Zipperfish Zipperfish:
I would agree it has overstepped its bounds, but probably not for the same reasons as you. I think things like wars of choice (as opposed to wars to protect your nationaol integrity) are an example of government overstepping its bounds. There's nothing in the Constotution about conquering countries that are not democratic. And I think that banning behviour that, though it may be injurious to the indiviudal, is not very much of a risk to society in general is government overstepping its bounds.
I'll accept that. That merely brings us down to disagreements over those specific issues, rather than some philosophical divide.
Zipperfish Zipperfish:
I'm interested how stronger guaranetees on private property would have helped with the current finanical crisis though. Also, private property is all well and good, but what happens when property rights can't reasonably be assinged (such as in the case of air)? Doesn't the goverment have a role to play then?
Careful, careful. I did not say that guarantees on private property were connected to the current financial crisis. Those guarantees are just a primary component that allows capitalism to work. I am not a financial expert, but I think that we are all aware that bad lending, derivatives, and other such things led to the crisis. There would be a justified role for government in intervening to stop this sort of crisis, but they failed to do so. Attribute that to your politician of choice.
I should also probably specify that I am indeed not in favor of pure capitalism. People can be
approximated as rational, self-interested beings in economic theory, but in reality are not completely so. There will eventually be a reason for government to intervene, whether that be to break up trusts, regulate pollution, or what have you. My belief is simply that this intervention should be minimized, since the more that government does, the more it tries to do, the more it can screw up the system. Think of an engine that runs smoothly, but needs a kick every now and then to fix it. You don't go around beating it with a crowbar when it is working just fine.(Woo! Metaphor!) Is that a bit clearer?
Also, there are things the free market cannot do, such as deal with air. We most certainly agree that government must deal with those things, although we probably disagree on what will fall under that category.
Zipperfish Zipperfish:
I also read that earlier post you made about discrimination and worked on harder than you do on most posts and liked it. I appreciate the work you did there.
Why thank you. I usually don't write quite so much, but this is an interesting topic.
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