Quote:
Originally Posted by Goofle
I'm not an economist by any stretch but it doesn't feel as though the forever expanding government and welfare state seems to be helping out the masses, and Libertarian's feel like the "opposite" would reap more rewards in the long run.
Government imposed wage increases (like the one Jill Stein is proposing) will, If anything, lead to more unemployment, closing businesses etc. You can't expect McDonalds to keep the same number of employers and also pay them $15 an hour. Her whole economic view seems to border on naivety.
Also, being poor is often the fault of the individual. Why should we have a society that panders to poor people who aren't willing to put in the effort or make the right decisions in their life to become more prosperous? And the current system seems to encourage that lack of ambition and dependency on the state.
Pure libertarianism is a lofty ideal that would be very hard to impose, but there's definitely a good basis for it working. Especially as we have seen almost all forms of left leaning economic policies fail to one extent or another.
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We may be on the same page when it comes to political correctness but I can't join you on this one. The western world has been on the Classical liberal train since Ronald Reagan, and everyone has been getting poorer in North America.
Hong Kong is the model for libertarianism around the world. It has the freest economy in the world, it embraces limited government and classical liberalism and I would not want to live there; it's inequality and poverty is out of control. Even countries like Chili that wholeheartedly embraced classical liberalism had to roll things back as a result of social unrest.
As for the poor not making the right decisions. I come from a poor background so I have a few things to say about that.
1) It is exceedingly difficult to get ahead if your born into a family without savings you can depend on; especially in a globalized economy that inflates property value. I know people who work two jobs, save and save and they are still broke.
2) Poor people often make bad decisions because they come from homes with broken down families. I can personally attest to this; it takes years before you get your head screwed on right. People from stable two parent family homes have
no idea of the social advantages they enjoy.
3) Bad decisions are often the result of
mental health issues (depression, anxiety, bi polar syndrome) If you look at studies of low income or homeless people you will find two striking trends, 1) a large segment comes from single parent or abusive families, and a large segment has mental health issues. I personally feel that homelesness is a war on the mentally ill myself.
I think social conservatives like
Peter Hitchens make some valid points that I often agree with, but I find the views of libertarian pioneers like
Ayn Rand and
John Hospers to be somewhat sociopathic and repugnant myself.