tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post6745158420220960540..comments2024-03-28T09:59:13.754-07:00Comments on bionic mosquito: The Most Libertarian President of My Lifetimebionic mosquitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-37569750004618413562017-06-10T10:57:19.852-07:002017-06-10T10:57:19.852-07:00Trump is the beneficiary of most voters' disil...Trump is the beneficiary of most voters' disillusionment with government. Obama's 8 years in office certainly helped fuel that sentiment.MetaCynicnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-90773811932324744852017-05-28T08:33:35.202-07:002017-05-28T08:33:35.202-07:00Ron Paul would agree with the choice of Grover Cle...Ron Paul would agree with the choice of Grover Cleveland. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-13701323245373327862017-05-27T22:52:23.018-07:002017-05-27T22:52:23.018-07:00Carter and Big Zbig plotted to give the Soviet Uni...Carter and Big Zbig plotted to give the Soviet Union its very own "Viet Nam" by fomenting a coup in Kabul. The destruction of Afghanistan and the breeding of various current terrorist groups is part of their legacy. Carter is responsible for mass murder and deserves a very thorough and revealing trial.<br /><br />Signed, Laurence Whelk is sluggishAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-17658852833086525602017-05-26T20:00:28.176-07:002017-05-26T20:00:28.176-07:00"My point is that I don't believe "t..."My point is that I don't believe "the people" will ever choose liberty..."<br /><br />I don't disagree with this. I keep pushing on the idea of decentralization: libertarianism in theory is decentralization in practice. With decentralization comes choice - not perfect liberty, but as good as it will get on a world populated with imperfect humans.<br /><br />I guess, ultimately, this is where I see things headed.<br /><br />I do not see Trump as coincidental - I see him (or, more specifically, his campaign statements) as a conscious choice of a large portion of voters and a manifestation of their frustrations with the current system.<br /><br />People didn't vote for Clinton because they saw him as shepherd of the internet. People voted for Trump because they are rejecting the current order of things.<br />bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-81413303641307360712017-05-26T18:50:35.151-07:002017-05-26T18:50:35.151-07:00My point is that I don't believe "the peo...My point is that I don't believe "the people" will ever choose liberty, no matter the amount of education or degree of disillusionment. I think only individuals, a very small percentage of us, will ever consider true liberty something to strive for. (Yes, my early neocon education is showing through here). <br /><br />To achieve it we must be able to resist the steady encroachment of government, and that requires resources, tools, of the same order as that used by our nemesis.<br /><br />I agree with you that Clinton was coincidental. Then again, so is Trump. But there was, early on, a very real possibility for the US government to nationalize the internet in a way that would have crushed the whole dot com era and prevented the conversation we are having today. <br /><br />You may be right Bush was the one who dropped the ball. I am going mostly on how the dot com bubble exploded at just the right time to boost Clinton's ratings skyward. I suppose we could blame/credit Greenspan as well. I'm sure he would welcome any suggestion that he wasn't the sellout most of us believe. <br /><br />Jeff Bell Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-37296262280406364422017-05-26T18:02:00.247-07:002017-05-26T18:02:00.247-07:00"I can think of no period in history in which..."I can think of no period in history in which the people became disillusioned with the government and chose liberty as an alternative."<br /><br />After the fall of Rome, albeit many Roman citizens voluntarily chose slavery to the barbarians in the interim - better than starving. Look, I didn't say that it would be a smooth line; I don't even say that it is certain. But the disillusionment is occurring, and we can thank Trump for his role of moving this along.<br /><br />Some combination of disillusionment and education is necessary for success…and a grounding in more traditional morals. <br /><br />As to Clinton - he was coincident, not causal. I could argue that the cause was found in the first George Bush - he began the reduction of the defense industry; and this only due to the inevitable implosion of the Soviet Union.<br /><br />Instead of talented engineers getting sucked into this waste of an industry, they went into telecom and computers.<br />bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-52265469480346051342017-05-26T16:24:13.560-07:002017-05-26T16:24:13.560-07:00I can think of no period in history in which the p...I can think of no period in history in which the people became disillusioned with the government and chose liberty as an alternative. On those occasions where the people actually had a choice, every example I can think of resulted in the very opposite.<br /><br />I would offer, as an opposing measure of libertarian advancement, the balance of power between individuals and government. In effect what president weakened the government relative to individuals the most? <br /><br />In my lifetime, it can only be Bill Clinton. He was president during the forming of the greatest tool of individual communication and education in maybe all of man's history, and he failed to effectively regulate it. Now it's too late. <br /><br />I would like to say that I predicted all of this, but the sad truth is I would still be a neocon were it not for the internet. I would probably be encouraging my children to enlist to serve their country today. Certainly I would still be using my talents to make weapons for the MIC.<br /><br />Jeff Bell (on vacation and can't remember my google account login : ) Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com