[TriLUG] [offtopic] Considering a move to RDU area

[Paul McLanahan]

On Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 4:42 PM, James Tuttle <jjtuttle at trilug.org> wrote:
>  >
>  > * "free" as in "you force the costs onto everyone else." Fortunately
>  >    that's one form of coercion for which most libertarians can't seem
>  >    to muster much outrage.
>
>  Well said.  That pretty much sums up my thoughts on libertarianism.
>

Yeah... man... That whole liberty and freedom stuff sure is terrible.
I just love it when the government forces stuff on me. Obviously you
do too. Well done!

</sarcasim>

I've got plenty of outrage for waste and environmental damage. The
difference is that I don't want to rely on the government to force
anything on people. You want the government to solve your problems,
but with everyone else's resources. I'm just not that arrogant. I
think if a problem is really worth solving, free people will come
together and solve it. You think Google installed millions of $ worth
of solar panels to supliment the power for their data center because
the government forced them? Free markets will respond to pressure from
consumers. That pressure is highly evident today from the emergence of
efficient cars, the explosion of "green" stuff everywhere, and all of
the companies issuing press releases about all the environment saving
things they're doing. Could your precious government have pointed the
barrel of the police at citizens and businesses and gotten such a good
response? If you want free people to change, you have to change their
minds. Only the imprisoned are changed by rulings from on-high. It
just depends on how you see US Citizens. If you attempt to legislate
and threaten people with jail or fines, you'll foster only more hatred
for the government, and more waste as a form of rebellion. That is
your preferred coercion?

The real difference between the libertarian philosophy and yours is
that you see people as groups, and libertarians see them as
individuals. Where I get angry at an individual or company for
polluting and want to change their mind, you get mad a "republicans",
or "libertarians", or "SUV driving scum", and want to write a law that
would steal their money or freedom. You have to think in absolutes
because your philosophy of forcing things on people via the government
requires it.

I can't tell you how depressing it is to hear supposedly intelligent
people hate freedom so much. It's especially surprising coming from
people who support software freedom. I suggest that financial and
civil liberties are of equal or greater value than that of software.
In fact, I don't believe you can truly have one without the others.

I apologize for the rant. I was trying to stay out of this
discussion... but for people to assault liberty, the very heart of the
idea on which this country was founded, on a list which I've come to
respect a great deal, was just too much.

Paul