@cheesemaster saidIt seems like you don’t know what addiction is.
I don't think a junkie commiting crimes because he needs "to solve the problem of his next fix" can be compared to self defense.
It seems like the world is giving bad people too many excuses for their actions.
People get high because they like it.
Now for a more important topic...
Do they have midgets in the red light district? 😏
@shavixmir saidWell if you will leave them lying around
The drug laws need abolishing.
Destroy the profit margins on drugs. Tax them and spend that money on health care and reintigration.
Locking people up isn’t effective and it is very expensive. There are better ways of dealing with criminals which lower their chances of re-offending and still form punishment.
Look at Europe. We have much less crime than the US (well, e ...[text shortened]... cles in the Netherlands for some reason) and very low prison populations. And a lot less violence...
@earl-of-trumps saidLast ditch attempt to take votes from Biden.
No matter how much you hate "rich people", they are actually PEOPLE. And they have EQUAL rights.
You are a well heeled democrat. You know who to hate, on cue.
Either Trump or Biden are going to be in the whitehouse they are the only real options.
It’s between low corporate tax cowboy capitalism with an authoritarian race baiter or a capitalism with a the marginally more acceptable face of sleepy Joe.
@cheesemaster saidSocial Security is an antipoverty program not really a retirement system:
What I read was you pay into your own social security like a savings account and you can take it back if you want 🤔
That would stop the bums from getting social security when they never paid I guess.
I'm probably wrong.
"Before Social Security, in 1934, roughly one half of seniors were estimated to be poor. Most had to rely on family or friends, or go to the poor house. As ever more seniors paid into Social Security and then received retirement benefits, the poverty rate among seniors steadily declined from circa 50 percent in the Great Depression to 35 percent in 1959, 25 percent in 1970, 15 percent in 1975, and around 10 percent in 2000, where it has hovered ever since. Today, were it not for Social Security, the senior poverty rate would be 43.5 percent, and just over half (PDF) of elderly African Americans (51 percent) and Latinos (52 percent) would be poor."
https://www.nasi.org/discuss/2015/08/social-security%E2%80%99s-past-present-future
The laissez faire principles of the (misnamed) US Libertarian Party offer zero practical solutions to the problem of elderly poverty.
@kevcvs57 saidEveryone should vote their conscience. I don't imagine a lot of people who picture themselves "liberal" are going to vote for the US Libertarian Party. And it seems unlikely the Green Party will get anywhere near the approximately 1.5 million votes its candidate got in 2016 (they got less than 500,000 in 2012 and only about 160,000 in 2008).
Last ditch attempt to take votes from Biden.
Either Trump or Biden are going to be in the whitehouse they are the only real options.
It’s between low corporate tax cowboy capitalism with an authoritarian race baiter or a capitalism with a the marginally more acceptable face of sleepy Joe.
@no1marauder saidThese parties would do a lot better in a PR or list system but when it’s first past the post and the two options are so diametrically opposed on things like covid response and multiculturalism I think voting for a peripheral party is an extravagant luxury.
Everyone should vote their conscience. I don't imagine a lot of people who picture themselves "liberal" are going to vote for the US Libertarian Party. And it seems unlikely the Green Party will get anywhere near the approximately 1.5 million votes its candidate got in 2016 (they got less than 500,000 in 2012 and only about 160,000 in 2008).
@kevcvs57 said(Shrug) In most States in the US it is a foregone conclusion who will win tomorrow. In those States, I see no reason not to vote for a third party that shares your political philosophy far better than one of the big money parties and intend to do so.
These parties would do a lot better in a PR or list system but when it’s first past the post and the two options are so diametrically opposed on things like covid response and multiculturalism I think voting for a peripheral party is an extravagant luxury.
If I was in Florida or Pennsylvania I would probably think differently this year as Trump is so laughably unqualified, incompetent and corrupt.
@earl-of-trumps saidYou want the poor and disabled to depend on the kindness of strangers.
Run the military, the court system, the prison system, the roads and infrastructure,
and not much more than that.
Much of what we do now in social welfare would be done with voluntary benevolent organizations like religious groups, groups like the rotary club etc.
Tell me, do you like living in a country that has a military presence in 150 countries? They've be ...[text shortened]... e law!! They will always screw you as long as they have absolute
power so why give them more power
Seems like Libertarians are living in the distant past.
@Cheesemaster - People get high because they like it.
To a point, yes.
But let's face it, addictions are really really tough to cope with and these people need help, too.
@handyandy saidThe two Libertarian camps are anarchist (no government) and minarchist (small government). These two camps agree that no one should ever hurt anyone else but disagree on whether we have an obligation to help define and protect each other's rights. These philosophies are quite different.
What would be the role of government in your ideal libertarian state?
Anarchists feel that being obliged to help protect others makes them slaves. So they feel that taxation is theft and government should be abolished.
Minarchists believe in an obligation to define and protect the rights of others - both to avoid disagreements over what our rights actually are and because humans don't always behave morally. So government which protects all our rights (and the supportive taxation) is ok.
Government protecting all our rights but no more would cover things like: national defense, justice, managing public spaces, and "last resort" or emergency charity.
Beyond minarchy is what most countries have now: "big government" which is the view that government should not just protect rights but should "do good things." So whatever good things people vote for, government should make happen.
The problem is that once people have voted for a few unambiguously good things like feeding the hungry, people realize that they can also vote for bad things for someone they don't like. Or things that line their pockets. Or protect their monopolies. Or buy votes. Big government buying votes from rich people is called 'conservative' while big government buying votes from poor people is called 'liberal'. This system tends to grow and becomes more restrictive and corrupt over time.
Libertarians want to prune government back to a reasonable size in the name of individual rights and freedom.
Jo Jorgensen leans somewhat towards minarchy while her running mate Spike Cohen is more anarchist. Personally, I'm not a fan of the anarchist views.
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Howdy boys! How have y'all been? Enjoying this election yet?
@handyandy saidThe problem is, how do you justify private property rights if someone is starving or dying of exposure in front of you? Anarchist libertarians usually just wave this away by saying "it won't happen" or "someone will step in." Minarchist libertarians realize that for some people, support will have to come from government. Charity of last resort. But there are ways to leverage this - the tax exempt status of churches and charities could depend on them showing how much they have helped those in need, for example.
You want the poor and disabled to depend on the kindness of strangers.
Seems like Libertarians are living in the distant past.
@sonhouse saidSome Libertarians are staunchly open borders - not me. It's a nice theory, but if crossing the border is only attractive (or possible) in one direction, it's not really feasible.
@Cheesemaster
KRIST ON A CRUTCH, you mean some people are for immigration? What kind of weido's ARE they anyway?
You mean, actually let in farmer immigrants who get paid to pick crops, what the hell is THAT all about? Taking away jobs from the MILLIONS of Americans just JUMPING at the chance to pick cotton and berries?
How've you been, @sonhouse?
@sonhouse saidLOL. The last time I visited you all was 2 years ago? Or was it 4 years?
@spruce112358
Hi Spuce. So near 3000 days since you moved🙂