Engage an old leftie in political conversation, and he'll eventually resort to one of his favorite clichés....
"Libertarians just want to turn back the clock to a time when....."
Insert: Black people were slaves. Women were cattle. The Lord Of The Manor had a right to your wife's virginity on the wedding night. The Koch brothers could hollow out a volcano and plot to destroy your bibles with a death ray.
Here's how I've responded to that line.
You're damn right I want to turn back the clock.
LBJ famously declared War On Poverty fifty years ago today. If you've read this blog for any time at all, you know that poverty was dying nicely without government help, but poverty made a full and complete recovery as soon as government tried to kill it.
So yeah, we want to turn back the clock on this debacle to 1964 and start over. (I don't think anyone has charted the depths which poverty has hit in the later years of the Obama administration. Too depressing.)
Speaking of taking a mulligan, how much do you owe? I'm not talking about your debt on your house or your Amex, or your car, or your student loan bill.
How freakin' huge is your share of what Obama is spending? If you're a smart person and not even bothering to work any more, your share of the government's fifty-year spending spree is only around $50,000.00. If you're one of the dwindling number of net taxpayers, your share is around $100,000.00.
Would you like to turn back the clock and make a few changes in this? (BTW, the debt is now close to 17 trillion. Remember the good old days shown here, when it was only 10 trillion?)
Let's move on. would you like to earn a dollar and be able to keep the dollar for longer than a few minutes without it losing value?
The Federal Reserve was given the job of stabilizing the money supply way back in 1913. Here's what has happened to the value of a dollar (as determined by the money supply) since 1971. The red line represents the inflation rate - AKA the increase money supply.
Want to invent a time machine, turn back the clock, and for the sake of everyone on a fixed income tell Tricky Dicky Nixon to leave us on the gold standard?
Let's move on to Nixon's dirty little War On Drugs, and what it's done to the incarceration rate. (BTW, a white woman has a one in 111 chance of going to jail at some point in her life. But for a black dude, it's a one in 3 chance.)
Want to turn back the clock and convince Nixon that his War On Drugs is a bad idea? Or is wanting to turn back the clock, under any circumstances, a sign that someone is a racist reactionary?
Let's dive into that one a little further. Here's a chart of the drug addiction rate vs the amount of Drug War spending....
Has it worked?
No.
Are we going to keep doing it?
Well, do Barack and the Democrats rely on Narc, Jailer, DEA, Homeland Security, Torturer, Prison Contractor and Police Force votes to get elected?
Yes.
That's why we're going to keep doing this crap. But check out the chart....
Speaking of wasted money.... Spending on public education has tripled since the early 1970's, and test scores are still flatter than the Global Warming trendline.
Yes. I'm guilty.
I want to turn back the clock to somewhere around 1970 and say NO. Please do not do this stupid crap. Let people keep their own money because government will waste it.
I'd rather see the money burned than see Washington D.C. misuse it for wars, bureaucracy, red tape and social programs that have done more harm than good.
Don't burden people with your social engineering schemes, because they're not going to work. You bureaucrats really aren't that smart.
Libertarians want to turn back the clock.
Do you?
"Libertarians just want to turn back the clock to a time when....."
Insert: Black people were slaves. Women were cattle. The Lord Of The Manor had a right to your wife's virginity on the wedding night. The Koch brothers could hollow out a volcano and plot to destroy your bibles with a death ray.
Here's how I've responded to that line.
You're damn right I want to turn back the clock.
LBJ famously declared War On Poverty fifty years ago today. If you've read this blog for any time at all, you know that poverty was dying nicely without government help, but poverty made a full and complete recovery as soon as government tried to kill it.
So yeah, we want to turn back the clock on this debacle to 1964 and start over. (I don't think anyone has charted the depths which poverty has hit in the later years of the Obama administration. Too depressing.)
Speaking of taking a mulligan, how much do you owe? I'm not talking about your debt on your house or your Amex, or your car, or your student loan bill.
How freakin' huge is your share of what Obama is spending? If you're a smart person and not even bothering to work any more, your share of the government's fifty-year spending spree is only around $50,000.00. If you're one of the dwindling number of net taxpayers, your share is around $100,000.00.
Would you like to turn back the clock and make a few changes in this? (BTW, the debt is now close to 17 trillion. Remember the good old days shown here, when it was only 10 trillion?)
Let's move on. would you like to earn a dollar and be able to keep the dollar for longer than a few minutes without it losing value?
The Federal Reserve was given the job of stabilizing the money supply way back in 1913. Here's what has happened to the value of a dollar (as determined by the money supply) since 1971. The red line represents the inflation rate - AKA the increase money supply.
Want to invent a time machine, turn back the clock, and for the sake of everyone on a fixed income tell Tricky Dicky Nixon to leave us on the gold standard?
Let's move on to Nixon's dirty little War On Drugs, and what it's done to the incarceration rate. (BTW, a white woman has a one in 111 chance of going to jail at some point in her life. But for a black dude, it's a one in 3 chance.)
Want to turn back the clock and convince Nixon that his War On Drugs is a bad idea? Or is wanting to turn back the clock, under any circumstances, a sign that someone is a racist reactionary?
Let's dive into that one a little further. Here's a chart of the drug addiction rate vs the amount of Drug War spending....
Has it worked?
No.
Are we going to keep doing it?
Well, do Barack and the Democrats rely on Narc, Jailer, DEA, Homeland Security, Torturer, Prison Contractor and Police Force votes to get elected?
Yes.
That's why we're going to keep doing this crap. But check out the chart....
Yes. I'm guilty.
I want to turn back the clock to somewhere around 1970 and say NO. Please do not do this stupid crap. Let people keep their own money because government will waste it.
I'd rather see the money burned than see Washington D.C. misuse it for wars, bureaucracy, red tape and social programs that have done more harm than good.
Don't burden people with your social engineering schemes, because they're not going to work. You bureaucrats really aren't that smart.
Libertarians want to turn back the clock.
Do you?
9 comments:
Over thirty years later and we're still waiting for the fable of supply-side economics to magically come true with the magic hand of the magical magic free market.
Do this. Google wages productivity and click images. Pick your chart. There's your economy right there.
Or this
http://www.policymic.com/articles/75403/this-simple-gif-sums-up-what-s-wrong-with-america
Hmmm. What do you supposed happened in 1980 to create such an imbalance?
Seems like tinkle-down economics works great for the plutocrats but destroys the middle class. Yes let's turn back the clock indeed. Get minimum wage to where it was (in today's dollars) in the 1960s, fix our long-crumbling infrastructure to create some needed jobs, and always remember that "limited govt" is code for "corporate hegemony".
Sir,
Where to begin, where to begin....
The more countries that have moved to the free market, the lower the poverty rates in those countries has gone.
And the point of increasing productivity is to lower ALL costs. This includes wages.
Are you so dense that you'd be willing to pay MORE for your food because productivity has INCREASED ?
Lord have mercy.
Also, name one economist who has advocated something called "Trickle Down Economics".
And if you want to condemn more and more people to earning the true minimum wage (zero per hour), just keep raising what The Sheeple think is the minimum.
And there's not a single corporation in the USA that has abused people like the US government. Big corporations really don't put people in metal cages.
To Allen's response I would add: The number one enabler of "corporate hegemony" is government. Allowing government to pick winners and losers, protect the status quo, and discourage innovation and competition is what has created the current fiasco. Shoehorn government power back into the Constitution so that it has no favors to grant, and corporations will be forced to actually compete and survive on their own, making them much more amenable to the public weal.
And the point of increasing productivity is to lower ALL costs. This includes wages.
Wow.
Let's bring back serfdom and indentured servitude!
Maybe it's time for our Corporate Baron Overlords to bring back the monocle and top hat as a fashion statement.
Anon -
If all costs are lowered, the costs of goods and services will decline along with wages. I don't see how that leads to serfdom and indentured servitude.
For a global perspective on the free enterprise system, take a look at this chart.
Y'know, I hate it when my Corporate Baron Overlords come by every spring and present me with a bill for wars, welfare, cronyism, prisons and John Kerry's jet fuel.
Seriously. No corporation has ever forced me to purchase a Yugo, New Coke, a Betamax, or a ticket to see "An Inconvenient Truth".
In regards to our federal government, I want to turn back the clock to 1802.
However, In regards to quality of living, I want to turn forward the clock to 2050.
Have you ever READ the Libertarian Party Platform?
In 1980, David Koch ran as the Libertarian Party’s vice-presidential candidate:
Let’s take a look at the 1980 Libertarian Party platform.
Here are just a few excerpts of the Libertarian Party platform that David Koch ran on in 1980:
“We urge the repeal of federal campaign finance laws, and the immediate abolition of the despotic Federal Election Commission.”
“We favor the abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs.”
“We oppose any compulsory insurance or tax-supported plan to provide health services, including those which finance abortion services.”
“We also favor the deregulation of the medical insurance industry.”
“We favor the repeal of the fraudulent, virtually bankrupt, and increasingly oppressive Social Security system. Pending that repeal, participation in Social Security should be made voluntary.”
“We propose the abolition of the governmental Postal Service. The present system, in addition to being inefficient, encourages governmental surveillance of private correspondence. Pending abolition, we call for an end to the monopoly system and for allowing free competition in all aspects of postal service.”
“We oppose all personal and corporate income taxation, including capital gains taxes.”
“We support the eventual repeal of all taxation.”
“As an interim measure, all criminal and civil sanctions against tax evasion should be terminated immediately.”
“We support repeal of all law which impede the ability of any person to find employment, such as minimum wage laws.”
“We advocate the complete separation of education and State. Government schools lead to the indoctrination of children and interfere with the free choice of individuals. Government ownership, operation, regulation, and subsidy of schools and colleges should be ended.”
“We condemn compulsory education laws … and we call for the immediate repeal of such laws.”
“We support the repeal of all taxes on the income or property of private schools, whether profit or non-profit.”
“We support the abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency.”
“We support abolition of the Department of Energy.”
“We call for the dissolution of all government agencies concerned with transportation, including the Department of Transportation.”
“We demand the return of America's railroad system to private ownership. We call for the privatization of the public roads and national highway system.”
“We specifically oppose laws requiring an individual to buy or use so-called "self-protection" equipment such as safety belts, air bags, or crash helmets.”
“We advocate the abolition of the Federal Aviation Administration.”
“We advocate the abolition of the Food and Drug Administration.”
“We support an end to all subsidies for child-bearing built into our present laws, including all welfare plans and the provision of tax-supported services for children.”
“We oppose all government welfare, relief projects, and ‘aid to the poor’ programs. All these government programs are privacy-invading, paternalistic, demeaning, and inefficient. The proper source of help for such persons is the voluntary efforts of private groups and individuals.”
“We call for the privatization of the inland waterways, and of the distribution system that brings water to industry, agriculture and households.”
“We call for the repeal of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.”
“We call for the abolition of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.”
“We support the repeal of all state usury laws.”
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/koch-brothers
If you don't like that source, try this one: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=29615
Or this one: http://www.billionairesteaparty.com/koch/
Ron Paul: http://www.timwise.org/2012/01/of-broken-clocks-presidential-candidates-and-the-confusion-of-certain-white-liberals/
HAVE I READ THE LIBERTARIAN PLATFORM?
Hell, for the last two Texas election cycles, I've helped write it !!
What's your point? You're listing all of those bullet points as if they're bad things....
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