To: Horse and The Economic Debate Group
From: Rog
HORSE:
As a Socialist I believe that the state is required to provide and maintain a
number of
services and provide certain functionality. This includes but is not limited
to the judiciary,
military, utilities(electricity, gas water etc.), health services, transport
infrastructure, education
system and welfare/benefits system system. The Socialist state should act for
the benefit of
it's members, contrasting with the Fascist state which acts for the benefit
of industrial
concerns. I don't believe that the state needs to own all of the means of
production but
certainly a sufficient amount to ensure it's ability to provide basic
services and functions.
As a Libertarian I believe that individuals have certain rights which are not
subject to
interference in any form by the state. Free association, freedom of
expression, freedom of
speech etc. The individual can speak and act freely whilst ensuring that
certain actions do
not harm the Social base or other individuals - drink driving, drug addiction
acts of violence
etc. - although if the individual chooses to harm itself, then in many cases
this is pretty much
acceptable. I do not believe that anything goes and that the individual
should be completely
unrestrained - except in intellectual terms where, in line with the MoQ, this
is the case.
So as a Libertarian Socialist I would have thought that my position is fairly
clear and
corresponds with the MoQ. The state provides the basis for the Intellect to
flourish as it
manifests itself in the individual whilst controlling the biological aspects
of the individual. The
individual can behave freely without fear of reprisal or censure as long as
it's behaviour does
not harm society - with the exception of intellectual activity.
ROG:
Thanks! I think what you are describing is pretty much what is called a
liberal or leftist in the US. But I may be wrong. Below is a website that
allows us to score ourselves on a libertarian scale. I just did it and
scored a strong libertarian in both economics and personal liberty. I
believe you would score well on personal liberty, but less strongly on
economics. Why don't you try it and see where we compare. Platt, Marco,
Clarke, Andrea etc please join in.
http://www.self-gov.org/quiz.html
Rog
PS -- More info below
*******************
What does your score mean?
The personal self-governor score measures your tolerance for people who have
differing ideas of health, love, recreation, prayer and other activities that
are not measured in dollars.
A high score shows you have tolerance for different people as long as they
are peaceful and don't force their ideas on others.
A low score shows you want your standards of morality, safety and health to
be enforced by political government.
The economic self-governor score measures your personal responsibility as a
producer and consumer, how you support your family and how you use your
money.
A high score shows that you value responsibility and believe that free-market
competition is better for people than central planning by government. You
tolerate variation in economic success, as long as people who acquire wealth
do so by honest production and trade, not by theft, cheating or political
pull.
A low score shows that you believe a good society can happen only when your
standards of wealth distribution are enforced by political government.
http://www.self-gov.org/libfaq.html
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