The Obama gun ban list is out

[kochman]

Is it obvious that people should indeed have good will and help their neighbors? Obviously. That's not the question. The question is whether it is OK for government to steal in order to do so.

People won't do it in nearly enough numbers though, GW... I promise you.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

You will just have to be lucky enough to be near an earthquake or tropical storm when you're poor. People love to give when these sexy disasters happen.

Poverty? Meh, poverty. Hey look! The new I-pad!

 

[JohannaK]

Damn, my little sister gets all the new tech-y stuff!

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Domestic socialism!

 

[JohannaK]

Moreover, she locked my old iPod many months ago and only yesterday I managed to recover it. And now she has an iPod Touch. DAMN. DOMESTIC SOCIALISM!

 

[Arakhor]

Free-market capitalism didn't exist back then though. Back then the King owned literally everything, and specifically gave certain people the right to use it, who in turn specifically gave certain people rights, and down the line. They didn't compete on a market.

I don't think that this has been true at any point in history.

 

[Ajidica]

Free-market capitalism didn't exist back then though. Back then the King owned literally everything, and specifically gave certain people the right to use it, who in turn specifically gave certain people rights, and down the line. They didn't compete on a market.

Like Arakhor I'm struggling to think of a time when this was true.

 

[JohannaK]

I'm with Arakhor and Ajidica.

 

[Arakhor]

So a Dremora, an orange disc with a face on it and a blue MLP walk into a bar...

 

[JohannaK]

The name's Rainbow Dash!

 

[Arakhor]

I was at primary school when Thundercats, He-Man and Mysterious Cities of Gold first came to the UK. What on Earth makes you think I'm young enough to enjoy MLP?

 

[JohannaK]

Point out where did I say I think you are and you do.

 

[Arakhor]

All right then. So a Dremora, something I always call the Blachernae Dish and Rainbow Dash walk into a bar...

 

[JollyRoger]

GW, you do realize that you can deduct charitable donations from your tax return to reduce your tax burden, don't you?

 

[Crezth]

Free-market capitalism didn't exist back then though. Back then the King owned literally everything, and specifically gave certain people the right to use it, who in turn specifically gave certain people rights, and down the line. They didn't compete on a market.

I can't buy everything and declare myself king in a free market? Aw why not?

 

[GhostWriter16]

Feudalism, guys..

 

[JollyRoger]

Feudalism, guys..

That's where we would end up if we followed your advice.

 

[Mr. Dictator]

Feudalism, guys..

So we can choose between feudalism and...futilism?

 

[Ajidica]

All right then. So a Dremora, something I always call the Blachernae Dish and Rainbow Dash walk into a bar...

It is actually a Fortuna Wheel, but I'll take Blachernae Dish over what contre calls "that terrifying orange thing".

 

[Nick Carpathia]

Free-market capitalism didn't exist back then though. Back then the King owned literally everything, and specifically gave certain people the right to use it, who in turn specifically gave certain people rights, and down the line. They didn't compete on a market.

Of course not. The free market is a profoundly unnatural thing. After all, what makes property rights a fundamental right? Nothing. Who cares if you own a farmstead if your neighbour rolls up with a technical and forces you out. What, do you have a cache of RPGs in the shed? Could you even afford a cache of RPGs if you're a subsistence farmer, and the trade links with the local markets are cut off by bandits?

Property rights have always been enforced by governments, whether they be local authorities .ie. Lords and Kings. Fair property rights are best enforced by legitimately recognised governments with independent judiciaries. And if you want such a thing, you'd better concede that the government should enforce human rights so that it can enforce the right to not get murdered by an angry starving mob.

Besides, from a utilitarian perspective, welfare systems act as a safety valve. Does no one respect the idea of engineering redundancy into systems? Being forced to live at sub-minimum wage paycheck to paycheck at "maximum efficiency" is a bad thing, because one crisis is enough to destabilise your career and force you to sell off your capital. I'd rather a factory worker pay taxes so he can receive welfare for a couple of months if he gets laid off, than being forced to sell off his irreplaceable kidneys. Because once you've sold off that capital, you could very well never have that previous earning capacity again. Congratulations, you've just reduced the overall productivity of the system.