More On Libertarians Leaning Democratic
Jane Galt on libertarians, Democrats, and Republicans.
As I said at the debate I was in last night: who does the average American fear more--the FBI or the IRS? The local zoning board, or the NSA? What does he fear more: the ten commandments on the wall of his child's school, or having the new addition to the house disallowed by the zoning board, the EPA, or the Americans with Disabilities act? On what does he spend more time: preparing his taxes, earning the money to pay for them, and arguing with the various tax authorities about what he owes . . . or checking for roving wiretaps?
Galt goes on to say how she'll be voting Democratic in November, but only because the Republicans have failed her completely, not because of anything the Democrats have done. More interesting comments from Galt:
People may be falsely accused of being involved in a terror plot, but at least they have a solid notion of what "conspiracy to commit terrorist acts" means. Tax law, on the other hand, is incomprehensibly complex, and the courts tend to make their decisions based less upon what is just than upon what maximizes revenue collection for the government. Securities law, environmental law, zoning questions, building codes, and so forth, are similarly flawed.
This is, perhaps, my point when it comes to arguments about the war on terror. Unless you're a conspiracy nut, you have to recognize the limited application of government application of anti-terrorist programs. On the other hand, every American pays social security taxes, every American is potentially subject to various environmental laws, and millions of Americans smoke illegal pot. Even if I agreed with the left on every civil liberty complaint they have in the war on terror, I'd still have trouble voting for someone who told me that the right to library privacy was more important than the personal freedoms violated by the War on Drugs.
As I said at the debate I was in last night: who does the average American fear more--the FBI or the IRS? The local zoning board, or the NSA? What does he fear more: the ten commandments on the wall of his child's school, or having the new addition to the house disallowed by the zoning board, the EPA, or the Americans with Disabilities act? On what does he spend more time: preparing his taxes, earning the money to pay for them, and arguing with the various tax authorities about what he owes . . . or checking for roving wiretaps?
Galt goes on to say how she'll be voting Democratic in November, but only because the Republicans have failed her completely, not because of anything the Democrats have done. More interesting comments from Galt:
People may be falsely accused of being involved in a terror plot, but at least they have a solid notion of what "conspiracy to commit terrorist acts" means. Tax law, on the other hand, is incomprehensibly complex, and the courts tend to make their decisions based less upon what is just than upon what maximizes revenue collection for the government. Securities law, environmental law, zoning questions, building codes, and so forth, are similarly flawed.
This is, perhaps, my point when it comes to arguments about the war on terror. Unless you're a conspiracy nut, you have to recognize the limited application of government application of anti-terrorist programs. On the other hand, every American pays social security taxes, every American is potentially subject to various environmental laws, and millions of Americans smoke illegal pot. Even if I agreed with the left on every civil liberty complaint they have in the war on terror, I'd still have trouble voting for someone who told me that the right to library privacy was more important than the personal freedoms violated by the War on Drugs.
posted by lonely libertarian at 5:35 PM
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