"Answering the libertarians and their lies"

[nam78_two]

http://robertlindsay.blogspot.com/2005/02/answering-libertarians-and-their-lies.html


http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,1671053,00.html

[ixion]

1. it's very ironic... the GOP calls me an extremeist because I oppose the

war, and this guy calls me an extremeist because I have some libertarian tendancies.

It's nice to know that the punditry in this country is sqaurely in the center. :eyes:

[keith the dem]

2. Having Libertarian "tendencies"

Is not the same as having a strict Libertarian ideology. Every Ideology has some good points, but hardly ever all the answers.

[leftofthedial]

4. if you have the "libertarian tendencies" that Lindsay discusses:

1. privatization of infrastructure, transportation, utility and financial businesses as a panacaea

2. reducing (or eliminating) environmental regulations

3. privatizing health care

AND you endorse the positions of Clarkson discussed in the Guardian article,

then you ARE and extremist.

Is there anything specific in either article that you dispute?

[ixion]

6. response inline...

1. privatization of infrastructure, transportation, utility and financial businesses as a panacea

-- utility and infrastructure (and education, health, etc) should NOT be privatized beyond the concept of a 'private' school. Public schools are part of the infrastructure.


2. reducing (or eliminating) environmental regulations
-- NOOOOOO. This is where I break with the libertarians, and go Green. :-)


3. privatizing health care
-- uh, how is it NOT privatized now? :shrug:

[nam78_two]

7. You are clearly not the kind of libertarian

the article is talking about imo :)!

I think its more targeted at the John Stossel, Andrew Sullivan style libertarian...

I don't think some libertarian tendencies are what they are talking about...they are talking about the hard-core, no compassion, everyone just look out for themselves style of libertarianism.

[leftofthedial]

8. it is only slightly nationalized now

you know, the little segment that seems to actually work

radical libertarians would eliminate Medicare, Medicaid, many programs that provide healthcare or subsidize medical costs for poor children and elderly.

The current PROBLEM with the US healthcare system (one of the worst in the industrialized world by any measure) is that it is so heavily privatized.

[RaleighNCDUer]

10. re: health care - We do have medicare and medicaid

at least for now. And the entire VA hospital system, like the military hospitals, are a fine example of socialized medicine. Having grown up with it I know it can be very good. don't know how military hospitals are now, but if they are charging the wounded for their meals I suspect it isn't what it used to be.

[nam78_two]

11. You know someone once said on some blog

"There ain't no libertarians in wheelchairs"

About sums it up imo......

Maybe the philosophy has *some* good things about it but what an incomplete philosphy, with so much potential for abuse/distortion....
No compassion built in.....

Specially that Ayn Randian version...ugh...

[w4rma]

3. You mean capital-L Libertarians. I'm a libertarian and a

yellow dog Democrat.

[RaleighNCDUer]

5. You know, I've never quite figured out what the difference is between

libertarianism and just plain old fashioned selfishness.

[William Seger]

9. It's worse than that

You can't build a realistic political philosophy that can't deal with natural selfishness -- which liberal democracy does, quite well -- but capital "L" Libertarianism is just Social Darwinism.