ant's food and giving it to the grasshoppers...
You're not getting it. No one is expecting the owners of businesses to "give raises and give the average person the money". They expect them to reinvest it in their business, to make themselves more money. That means more jobs will be created, and with a fixed labor supply, wages will increase due to increased competition for skilled employees. That business is now larger, generating more income, which starts the cycle again.
When the business grows too large, it becomes inefficient. They begin making less money, requiring them to close facilities and lay off people, and either regain their profitability or go bankrupt and sell their assets to a company that will use them more effectively.
The problem is that the socialists in the US scream every time we get to the contracting part of Capitalism. It MUST occur, and it is not a huge deal. If left alone, those people will find other jobs, start their own businesses, etc.
If you give cash to the failing company, you are rewarding the flawed business plan that led to the issue. If you give money to the unemployed, they no longer have strong incentive to find a new job, and a once productive person produces less or nothing at all. If you keep your nose out of it, those productive people will once again be productive.
This trend of reward those in our society that provide the least benefit and punishing those who provide the most must stop. If there are 10 people pulling a wagon, and every day some decides to sit down in the wagon and rest, there will come a time when the people pulling will stop trying.
The libertarians I know are against ANY government intervention in the market. That includes income taxes, EITC, and distribution of "public" land. There is no public land, every square inch should be owned.
I consider myself a part of a subset of the above group, as an Objectivist.
I live in an at-will employment state. An employer can fire you for any reason, or no reason at all. That's the way I want it to be, because one day, I will be the employer, and I don't want asshats like you taking me to court!
The "breaking" portion of breaking & entering doesn't mean something is physically broken, but rather that the person crossed the barrier between public and private, for purposes of committing a crime. If I open you unlocked door, and say "Hi" to you on the couch, I'm trespassing. If I open your door, walk in and steal your remote, I'm breaking & entering.
Agree. I use OOo all the time at home, but before that, I used Wordpad or Kwrite. These days, I'm seriously considering switching to Google Docs anyhow, as I'm usually on the road.
Somewhat recently, New York City sent a bunch of LEOs to gun stores in the South and tried to execute "straw man" purchase. Then I believe the NYC DA's office filed charges.
Those suits didn't get thrown out, though it did trigger legislation preventing it from happening again.
I'd think this would fall under the same thing. If they can show (or pretend) that it impacts residents of the states, they can prosecute. It may or may not be thrown out.
You may have a point. The Republican party forked into statist and libertarian sects a long time ago (with Christian Fundamentalists thrown in for good measure)
Before you people take this as a flame, I'd consider myself a conservative individualist on this. Imagine Ayn Rand with the understanding that we can't move to free-market capitalism overnight after the mess we've made of our economy.
Slashdot Mirror
You already have concentration camp project, putting there ppl by race (mostly yet).
Go ahead, America, land of the free.
Respectfully, what the FUCK are you talking about?
Yeah, my entire political philosophy can be summed up in one sentence - "Leave people alone".
If I own everything for 10 miles in any direction, I should be perfectly able to fire my artillery straight up if that's what I want to do :)
Funny you should bring up that specific example. Firearms ownership was my entry into politics. My dad I hunted quite a bit when I was younger, and as I got older, I realized I didn't so much like to hunt as I liked to shoot the rifles. So I took up sport shooting.
Quite a bit of my hostility towards government comes from the fact that the culture I am a part of is actively repressed in a way that would not be stood for for any other group that I can think of. I can literally go to the store, buy a gun, and be perfectly legal. If I take it home, replace the stock with one that is identical, but made in Taiwan, I'm now a felon, and could potentially spend 10 years in prison.
For over 80 years, gunowners have been persecuted by the federal government. Today, we've all but stemmed that via DC v Heller last summer.
Now, I see the same thing starting to happen to businesspeople. Where once, a small business owner was someone to admire and hold up as an example to our children, today, they are despised and our children are told that they are greedy, and that greed is bad.
The only difference is, instead of effectively neutering society as suppressing gun ownership has done, the suppression of capitalism will result in the total destruction in our economy, and our way of life. We're seeing the beginnings of this in the market today. Make no mistake - we'll "recover", but afterwards, the government will have more control than ever over the markets. They mean well, but they don't have the ability to help anything. They'll bumble along, and manage to destroy everything generations of Americans have worked to create in the process.
That would be setting an exit condition for welfare and disability, correct?
Let's do it. If they can work, a job is available, and they don't take it, kick them off. This would go a long way towards making people like myself happy - but will never, ever happen.
Nope, Europe is still full of people who have a totally different set of values and beliefs.
Bottom line is, its not relevant what everyone else is doing. We have always been a different country, and we should continue to be guided by our own self-interest.
Also, there ARE quite a few monarchies left in Europe. Finally, off this topic, but I like your sig - for a reason entirely different than you made it your sig, I'm sure.
As long as you see that the two issues are approximately equal in terms of "forcing your values on someone else", I'm happy.
Also, its not up for you to decide what's in my best interest, or vice-versa. I'm vaguely offended that the American people basically thinks that I am not intelligent enough to make my own decisions and must therefore make them for me.
This is not just a "Democrat" problem, but they seem to be the bigger offender. I firmly believe if our founders were still alive, they'd be shooting just as many Republicans, for what its worth.
We really need to take a step back and see what this country was founded on. If we no longer agree with it, that's great and all - but change it the right way, instead of slowly, incrementally increasing the power of the central government.
I just realized I'm to the right of a Ron Paul supporter. O God, what have I done?
Raw capitalism is the perfect system, and that's not an assumption - its the result of my own personal research and experience.
Forced socialism is inherently evil. You're using the force of the government to deprive one group of property, and giving it to another.
Also, to the moderating "boom/bust" cycles --- I've never, ever seen the government step up and say "Whoa guys, guys - we're making too much money here. We should slow down." They only want to "moderate" the bust part, which only staves it off and turns a recession to a depression, and a depression to a collapse.
But there's no incentive for the guy in the wagon, once healed, to get back to pulling. He's comfortable.
Touche - I should couch that as "outside of its specified charter".
The protection of private parties from use of physical violence is a - the - valid role of government.
lie, cheat, manipulate, trade - those are all valid in a Capialistic system.
There are most certainly natural laws, and self-defense is one of them. Our Constitution grants the federal government very specific powers, and reserves all others to the States or individuals.
If you don't agree with that, cool - but don't start trying to make unconstitutional laws, or grant yourself "rights" that aren't there. If you want to fundamentally change America, you should do it through the mechanism provided for that purpose - amendment and ratification. Until you do that, you are nothing more than an enemy to everything patriotic Americans believe in.
Why is it OK for the left to push the "morality" of helping our fellow man, but abhorent for the right to push the "morality" of making abortions illegal?
Not representative of my beliefs in this case, but its a valid question nonetheless.
Which explains all Floridians crossing the ocean to get into Cuba.
I'd been scratching my head about that, until now.
Please stop using "the rest of the Western world" as proof that something is a good idea. We left Europe for a reason, you know.
If Europe jumped off a bridge, would you vote to follow?
Why is it my responsibility to save some guy 1,000 miles away from himself?
If you're so worried about there cold, downtrodden homeless, why don't you open a soup kitchen? Why don't you help them? Give them blankets? Buy them a warm coat?
Instead, you've decided to help by voting to allocate MY wealth to the problem, so you don't have to do it yourself. Well, I've got news for you - I DON'T WANT TO PAY! You've not created my wealth, you've not helped in its creation, and you don't even know me - yet, you've granted yourself the moral authority to take what is mine and give it to someone who not only hasn't earned it, but seems to have gone out of their way to not earn anything at all.
Aesop's fables would be an interesting read had he lived in modern America. For instance, the grasshopper and the ant would end with the government taking 1/2 or 2/3 of the ant's food and giving it to the grasshoppers...
You're not getting it. No one is expecting the owners of businesses to "give raises and give the average person the money". They expect them to reinvest it in their business, to make themselves more money. That means more jobs will be created, and with a fixed labor supply, wages will increase due to increased competition for skilled employees. That business is now larger, generating more income, which starts the cycle again.
When the business grows too large, it becomes inefficient. They begin making less money, requiring them to close facilities and lay off people, and either regain their profitability or go bankrupt and sell their assets to a company that will use them more effectively.
The problem is that the socialists in the US scream every time we get to the contracting part of Capitalism. It MUST occur, and it is not a huge deal. If left alone, those people will find other jobs, start their own businesses, etc.
If you give cash to the failing company, you are rewarding the flawed business plan that led to the issue. If you give money to the unemployed, they no longer have strong incentive to find a new job, and a once productive person produces less or nothing at all. If you keep your nose out of it, those productive people will once again be productive.
This trend of reward those in our society that provide the least benefit and punishing those who provide the most must stop. If there are 10 people pulling a wagon, and every day some decides to sit down in the wagon and rest, there will come a time when the people pulling will stop trying.
The libertarians I know are against ANY government intervention in the market. That includes income taxes, EITC, and distribution of "public" land. There is no public land, every square inch should be owned.
I consider myself a part of a subset of the above group, as an Objectivist.
WTF is "unjustified dismissal"?
I live in an at-will employment state. An employer can fire you for any reason, or no reason at all. That's the way I want it to be, because one day, I will be the employer, and I don't want asshats like you taking me to court!
The "breaking" portion of breaking & entering doesn't mean something is physically broken, but rather that the person crossed the barrier between public and private, for purposes of committing a crime. If I open you unlocked door, and say "Hi" to you on the couch, I'm trespassing. If I open your door, walk in and steal your remote, I'm breaking & entering.
Agree. I use OOo all the time at home, but before that, I used Wordpad or Kwrite. These days, I'm seriously considering switching to Google Docs anyhow, as I'm usually on the road.
They renamed it "ArchLinux" :)
"Or are we just going to split the party up?"
Aw, hell, why not just split it up? It's just the two of us, anyhow.
Somewhat recently, New York City sent a bunch of LEOs to gun stores in the South and tried to execute "straw man" purchase. Then I believe the NYC DA's office filed charges.
Those suits didn't get thrown out, though it did trigger legislation preventing it from happening again.
I'd think this would fall under the same thing. If they can show (or pretend) that it impacts residents of the states, they can prosecute. It may or may not be thrown out.
IANAL.
*waves*
Holy crap.
A well-thought-out and information post on Slashdot.
About POLITICS, no less.
HOLY CRAP! You're NOT NEW HERE?!
If this is indicitive of the beginnings of this site, I missed out :(
You may have a point. The Republican party forked into statist and libertarian sects a long time ago (with Christian Fundamentalists thrown in for good measure) Before you people take this as a flame, I'd consider myself a conservative individualist on this. Imagine Ayn Rand with the understanding that we can't move to free-market capitalism overnight after the mess we've made of our economy.