> Dana wrote: > ummm neither Gruss nor I is left wing exactly. Pretty libertarian in > some ways, both of us. We seem to disagree on civil liberties and > macroeconomics, but nobody is perfect. >
Well ... I dunno if I'd say we disagree on Macroeconomics specifically. I'd say we more disagree on the usefulness of the federal government in the market. Maybe we could both agree that, for a society as a whole, capitalism is the most benevolent system. That is, even the poorest person in America is better off than the poorest in, say, North Korea. Where we seem to disagree is how you deal with "the leftovers" from capitalism: those that aren't able or willing to help themselves. I would say we again look to the market for those unwilling, and government for those unable. As to civil liberties ... do we disagree there? I mean, I'm for them. As with capitalism, I want as little of government intrusion as possible in private lives. I don't want the gov't deciding about prostitution or gay marriage, for example. I see no need for that as those are private matters. On both issues I fall back to personal responsibility as the key principle. The real opposite of me there would be Sam, for example. He'd like the government to enforce an arbitrary morality on private citizens via a state police force. Sam's an example of someone who opposes civil liberties; he'd like the government to make people's personal choices for them. He feels government oversight of your private life is perfectly acceptable. I see little difference between that and a dictatorship. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Purchase Homesite Plus with Dreamweaver from House of Fusion, a Macromedia Authorized Affiliate and support the CF community. http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=55 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:183507 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
