All of this user’s content is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

  • 10 Posts
  • 158 Comments
Joined 9 months ago
cake
Cake day: October 20th, 2023

help-circle









  • “The View From Halfway Down” by Alison Tifel has always resonated with me:

    The weak breeze whispers nothing
    The water screams sublime
    His feet shift, teeter-totter
    Deep breath, stand back, it’s time

    Toes untouch the overpass
    Soon he’s water bound
    Eyes locked shut but peek to see
    The view from halfway down

    A little wind, a summer sun
    A river rich and regal
    A flood of fond endorphins
    Brings a calm that knows no equal

    You’re flying now
    You see things much more clear than from the ground
    It’s all okay, it would be
    Were you not now halfway down

    Thrash to break from gravity
    What now could slow the drop
    All I’d give for toes to touch
    The safety back at top

    But this is it, the deed is done
    Silence drowns the sound
    Before I leaped I should’ve seen
    The view from halfway down

    I really should’ve thought about
    The view from halfway down
    I wish I could’ve known about
    The view from halfway down





  • I think we seem to have different understandings of what “libertarian” means.

    From my experience, it certainly feels common that people tend to have different definitions and/or misunderstandings of libertarianism.

    I think that libertarian is simply the opposite of authoritarian

    I take issue with the usage of the word “simply” — I advise against such types of reductionism. That being said, the comparison gets kind of tricky when one considers the different variants/offshoots of libertarianism, or other freedom/liberty oriented political philosophies. It’s tempting to try and reduce political philosophies to a point on a 2D plane, like the political compass, or, worse, a 1D line, like the left/right dichotomy, but it’s often quite a bit more complex — thinking in terms of absolute “opposites” can lead one down the wrong path. That being said, without being overly pedantic, libertarianism can be thought of as in opposition to authoritarianism.

    little to do with taxes or other economic stuff.

    While it may be possible that a definition of libertarianism doesn’t directly reference economic topics, they still arise as a dependency or result. Economics and politics are often tightly intertwined.





  • I don’t agree that can work with violence.

    What are you referring to?

    I also don’t appreciate the conceptual response to very practical questions.

    I apologize if I have offended you — that wasn’t my intent. What exactly do you mean by this?

    I wouldn’t want my neighbour to be able to use violence because my tree dropped it’s leaves on his side of the lawn.

    This depends. A violent outcome need not be in response to an action, but it can stem from it. Laws carry with them the threat of force.

    I wouldn’t want an alternate police force hired and paid by a group of white supremacists (current statistics aside) to enforce laws in a biased manner.

    If a country allows for a citizens arrest, everyone holds within themselves the power of enforcing the law. Though you may be referring to the idea of paying for private police and leaving others without. If so, this is more of a question of positive and negative liberties. Having a public police force would be a positive liberty, imo — in that case, it potentially doesn’t align with libertarianism, but that is very debatable.

    Having other corporations able to use violence is an absolute dystopian nightmare

    Do note that if a corporation is not allowed to use violence, then that means that they cannot take it upon themselves to protect their property. Perhaps you think that that is how it should be?

    If the government WASN’T empowered with violence then there is nothing to stop the above 3 scenarios.

    I’m not sure I follow this point. I don’t think that I have argued that the government shouldn’t be allowed to use force — it wasn’t my intent if my previous statements were interpreted in that way. The point that I’m trying to make is that the government should be kept in check. You have pointed out that threat of violence is what must be used to uphold the law. The only way for the people to keep the government in check is for the people to keep the government under threat of violence. If the distribution is just right, then no minority group in a democracy can hold the majority of the power.

    I am open minded, which is why I asked those 3 very specific questions.

    Which 3 questions are you referring to?

    more equal is more better

    I don’t understand this point. Are you stating that you don’t believe in individual equality?