3 ms·
So I'm a pretty classical libertarian and overall don't love unions and really hate government intervention in pretty much anything especially the economy. But
by kneebonian 4y ago
So I'm a pretty classical libertarian and overall don't love unions and really hate government intervention in pretty much anything especially the economy.
But here's the thing is that a society that stops caring for the poor, that exploits it's people, or in the words of the Bible that has "afalse swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right," is going to be headed for rough times and is morally bankrupt.
It feels to me like we are seeing more and more of that lately with things like passing laws to prevent the workers from striking, the massive wealth transfer that occurred during COVID, the way corporations are becoming land lords optimizing for profit. It just all seems to me like we are headed down a dark road where our only god is money and the only sin is not extracting the maximum profit.
- Jabihjo 4y agoIt sounds like you're a libertarian until you're negatively affected by your environment. I'm sorry that I'm attacking you right now with words, but I know a few "libertarians" in real life, and they all appear to be opportunists (read: selfish).
- efnx 4y agoWe’ve been on that road for a long, long time.
- mistrial9 4y agoI heard a political science graduate speak at a very high quality Big Data conference in SF, and what he said in 20 minutes really struck a chord for me.. basically, the ugly, illegal and regressive forces in (politics) will always be present, but by growing participation, and some orderly enforcement of rules, you can "dilute" or out-number the bad actors, with systems that are more efficient, more fair and get better long-term outcomes. On the other hand, when things are tough, when those that cheat knowingly gain an upper-hand, when factional fighting outweighs the orderly participation, then ugly, illegal and regressive forces grow, and are proportionally larger in the results overall.
- Gibbon1 4y agoOne result of digging at these issues is I think the whole free market stuff is a canard to cover financialization of everything. That's explains a lot of about reflexive policy choices and the stripping away of the power of labor and consumers. Anything that's entangled with responsibilities towards anyone other than nominal owners is harder to turn into a paper asset that can be traded as if it were money. Ergo all those things need to be stripped away.