This bothers me about Obama....

afruff23
Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:52:32 +0000

Oh, I also forgot to mention reparations to anybody who can demonstrate they had property stolen from them. And I don’t mean trace your genealogy to slaves. Be able to point at something and say “that’s what was stolen”.

@mini

I take it that’s a sarcastic criticism of my post?

For your first point, let me show how ridiculous patriotism is:

murderer=evil
murderer + green costume=protecting your freedom

You should not be proud of your country for the same reason you should not be proud that you are tall or your skin is brown or whatnot. You don’t choose that.

For your second point, what makes you think that government health organizations (e.g. FDA) are not in bed with Big Pharma? See: aspartame and Donald Rumsfeld. FYI, the FDA drug testing doesn’t do large sampling. It only catches glaring hazards, but its primary purpose is to demonstrate the effectiveness of a drug, not its safety.

Furthermore, nobody is forcing you to buy any drugs. If you don’t trust a drug, then don’t buy it. Most people wouldn’t want to buy drugs from a shady person either. As a result, a demand will create third-party organizations to evaluate safety on a voluntary basis. Don’t want your miracle drug to get tested? Well, don’t expect many people to buy it. Also, there will be no state to enforce the monopoly of patents and drug prices will plummet.

Additionally, you have no right to tell others what drugs (illicit or medicinal) they may take unless they have signed off that right to you.

As for your third point, what makes you think that you aren’t being extorted for roads? Those speed cameras actually cause more accidents in a recent study. They’re there to make money.

There is no need for a central planner to create a transportation system. you don’t call up FEMA to create a complex cellular network and you sure as hell don’t call up the DoT to make a road. The needs of people are best prioritized within a price system, one which accurately reflects the costs of things. Public goods (e.g. roads) do not mitigate this tragedy of the commons.

Why can’t road use be another commodity? What makes roads fundamentally different from any other thing? Answer: nothing.