Libertarians of Reddit

flyingpylon
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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

Post by flyingpylon »

Maddy wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 7:12 am Ditto with the whole coronavirus affair. Small business has been systematically extinguished, while large corporations--particularly the handful of uber-wealthy--have moved in to occupy that market share with an efficiency unrivaled by the most well-planned hostile takeover. The handful of individuals at the very top of the control hierarchy have been the real beneficiaries of this supposed crisis.

It's a fool's errand to debate whether the republicans or democrats have been most responsible for the concentration of resources and power that is the sine qua non of the symbiotic relationship between government and the transnational corporations that control it. If you still believe that the R-D divide is anything but theater for the masses that insures the continuity of the preordained regime no matter how the pendulum swings, then you haven't been paying attention over the last few months as the true allegiances of our so-called representatives in government have been laid bare.

What IS, significant, in my mind, is that the populist movements which have rejected the encroaching tyranny of the Elite have embraced the traditional principles of republicanism (referring to the form of government, not the political party) and seek first and foremost to safeguard individual liberties. This was, in a nutshell, the "Trump" phenomenon. Whether you like or dislike Trump the man, and whether you agree or disagree with his policies, there's no denying that the tidal wave of support he has achieved in this country represents a clear rejection on the part of rank and file conservatives of the imperialist criminal syndicate that runs the western world.

In contrast, on the left we see ordinary people lining up almost reflexively behind the very same psychopaths and criminals that have brought us here, embracing shockingly authoritarian policies that they demand be enforced by the iron fist of government. In this regard, I see no equivalency at all between the right and the left--much less any possibility of reconciling the values of the progressive left with the fundamental principles of libertarianism.
Excellent post!

Many of the anti-Trumpers here and elsewhere fundamentally misunderstand the reason he has so much support. It has much more to do with how the battle is being framed than it does with Trump the man. Trump may be highly flawed in some respects but he's the only one to have had any success at all against the UniParty elites. There has been no other choice.

Here's a good post that offers some additional insight for those willing to consider it: Senate Leader Mitch McConnell Warns Republican Senators Not To Challenge 2020 Election Results
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I Shrugged
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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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Doodle, why are you obsessed with QAnon? That would be like conservatives projecting Noam Chomsky as the face of mainstream Democrats. It's a strained analogy but it's close enough. I listen to conservative talk radio, watch YT stuff, read, and never come across anyone advocating or even talking about QAnon. I know enough to know roughly what it is. What I'm trying to say is I think it is the fringe of the fringe, yet you are under the impression that it's widely followed, and that the group(?) is out agitating and causing mayhem. Can you tell us what QAnon has done in this regard? And Proud Boys too? As far as I know, they are just a group of trolls who are enjoying a moment of fame by saying provocative things, sometimes in public.

Crazy fringe groups are out there, on both sides, but that's usually all they are. I think in the mentioned groups, there is sort of a meme mentality that has attracted some disaffected people who just want to make noise and cause consternation. In any event, your constant pointing to them as real menaces is not a good look.
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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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What IS, significant, in my mind, is that the populist movements which have rejected the encroaching tyranny of the Elite have embraced the traditional principles of republicanism (referring to the form of government, not the political party) and seek first and foremost to safeguard individual liberties. This was, in a nutshell, the "Trump" phenomenon. Whether you like or dislike Trump the man, and whether you agree or disagree with his policies, there's no denying that the tidal wave of support he has achieved in this country represents a clear rejection on the part of rank and file conservatives of the imperialist criminal syndicate that runs the western world.
I agree in large part regarding movement..Trump had many good ideas....but his delivery was so abysmal and the man is so psychology flawed and ill suited to lead that he ended up undermining what could have been. Trump sucks as a leader.... Just because he was able to identify a political opening doesn't mean he should be the figurehead of that movement. From my perspective he set things back. That's the problem that Trump supporters ignore. From a practical standpoint Trump did more damage than good to the ideas you support.
I Shrugged wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 9:48 am Doodle, why are you obsessed with QAnon? That would be like conservatives projecting Noam Chomsky as the face of mainstream Democrats. It's a strained analogy but it's close enough. I listen to conservative talk radio, watch YT stuff, read, and never come across anyone advocating or even talking about QAnon. I know enough to know roughly what it is. What I'm trying to say is I think it is the fringe of the fringe, yet you are under the impression that it's widely followed, and that the group(?) is out agitating and causing mayhem. Can you tell us what QAnon has done in this regard? And Proud Boys too? As far as I know, they are just a group of trolls who are enjoying a moment of fame by saying provocative things, sometimes in public.

Crazy fringe groups are out there, on both sides, but that's usually all they are. I think in the mentioned groups, there is sort of a meme mentality that has attracted some disaffected people who just want to make noise and cause consternation. In any event, your constant pointing to them as real menaces is not a good look.
I don't think I'm obsessed with QAnon. I think they merely represent a larger growing conspiracy and disinformation movement that I find concerning in this country. That movement is largely concentrated on the political right. Is every nutjob a member of QAnon? No. But they represent a rising danger that inspires increasingly frequent events like this.

"
NBC News
Former Houston police captain charged with attacking man falsely accused of voter fraud
Doha Madani
December 15, 2020, 4:20 pm

A former Houston police captain was arrested and accused of pointing a gun at a repairman and running him off the road over false voter fraud allegations, authorities said Wednesday.

The man, Mark Anthony Aguirre, 63, was charged Tuesday with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to the Harris County District Attorney's Office. Police said Aguirre told them after the incident in October that he was part of a civilian group called "Liberty Center" that was looking into allegations of voter fraud.

According to the district attorney's office, Aguirre said he conducted "surveillance" on a man for four days in the belief that he had 750,000 fraudulent ballots in his truck. Authorities alleged that he ran his SUV into the back of the man's truck and forced the man to the ground at gunpoint, which was captured on an officer's body camera."
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Maddy
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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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doodle wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 7:37 am Yes, our government has been co-opted by big money and their lobbyists. My solution is to take measures to reduce big money's influence on government. Your solution is to eliminate government. I think my position is more moderate and yours is quite radical and at this particular point not realistic. In that way you share a lot in common with AOC. You are proposing the mother of all green new deals in terms of level of radical change.
I don't know where you're getting the idea that my solution is to "eliminate government." In fact, I don't know of any declared libertarian on this forum that would take such a position. It's a curious thing how libertarians are uniquely painted by the Left in the most extreme, wholly theoretical, terms possible. In reality, a good number of us libertarians are staunch advocates of the rule of law, and by that I'm not referring to the present, corrupted system of justice, but rather the rule of law as a construct that strives to achieve a balance between conflicting rights and liberties while maximizing the freedom of every member of society to pursue, without interference, his or her own view of a good life.

But getting back to the point: Whatever kinder and gentler government you may have in mind, that's not the government we have. And without taking on the century-old power structure that has infiltrated literally every branch and level of government--much as Trump has--it is the same corrupted, crony-corporatist government that will continue to run the show. So it it puzzles me to no end why you would see government as operating with any objective other than its own self-interest.
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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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I Shrugged wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 9:48 am Doodle, why are you obsessed with QAnon? That would be like conservatives projecting Noam Chomsky as the face of mainstream Democrats. It's a strained analogy but it's close enough. I listen to conservative talk radio, watch YT stuff, read, and never come across anyone advocating or even talking about QAnon. I know enough to know roughly what it is. What I'm trying to say is I think it is the fringe of the fringe, yet you are under the impression that it's widely followed, and that the group(?) is out agitating and causing mayhem. Can you tell us what QAnon has done in this regard? And Proud Boys too? As far as I know, they are just a group of trolls who are enjoying a moment of fame by saying provocative things, sometimes in public.

Crazy fringe groups are out there, on both sides, but that's usually all they are. I think in the mentioned groups, there is sort of a meme mentality that has attracted some disaffected people who just want to make noise and cause consternation. In any event, your constant pointing to them as real menaces is not a good look.
On the flip side every democrat is a building burning, looting BLM and Antifa member. Every, single, one.
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doodle
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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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Maddy wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 11:03 am
doodle wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 7:37 am Yes, our government has been co-opted by big money and their lobbyists. My solution is to take measures to reduce big money's influence on government. Your solution is to eliminate government. I think my position is more moderate and yours is quite radical and at this particular point not realistic. In that way you share a lot in common with AOC. You are proposing the mother of all green new deals in terms of level of radical change.
I don't know where you're getting the idea that my solution is to "eliminate government." In fact, I don't know of any declared libertarian on this forum that would take such a position. It's a curious thing how libertarians are uniquely painted by the Left in the most extreme, wholly theoretical, terms possible. In reality, a good number of us libertarians are staunch advocates of the rule of law, and by that I'm not referring to the present, corrupted system of justice, but rather the rule of law as a construct that strives to achieve a balance between conflicting rights and liberties while maximizing the freedom of every member of society to pursue, without interference, his or her own view of a good life.

But getting back to the point: Whatever kinder and gentler government you may have in mind, that's not the government we have. And without taking on the century-old power structure that has infiltrated literally every branch and level of government--much as Trump has--it is the same corrupted, crony-corporatist government that will continue to run the show. So it it puzzles me to no end why you would see government as offering the common man anything other than the opportunity to receive scraps from a banquet to which he will never be invited.
This recent thread contained quite a bit of elimination of government talk

https://www.gyroscopicinvesting.com/f ... &t=11610
PrimalToker wrote: Fri Dec 04, 2020 7:38 pm
doodle wrote: Fri Dec 04, 2020 7:13 pm Can one of the hardcore libertarians explain to me simply how ownership and enforcement of property rights would exist in a system absent a single arbiter who held a monopoly on the use of force?
There is always a single arbiter. Each party consents to the arbiter instead of being forced by the government monopoly. Imagine each county having more than one legal system, you belong to one group, and they provide you with the services. If there is a dispute from another group, they wouldn't use your judge because that's biased, you wouldn't use their judge because that's biased. Therefore both parties would have to pick a third group that has no interest in either party, their only interest is maintaining their integrity with the market by being neutral. If the third party failed to be neutral and just, people would leave that group and join another one.

You'd have market judges and jury's, not government judges and jury's. The free market holds the monopoly of force.


Mark advocated for the elimination of police in favor of private security forces.
doodle wrote: Fri Dec 04, 2020 8:33 pm
PrimalToker wrote: Fri Dec 04, 2020 8:31 pm
doodle wrote: Fri Dec 04, 2020 8:09 pm
Mark Leavy wrote: Fri Dec 04, 2020 7:58 pm A while back, tech threw out the idea of title insurance backed by private security.

I found that intriguing.
I don't understand the private security thing...can anyone with the means have their own private security force? So are there competing private security companies or is there one company that has a monopoly to use force?
Anyone can start lots of different businesses why would security be different? There would be competition just like any other business. Their monopoly of force would only be over their own property and their members by consent.
So what's to keep my better funded and equipped security force from just overrunning a less worthy competitor? In the case of a property dispute would that not just default back to law of the jungle?
Tomfoolery and Tech, have also frequently made statements that they are anarcho capitalists and favor wholesale elimination of government.

I'm for property rights, rule of law, liberty etc. all those things you advocate for...but I see things from a different angle. How do these quotes from Thomas Paines work strike you?
Liberty and Property are words expressing all those of our possessions which are not of an intellectual nature. There are two kinds of property. Firstly, natural property, or that which comes to us from the Creator of the universe--such as the earth,air, water. Secondly, artificial or acquired property--theinvention of men.

In the latter, equality is impossible; for to distribute it equally it would be necessary that all should have contributed in the same proportion, which can never be the case; and this being the case, every individual would hold on to his own property, as his right share. Equality of natural property is the subject of this little essay. Every individual in the world is born therein with legitimate claims on a certain kindof property, or its equivalent.

It is a position not to be controverted that the earth, in its natural, cultivated state was, and ever would have continued to be, the common property of the human race. In that state every man would have been born to property. He would have been a joint life proprietor with rest in the property of the soil, and in all its natural productions, vegetable and animal.

But the earth in its natural state, as before said, is capable of supporting but a small number of inhabitants compared with what it is capable of doing in a cultivated state. And as it is impossible to separate the improvement made by cultivation from the earth itself, upon which that improvement is made, the idea of landed property arose from that parable connection; but it is nevertheless true, that it is the value of the improvement, only, and not the earth itself, that is individual property.

Every proprietor, therefore, of cultivated lands, owes to the community a ground-rent (for I know of no better term to express the idea) for the land which he holds; and it is from this ground-rent that the fund proposed in this plan is to issue.

It is deducible, as well from the nature of the thing as from all the stories transmitted to us, that the idea of landed property commenced with cultivation, and that there was no such thing, as landed property before that time. It could not exist in the first state of man, that of hunters. It did not exist in the second state, that of shepherds: neither Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, nor Job, so far as the history of the Bible may credited in probable things, were owners of land.

Their property consisted, as is always enumerated in flocks and herds, they traveled with them from place to place. The frequent contentions at that time about the use of a well in the dry country of Arabia, where those people lived, also show that there was no landed property. It was not admitted that land could be claimed as property.

There could be no such thing as landed property originally. Man did not make the earth, and, though he had a natural right to occupy it, he had no right to locate as his property in perpetuity any part of it; neither did the Creator of the earth open a land-office, from whence the first title-deeds should issue. Whence then, arose the idea of landed property? I answer as before, that when cultivation began the idea of landed property began with it, from the impossibility of separating the improvement made by cultivation from the earth itself, upon which that improvement was made.

The value of the improvement so far exceeded the value of the natural earth, at that time, as to absorb it; till, in the end, the common right of all became confounded into the cultivated right of the individual. But there are, nevertheless, distinct species of rights, and will continue to be, so long as the earth endures.

It is only by tracing things to their origin that we can gain rightful ideas of them, and it is by gaining such ideas that we, discover the boundary that divides right from wrong, and teaches every man to know his own. I have entitled this tract "Agrarian Justice" to distinguish it from "Agrarian Law."

Nothing could be more unjust than agrarian law in a country improved by cultivation; for though every man, as an inhabitant of the earth, is a joint proprietor of it in its natural state, it does not follow that he is a joint proprietor of cultivated earth. The additional value made by cultivation, after the system was admitted, became the property of those who did it, or who inherited it from them, or who purchased it. It had originally no owner. While, therefore, I advocate the right, and interest myself in the hard case of all those who have been thrown out of their natural inheritance by the introduction of the system of landed property, I equally defend the right of the possessor to the part which is his.

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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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tomfoolery wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 10:47 am [

Everyone agrees with you that mega corporations control our country via our government......

Libertarians believe the problem arises from government itself. ....

Libertarians believe when there’s a problem caused by government, the solution is less government, that you can’t fix a problem caused by X by increasing X. Leftists believe it can be solved by more government, or different government. As if someone the government isn’t big enough yet, and if we just got the right people in power, it would be different.

But it never works.
I agree that mega corporations, monopolies, duopolies, oligopolies, special interests wield too much influence and control.
If government were substantially reduced, castrated, or (for theoretical sake) eliminated, such that it were a free non-government influenced market, then wouldn't said power interests just run absolutely amok? Like the old robber baron days before Roosevelt and Roosevelt came along with trust busting?
Don't laws keep them somewhat (admittedly not enough) in check?

Maybe we can agree to hate the mega corporations. And maybe we can also agree to hate the government. I'm just saying we have to pick our poison or our mix of poisons no matter what we do. Personally I think the corporations in an unrestrained minimal government free market represent more harm and malevolence. What's going on right now with certain tech companies is frightening.

Interested in your thoughts
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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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glennds wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 11:31 am
tomfoolery wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 10:47 am [

Everyone agrees with you that mega corporations control our country via our government......

Libertarians believe the problem arises from government itself. ....

Libertarians believe when there’s a problem caused by government, the solution is less government, that you can’t fix a problem caused by X by increasing X. Leftists believe it can be solved by more government, or different government. As if someone the government isn’t big enough yet, and if we just got the right people in power, it would be different.

But it never works.
I agree that mega corporations, monopolies, duopolies, oligopolies, special interests wield too much influence and control.
If government were substantially reduced, castrated, or (for theoretical sake) eliminated, such that it were a free non-government influenced market, then wouldn't said power interests just run absolutely amok? Like the old robber baron days before Roosevelt and Roosevelt came along with trust busting?
Don't laws keep them somewhat (admittedly not enough) in check?

Maybe we can agree to hate the mega corporations. And maybe we can also agree to hate the government. I'm just saying we have to pick our poison or our mix of poisons no matter what we do. Personally I think the corporations in an unrestrained minimal government free market represent more harm and malevolence. What's going on right now with certain tech companies is frightening.

Interested in your thoughts
Should be no surprise to you that.....my thoughts align with yours!

Vinny
Above provided by: Vinny, who always says: "I only regret that I have but one lap to give to my cats." AND "I'm a more-is-more person."
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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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Robber baron wants to underpay workers to make more profit? Workers can leave and start their own competitor. Or leave the industry entirely. Kind of like now everyone “smart” these days goes to work for Google and Apple instead of being a public school teacher.

If you treat your employees like shit or underpay them, they can leave. Free market solution.
You are aware that there is bell curve on IQ distribution?

You do realize that half of the population is below average? Like 150 million people in this country?

I know it all works so well in your clean theories, but I'm afraid reality is far messier. I don't think you are aware that your wonderful 'free market's is a concept. Hungry, disillusioned, purposeless, individuals who are viewed by you as economic deadweight will very likely be happy to remind you of that fact. I don't think you have enough bullets.

I think like Roosevelt realized when he assembled industry titans to discuss the new deal, he probably laid it out something like i just did. They were bright enough to understand reality...are you?
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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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Tom, did Roosevelt's new deal usher in the destruction of the United States? Did it undermine our productivity and our nations prosperity? I think the answer to those questions is no. Why are you so damn extreme?
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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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tomfoolery wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 11:59 am What if you overcharge your customers?
No matter how many examples you use or logical conclusions you draw, lefties can't understand why it's impossible to overcharge your customers. They are lefties because of some unresolved childhood issue that prevented them from fully maturing. It makes them think they need a mommy and daddy to protect them from the Orangemanbad of the day who will trick and swindle them out of their allowance.

This would be fine if they could just find this mommy and daddy on their own but they insist, and I do mean insist, that we all need a mommy and daddy.

I left home at 18 and haven't needed mommy and daddy since. I wish they would stop insisting I do.
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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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tomfoolery wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 12:25 pm Where were the leftists when I was in high school and college to demand girls have sex with me in spite of my genetic physical shortcomings?
Trust me they could not have helped you
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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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doodle wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 12:32 pm You are aware that there is bell curve on IQ distribution?

You do realize that half of the population is below average?
We are KEENLY aware. If not, we have this forum to remind us. ;D I kid, you're all aces.
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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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tomfoolery wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 12:46 pm
doodle wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 12:37 pm Tom, did Roosevelt's new deal usher in the destruction of the United States? Did it undermine our productivity and our nations prosperity? I think the answer to those questions is no. Why are you so damn extreme?
Actually, yes. The New Deal was the worst thing to ever happen to our country. It is the single most destructive event, even moreso than the Civil War. It ushered in tons of new government federal programs, social security, and the personal income tax. It led to the removal of the gold standard and modern monetary theory and QE infinity.
Federal Reserve act of 1913 is a BIG rival. It provided the path to "pay" for all this nonsense.
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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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SomeDude wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 12:40 pm
doodle wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 12:32 pm You are aware that there is bell curve on IQ distribution?

You do realize that half of the population is below average?
We are KEENLY aware. If not, we have this forum to remind us. ;D I kid, you're all aces.
That's the problem. This forum represents the top 10%...if not the top 1%. There isn't a lot of diversity here. It is hard to to take in a broader perspective of the realities of a system that has worked so well for the individuals here. None of the "leftists" are arguing dismantling this system, I think we are merely attempting to argue for some moderation in certain respects to hopefully maintain social cohesion. We feel that your views would lead to destabilizing distributions that could threaten everything. It's no surprise though...throughout history the upper classes have failed to see the writing on the wall.
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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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doodle wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 12:14 pm I don't think you are aware that your wonderful 'free market's is a concept. Hungry, disillusioned, purposeless, individuals who are viewed by you as economic deadweight will very likely be happy to remind you of that fact.
Those "hungry, disillusioned, purposeless individuals" are, by and large, individuals and families who have been beaten down to a point of learned helplessness. I cannot think of an institution more adept at creating that situation than government itself, which creates addicts (both literally and figuratively) who can be manipulated in whatever way is necessary to insure the continuity of the relationship.
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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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tomfoolery wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 12:59 pm
doodle wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 12:14 pm
You are aware that there is bell curve on IQ distribution?

You do realize that half of the population is below average? Like 150 million people in this country?
I am aware that IQ is proven to be a racist measurement of so-called intelligence to promote white supremacy by reducing the purported intelligence of minorities in this country and justify putting them in special classes where they learn less and giving them remedial careers.

The IQ test methodology discriminates against people who don't speak English natively, or who don't read as well due to lack of school funding in poor communities due to white flight and reduced tax base.

I am appalled you cite this measurement of white supremacy as a justification for liberal ideology.

If IQ was truly measured properly, then I think all of the country would be above average, especially minorities.
Furthermore, I heard that God prefers average people, that's why he made so many of them. Or was that ordinary people......and where did I hear that?
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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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Maddy wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 1:00 pm
doodle wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 12:14 pm I don't think you are aware that your wonderful 'free market's is a concept. Hungry, disillusioned, purposeless, individuals who are viewed by you as economic deadweight will very likely be happy to remind you of that fact.
Those "hungry, disillusioned, purposeless individuals" are, by and large, individuals and families who have been beaten down to a point of learned helplessness. I cannot think of an institution more adept at creating that situation than government itself, which creates addicts (both literally and figuratively) who can be manipulated in whatever way is necessary to insure the continuity of the relationship.
Mr. Harry Browne said it best (probably plagiarized): Government breaks your leg then hands you a crutch as says "look what I did for you".
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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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tomfoolery wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 1:04 pm
Maddy wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 1:00 pm
doodle wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 12:14 pm I don't think you are aware that your wonderful 'free market's is a concept. Hungry, disillusioned, purposeless, individuals who are viewed by you as economic deadweight will very likely be happy to remind you of that fact.
Those "hungry, disillusioned, purposeless individuals" are, by and large, those individuals who have been beat down to a point of learned helplessness. I cannot think of an institution more adept at creating that situation than government itself, which creates addicts (both literally and figuratively) who can be manipulated in whatever way is necessary to insure the continuity of the relationship.
Learned helplessness is a fantastic explanation. Elephant trainers take baby elephants and tie a small rope around their leg and stake it into the ground. The baby elephant tries to move away, but gets yanked back by the rope. The baby elephant tries for a few months but gets yanked back each time.

Once the elephant grows to be several thousand pounds, the trainer can take the same rope and tie it into a small stake into the ground. The elephant would have no trouble, now several thousand pounders larger, yanking a 3 inch stake from the ground. But it doesn't even bother trying. It's learned to be helpless.

Young black people are now told society is racist, everyone is out to get them, they are victims of ancestry of slavery. Well, fuck it, why bother trying to yank this proverbial stake of ancestral slavery out of the ground, it's too powerful. Where's my EBT card?
As I young black man myself, I have only one thing to say, "where all the white women at"?
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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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tomfoolery wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 11:59 am

What if you overcharge your customers? Because you’re the only Widget maker around. Well, then another widget maker will come to existence because there’s tons of profit to be made. Can you imagine an industry today, that could be monopolized without the help of government sponsored force? I can’t. Because if there’s massive profit to be made, hedge funds will pour money into a competitor.

Tom, I don't think it's that easy. Look at the 90s when Microsoft openly used its influence to commit infanticide, which is to say, when there was an upstart competitor with a product that could be a threat, they squashed them by exerting influence on distributors, resellers, suppliers, customers. Why do you think no competitor was able to emerge with a competing spreadsheet to Excel?

Walmart does the same with its heavy handed handling of vendors. Amazon has been brutal in its treatment of third party sellers and suppliers. Facebook? Forget about it.
Apple developed the best smartphone the world had ever seen, they deserve their credit for that. But then they spent the next ten years suing everyone who tried to enter their field.

It would be nice if there were a free market level playing field where innovation and upcoming entrepreneurs could keep everyone honest. But I think history shows us that in a truly free market, power will coalesce in the hands of the early success stories and then natural self interest will cause them to use their power and influence to squash competition and perpetuate their advantage.

The idea of a truly free market where employees can move around to keep employers honest, and competitors can emerge on a level playing field sounds great and exists in textbooks, but in the real world, the biggest gorilla in the corner of the jungle will appropriate all the fruit for himself and anyone who defies him will meet brute force.

I work in the healthcare field in finance, and I can tell you from first hand experience that large insurance companies, pharma companies, hospital systems and some of the super large ancillary providers all use market leverage, in some markets monopolistic leverage to pressure smaller providers who do not have such leverage. Check out this past week's 60 Minutes episode on Sutter Health in N. California. I can tell you that situation exists in most major markets on some level or another.

I think government is like everything, too much is not good. But in the free market a referee function is as important as it is in a boxing ring, or things will devolve into low blows, dirty fighting, win at any cost.
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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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glennds wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 1:29 pm
tomfoolery wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 11:59 am

What if you overcharge your customers? Because you’re the only Widget maker around. Well, then another widget maker will come to existence because there’s tons of profit to be made. Can you imagine an industry today, that could be monopolized without the help of government sponsored force? I can’t. Because if there’s massive profit to be made, hedge funds will pour money into a competitor.

Tom, I don't think it's that easy. Look at the 90s when Microsoft openly used its influence to commit infanticide, which is to say, when there was an upstart competitor with a product that could be a threat, they squashed them by exerting influence on distributors, resellers, suppliers, customers. Why do you think no competitor was able to emerge with a competing spreadsheet to Excel?

Walmart does the same with its heavy handed handling of vendors. Amazon has been brutal in its treatment of third party sellers and suppliers. Facebook? Forget about it.
Apple developed the best smartphone the world had ever seen, they deserve their credit for that. But then they spent the next ten years suing everyone who tried to enter their field.

It would be nice if there were a free market level playing field where innovation and upcoming entrepreneurs could keep everyone honest. But I think history shows us that in a truly free market, power will coalesce in the hands of the early success stories and then natural self interest will cause them to use their power and influence to squash competition and perpetuate their advantage.

The idea of a truly free market where employees can move around to keep employers honest, and competitors can emerge on a level playing field sounds great and exists in textbooks, but in the real world, the biggest gorilla in the corner of the jungle will appropriate all the fruit for himself and anyone who defies him will meet brute force.

I work in the healthcare field in finance, and I can tell you from first hand experience that large insurance companies, pharma companies, hospital systems and some of the super large ancillary providers all use market leverage, in some markets monopolistic leverage to pressure smaller providers who do not have such leverage. Check out this past week's 60 Minutes episode on Sutter Health in N. California. I can tell you that situation exists in most major markets on some level or another.

I think government is like everything, too much is not good. But in the free market a referee function is as important as it is in a boxing ring, or things will devolve into low blows, dirty fighting, win at any cost.
I can't believe all those things happened glennds with 40% of the GDP directed by the government and it's tentacles all over the other 60%. It's just not possible.

At least we know Healthcare is perfectly free of government regulation so that is our best example of how the free market fails. It's practically anarchy in healthcare, no government influence to be found anywhere!
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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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Maddy wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 1:00 pm
doodle wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 12:14 pm I don't think you are aware that your wonderful 'free market's is a concept. Hungry, disillusioned, purposeless, individuals who are viewed by you as economic deadweight will very likely be happy to remind you of that fact.
Those "hungry, disillusioned, purposeless individuals" are, by and large, individuals and families who have been beaten down to a point of learned helplessness. I cannot think of an institution more adept at creating that situation than government itself, which creates addicts (both literally and figuratively) who can be manipulated in whatever way is necessary to insure the continuity of the relationship.
Wait until we get UBI.
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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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Re: Libertarians of Reddit

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I Shrugged wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 2:38 pm
Maddy wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 1:00 pm
doodle wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 12:14 pm I don't think you are aware that your wonderful 'free market's is a concept. Hungry, disillusioned, purposeless, individuals who are viewed by you as economic deadweight will very likely be happy to remind you of that fact.
Those "hungry, disillusioned, purposeless individuals" are, by and large, individuals and families who have been beaten down to a point of learned helplessness. I cannot think of an institution more adept at creating that situation than government itself, which creates addicts (both literally and figuratively) who can be manipulated in whatever way is necessary to insure the continuity of the relationship.
Wait until we get UBI.
I know IS, think of all the demand it will stimulate bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. We just need to stimulate demand because you know......people just aren't demanding enough! All this production and no demand for it all!
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