elwoodblues

We're racist, greedy, AND we can't feel love? Damn, my girlfriend of five years is going to take that one pretty hard.

Here, let me go wax my mustache before I tell her...

Dr. Retard

As (at least) a libertarian-sympathizer, I'd have to say that I repudiate Objectivism (the Randian movement) and egoism (egotism is arrogance, egoism is being self-centered). I think generosity and love are natural and proper human sentiments. I can see what's right about sacrificing (even your life) for a child. In short, we agree on all this. But I don't see how this settles the issue of what kind of political and social institutions we should have.

Maybe the biggest problem (IMO) with real-world political debate is that people (often) see their positions as symbolic of their self-image, as a caring and compassionate person, a stern and commanding person, a cynical and unsentimental person. Unfortunately, the decision of what kind of a person to be doesn't settle political reality. An institution blindly produces its consequences with no view towards the self-image of its advocates and detractors.

RED DAVE

Since this upcoming, senseless war is producing the greatest accretion of state power I have seen since Vietnam, I would like to hear from Libertarians about this.

RED DAVE

Kinross

I said many times in this thread that Libertarians are against this war.

Iraq poses no direct threat to the US therefore we should not go to war. We should also pull all of our troops from Japan, Germany, ect. The cold war is over and it is a waste of money to keep these troops in these areas.


The US should focus on terrorism, there is no link between terrorism and Iraq.

As I said before, look at the lobbying arm of libertatrians, the Cato Institute Here is its position on Iraq

RED DAVE

To AdamSmith:

Thanx for a straightforward reply.

RED DAVE

RED DAVE

I think it might be time to revive this thread.

Maybe I'm wrong, but . . .

What's Wrong With Libertarianism?

RED DAVE

--Edited for a missing [ that broke the link.

erehwon

In answer to this i have copied this from another thread but it is my post hope this is ok.

People often feel disempowered by, and victims in, a society that fosters inequality largely through political and economic domination over large and different sectors of its communities. Single parent families for example are over represented in the lower wage quintiles Youth suicide victims have been attributed as coming from family systems that have social and economic disadvantage, family conflict, poor parental care and impaired parent-child interaction�. (Bayatpour et al 1992), ( Beatris, 1996). These and many other social ills are caused by inequalities that are tolerated in our society. The inequalities of ethnicity, gender and economy do not exist naturally in our lives, but rather are the tools used by dominant groups in society to project their own world view as the natural order of things. This hegemony is used to maintain a state of elitism.

Families are the primary social system that teaches us about the rules and norms of our families and society. These rules are often the result of the rules and norms that were adopted by our parents through their socialisation in their family. In order for a marriage to be healthy a compromise between partners may need to be reached over the adoption of rules and norms However, our present society has come about through the colonisation of a country within a patriarchal framework where the head of the family (the husband/father) was in control of the household, woman and children were chattels to be used and abused by their paterfamilias as he chose.

Our social system is still affected by this and people in our society have been raised by this poison pedagogy, whose rules are still carried by family systems, our education system, churches, and our government and economic systems.

Thus the compromise made between partners in a marriage/ relationship broken or not is usually made by the woman. Thus many relationships begin with one member having to sacrifice their individual identities and relinquish boundaries to maintain the survival of the family members ie children and the family system begins in a dysfunctional manner.
These rules create dysfunctional families and are non-democratic. They are based on inequality of power and unequal rights. They promote the use and ownership of some people by others and teach denial and repression of emotional vitality and spontaneity.

These are the values etched in our economic systems and supported by our government system. These are the ingredients encouraged and used by these systems that are causing our society to become the ultimate dysfunctional system.It is no great wonder that the cakes coming out of our societies oven are poverty cakes, crime cakes, child abuse cakes, discrimination of; the aged, gender, ethnicity, mental illness, and disabled cakes, cakes for every social ill. The government and benifiting citizens slap a bit of icing on them and pretend that they don�t taste bitter. We need to change the ingredients so that our cakes come out equal and taste equally good to all humans. Only then will we make progress. Libertarianism as long as its basis is the above sytem will have the same results.

erehwon

Sorry bout that.

Now for a serious question that i have always wondered.. how would a sewerge system work under a libertarian system.

As a libertarian i would only expect to pay for what i used. A pay as you pooh system.

How do we make this work???

paul30

I think the biggest theoretical problem with Libertarianism is that it regards individuals as equally powerful with large groups.

This is plainly untrue.

Large corporations and other such groups have vastly more power than individuals, and individuals can do nothing about it.

In theory, the only sane purpose for government is to protect the weak against the strong. (The strong hardly need protection.)

But Libertarian philosophy regards the strong as being just the same as the weak, and leaves them to fight it out--with of course the weak always losing.

The problem is one that gets worse. In capitalism, economic power tends to get more and more concentrated, and gradually enslaves all those without much economic power because all the means of life are owned and operated by the powerful.

everlastingtongue

If a large corporation breaks the law, they are subject to criminal and/or civil prosecution. Boycotts also have an effect on large corporations.
This has occurred in any communist or socialist society that has existed to date.