Sunday, January 12, 2020

You Like Gov't Control. Admit It.

Stop trying to rationalize yourself as a Moderate Freedom Lover?
  • Why are you so scared to own your Beliefs?
  • Why do you feel the need to paint "the other" as the extremist?
I mean if you want to use our government to FORCE others to live by YOUR BELIEFS, just admit that you have AUTHORITARIAN tendencies.
  • If you want the government mandating who gets to pull the plug, inject the suicide cocktail or approve the abortion.
  • If you want to government raising the taxes on certain citizens so the money can be given to others, or you want to force other "religious" citizens to associate with LGBTQ practicing individuals
  • You support intrusive government, Own it.
A FB friend told me about the Horseshoe Theory, it kind of fits in the Nolan diagram...  And it definitely explains why the modern GOPers and DEMs fall under the "freedom axis".

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's like with Donald Trump. Our president doesn't believe in the rule of law. He obeys the law when he is forced to. If, for some reason, the law is unenforceable as most of them are for him, he feels he can do anything he wants. For example, he believes that Article II of the constitution gives him absolute power. He also has a Justice Department that will not prosecute him. Therefore, he can have people killed. If it's all about force, it's equally all about what happens when force is absent. Now, and for generations to come, we will be living in Donald Trump's jungle, where there is no law, there is only force. Where killings occur on a whim.

--Hiram

John said...

Only you can take a post about deep self reflection and self understanding, and redirect it to talking about Trump... :-)

I sometimes worry about your obsession with the man... :-(

Anonymous said...

Our president kills people based on what he sees on Fox News. In self reflection terms, does that mean he can kill me if I displease Sean Hannity?

--Hiram

Laurie said...

I think of libertarian values as quite extreme (rather than moderate.)

John said...

Laurie,
I don't think the Libertarians will have me either...

What "quite extreme" values are you thinking of?

I think my only "extreme value" is that parenting should be a privilege and not a right...

And that is only because every child deserves a good to great parent(s). And far too many have poor parent(s) and care giving. Or maybe you are okay with CPS having to monitor and protect 3,000,000 kids.

John said...

Now you got me started !!! :-)

To drive one has to take training, pass tests, be able to afford it, etc...

To be a parent one just have to get laid and be too irresponsible / uneducated to use effective and reliable birth control.

And Lord knows that parenting well is a LOT HARDER than driving a car.
And raising a child has very long term impacts on them and our society.

Laurie said...

Freedom to me does not mean lack of taxes. I like FDR's take on it - as freedom from want.

we could pay 0 taxes and have no safety net (millions of people lacking food, housing, healthcare) or at the opposite end of the spectrum, we could pay 90% taxes (or more) and have a super-strong safety net and greater equality.

A moderate view falls between these two ends of the spectrum. Personally, I think taxes could be higher and the safety net stronger

Also, your right, your views on taking children away from all those you deem irresponsible is very extreme. (and more authoritarian rather than libertarian)

John said...

Laurie,
Please remember that I am the one advocating for going back to the Clinton tax rates... Except maybe not the corporate rate... That benefits many citizens.

Then all of us would pay more until we start working the national debt down some. Unfortunately NO ONE wants to give up their tax breaks, tax credits, etc. And you only want a small percentage of Americans to carry most of the burden.

And yes having government in essence "mandate charity" through extremely progressive taxes / services is certainly a form of government authoritarianism. It means that you think you know better how to spend "their money" to better help the needy. And you are happy to use the government to make it happen.

This is NO DIFFERENT than ProLife folks who are certain that abortion is murder. And therefore are happy to use the power of government to save babies. That is why the Horseshoe theory is so correct.

Again, please feel free to continue letting anyone make a keep babies. Sometimes I wonder how you sleep at night knowing that 3,000,000 kids in America are neglected or abused to the level the CPS is watching over them.

Anonymous said...

Freedom to me does not mean lack of taxes. I like FDR's take on it - as freedom from want.

It's this idea that equates law with force. And the logic requires that if the the law can't be enforced, it isn't a law, it doesn't bind us. This is the governing principle under which we now live.

--Hiram

John said...

Hiram,
Please try committing a crime like not paying your taxes...

And I am pretty sure you will find that the government's enforcement measures are working just fine. :-)

John said...

Again with the obsessing over Trump... :-(

The reality for better or worse is that the founding Father's were concerned that a President may get railroaded for political reasons, and they set up various protections against it.

Trump is just shameless enough to use them to his advantage...

Anonymous said...

Please try committing a crime like not paying your taxes...

Lots of tax cheating occurs in areas where tax laws are not enforced. Our tax system relies on the good faith of taxpayers in following the law.

.The reality for better or worse is that the founding Father's were concerned that a President may get railroaded for political reasons, and they set up various protections against it.

If the founders were concerned about railroading, they wouldn't have built the tracks.

--Hiram

John said...

We are proceeding down those tracks slowly but surely...

Sean said...

"Please try committing a crime like not paying your taxes...

And I am pretty sure you will find that the government's enforcement measures are working just fine. "

Probably true for us. Not true for wealthy taxpayers. ProPublica: IRS: Sorry, but It’s Just Easier and Cheaper to Audit the Poor

John said...

These numbers look very different?

The unfortunate reality is that computers can find errors on simple returns...

And the simple folks likely make more stupid errors...