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Why can’t government just stay out of it? I don’t recall electing a government to be my parents. Government should build roads and have a Navy but why should a
by briandear 5y ago
Why can’t government just stay out of it? I don’t recall electing a government to be my parents. Government should build roads and have a Navy but why should a government “encourage” healthy behaviors, etc. Are people unable to be adults on their own?
- handrous 5y agoOTOH I'm not sure casting people into the wild to deal, all on their own, with megacorps employing hundreds or thousands dedicated to convincing people to make bad choices is a great idea, either. I'm not convinced Rugged Individualism and anything like the modern economy are compatible, in any kind of way in which the outcome of trying to have both is pleasant. It may be a "choose one" kind of situation.
- tomp 5y agoThe government is great for collective action necessary in situations that resemble the prisoner’s dilemma, where incentives of individual agents lead them to take non-pareto-optimal decisions. Things like breaking up monopolies, mandating open access to infrastructure, and, yes, countering the effects of companies and advertisers manipulating us and exploiting our weaknesses.