Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Intel Corporation (INTC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gerald Walls who wrote (100999)	3/19/2000 4:25:00 PM
From: Richard Habib	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 186894

OT Gerald and in fact most libertarians are examples of two things, first the fuzzy, pop culture thinking prevalent in modern America and second, the selfishness engendered by their privileged birth in the United States. Gerald believes that libertarianism is a rational philosophy. It's neither a philosophy nor rational. A philosophy needs to be consistent. Libertarians can't be consistent because the fundamental point of it is that every individual as long as he doesn't do violence to another is free to do what he wants. But as they themselves point out, since not every human is a rational, intelligent being, exceptions must be made to the creed in order for it to work, so many exceptions in fact that nearly every libertarian has their own brand of libertarianism. It's not rational because it fails to take into account human nature. Without regulation there is absolutely no incentive to think beyond short term goals. A simple example - commercial fishing an industry I'm experienced with. Theoretically, any fisherman understands and supports resource management. But if I remove the fisherman from a regulatory environment (like the U.S.) and allow him to fish in a free environment (like parts of Africa), he will use the smallest mesh available and completely destroy the stocks. Why, because his short term goal is to become as wealthy as possible as fast as possible. What the impact is on the stocks or on Africans less able to succeed is of absolutely no consequence. In fact in that case, only a philosophy of altruism would impact the end result. Altruism is anathema to Ayn Rand libertarians. The example is specific but the general case of the use of limited resources for the whole is a fundamental, rational flaw of libertarian thinking. And there are others. The end result of a libertarian system, if it can be called that is the reduction in the size of human groupings until a size is reached that allows uniform beliefs without infringement upon individual freedom. That's a very small number. The result of libertarian thinking is mankind reduced to villages or perhaps extended family groupings. Lastly, Gerald thinks libertarianism is viable because of his very limited life experience. It's only seems viable to him because of his place in middle class or upper middle class America. The vast majority of the world's population doesn't fit within those initial conditions. If Gerald was born without those initial conditions, say as a poor Nigerian, his current "philosophy" would seem the height of stupidity. Rich