Most of the talk of revolution, civil war and secession down here in Dumbutt, Texas is about EPA rules. It’s our RIGHT to breathe filthy air, swim in dirty water and dump poison into the ground. It is the basis of LIBERTY and FREEDOM for ME.
I watched a 2 hour biography on Ayn Rand last night from a Libertarian bias. I noticed a few things. They never mentioned she was an Atheist, and never actually say what should be done with the 47% of takers, moochers and deadbeats. But she did live in the time of eugenics. As you know, the story of Atlas Shrugged (1956) is that all the business men, all the wealthy talented people disappeared into the high Rockies to revolt against taxes and regulations, leaving the losers and moochers to all fend for themselves. She avoided that “fending” part of the story. There seems to be no desire to actually kill the 47% of moochers, I guess the idea was to just let them eat each other. And then gloat about it. All the interviews in the documentary of those backing her were all multi-millionaires. Surprise Surprise.
I realized the biggest issue in her writing was that it is all presented in terms of ALL or NOTHING, there is no in between in her world view. Either we live in a world of altruistic collectivism, or we live in a world of selfish individualism. No middle ground, no PLURALISM. And you know, she and her disgusting views were very unpopular during her lifetime. In fact there was never a positive review of Atlas Shrugged from any political point of view. She spend the rest of her life trying to get a positive review from any of her fellow intellectuals and never managed it in her lifetime. It was not until 1988 when Ron Paul ran for President as the Libertarian Candidate for President that her selfish twaddle began to take hold in Republican circles. And now with a Black man in the White House the book is selling better than ever before.
Everything you need to know about Libertarians.
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“not…”,
Are you expecting me to take the opposite side of, “But the growth of private enterprize should still be encouraged”? Responsible private enterprise is a keystone to the nation & should be encouraged.
“not…”
I don’t know if you’re expecting an argument; but just remember that every penny spent on “safety net” services is in its’ turn spent by the recipient on things like food, clothes, & shelter. That money remains in the community & supports private business & jobs. You draw a hard & fast line between “private” & “public” sectors that doesn’t exist. They both exist in symbosis with each other. We need both to be healthy.
But the growth of private enterprize should still be encouraged because it creates more tax payers. We can never have too many taxpayers.
Social safety nets require money to keep them functional. For that, you need a source of revenue, and a large private sector is the only possible source. You have to have entreprenuers producing wealth and wage earners earning a portion of that wealth. Or else who would you tax? There have to be people making money producing goods and services other people want or need. There has to be a private sector that is many times larger than the public sector in order to support the public sector.
That is called a STRAWMAN argument NO ONE, ON ONE, is saying we have to eliminate the private sector. We were the most anti communist nation on EARTH in the 1950s and we had 90% rates on the wealthy. We had the best decade of the economy in teh 1990s and had a 30% capital gains rate. WE are also the least taxed nation in the industrialized world. And the only nation who does not believe that health care for all is a RIGHT.
Ever reducing taxes and deregulating the banks is what got us into the worst economic down turn since the Depression, and Republicans LOUDLY and PROUDLY want to reduce taxes more and deregulate banks more. They need 40 years in the desert to rethink their crap…
Ayn Rand aside, that Message from Christ is no longer part of Republican or Conservative politics or America’s dominate religion.
“I watched a 2 hour biography on Ayn Rand last night from a Libertarian bias.”
Nothing better to do with your time? Baseball game rained out?
Libertarianism had a following through the 1970s though it wasn’t clear whether it would be a radically rightist or leftist movement. For me, it too all of about 10 minutes before I figured out that the philosophy was not one upon which to build a community. As an example; if all the “Galtists” are off in their own community; wouldn’t that community then evolve its’ own winners & losers? Can there really be more than one?
But of course Rand had to be an Atheist. Christ’s message of “love one another” is totally antithetical.