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So if not advocating for a flat tax, where were you going with that taxes and coffee analogy?
Flat fees (the same for everyone) for services rendered AND requested. Everyone pays the same for the same cup of coffee. Fill in any "service" by the government and allow them to "sell" it on the free market just like a business would. If people want it, they will buy it. The government should not be robbing one person to pay for the services of another, and the government should not be pointing a gun to anyone's head "demanding" that they buy a product or service. The above are crimes for any person to commit, and they are crimes for the government to commit as well.
As for charitable or benevolent government "services", they should operate just like any other charity.
Flat fees (the same for everyone) for services rendered AND requested. Everyone pays the same for the same cup of coffee. Fill in any "service" by the government and allow them to "sell" it on the free market just like a business would. If people want it, they will buy it. The government should not be robbing one person to pay for the services of another, and the government should not be pointing a gun to anyone's head "demanding" that they buy a product or service. The above are crimes for any person to commit, and they are crimes for the government to commit as well.
As for charitable or benevolent government "services", they should operate just like any other charity.
Remember that libertarian principle of yours the next time you eat USDA inspected meat, take an FDA approved pill, undergo any procedure researched at a public university, drive on a road, call the police, claim property as your own, or use the internet.
Remember that libertarian principle of yours the next time you eat USDA inspected meat, take an FDA approved pill, undergo any procedure researched at a public university, drive on a road, call the police, claim property as your own, or use the internet.
You mean the USDA that raided an amish farm with machine guns??? Gotta' love the land of the free
The ONLY just role of government is as a retaliatory force against those who initiate force upon others. Everything else it does is just part of a criminal, barbaric, and immoral enterprise.
Because he is a mean spirited member of the ruling donor class disconnected from the struggles of ordinary Americans, the disabled, the poor, the elderly, the infirm and is seeking to enrich himself and his cronies in the process.
He can't relate to these things, he been rich all his life. He wouldn't truly understand these struggles.
Ayn Rand was an Objectivist. I am a libertarian. Though there really isn't anything wrong with Objectivism. That human freedom is evil to so many is sad. Maybe man was meant to be a slave to the State after all. Maybe we are insects rather than unique human beings.
Most kids are fascinated with Ayn Rand for about two weeks when they are 17, then they abandon it because they realize that the idea of each of us conducting our lives with only our own self-interest in mind is morally repugnant.
Most kids are fascinated with Ayn Rand for about two weeks when they are 17, then they abandon it because they realize that the idea of each of us conducting our lives with only our own self-interest in mind is morally repugnant.
Why? Do you not care about your friends, family, and neighbors? Then they are part of your self-interest. Maybe 17 year-olds have the type of morally repugnant version of self-interest that you envision, but most adults don't.
There is however nothing more repugnant and evil than the belief that it is okay to use government aggression, violence, and coercion to enforce your personal will upon your neighbor.
Why? Do you not care about your friends, family, and neighbors? Then they are part of your self-interest. Maybe 17 year-olds have the type of morally repugnant version of self-interest that you envision, but most adults don't.
There is however nothing more repugnant and evil than the belief that it is okay to use government aggression, violence, and coercion to enforce your personal will upon your neighbor.
you don't understand objectivism if you think that caring about your friends family and neighbors are part of the equation. A pure objectivist would only help them if there was some benefit in it for themselves. Objectivists used to be called greedy MF'rs before we got all PC about it.
Remember that libertarian principle of yours the next time you eat USDA inspected meat, take an FDA approved pill, undergo any procedure researched at a public university, drive on a road, call the police, claim property as your own, or use the internet.
when you're done vomiting up this verbal diarrhea you might want to address the actual topic of the post...or perhaps you have no retort for the fact that your silly world view leaves you open to a plethora of corporate malfeasance or perhaps you enjoy lead in infant formula or mad cow disease or polluted drinking water, toxic waste filled parks, etc? or maybe just driving on roads, or maybe since you're on CS you like the internet...guess who created it? Hint, nor Ayn Rand or Rand Paul
Why? Do you not care about your friends, family, and neighbors? Then they are part of your self-interest. Maybe 17 year-olds have the type of morally repugnant version of self-interest that you envision, but most adults don't.
There is however nothing more repugnant and evil than the belief that it is okay to use government aggression, violence, and coercion to enforce your personal will upon your neighbor.
I didn't realize clean drinking water or lead free baby formula was government violence and coercion. I'll update my records
you don't understand objectivism if you think that caring about your friends family and neighbors are part of the equation. A pure objectivist would only help them if there was some benefit in it for themselves. Objectivists used to be called greedy MF'rs before we got all PC about it.
You are the one who brought Rand into this. I am libertarian/agorist/voluntaryist/anarchist in philosophy. Rand looked at it from a philosophy of reason over force. I look at it from a moral obligation to obey non-aggression.
I don't assign any right/wrong to any freedom or act except that all forms of aggression are wrong.
By the way, taking care of your loved ones COULD be viewed as a selfish desire, because you take care of them because you love them. She was right that selfishness gets a bad rap. As all people are selfish if you really look at it deeply. Even the gratification of helping others is a selfish act if viewed from an objective standpoint.
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