Quote:
^^^ Before the governments attempt to monopolize charity in this country, there were plenty of mutual aid societies that helped people. There are still are a lot of privately run food banks and other charities despite the governments best efforts to run them out of business.
Just because you're a liberal progressive Chuck, should I assume you would take that to the extreme of full blown communism? Then why must you assume that every Libertarian wants full blown anarchy?
I don't go far enough down the Libertarian line for anarchy. What I would like to see are those things you mentioned run by private industry (again) with government oversight only. Let private enterprise make these things less expensive to operate and reduce our need for a bloated federal bureaucracy that costs tax payers more and more every year as fewer and fewer people are paying in.
No, there was a very real need for Social Security. Old people were starving. Insane people were locked away. Handicapped people were just shit out of luck. No church or charity is going to be able to provide all the things these people need. It is society's collective responsibility, yours and mine.
Socialism is not the aim of the progressive movement, not for me at least. A capitalist system with distributional justice and a truly representative government, along with individual social liberties, is my aim. Freedom that includes access to education, fair working jobs with living wages, protections for periods of unemployment and disability, and access to public lands and recreation. A government that acts in the interests of the people, not corporations. Fair elections.
Libertarians are basically trying to have it both ways, social liberals who don't want to pay taxes or take responsibility for their place in society. Selfish people who say just give me my money and I'll take care of myself.
Our defense budget and the tax cuts for the rich are fueling the huge budget crisis conservatives caused. Libertarian thinking folks who kept cutting and kept cutting until the fed and state Governments are in financial crisis. They borrowed against Social Security! Alms for the poor aren't breaking the country, corporations and financial institutions who control Congress, and do not pay their fair share for the resources they use, along with the conservative generated wars, are the problem, or the creation of the problem. We are so far in debt now, servicing that debt will become a millstone.
I am the type of civil libertarian liberal who attended a presentation in Cincinnati by Nadine Straussen (sp?), former ACLU head, about her book "Defending Pornography". I'm a civil libertarian who defends 2nd amendment rights. Government should empower people, not restrain them. Corporations and the rich should do their fair share to support that empowerment.
Previous Topic
Index
