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"a bunch of people who basically believe in the goodness of individuals. That isn't terribly dirty IMO" Maybe not dirty, but terribly naive. Not in the sense
by georgemcbay 11y ago
"a bunch of people who basically believe in the goodness of individuals. That isn't terribly dirty IMO"
Maybe not dirty, but terribly naive. Not in the sense that I think people are inherently evil, but I do believe they are inherently greedy (naturally as greed serves an important evolutionary function as long as we live in a society with scarcity) in a way that makes them perfectly willing to bend and break the rules to increase their personal wealth and power as long as they don't get punished for it and nobody that they have to actually see (and thus empathize with) gets hurt by their greed (though some have such advanced systems of self-denial that even this bit is negotiable).
This is why unregulated capitalism is just as flawed as pure socialism for now, current humans can't be trusted to live in any system without external checks and balances (and even with those the best we can hope for is that the system mostly works for most people).
- tracker1 11y agoI don't think any libertarians want true anarchy and unregulated capitalism... so much as a more even playing field that ensures competition. IP protections have been expanded to the point of insanity in favor of corporations... this expansion has been voted up by both Republicans and Democrats alike... Removing corporate taxes, and in the same vein reducing both the rights of corporations to that of "non-living entities" (no freedom of speech, etc), as well as driving out tax shelters and loopholes in favor of encouraging either reinvestment/growth or paying dividends which are taxed... Most libertarians I've known are not in favor of crony corporatism, which is very different from allowing or encouraging free markets to work.