Republicans

[t1tdave]

I've had some thoughts about politics lately, mainly about the Republican party, that I want to get "on paper," mainly for my own use, although (serious) counterarguments and reported flaws in my reasoning are always extremely welcome. It's long. To make it easier for everybody to avoid entry into a political discussion (always a dicey

Comments

[warriorinside]

The way I see it, the only difference between the two major parties is what they choose to stick their noses in my business about. I fall closest to libertarianism - he governs best who governs least. (This is why Obama absolutely terrifies me - he seems to be in love with government control of everything, and I've contracted for the government long enough to see exactly where this is headed

[t1tdave]

I love libertarianism as an outlook. As a party, the Libertarians I know sometimes end up reaching conclusions (such as, the government should be barred from owning and operating parks, since a free market would manage them better) I cannot agree with.

As for a revolt or a dictatorship: I think we do need to keep our eye on what's going on, and to speak out when it goes too far, but I am comforted by history: we've wandered this far, and much farther, away from the path of personal liberty and freedom before, and we've come back. It comes and goes in phases. That doesn't mean that this time it might be worse, but it does give hope that it won't come to bloodshed.

[warriorinside]

Fair enough. I'm curious, though - when did we wander off further than having the government stage a semi-hostile takeover of private corporations?

[t1tdave]

It depends on how you measure things. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were started by the federal government, so taking them over is more like taking over the Post Office than taking over FedEx. They've bailed out (and basically controlled) railroads before, and they held strict control over the utilites when they were monopolies. The big change here is not the control over a semi-private corporation as much as it is their funding, I think.

[t1tdave]

In a more general sense: In the Civil War we suspended habeus corpus and threw people in prison without charge. Near the start of the century, we forcibly sterilized "undesirables," mostly mentally handicapped and minorities, as part of a state-funded eugenics program. In World War II we rounded up the Japanese and stuffed them in camps. In the era of McCarthyism Hollywood and the Federal Government basically colluded to deny people livelihood based on perceived connection to a political party. We do this stupid stuff when we get scared.