This is our fundimental disagreement. I believe the job of the government is to strive give every citizen equal opportunity to succeed or fail. That does mean giving the poor of the country the opportunity to compete with the rich, the black to compete with the white and so on. The biggest corruption and rot in our government is a direct result of having a small percentage of our populace unnaturally controlling the forces of supply and demand. As it stands, there is no force of demand, only supply and consume. There's a huge difference between demand and consumption. All this is largely possible due to the fact that politicians at all levels are fueled by money. Money which only the more rich and powerful have.
Freedom to starve and die is not freedom, it's a neo caste system.
If you're not free to fail, you aren't truly free - and the whole idea behind the US was that everybody had the right to enter the race - but somewhere along the way it got muddled and became everybody has a right to win. But you and I can go for hours about this stuff, you're a socialist and I'm a libertarian.
I am, however, all for getting money out of politics. It should be as much like jury duty as possible - an inconvenience taken on as part of civic duty. I think a step in the right direction would be term limits, on top of some other ideas others have kicked around in various threads lately - but must of all, if you limit power you inherently limit the money going to try to sway that power. The lower governments (state and local) are naturally more responsive to their populace than our federal masters in their ivory tower district - a very good first start would be decentralizing a lot of governmental responsibility to those lower on the pyramid.[DOUBLEPOST=1382200873,1382200408][/DOUBLEPOST]
I have no idea how I didn't realize before you that you were a Jeffersonian. It all makes sense now.
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Where people are inherently good and will do good in the end when government isn't restricting them. Freedom will be the bond that strengthens us as a Nation.-
Oh lord that's rich.
It's amazing that he has that much faith in humanity. Just astounding.
I wouldn't say that I'm Jeffersonian, just that I think he had a good idea for a system. I don't think people are inherently good, but I think progress for human society requires it to be free to climb the heights - and fall from precipices. That eventually, this will make us stronger and better as a society - and a species.
When you think about it, though, this pretty much describes The United Federation of Planets.
--Patrick
The federation operates in an era of unlimited resources brought on by technology. When resources are unlimited, when abundant energy is cheaper than mining, when food and shelter cost no other person their time and toil - I may become a socialist too, who knows. But I doubt it.
The Federation is more Marxist.
And Gas's position doesn't work for the exact same reason that Marxism doesn't work. Human nature.
Oh, I hold no illusions about human nature. That's why I'm a libertarian and not an anarchist - there still needs to be a mechanism to deal with crime and war. But a government that becomes parent to all stifles and stagnates its population, making them forever children (and often bankrupts itself in the process).
