Paul I wrote:
<<I have no appreciation for the Libertarians, except to say that I
believe
they do not have the obviously selfish interests that they have.>>
i don't understand.
<<Libertarians are predomiantly white middle- to upper-class folks who
want to protect what they have.>>
True. But I believe just about *everyone* wants to at least protect what
they have and most want to add to it... whether they be rich, poor or in
the middle somewhere. However I don't believe it is right to employ
force to take from some and arbitrarily give to others and/or use force
to keep people from getting more (whatever the "more" may be for them).
<<And while they believe everyone else should have the right to
"bootstrap" themselves, they would actually limit the opportunities of
the
less fortunate to do so.>>
I won't argue with you here, but I will respectfully disagree. I know a
couple of libertarian blacks and you should hear them rant about "their
people" being "enslaved" by many of the policies of the Left over the
last 30 or more years (since The Great Society of the Johnson era).
<<What the Libertarians do not understand, in my view, in that their
philosophy of personal responsibility goes against human nature, as
proved
100 years ago by England's "Tragedy of the Commons" experiment with
dairy
herders. >>
I am not familiar with the experiment you refer to... can you direct me
to a place where I can check it out?
I guess in the end, I am just an old 60s hippy who still believes in
"peace, love and do your own thing"... as long as you aren't interfering
with someone else doing *their* thing. Although libertarianism may not
be perfect, IMO all people would be better off if we leaned more in that
direction. Democrats and Republicans... and Greens, the left and the
right, believe in and employ the use of force... with the threat of
imprisonment or even death... to make people obey their will. Sure, it's
*cleaner* and less personal if you use the government as your agent of
force simply because you are among the majority, but each *side* is
willing to use that force when they cannot convince others to cooperate
with them of their own free will. I believe using force except in self
defense is evil and that is why I hold a libertarian philosophy.
Regards...
Don
