A few days ago I was reading comments on another blog with a similar political slant to this one. I don’t read the right wing blogs, there doesn’t seem to be any need since their positions are broadcast across our airwaves every day. The subject being discussed was republicans in Libertarian clothing with the premise being that republicans were distancing themselves from their party and claiming to be Libertarians. Seems to me I can’t blame them, I wouldn’t admit to being a republican now if I was one either.
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As I followed the thread along it devolved into Libertarian bashing and started sounding like the narrow minded hate speak you hear on the conservative talk programs. It appears that Libertarians are just unsuccessful republicans who smoke dope. Their great leader, Ann Rand, was a fraud because she didn’t quit smoking when the government announced it was bad for your health. Pretty damning of the whole party I guess. But mostly the Libertarians are immature and out of touch with the reality of modern social life and they are greedy because they think they should get to keep what they earn.
I guess that modern social life has no room for a moral position. If I don’t have the right to keep what I earn then it must be because someone else has the right to take it from me. Ah, well no, not "somebody" but "everybody". But only in the aggregate. You see, it’s ok if we all take from everybody. It was societies money before and it still is so no actual transfer has taken place. Damn, where was society last week when I was busting my ass earning that money, I sure felt like I was alone there? Were "we" all as tired as I was? Maybe that’s why they were all pissed off; I should be more considerate.
Am I greedy for wanting to keep what I earn? I don’t know, I never seem to actually keep any of it. I traded some of it for a nice crab dinner just last night. The guy that sold me the crab seemed happy with that. I have been known to just give some of it away, sometimes to friends, to strangers that looked like they could really use my help, to groups doing what I felt was worthwhile. The money that society redistributed from me went to help pay for killing hundreds of thousands of strangers in a place I’ve never been and don’t want to ever visit, sending children to die doing it, and paying the salary of a lying immoral cretin that spies on people, kidnaps and tortures them. I guess they had to take the money because I would never gone for that.
Well, I’m told, we all have to pay for the things we all use. I don’t remember ever crossing "The bridge to nowhere" up in Alaska. I don’t even remember ever being north of Edmonton Ca. If I understand, the theory goes something like this: Lets say that there is a path to the lake. Sometimes the path gets muddy and you can’t ride your bicycle there. Doesn’t bother me, I walk. But it would be a civic good if the path were paved. You would pave it your self but then I might walk on it And you can’t have that, me walking on what you paid for. Not that it would hurt anything mind you, it just wouldn’t be fair. Of course, the only reason I’m walking on your pavement is because you covered up the only path to the lake. My grandma is old and doesn’t walk to the lake, but she might eat a fish someone caught in the lake and carried up the path, so she has to pay too.
What else shows the Libertarian immaturity? Let’s say I get sick with a bad cough. I’ve had that before, the doctor gave me a note for some syrup and that seemed to work. But I can’t seem to get the guy at the store to sell me another bottle unless I get another note. What if I am wrong and it is really cancer. Worse, what if I don’t really have a cough but actually enjoy the euphoria the syrup produces. I guess mature people should be treated like children.
I might buy a gun; that would be a bad thing. I thought I might want one; just last week a big mean thug beat up the little old man next door and took all his money. I don’t want to get beat up but I am not very big or very strong. I’ll bet he wouldn’t bother me it he knew I could hurt him just as much as he could hurt me and a gun would do that. The policeman has a gun but he wasn’t there when the old man got beat up. He told me I couldn’t carry a gun and if he caught me with one he would take me to jail. He said if I ran away he would have to shoot me himself. Maybe I’ll just stay inside, that way the bad man won’t find me.
Expenses seem to just keep piling up. Daycare for the kids is killing us, but my wife needs to work to make ends meet. It didn’t used to be so bad. There was the nice lady down the street who kept our kids for us and a couple of our neighbors. She was really good, I guess because she had raised a couple of her own when she was young; I know the kids really loved her. But the guy from the state said she didn’t have a license and made her stop. She moved away and I here she lives on welfare now. We take the kids to a licensed daycare now. I guess it’s safer, they have lots of rules and there are cameras everywhere. One lady was in an accident last week and couldn’t get there by closing so the daycare called Child Services and they took the kids. They say the judge might let them go home with her in a couple of weeks.
I did finally save enough for that car I have been wanting. It isn’t new, I sure can’t afford that. The guy I bought it from wouldn’t take my check so I had to give him cash. $10,000 is a lot to carry around. The bank said it was a lot of money and they would have to report it to the government, just to be sure I didn’t do anything bad with it. They said to be sure to save my receipts or the government might take all my money away, just in case.
My wife took the neighbor some soup today, he is pretty sick. He says he knows smoking is bad but he just can’t seem to kick the habit. He was always considerate about it. He has his own office and used to smoke it there when he was alone; now he has to go outside. It was cold and wet last week, I’ll bet that’s when he got pneumonia.
I was going to buy some beer for the picnic today but I forgot it was Sunday. I guess I really should be in church anyway.
Ok, I guess you caught me, a Libertarian sneaking around here. Although back last election I heard we were actually welcome. And I did vote Democratic in the last election. Well, actually I voted against the Republicans but the effect is the same. Everybody here keeps talking about freedom, liberty, but I think they have forgotten what that means. You’re not free if you have to ask permission for everything you want to do. You don’t need to be a licensed professional, and if you get hurt in the process you got no one else to blame. I hear it all the time; "If you do that and get hurt I’ll have to rescue you and I don’t want to take that risk, so you can’t do it". I didn’t ask you to rescue me. I am an adult and I can deal with the consequences of my actions very well thank you. All I want from anyone else is fair and honest treatment. Don’t cheat me, don’t rob me, and keep your hands to your self. I can even support the small number of rules we need to enforce that. If you want to fund bridges to nowhere go right ahead, just don’t make me pay for it. If you want to fund soldiers going off and killing innocent people, kidnap and torture, spying and corruption I do have a problem with that, and if I knew how I would stop you. If you are willing to assault someone then you might assault anyone and that might mean me.
People ask; "OK, so you don’t like the way things work. How would you fix it, smart guy?" And I have to say "I don’t know". But I know what we’re doing now doesn’t work. Doing something isn’t always better then doing nothing and some things you just can’t fix. Pretending doesn’t help.
Now I’ll end my childish immature rant. I can’t believe you read this far, thanks for your time.