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

To: freeus who wrote (2499)	4/26/1999 3:55:00 AM
From: Dan B.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13062

Freeus, Re: "People dont want freedom. Thats my point...thats why I believe there is no hope." It takes a while to overcome thousands of years of human history nearly all of which involved the common man believing he couldn't get by without the government of time and place. We are building the evidence that freedom works- and while it may become clear to the masses only after we are long gone...it sure is nice to know we can help document the experiment for future consideration.

To: freeus who wrote (2499)	4/26/1999 10:30:00 AM
From: MeDroogies	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13062

I disagree. I think people do want freedom, but are slowly losing focus of what those freedoms really are - due to a variety of reasons. We are convinced, at an early age, that gov't can play a beneficial role in our lives. How? Public schooling. Then we are convinced that the gov't can protect us from harm as we learn about SocSec/Unemployment/Transfer Programs. In addition, there are those in the gov't who tell us how they are protecting us by fighting drugs (boy - how successful has that been?), terrorism (equally impressive track record), and crime (which clearly tracks with the economy). We are spun out these stories from PR departments at all levels of the gov't and public school systems. The media (a very poorly educated media, by the way. Having spent 15 years working in it, I have met very few journalists well educated enough to really understand and pass on a story effectively.) doesn't properly QUESTION the reasons/motives or effectiveness of any gov't strategy, but merely passes information along in a fashion that makes people comfortable that the gov't is "protecting" us. As such, the freedoms are slowly removed without most people noticing it. In addition, lousy public schools inadequately prepare kids for the real world - and inadequately prepares them for the rigors of proper parenting. End result - the continuous erosion of intelligent people who would question the removal of freedoms. People wonder why I love "A Clockwork Orange" so much. Watch it. You'll come to grasp why the gov't cannot effectively control the problems it claims to without totally removing all choice. As a result, the players all become slick marketers (politicians), bureaucratic drones (the prison warden/guards), opportunists (Alex's droogs), or vapid/useless automatons (Alex's parents). The only lucid person in the film ultimately is the writer who is victimized and later victimizes Alex (and becomes a political prisoner in the process). Nobody in the film is clearly good or evil, but merely tacticians trying to play their poorly dealt hands to maximum effect. Rather than creating a society in which individuals are given greater choice, the gov't limited choices and degraded individuals - who ultimately acted out their frustrations and were jailed.