MyDoorsAreOpen
Bluelight Crew
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2003
- Messages
- 8,549
I judge any ideology and 'system' in terms of how good it is at uniting the most, and alienating the fewest.
Despite the fact that I can be a scofflaw and a very self-reliant person, I cannot bring myself to sympathize with Libertarians. The reason is that I don't think Libertarian policies, if put into action, would build very strong or cohesive community values. Go ahead and say I've spent too much time in Asia, but I think it's incredibly important for most people (granted not everyone) to see themselves as part of something larger than just themself, and bonding into a community necessarily involves submitting to decisions reached as a group, including a few that you personally might not like. To me, the prospect of having a network of support is worth this price. I bet most other people would also agree that this is a worthy tradeoff, if they took a good hard look at their life and the decisions they've made that have gone against what they personally might have wanted, but helped them bond better with others.
I take joy in flying under the radar and getting away with something I'm forbidden from doing. Don't we all? I've been arrested and fined and put on probation for drugs, and this has not made me a crusader for legalization. Nor has it made me curse the system. Not that I'd MIND legalization of pot, but the point is, it's more made me be like 'I'd better get back on top of my flying-under-the-radar game.' It's like getting to a higher level of an obstacle course or video game -- you don't get pissed the new obstacles are harder, you just accept that they're there and find a way around them Seriously, there is no rule that cannot be broken by someone crafty enough. Doing away with all government involvement into my life might make me freer to do what I want, but I also think it has the potential to make me lonlier and more fearful of other people.
What is real freedom, anyway? Big philosophical question. I really think freedom is something of a zero-sum game. The freer you are to do one thing, the less free you are to do something else. If I'm free to walk out my front door without being attacked or having to dodge lots of toxic pollution, it's because a good chunk of my income is NOT free for me to spend as I wish. I'm free to write an inflamatory opinion article in the paper, but this will decrease my freedom to patronize certain businesses whose owners I've offended. The freer I am to break traffic rules (ever drive in the third world?), the less free I am to go cheap on auto or health insurance, and the less free I am to bike or walk down a busy street. We all have to choose which freedoms matter more to us, and I fail to see how freedom from authoritative intervention into our private lives is THE freedom that's in the best interest of most. I don't want to live under the law of the jungle, nor do most people.
Most of all, if makes me perplexed to hear anyone try and convince me that Libertarianism is what any rational, thinking mind should arrive at. Just because you allow there to be authorities that make decisions for you to abide by doesn't mean you have to let them think for you. Indeed, I think the questioning of specific polices by rational, thinking citizens is what makes government, and its decisions that govern your life, better.
Despite the fact that I can be a scofflaw and a very self-reliant person, I cannot bring myself to sympathize with Libertarians. The reason is that I don't think Libertarian policies, if put into action, would build very strong or cohesive community values. Go ahead and say I've spent too much time in Asia, but I think it's incredibly important for most people (granted not everyone) to see themselves as part of something larger than just themself, and bonding into a community necessarily involves submitting to decisions reached as a group, including a few that you personally might not like. To me, the prospect of having a network of support is worth this price. I bet most other people would also agree that this is a worthy tradeoff, if they took a good hard look at their life and the decisions they've made that have gone against what they personally might have wanted, but helped them bond better with others.
I take joy in flying under the radar and getting away with something I'm forbidden from doing. Don't we all? I've been arrested and fined and put on probation for drugs, and this has not made me a crusader for legalization. Nor has it made me curse the system. Not that I'd MIND legalization of pot, but the point is, it's more made me be like 'I'd better get back on top of my flying-under-the-radar game.' It's like getting to a higher level of an obstacle course or video game -- you don't get pissed the new obstacles are harder, you just accept that they're there and find a way around them Seriously, there is no rule that cannot be broken by someone crafty enough. Doing away with all government involvement into my life might make me freer to do what I want, but I also think it has the potential to make me lonlier and more fearful of other people.
What is real freedom, anyway? Big philosophical question. I really think freedom is something of a zero-sum game. The freer you are to do one thing, the less free you are to do something else. If I'm free to walk out my front door without being attacked or having to dodge lots of toxic pollution, it's because a good chunk of my income is NOT free for me to spend as I wish. I'm free to write an inflamatory opinion article in the paper, but this will decrease my freedom to patronize certain businesses whose owners I've offended. The freer I am to break traffic rules (ever drive in the third world?), the less free I am to go cheap on auto or health insurance, and the less free I am to bike or walk down a busy street. We all have to choose which freedoms matter more to us, and I fail to see how freedom from authoritative intervention into our private lives is THE freedom that's in the best interest of most. I don't want to live under the law of the jungle, nor do most people.
Most of all, if makes me perplexed to hear anyone try and convince me that Libertarianism is what any rational, thinking mind should arrive at. Just because you allow there to be authorities that make decisions for you to abide by doesn't mean you have to let them think for you. Indeed, I think the questioning of specific polices by rational, thinking citizens is what makes government, and its decisions that govern your life, better.