4 ms·

I'm just confused as to what you actually want to see happen to the SV bully-boys. The democrats (as far as I can tell) have had little to no actual effect on c

I'm just confused as to what you actually want to see happen to the SV bully-boys. The democrats (as far as I can tell) have had little to no actual effect on coal or guns but your comment makes it sound like they've been able to rein them in or bust them up or something. I was kind of making a joke because to me the democrats have been largely ineffective against coal and guns. Thats not necessarily their fault, to me they have generally proposed pretty measured policies (even if some peoples rhetoric is bombastic) that end up being totally rejected by the republicans and my guess is that is NOT what you want to see happen with SV.

rhapsodic 10y ago
>I'm just confused as to what you actually want to see happen to the SV bully-boys. I'd love to see the value of their businesses destroyed through zealous over-regulation. I'd love to see the IRS target them for audits the way Obama's IRS targeted conservative groups. I'd love for them to be criminally prosecuted, and -- dare I dream? -- jailed for any violations of the tax code that might be uncovered. That would wipe the smug off their faces. The political left in America no longer employs persuasion as their primary means of gaining and maintaining political power. Instead, they attempt to inflict social or financial punishment on their political enemies to shut them up. Recall the reaction when Peter Thiel had the audacity to support a presidential candidate they opposed. Google [memories pizza] for another example. So if that is how the game is played these days, then I want the right to use the same tactics against the left, and inflict massive pain on them until they offer a truce. I'm basically an Adam Smith free-market libertarian. I think the country, as a whole, would be better off if the cap on H1Bs was lifted entirely. Productive, tax-paying, wealth-creating people would flood into this country and enrich it. But politics is war these days. And Airbnb is more than just an enterprise, it's a wing of the Democratic party. So I think the Republicans should, to paraphrase Obama, "punish [their] enemies and reward [their] friends."
- Apocryphon 10y ago
  The problem is, the GOP's rhetoric is free markets, but their reality is crony capitalism. If they were serious about illegal immigration, they would go after the American employers and corporations that exploit illegal labor, first. You are right that politics is a war and ideologies are shouted but policies belie them to be empty promises. It is ironic that a libertarian is cheering on a protectionist administration to attack economically libertarian/neoliberal corporations (in the SV mold - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Californian_Ideology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Californian_Ideology) who are aligned with a center-left liberal/socially liberal party.
  - rhapsodic 10y ago
    >The problem is, the GOP's rhetoric is free markets, but their reality is crony capitalism. I agree with every part of that statement except "the problem is." >It is ironic that a libertarian is cheering on a protectionist administration to attack economically libertarian/neoliberal corporations (in the SV mold - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Californian_Ideology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Californian_Ideology) who are aligned with a center-left liberal/socially liberal party. These people are only libertarian when it benefits them personally. And now, because of that, so am I.
    - Apocryphon 10y ago
      Capital vs. labor divisions amongst libertarianism! The Marxists would have a field day, if only they could appreciate the irony of the situation.
- selimthegrim 10y ago
  http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2016/03/elections-are-not-about-your-fee-fees http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2016/03/elections-are-no...

rhapsodic 10y ago

>I'm just confused as to what you actually want to see happen to the SV bully-boys. I'd love to see the value of their businesses destroyed through zealous over-regulation. I'd love to see the IRS target them for audits the way Obama's IRS targeted conservative groups. I'd love for them to be criminally prosecuted, and -- dare I dream? -- jailed for any violations of the tax code that might be uncovered. That would wipe the smug off their faces. The political left in America no longer employs persuasion as their primary means of gaining and maintaining political power. Instead, they attempt to inflict social or financial punishment on their political enemies to shut them up. Recall the reaction when Peter Thiel had the audacity to support a presidential candidate they opposed. Google [memories pizza] for another example. So if that is how the game is played these days, then I want the right to use the same tactics against the left, and inflict massive pain on them until they offer a truce. I'm basically an Adam Smith free-market libertarian. I think the country, as a whole, would be better off if the cap on H1Bs was lifted entirely. Productive, tax-paying, wealth-creating people would flood into this country and enrich it. But politics is war these days. And Airbnb is more than just an enterprise, it's a wing of the Democratic party. So I think the Republicans should, to paraphrase Obama, "punish [their] enemies and reward [their] friends."

Apocryphon 10y ago
The problem is, the GOP's rhetoric is free markets, but their reality is crony capitalism. If they were serious about illegal immigration, they would go after the American employers and corporations that exploit illegal labor, first. You are right that politics is a war and ideologies are shouted but policies belie them to be empty promises. It is ironic that a libertarian is cheering on a protectionist administration to attack economically libertarian/neoliberal corporations (in the SV mold - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Californian_Ideology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Californian_Ideology) who are aligned with a center-left liberal/socially liberal party.
- rhapsodic 10y ago
  >The problem is, the GOP's rhetoric is free markets, but their reality is crony capitalism. I agree with every part of that statement except "the problem is." >It is ironic that a libertarian is cheering on a protectionist administration to attack economically libertarian/neoliberal corporations (in the SV mold - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Californian_Ideology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Californian_Ideology) who are aligned with a center-left liberal/socially liberal party. These people are only libertarian when it benefits them personally. And now, because of that, so am I.
  - Apocryphon 10y ago
    Capital vs. labor divisions amongst libertarianism! The Marxists would have a field day, if only they could appreciate the irony of the situation.
selimthegrim 10y ago
http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2016/03/elections-are-not-about-your-fee-fees http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2016/03/elections-are-no...