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Politics : Libertarian Discussion Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (8436)	6/7/2011 3:50:53 PM
From: TimF	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13056

When dealing with governments liberty is taken more than its freely given up. Dealing with corporations for the most part isn't giving up liberty, you directly make a contract (whether a formal detailed employment contract, or a causal agreement to do work for money with them), you are not subject to their arbitrarily will. If you don't like the job you can quit. As for customers, customers are free not to deal with companies they don't like. Our un-liberty pro-social nature is what makes the species successful. We are more successful when we have more liberty, and less successful when we try to control everything from the center. We build layer upon layer of governments and encourage them to build layer upon layer of regulation to control ourselves; to take away liberties. Layer apon layer of government and complex rules doesn't come from the people as a whole, as some major wish to be controlled. It comes from people with power, finding ways to exercise or solidify that power, or benefit from the power. Most of it happens without most people even knowing about it. In the rare cases when there is a broad based push, its still not from a desire to be controlled, few people want to be controlled, but to control others. Sure we sometimes rebel around the edges A lot more than the edges. Many laws get ignored or violated by millions of people. Most drivers don't obey traffic laws all the time, tens of millions of people violate drug laws. Many people have played online poker (for real money, not the legal games that don't involve actual winnings and losses). Many other laws and regulations get followed largely because people don't know an easy way around them, and might not even know that the illegal option exists, since they never see it. In many cases it would be difficult to impossible for the rule setters to have the information needed to make a good rule. Even when they can have this information, the political incentives often don't line up behind getting the most benefit at the least cost. The need to be seen to "do something", the need to stroke your supporters or special interests, etc. often trump rational rule setting. Its not just a matter of the wrong people being in charge (although the people in charge are often a problem, whatever party they come from). Even the most intelligent, careful, wise, and benevolent person would have problems with lack of information and distorted incentives.