6 ms·

This is the Texas way lately. We have had a crop of libertarian leaning authoritarians come into power and it looks like one of those things that Ajax can't tak

This is the Texas way lately. We have had a crop of libertarian leaning authoritarians come into power and it looks like one of those things that Ajax can't take off. Eliminating regulations is the goal. No one is trying to understand how to tweak the regulations so there is a beneficial outcome to the regulation. The only ones who are supposed to benefit in Texas are those who are in need of regulatory oversight and they are the ones who control the narrative around the process so everything is devolving into a mess where there is no accountability, no oversight and plenty of money in circulation to maintain that situation.

pstuart 4y ago
Doesn't Football have regulations? Perhaps removing them will make the game more efficient. /s
- mwattsun 4y ago
  Football without regulations is Rugby I think. Rugby looks like anarchy, but I don't know the game
  - pstuart 4y ago
    Ha! But even Rugby has rules.
rascul 4y ago
> libertarian leaning authoritarians That seems to be a bit of an oxymoron to me.
- doodlebugging 4y ago
  Yes it does. That pretty much defines the contradictions in the current GOP in Texas. They want a libertarian-style business environment where businesses are free to operate with few restrictions and the businesses get to define those restrictions and control the processes that could limit or monitor their operations. For private citizens they also prefer individuals be free to make their own choices about how they conduct themselves up to a point. Past that point, they become authoritarian, using religion as a basis for state-enforced mandates to control individual's rights to make what should be private decisions between an individual and qualified professionals. They want the state to control every aspect of an individual's life that they feel doesn't fit their own morals while at the same time allowing businesses free reign to operate within the state even if their operations harm the citizens of the state, the state's natural resources, or the state's economic interests. Hopefully it is more clear now. It still doesn't make much sense since their philosophy is riddled with contradictions or outright hypocrisy. They would impose restrictions on people they wish to control while ignoring the same behavior of people who otherwise publicly support them. Anyway, I'm probably wrong since I am not a political science expert. I'm just a native Texan.
  - notabee 4y ago
    Texan to Texan, you're not wrong. It's just corruption and hypocrisy, top to bottom.
    - doodlebugging 4y ago
      Thanks pardner. I agree and appreciate you taking the time to read all those words I felt compelled to type and to author a supportive reply.
  - pstuart 4y ago
    The merger of religion and politics is incredibly dangerous, and it seems to be succeeding -- I'm deeply worried for our future in that regard. Political discussion is fraught with danger when it is partisan based, however, we should encourage more of it here on the nature and impact policies promoted and enforced. Businesses should not be burdened by bureaucratic harassments, but the answer is not to remove the rules but to make those rules easier to follow. Side note: my take on libertarians is that every single one I've encountered has been white, male, and financially secure. It's a lot easier to want government out of the way when the world is your oyster.
stjohnswarts 4y ago
The current group of politicians are Definitely Not libertarians. They autocratic evangelical Trumpests attempting to establish a theocracy. All you have to do is look at their recent legislation to whittle away the rights of POC, women, give more government oversight of public schools to ban books and diversity studies, more efforts to set up a very questionable election system that will make it easy to reverse the popular vote if necessary. I really could go on and on about this as a person here who follows the Texas government closely. Please don't blame this on libertarians @doodlebugging
- doodlebugging 4y ago
  Please see my reply further in the post about their philosophies. You are on the money about the issues that you cite. These are individual rights and the party's desire to force compliance with a generalized evangelical Christian morality mainly focuses on things that we consider to be individual rights. What you may not have considered is how closely aligned their philosophies are with libertarian values as they would apply to businesses and entities operating within the state. It is difficult to apply Christian morals to business operations and they default to libertarian values of minimal government oversight and minimal accountability to the state or to individual citizens. Businesses are free to do as they please and should a business need some government assistance, cash doesn't even need to be under the table. Legislators also are not in session year-round so it is perfectly acceptable for businesses to author the legislation that they would like to see passed in the next session and as long as they can minimize the public's opportunity to shoot it down, it will likely pass. About those libertarians, it was actually quite funny to see so many libertarians fall in behind progressive policies that they would never support during the pandemic's worst days after they saw the impact that it had on the economy and the ability for businesses to continue operating. Some of these libertarians left the states for Puerto Rico where they could pay a pittance for large private tracts of land, dodge tax obligations they would've had to pay or work around back home, and make sure they got their "share" of the PPP monies that were thrown out onto the streets with no oversight. They can now tweet about the delicious food options on the island, the great climate, etc while ignoring the plight of real Puerto Ricans, many of whom are still rebuilding after the last major hurricane. Hypocrisy is one of the under-reported attributes of a true libertarian.

pstuart 4y ago

Doesn't Football have regulations? Perhaps removing them will make the game more efficient. /s

mwattsun 4y ago
Football without regulations is Rugby I think. Rugby looks like anarchy, but I don't know the game
- pstuart 4y ago
  Ha! But even Rugby has rules.

rascul 4y ago

> libertarian leaning authoritarians That seems to be a bit of an oxymoron to me.

doodlebugging 4y ago
Yes it does. That pretty much defines the contradictions in the current GOP in Texas. They want a libertarian-style business environment where businesses are free to operate with few restrictions and the businesses get to define those restrictions and control the processes that could limit or monitor their operations. For private citizens they also prefer individuals be free to make their own choices about how they conduct themselves up to a point. Past that point, they become authoritarian, using religion as a basis for state-enforced mandates to control individual's rights to make what should be private decisions between an individual and qualified professionals. They want the state to control every aspect of an individual's life that they feel doesn't fit their own morals while at the same time allowing businesses free reign to operate within the state even if their operations harm the citizens of the state, the state's natural resources, or the state's economic interests. Hopefully it is more clear now. It still doesn't make much sense since their philosophy is riddled with contradictions or outright hypocrisy. They would impose restrictions on people they wish to control while ignoring the same behavior of people who otherwise publicly support them. Anyway, I'm probably wrong since I am not a political science expert. I'm just a native Texan.
- notabee 4y ago
  Texan to Texan, you're not wrong. It's just corruption and hypocrisy, top to bottom.
  - doodlebugging 4y ago
    Thanks pardner. I agree and appreciate you taking the time to read all those words I felt compelled to type and to author a supportive reply.
- pstuart 4y ago
  The merger of religion and politics is incredibly dangerous, and it seems to be succeeding -- I'm deeply worried for our future in that regard. Political discussion is fraught with danger when it is partisan based, however, we should encourage more of it here on the nature and impact policies promoted and enforced. Businesses should not be burdened by bureaucratic harassments, but the answer is not to remove the rules but to make those rules easier to follow. Side note: my take on libertarians is that every single one I've encountered has been white, male, and financially secure. It's a lot easier to want government out of the way when the world is your oyster.

stjohnswarts 4y ago

The current group of politicians are Definitely Not libertarians. They autocratic evangelical Trumpests attempting to establish a theocracy. All you have to do is look at their recent legislation to whittle away the rights of POC, women, give more government oversight of public schools to ban books and diversity studies, more efforts to set up a very questionable election system that will make it easy to reverse the popular vote if necessary. I really could go on and on about this as a person here who follows the Texas government closely. Please don't blame this on libertarians @doodlebugging

doodlebugging 4y ago
Please see my reply further in the post about their philosophies. You are on the money about the issues that you cite. These are individual rights and the party's desire to force compliance with a generalized evangelical Christian morality mainly focuses on things that we consider to be individual rights. What you may not have considered is how closely aligned their philosophies are with libertarian values as they would apply to businesses and entities operating within the state. It is difficult to apply Christian morals to business operations and they default to libertarian values of minimal government oversight and minimal accountability to the state or to individual citizens. Businesses are free to do as they please and should a business need some government assistance, cash doesn't even need to be under the table. Legislators also are not in session year-round so it is perfectly acceptable for businesses to author the legislation that they would like to see passed in the next session and as long as they can minimize the public's opportunity to shoot it down, it will likely pass. About those libertarians, it was actually quite funny to see so many libertarians fall in behind progressive policies that they would never support during the pandemic's worst days after they saw the impact that it had on the economy and the ability for businesses to continue operating. Some of these libertarians left the states for Puerto Rico where they could pay a pittance for large private tracts of land, dodge tax obligations they would've had to pay or work around back home, and make sure they got their "share" of the PPP monies that were thrown out onto the streets with no oversight. They can now tweet about the delicious food options on the island, the great climate, etc while ignoring the plight of real Puerto Ricans, many of whom are still rebuilding after the last major hurricane. Hypocrisy is one of the under-reported attributes of a true libertarian.