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

[Jim Ray]

The Libertarian Party needs you.
 

-----Original Message-----
From: trilug-bounces at trilug.org [mailto:trilug-bounces at trilug.org] On
Behalf Of Paul McLanahan
Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 5:56 PM
To: Triangle Linux Users Group General Discussion
Subject: Re: [TriLUG] [offtopic] Considering a move to RDU area

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
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