On Thu, Jun 26, 2008 at 11:32 AM, Levi Pearson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > So, how about what happens when there are absolutely no government
Who's advocating no government? Government should be limited, but not non-existent. I advocate that we be *conservative* with our use of government, rather than *liberal* with the use of government -- not unlike a classic liberal (when "liberal" meant you were pro-liberty). This is not just a Democrat issue. The Republicans are just as bad in other sectors of government. Government is necessary, but in America, it has continually grown and oversteped its bounds in many cases to the detriment of our freedoms and prosperity. > regulations on how business is conducted? You get child labor, abuse > of employees, rampant pollution, unsafe working conditions, and all > sorts of other problems. Capitalism doesn't really care about these > things, because it means that (at least in the short term) profits go > way up. Child labor laws and a lean EPA should exist. You sight rational cases for the use of government to protect children and everyone who drinks water or breaths air. But why can we not expect the mistreated employee to excersize choice for themselves, quit and find another job and/or sue their employer? An employer will learn pretty quick not to mistreat her employees when they all leave and she's been sued into bankruptcy. Do you think that the oil companies will not spend insane amounts of money to avoid a future oil spill after being sued for the Exxon Valdez spill? A properly functioning government, including the legal system in this case, is absolutely necessary for the market to thrive. > Clearly, there's a balance to be struck between free market forces and > government regulation. If you don't agree with that premise, I don't > know what to tell you. Sure, but that balance is subjective. As stated ad infinitum, I believe our government is already too large, too invasive, too powerful, and too tyrannical. We don't need more broad-sweeping laws, that punish the producers, and reward those who game the system. We don't need to pay people not to work, farmers not to farm, raise teacher's pay when their students do worse year over year, pay $1.25 to produce $1.00 worth of ethanol, take guns away from non-criminals, allow eminent domain, cap CO2 emissions so that gasoline goes to $7+/gal, etc. I agree we need balance. We are very imbalanced with far too much power vested in the federal government. -Bryan /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
