Libertarian
boosted
@dcjogger It appears that I may have made a few diapers wet. Shut down defending me and you. Geez, almost reminiscing about twatter. Ask the Globetards and Fe about KristiTrumpkinDragonfly. Good times and many laughs ð They will equally defend my honor. Every scrap piece of paper had a Math equation on it... I was wrong 𤪠It waz fun running out of ink and breaking the last tip of the pencil. ð Still trying to wash the Sharpie off me ð ðð¤¡ð
One of the most insidious ways politicians expand government is by creating new programs to âsolveâ problems created by politicians. For example, government interference in health care increased health care costs, making it difficult or even impossible for many to obtain affordable, quality care. The effects of these prior interventions were used to justify Obamacare.
Now, the failures of Obamacare are being used to justify further government intervention in health care. This does not just include the renewed push for socialized medicine. It also includes supporting new laws mandating price transparency. The lack of transparency in health care pricing is a direct result of government policies encouraging over-reliance on third-party payers.
This phenomenon is also observed in foreign policy. American military interventions result in blowback that is used to justify more military intervention. The result is an ever-expanding warfare state and curtailments on our liberty in the name of security.
Another example of this is related to the reaction to President Trumpâs tariffs. Many of Americaâs leading trading partners have imposed âretaliatoryâ tariffs on U.S. goods. Many of these tariffs target agriculture exports. These tariffs could be devastating for American farmers, since exports compose as much as 20 percent of the average farmerâs income.
President Trump has responded to the hardships imposed on farmers by these retaliatory tariffs with a $12 billion farm bailout program. The program has three elements: direct payments to farmers, use of federal funds to buy surplus crops and distribute them to food banks and nutrition programs, and a new federal effort to promote American agriculture overseas.
This program will not fix the problems caused by Trampâs tariffs. For one thing, the payments are unlikely to equal the money farmers will lose from this trade war. Also, government marketing programs benefit large agribusiness but do nothing to help small farmers. In fact, by giving another advantage to large agribusiness, the program may make it more difficult for small farmers to compete in the global marketplace.
Distributing surplus food to programs serving the needy may seem like a worthwhile use of government funds. However, the federal government has neither constitutional nor moral authority to use money taken by force from taxpayers for charitable purposes. Government-funded welfare programs also crowd out much more effective and compassionate private efforts. Of course, if government regulations such as the minimum wage and occupational licensing did not destroy job opportunities, government farm programs did not increase food prices, and the Federal Reserveâs inflationary policies did not continuously erode purchasing power, the demand for food aid would be much less. By increasing spending and debt, the agriculture bailout will do much more to create poverty than to help the needy.
Agriculture is hardly the only industry suffering from the new trade war. Industries â such as automobile manufacturing â that depend on imports for affordable materials are suffering along with American exporters. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka (who supports tariffs) has called for bailouts of industries negatively impacted by tariffs. He is likely to be joined in his advocacy by crony capitalists seeking another government handout.
More bailouts will only add to the trade warâs economic damage by increasing government spending and hastening the welfare-warfare stateâs collapse and the rejection of the dollarâs world reserve currency status. Instead of trying to fix tariffs-caused damage through more corporate welfare, President Trump and Congress should pursue a policy of free markets and free trade for all and bailouts for none.
Libertarian
boosted
When you live under such an oligarchy, there is always some crisis or the other that takes priority over boring stuff such as healthcare and pollution. If the nation is facing external invasion or diabolical subversion, who has the time to worry about overcrowded hospitals and polluted rivers? By manufacturing a never-ending stream of crises, a corrupt oligarchy can prolong its rule indefinitely.
Libertarian
boosted
There is a sort of âOk guys, youâre mad, but how are you going to stop meâ mentality at the top.
There is a sort of âOk guys, youâre mad, but how are you going to stop meâ mentality at the top.
When you live under such an oligarchy, there is always some crisis or the other that takes priority over boring stuff such as healthcare and pollution. If the nation is facing external invasion or diabolical subversion, who has the time to worry about overcrowded hospitals and polluted rivers? By manufacturing a never-ending stream of crises, a corrupt oligarchy can prolong its rule indefinitely.
Libertarian
boosted
My mood is dark as of late, which is largely a result of what I am seeing.
I have been to Europe many, many times. There are places etched in my memory, that I loved: London, Madrid, Barcelona, Florence, Venice, Paris, etc. Each of those places have changed so much, for the worse, that I no longer can reconcile my memories with the current reality. What happened to these places?
Well, firstly, they have become âdiversifiedâ. That means they are now awash with hordes of unwashed. They are everywhere â begging, stealing, loafing, committing violence, and generally being parasitic and destructive.
One tour guide we were with was pick-pocketed three times in the last year. I avoided a couple of attempts to do the same to me. Pickpocketing is in epidemic proportion. The why is easy to see â for instance, in Barcelona the penalty for pickpocketing is 50 euros â no matter how often you get caught, the penalty is 50 euros. The police will now do nothing â why would they? If they catch the pickpocket, take them to jail, do the paperwork, etc. â the criminal is released with a fine of 50 euros. In fairness, the pickpockets are not entirely limited to the hordes of unwashed that have arrived â many locals have realized that, hey, the cops are not going to act â at all â so what the hell, letâs make a grab for whatever passes by.
We met an old lady who was about to board a cruise. She had been pickpocketed â lost her money, credit cards, and most unfortunately, her passport. So no cruise for her, as without a passport, you cannot board. If it were not for the benevolence of the hotel where she was staying previously, she would possibly have been destitute on the street. This poor old lady, in her 80s, was beyond devastated. How has it come to pass that these parasites are allowed to target the most vulnerable?
A further example is that Greece has just passed a law where thieves get no jail time unless they steal over 120,000 euros. Yes, you are reading that correctly â in Greece you can steal up to 120,000 euros, and receive no jail time. You can imagine what this does to encourage the actions of the unwashed and the unscrupulous general population.
Secondly, those unwashed hordes have combined with great masses of tourists. The tourists are often ignorant, rude savages with no understanding of the cultures and history of the places they are visiting. They rocket along, taking endless selfies, one after another, waving their selfie-sticks, oft dangerously. They push, shove, screech, and generally misbehave â and leave no richer for the experience than they arrived.
We witnessed a group of blacks misbehaving. An example of their behaviour was that two of the male members of the group ran out into perhaps Madridâs busiest street so as to be able to take photos of their group against a backdrop they fancied. Cars were swerving everywhere to avoid them, as their presence was entirely unexpected. That they survived is both a miracle and perhaps indicative that fools are not always punished for their stupidity.
We saw stupidly dangerous activities by tourists everywhere â Asians were highly represented in this. Asians were also constantly being berated by security guards, guides, etc., for improper behaviour. They will climb on anything, they will ignore warning signs, they will take selfies in the most dangerous of spots (hanging out windows of moving trains, etc.). It is like they are entirely unaware of any social expectations. I wonder if it is a result of living in places where they are always massed together when in public.
We encountered unimaginable rudeness on a daily basis. I consider that I am quite polite when travelling â I have travelled extensively, and go with the flow of the locals. On more than one occasion it got ugly when we were pushed and jostled by the ignorant tourist zombies. It was quite disappointing. I am most pleased that I managed not to have smacked any of the assholes that so richly deserved it, as it would have greatly complicated my existence. I have indeed mellowed over the years.
Thirdly, many of these nations have not advanced economically, yet they have expanded their welfare states far beyond that which is sustainable.
On a worksite we were visiting, they were doing some construction. There were a number of men, of varying ages. There were two men whose job was to bring soil and rock. They had one spoon-sized shovel between them, and one child-sized wheel barrow between them. The wheelbarrow would have been perhaps 1/5th the size that I personally use to do the same tasks. There was no powered equipment of any kind. There were perhaps 10 men âworkingâ. They could have all been replaced by a small bobcat or mini-loader and one man. It was stunning in its inefficiency, and that is saying something, given I am familiar with how inefficient building sites can be.
My mood is dark as of late, which is largely a result of what I am seeing.
I have been to Europe many, many times. There are places etched in my memory, that I loved: London, Madrid, Barcelona, Florence, Venice, Paris, etc. Each of those places have changed so much, for the worse, that I no longer can reconcile my memories with the current reality. What happened to these places?
Well, firstly, they have become âdiversifiedâ. That means they are now awash with hordes of unwashed. They are everywhere â begging, stealing, loafing, committing violence, and generally being parasitic and destructive.
One tour guide we were with was pick-pocketed three times in the last year. I avoided a couple of attempts to do the same to me. Pickpocketing is in epidemic proportion. The why is easy to see â for instance, in Barcelona the penalty for pickpocketing is 50 euros â no matter how often you get caught, the penalty is 50 euros. The police will now do nothing â why would they? If they catch the pickpocket, take them to jail, do the paperwork, etc. â the criminal is released with a fine of 50 euros. In fairness, the pickpockets are not entirely limited to the hordes of unwashed that have arrived â many locals have realized that, hey, the cops are not going to act â at all â so what the hell, letâs make a grab for whatever passes by.
We met an old lady who was about to board a cruise. She had been pickpocketed â lost her money, credit cards, and most unfortunately, her passport. So no cruise for her, as without a passport, you cannot board. If it were not for the benevolence of the hotel where she was staying previously, she would possibly have been destitute on the street. This poor old lady, in her 80s, was beyond devastated. How has it come to pass that these parasites are allowed to target the most vulnerable?
A further example is that Greece has just passed a law where thieves get no jail time unless they steal over 120,000 euros. Yes, you are reading that correctly â in Greece you can steal up to 120,000 euros, and receive no jail time. You can imagine what this does to encourage the actions of the unwashed and the unscrupulous general population.
Secondly, those unwashed hordes have combined with great masses of tourists. The tourists are often ignorant, rude savages with no understanding of the cultures and history of the places they are visiting. They rocket along, taking endless selfies, one after another, waving their selfie-sticks, oft dangerously. They push, shove, screech, and generally misbehave â and leave no richer for the experience than they arrived.
We witnessed a group of blacks misbehaving. An example of their behaviour was that two of the male members of the group ran out into perhaps Madridâs busiest street so as to be able to take photos of their group against a backdrop they fancied. Cars were swerving everywhere to avoid them, as their presence was entirely unexpected. That they survived is both a miracle and perhaps indicative that fools are not always punished for their stupidity.
We saw stupidly dangerous activities by tourists everywhere â Asians were highly represented in this. Asians were also constantly being berated by security guards, guides, etc., for improper behaviour. They will climb on anything, they will ignore warning signs, they will take selfies in the most dangerous of spots (hanging out windows of moving trains, etc.). It is like they are entirely unaware of any social expectations. I wonder if it is a result of living in places where they are always massed together when in public.
We encountered unimaginable rudeness on a daily basis. I consider that I am quite polite when travelling â I have travelled extensively, and go with the flow of the locals. On more than one occasion it got ugly when we were pushed and jostled by the ignorant tourist zombies. It was quite disappointing. I am most pleased that I managed not to have smacked any of the assholes that so richly deserved it, as it would have greatly complicated my existence. I have indeed mellowed over the years.
Thirdly, many of these nations have not advanced economically, yet they have expanded their welfare states far beyond that which is sustainable.
On a worksite we were visiting, they were doing some construction. There were a number of men, of varying ages. There were two men whose job was to bring soil and rock. They had one spoon-sized shovel between them, and one child-sized wheel barrow between them. The wheelbarrow would have been perhaps 1/5th the size that I personally use to do the same tasks. There was no powered equipment of any kind. There were perhaps 10 men âworkingâ. They could have all been replaced by a small bobcat or mini-loader and one man. It was stunning in its inefficiency, and that is saying something, given I am familiar with how inefficient building sites can be.
- Libertarian
- https://neinchan.com/pol/
Joined May 2019
