Letters to the Editor
-
Congress is not the libertarians' enemy
It's the Supreme Court and other constitutional scholars. A Paul presidency, while altogether unlikely, would be wholly unable to achieve anything that the man wants to achieve. Paul's campaign is based on declaring things unconstitutional based on a reading of the Constitution that's as narrow as his concept of moral responsibility. Unfortunately for the pauliannas, the president does not have the power to deem things unconstitutional. That's the power of the judiciary, the true enemy of libertarians and the one force specifically designed to counteract ideologues that ludicrously claim to channel the spirit of the Founding Fathers (by which they mean Jefferson).
-
Anonymous, the problem is that libertarians
aren't coders, their intent is purely destructive. If libertarians had a coherent plan to provide health care, defense, etc., that would be one thing, but if we're going to push the geek analogy, the libertarian plan is this: "I provide you with a bare bones OS and you can hope that you're wealthy/lucky enough to attain the software you need to be productive and achieve your goals. If not, then well, I'm sure you could code it yourself it you'd just work a little harder. Also, if there's a system crash, you're fucked."
-
re: Anonymous, the problem is that libertarians
> aren't coders, their intent is purely destructive. If
> libertarians had a coherent plan to provide health care,
> defense, etc., that would be one thing
FinFangFoom,
Libertarians intent is not purely destructive.
When the FEDERAL government has a coherent plan to provide health care, defense, etc - we would be in a different world.
Have you ever read the Social Security Act? It sets up a TRUST where SURPLUS money is SAVED or invested. What has the government done with the surplus that has been in existence nearly every year since it's inception?
They spent it.
It was spent on Korea, on Vietnam, on SDI, on war, on the Apollo mission, on pure unadulaterated crap like Halliburton, you name it. Guess where that spending has left us?
It has left us with a 60 TRILLION dollar obligation that has to be paid out to the Baby Boomers over the next 30 years. That's the projected cost in today's dollars of Social Security and Medicare for the boomers.
Guess how much the Federal government brings in a year from taxes? 3 trillion dollars. That means if we keep inflating the national debt at the same rate by finding more suckers willing to buy our T Bills, and move 2/3rd of our budget to just maintaining these two programs, we can fund it.
Have you looked at the US dollar index lately? Have you looked at what is happening to the price of gold and silver lately? I have. It's called massive inflation. The CPI is a lie, and because it's a lie people who depend on social security are having a hard time. It's going to be harder because the Federal government will continue lying about the CPI, and the dollar is going to continue to erode in value.
And defense... yeah, President NUTJOB and Hillary Clinton are both on record supporting an attack on Iran because... Why? Iran isn't a threat to us. If Iran was dumb enough to attack us today, they would be a smoking hole in the ground tomorrow. That's the deterrent power of nuclear weapons. The USSR wasn't crazy enough to attack us, I don't think the Iranians are either. I know quite a few Iranians, and lo and behold they are pretty sane people.
And to finish off:
> but if we're going to push the geek analogy, the libertarian
> plan is this: "I provide you with a bare bones OS and you
> can hope that you're wealthy/lucky enough to attain the
> software you need to be productive and achieve your goals.
> If not, then well, I'm sure you could code it yourself it
> you'd just work a little harder. Also, if there's a system
> crash, you're fucked."
Try Linux - it's my OS of choice.
I use PCLinuxOS. It's about as complicated to use as a Macintosh. Mommy and Daddy manage to use it, and they are in their 70's, I'm sure if they can do it, you can too.
My mother was a graphics artist and dad was a businesman. Neither of them even touched a computer until 1993.
-
a condescending Linux joke?
Ladies and gentlemen, your archetypal Ron Paul supporter...
-
...
I consider myself a libertarian and I am a coder, and my intent isn't "purely destructive", quite the contrary, so your generalization doesn't fit. Prescription drug prices are insane because there are laws that limit competition. My sister has an allergy problem, and she can spend $180 a month on her prescription from the United States, or she can import it (illegally) from Canada for $20. Imagine how things would change if competition were even LEGAL from these generic drug vendors.
Here's the "bare bones" libertarian plan to provide health care: let you keep more of the money you make and make medicine cheaper by removing restrictions on trade. That's pretty coherent to me. It's simple, effective steps to help the common man better afford health care. Describe to me your coherent vision of a health care plan, I'd like to hear it.
Here's a coherent plan to improve defense: bring our troops home, and stop making enemies around the world. Can you get more coherent than that? Close our borders so terrorists have a harder time getting in. It makes perfect sense to me, but then again, I live in libertarian/geek/nerd crazyland so what do I know?
As to your counter-analogy, first off I hardly consider the police force, fire department, roads, public education system, and additional luxuries offered by my state to be "bare bones". Here's a counter-counter-analogy, would you rather have the freedom to build a bare-bones system or be forced into purchasing eMachines for the rest of your days? Or Macs, if you're a PC guy, or PCs if you're a Mac guy? Or what if the only available operating system was Windows?!? Sorry, one size doesn't fit all.
-
... (cont)
> a condescending Linux joke?
>
> Ladies and gentlemen, your archetypal Ron Paul supporter...
Ladies and gentlemen, your archetypal ignoramus, eager to spout his vision of a utopian society, yet unable to reconcile it with reality.