Considering the absolute total lack of power by any Libertarians in the world in any time frame, I find it impossible to believe “they” have done so much harm.
Who are those Libertarians that held power positions in Finance, Government, Media, Corporations, Universities, etc. that held such large sway? Specifically with regard to immigration, past and present conservatives are orders of magnitude more culpable.
I almost didn’t read the article because some people propose some odd ideas.
I would summarize his arguments as follows:
The federal government should get out of health care, not provide welfare and it should be legal to buy and sell drugs.
These ideas cause you to hate libertarians?
You seem to have taken from the argument something he did not say. That there should be no government. He may or may not believe that, but he doesn’t argue that point. On the contrary he specifically mentions property tax, excise and sales tax without indicating they should be eliminated.
He does argue that there should be no borders which I don’t necessarily agree. However, it isn’t something I disregard without consideration. The Western Hemisphere for all practical purposes was settled without much in the form of national borders. The US became what it is today due to immigration. What exactly was that process? It seems to me, the immigrants found a way to cross over, maybe signed their name and then found a way to take care of themselves.
This guy’s argument addresses the some of the fear about immigration today which is whether immigrants have to take care of themselves.
Assume for arguments sake that the immigrants did indeed have to take care of themselves, what is the argument against immigration?
Here is my take.
I just returned from my annual trip to South Dakota for the State basketball tournament where I get to catch up with many of my friends and family.
It is difficult to get a new house built or an old house roofed. The State will fund education for those willing to stay work in South Dakota as a teacher or other crucial jobs. By the way a teacher makes a minimum of 45K for working 950 hours a year. Equivalent of 90K a year for those of us professionals that worked a full time job.
Based on my personal and work experience, it is obvious that there is a shortage of workers. This is either due to demographics or because the prodigy is unwilling to work.
Prior to retirement, I worked for 3M. 3M has hundreds of factories across the US mostly in communities of populations between 10 to 30 thousand. Despite offering various job opportunities, including technical roles and skilled labor positions in small-town factories, recruitment remained a persistent challenge. This scarcity of workers is not exclusive to South Dakota; it’s a broader societal issue.
I challenge people to go to any place of business or government agency and report on the talent level. I just bought a garage door opener from a local business. They had me go to the warehouse to pick it up. I stood and waited for over 15 minutes while the “employees” stood around and talked.
The phenomenon of “ghosting” or quitting without notice reflects a broader cultural shift towards entitlement and a lack of commitment to responsibilities. Worse is the notion of quite quitting. Quite quitting is nothing less than theft in my opinion.
The other reason this guy doesn’t address is cultural differences. I think this is a justifiable concern. However, I am not overly impressed with US culture.
I don’t agree the argument that the prodigy is entitled to an opportunity because they exist and were born as a citizen. It is really hard to not conclude that the entitlement culture is driven by people that think the prodigy should be entitled. Entitled to a trophy, entitled to an education, entitled to a perfect job.
My parents taught me that I wasn’t entitled to anything. The idea that someone would be entitled simply because they were born in the US wasn’t even considered by my parents. That would have been ludicrous. They taught me that being a citizen, a student, an athlete, a business owner or an employee was a responsibility. That the responsibility was the price of the opportunity provided.
I am not sure it is a bad thing that the prodigy will meet The Gods of the Copybook Headings if we remove entitlement through competition by allowing immigration because they will meet them regardless.
The parents of the prodigy will also get the lesson. Maybe they should have let the teachers discipline their children. Maybe they should have disciplined their children. Maybe they shouldn’t have been helicopter parents and let their prodigy learn the lessons of life when they were children and the impact was minimal.
On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “The Wages of Sin is Death.”
In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “If you don’t work you die.”
Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.
