Do I really need to air my thoughts online? Does the world need another blog? Ah, what the hell. I can always abandon it later. I'm a quitter anyway.
Wednesday, June 25, 2003
Libertarians have some good points, but it seems like the ones I meet lately think that they shouldn't have to pay any taxes and that poor people are every one of them lazy. They think that even a Republican government is "too big." I think they are every bit as idealistic as the Green Party, just the other way!
Here's a question: are there any existing Libertarian countries in the world? And if so, how's that working out for them?
One can't ignore the fact that a lot of people in this country are living check to check, barely getting by, and basically one shred away from total lawlessness. If you cut back on government, it just puts the rich in charge and makes the poor liable to riot, steal, to do whatever they can to get by.
On one hand I DO feel very compassionate toward people who are having hard times, single mothers, uneducated people, people who are growing up with role models like Snoop Dogg and Eminem. I don't think we should give these people a complete free ride, but I don't think we should say, too fucking bad, you were born into the wrong family.
And on another level, I know LOGICALLY that a person who is able to get a decent job, make a real wage and feed their kid is a person less likely to shoot somebody (me) in a petty robbery. A person who has the help to actually graduate from high school is more likely to become the kind of neighbor/voter/worker I want beside me. So that is partly selfish, right?
I don't want a country run by Microsoft and McDonald's and Disney, I want one where there are protections for small, local businesses too, and one that is run by a government that we the people put together. I am willing to pay part of my income to ensure that America is, not an EVEN society, but a more pleasant one overall. If that's a third of my income, so be it, as long as everyone else is having to pull their share and everyone else reaps benefits from it.
I don't sit there at the end of the day and say, well, I don't have kids in school -- why should I have to support the school systems? Well, because I have kids on my block, and neighbors and friends with kids, and I don't want those kids to grow up completely directionless and moronic.
It's ironic to me that some of the very same people who talk about how GREAT and how FREE this country is are so stingy when it comes to helping their fellow Americans ... with time, with money, with whatever!
Here's a question: are there any existing Libertarian countries in the world? And if so, how's that working out for them?
One can't ignore the fact that a lot of people in this country are living check to check, barely getting by, and basically one shred away from total lawlessness. If you cut back on government, it just puts the rich in charge and makes the poor liable to riot, steal, to do whatever they can to get by.
On one hand I DO feel very compassionate toward people who are having hard times, single mothers, uneducated people, people who are growing up with role models like Snoop Dogg and Eminem. I don't think we should give these people a complete free ride, but I don't think we should say, too fucking bad, you were born into the wrong family.
And on another level, I know LOGICALLY that a person who is able to get a decent job, make a real wage and feed their kid is a person less likely to shoot somebody (me) in a petty robbery. A person who has the help to actually graduate from high school is more likely to become the kind of neighbor/voter/worker I want beside me. So that is partly selfish, right?
I don't want a country run by Microsoft and McDonald's and Disney, I want one where there are protections for small, local businesses too, and one that is run by a government that we the people put together. I am willing to pay part of my income to ensure that America is, not an EVEN society, but a more pleasant one overall. If that's a third of my income, so be it, as long as everyone else is having to pull their share and everyone else reaps benefits from it.
I don't sit there at the end of the day and say, well, I don't have kids in school -- why should I have to support the school systems? Well, because I have kids on my block, and neighbors and friends with kids, and I don't want those kids to grow up completely directionless and moronic.
It's ironic to me that some of the very same people who talk about how GREAT and how FREE this country is are so stingy when it comes to helping their fellow Americans ... with time, with money, with whatever!
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