Letters to the Editor
bucky1
Published Letters: 1714
-
William says ... No.
[Read the article: Standards of American justice under George W. Bush]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You say that you do not believe that governments will abuse the power it has. -- bucky1
That's not what I said. What's more, I believe you know that it's not. To assert that it was seems just the teeniest bit self-serving, don't you think?
There's definitely a tendency on the part of certain kinds of people to seek power for reasons which have nothing to do with forming a more perfect union, establishing justice, insuring domestic tranquility, providing for the common defense, promoting the general welfare, or securing the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. It's also true that people who are in positions of power have a well-documented tendency to view their own convenience with more solicitude than that of others.
Which is, as better minds than mine have put it, why governments are instituted among men, and why the principle of powers which are both complimentary and countervailing were enshrined in our Constitution.
To prevent that Constitution or any similar political constitution from being usurped requires that succeeding generations understand it, value it, and are willing to expend some effort to see that its provisions are honored not in the breach, but in the observance.
In this or that way, we've been remiss from the very beginning, as you take such pleasure in pointing out. That doesn't absolve you from describing -- at least in broad strokes -- what mechanism you believe might better serve us, not if you want to have a real debate, that is.
-- William Timberman
I did not try to put words in your mouth and I am a little confused about your position. Let me tell you why through a very short history of a southern boy.
I spent years in the 'small government' camp thinking much like Thomas Jefferson would think, or at least what I imagined he would think, on this or that issue. When you boil the role of government down to the basics, its job is to protect its own citizens from aggression, both foreign and domestic.
Since I grew up in the 60s, I knew that our government often failed in its job of protection of 'rights' or fairness or just plain human decency. By the 80s I could see (South America/Reagan among other things) that our own government was a band of armed thugs dressed up in pretty uniforms. Naturally, I asked why.
Why does my government, often called the best that has ever existed, do these horrible things over and over? Can we not find 'good men and women' to run this thing and do the right thing? There must be examples of governments past or present that show how it should be done.
William, I found no examples of a 'city on the hill' and I looked hard. About that time, I started reading the political writings of Rothbard. It was his contention that governments will always grow in power until they abused their own citizens in uncountable ways. So what was his answer? No government at all! I thought that was just impossible. As time went on I saw that government was the problem and that voluntary cooperation among free and knowledgeable people is the correct route.
Most people that I know would describe themselves as 'liberal' and answer my question to you with some time frame in American History when there was a 'golden time' and we just need to return to that. I figured that you had some 'perfect government' in mind. I am glad to hear you have moved past that stage.
So, what is to be done? For me, the only thing possible living in an empire is to work toward returning to the original republican form of representative democracy. As this post is already too long, I will stop here.
What part of Anarcho-capitalism would your care to know about, if any? Keep in mind that I do not play the part of an Evangelist on TV, nor in real life. I get along just fine with my liberal friends who hope that a simple change of party will cure all of our many ills.
The below url is to a short q&a to a few of your questions; which one makes you say 'no, no, no' the most?
http://www.lewrockwell.com/long/long11.html
-
-- Kitt again goes on the attack
[Read the article: Standards of American justice under George W. Bush]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Kitt the liar: I see that you and I agree that Bucky was almost certainly being dishonest rather than dense. Too bad about that dishonest streak.
I see you hide behind others to slime people. Grownups can not talk here for slime balls like you poisoning the well. I am sure that William can take care of himself; and we all know that your only function here is to make personal attacks. You do not need to prove that each day.
-
re: The Wisdom of Our System VS All Possible Destinies
[Read the article: Standards of American justice under George W. Bush]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Although I don't want to get in the middle of the intense debate going on about various topics around the core makeup of US and philosophically liberal societies, such as the role of violence in government, or the ability of Constitutional democracies to surpass prior wrongs, there is one thing that occasionally gets forgotten.
There is no evidence whatsoever that the society created in the USA and surviving for over two centuries is the basic model for all future societies and the endpoint of humankind and its societal evolution.
How correct you are. There is no evidence that America is 'good' or ever has been. I work with a very nice lady from Columbia whose family fled some of the Reagan horrors in the 80s. She certainly does not think American foreign policy towards South America has ever been a 'model' for humanity to follow.