Guard Dog

Best post ever ^

Hey Alan, welcome back! Nice to see you here again.

I was going to buy and download Outer Worlds today but I really have a lot to do. And i know the moment I start that all my free time will be spoken for for a while. Maybe next week.

Nope. It does not annoy me even a little bit. I understand the rest of your point. No one likes to be on the receiving end of unfair criticism bad characterization. Especially when it is meant to drive a wedge between groups of people. But there is something to be gained and taken from all criticism and all opinions no matter how unfair, inflammatory, or just plain wrong. There is a push here in the US to silence some free speech with "hate speech" laws. That is a terrible idea that will lead to far more than stopping hate speech. Most people are not prejudiced and recoil from racism when they hear it. Race baiters in the US like Duke and Farrakhan turn far more people away from them than they ever attract. But even if that were not so it is still better to suffer their venom that it would be to silence them. The notion that free expression can be selectively limited is a lie people tell themselves.

Wow! I've rung that bell quite a few times haven't I? In my defense though some of there were intentional hyperbole. I do that sometimes.

OK in the literal sense of the term I guess not. But there is no getting around this one: anywhere two humans are gathered there is going to be a "government" and therefore a "state". And there is going to be compulsion backed by violence. In a SHtF situation it's better to eschew human communities IMO and go it alone. Maybe some day humans will evolve to the point we can suppress are baser instincts and function in libertarian socialism. But not today. In a "capitalist" system you at least own what you own. And I say that with the caveat that there is no such thing as a "capitalist" society nor any that is all of one thing or another. And yes you need a government to enforce the laws that protect that ownership. Back to Thomas Paine saying is was but a necessary evil. Still beats me shooting everyone I see coming down my road because they might be there to take my house! But the labor of your hands than the proceeds of it ARE yours in the country we have now. You can choose whom to sell it to and negotiate it's value. You can sell it to yourself and start your own business. Everything around me this very moment (except the library book on my desk) is mine because I earned it and paid for it. All of it was sold to me freely by who had it before. And the protection of that ownership is one of the few proper functions of a state. The US system actually does a pretty good job arbitrating between the citizens and other organized entities. It's when you find yourself up against some level of the government that the monster comes out.

KP was referring to a specific philosophical example in response to me saying Libertarian and Socialist were mutually exclusive rather than any practical example from the real world. The endgame of both is a society without a government where everyone does the right things and shares and shares alike. Like I said, it would be nice but it's not a system for humans.

The idea of a stateless society is a non starter with me. Unless of course you are living alone in the wilderness with a level of self sufficiency. Humans are going to organize themselves into hierarchies. Or be organized by force by stronger individuals. It's a nice dream but unsuitable for our species. The first organizing principles of any government are envy, greed, and hubris. Either someone wants what you have, wants a bigger share of what everyone has, or thinks they know better than you how you should be living. It's going to happen so it's far better if it's codified with rules that will hopefully limit the damage it will do. When I said socialist societies by design limit liberty I was speaking of practical application. Not a philosophical pipe dream. If the home you live in ,the food you eat, the labor of your own hands are not exclusively yours then you have them only at the sufferance of someone who can take them all away from you. That is not living in liberty,. That is living imperiled.

Hawaii Housing Authority vs Mdkiff

Ugh, don't tell anyone

Public works can still happen. Just do it without the men with guns. Buy property at fair market value rather than condemn is and take it with minimal compensation. I have no desire to sell my house but I do have a price I'd agree to if it were offered. Offer twice the fair market value and I'll be out of here tonight without so much as a chicken feather to show I was ever here. If they don't sell then build your school/road/park elsewhere. What happened to Suzette Kelo, the Bishop Estate in Hawaii, the department store in Washington in 1954 should not happen in a "free" country. Not that we have one of those. Hell it's happening right here not forty miles from me. The Shelby County Regional "Megasite" is filing court claims to seize easements of private land to build a pipeline from the industrial center to the river so it's wastewater can be dumped in the Mississippi. Now there is real base villainy for you. Not only are they seizing land for which they do not want to pay a cent they are making the homeowners complicit in dumping runoff and contaminants in the river. That is what government does here.

I am not suggesting anarchy here. We NEED a government. Laws are still a thing and need to be enforced. It's a question of how MUCH government we need. What can it do beyond enforcing the laws? Thomas Paine said it best "Government in it's best state is but a necessary evil. In it's worst state an intolerable one". In the US we are getting much closer to the latter than the former. But it CAN be reversed. It won't be but it could be,

I guess your brains are just wired differently than mine. I place the blame squarely on the one that actually takes my home. Does it matter to me why they took it or for whom? I'm no less screwed either way. You can tell Koch to go to hell. Shove his money where the snow don't fall. But the state, you are out of luck. Because here come those pesky men with guns. The government is the choke point. Without them he can want in one hand and s--t in the other. Take away their power and you take away his. But hey, if it were up to me the takings clause of the 5th Amendment would be altered from this: "nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." to this: "nor shall private property be taken."

Beta "Hell Yes We're Going To Take Your Guns" O'Rourke has dropped out. To quote Edward I of England "A man does good business when he rids himself of a turd"

Sorry but in all deference to you, Mr. Chomsky, Mr. Fourier, and my friend Oscar Wilde I'm going to have to disagree. You can be socialist and not think the government has to restrict personal liberty in all things. It has never happened to my knowledge but it's possible. But that breaks down when it comes to private property and economics. I have an apple tree and want to sell my apples. Tom offers to buy them for $2 a bushel. Harry offers $1. I decide to sell them to Tom. Sorry Harry but the going rate was $2. However, assuming you are talking about some kind of market socialism rather than non-market, I am "forced" to sell them at a price I don't get to set. Therein lies the problem. Once I cannot do as I please with my private property it's now compulsion and there is nothing more anti-libertarian. If I refuse here come the men with the guns. Socialism is great as long as everyone agrees to cooperate. But the moment someone wants to exercise a little of that liberty you're supposed to have the whole system breaks down. Then it's men, guns and blindfolds. Socialism can't exist without forced compliance. Liberty cannot exist with forced compliance. I have a lot of respect for Chomsky actually. But his advocacy for unions for example is at odds with his advocacy for free association since in many cases union membership is compulsory where workforces have organized. It is ok to take some of one philosophy and some of another and mix them to create a third. It's not quite as ok to argue for ideals that really can't co-exist as a practical matter. Well, it's ok to do that too, just don't be surprised when someone points out the flaw.

Well, they can't screw you without help. Either from the government or from you. Charles Koch might want your house but he can never take it from you unless you give it to him or sell it to him willingly. But the state of Colorado can take it away from you for pennies on the dollar and sell it to him for whatever he would pay. All he has to do is buy a little influence and favors the government is only too happy to sell. So, who is really screwing you in this example?

Just heard on the new the Trumpster wants to have a live "fireside chat" (channeling FDR's weekly radio address if you don't get the reference) and read the transcript of the Ukraine call. If you were one of his advisors, trying to keep him from hanging himself every day, would you ever reach the point where you say "You know what Don? Go right ahead. Do what you want"

@ShadySands @ComradeMaster people with money buy favors and influence from the government because the people in government are willing to sell favors and be influenced. Folks love to talk about "getting money out of politics" but as long as the latter is true the former will always be true. The way to go is to take away the power of the government. If it can't sell favors or be influenced because it does not have the power to meaningfully help those with money THEN you will have a honest government.

No kidding on that one. But for some real excitement take a taxis. Those f-----g guy are NUTS! One guy got me from Naha all the way to Futenma in 20 minutes. I'd have been scared if I wasn't so drunk!

I believe that criticism is only extended to American woke millennials.

What is the difference between these three? The one in the middle made a franchise successful!

Yearly. Fifteen years ago I was a design engineer for a cell service provider in FL. Short name, blue logo. I was talking to a guy who had a tower on his land and was negotiating a lease renewal. The company he was working with (wasn't us) was threatening the move off the tower if he didn't come off his asking price. The tower was on a long stretch of highway between Indiantown and Okeechobee FL. I asked him "How many other towers are there on the highway between the two towns?" He replied "None that I know of". I told him he was right. None. I believe he got his asking price.

If you want a really sweet deal see if you can get a cell tower built on your land. Now THAT is the gift that keeps on giving.

OK that is pretty cool!

A majority of US college students surveyed want punishment for "offensive" Halloween costumes: https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=13923 Absolutely. Do you think expulsion would be enough? No, better execute them. That way you can be sure they will never be politically incorrect again.