Libertarian Paradise of Somalia

In some big triumphs this year, the tea party movement has had successful wins against long-time Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT), Tea Partier Trey Gowdy won over “reasonable Republican” Rep. Bob Inglis (SC), and now it looks like Senate candidate Joe Miller (R-AK) will beat current Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) in one of the biggest political upsets of the year. As President Bush’s former speechwriter Michael Gerson points out today, the Republican party now faces an uphill struggle to rein in the “untested ideology” of these new candidates that is “clearly incompatible with some conservative and Republican beliefs” and may prove “toxic to the GOP.” Today on ABC’s Top Line, RNC spokesman Doug Heye embraced the radical far right views of GOP candidates like Miller saying, "we embrace whatever candidate needs to do to win." While Bush's speech writer Michael Gerson calls the libertarian tea party concepts of eliminating social security and other social safety net program as untested, in fact the tea party ideology has been tested. If you'd like to check it out, just move to the libertarian paradise of Somalia. No pesky big governments bureaucrats, very low taxes, and everyone is free to own all the guns they want.

Comments

Foodfascist's picture
Foodfascist 12 years 41 weeks ago
#1

I love fighting righties with images of Somalia- they competely freak out!

monsieurb54's picture
monsieurb54 12 years 41 weeks ago
#2

This is nonsense. This is coming from a person who believes a printing press of green pieces of paper and limiting the division of labor at gunpoint increases wealth for everyone.

Kevin Carson, a mutualist anarchist, refutes this interpretation of Somalia here: http://c4ss.org/content/2859

Somalia -- and all of Africa -- was put into impoverished conditions by the tyrannical government policies that choked it off from capital accumulation and and it will take more than 19 years [the central government collapsed in 1991] for it to escape from it. They also have not had a predominant shift in class consciousness to fully accept the implications of private property and capital accumulation and reject ill-concieved attempts to start mini-governments The situation is extremely complex, and not cut-and-dry like you impugn.

Some more reading materials on the subject are below:

http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1880

http://libertariannation.org/a/n030d1.html

http://mises.org/daily/2701

http://mises.org/Community/forums/t/14358.aspx

http://c4ss.org/content/1201

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtGkTRnocZI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBuPECU0_P0

http://anarchistnews.org/?q=node/11485

Additionally, in the meantime, I strongly suggest you quit conflating the big-government Republicans with the philosophy of libertarianism, which you and Thom have absolutely zero knowledge/understanding of and strawman every single day on the show. It is literally embarrasing. It is the left-wing equivalent of calling Obama a Marxist.

If you want to (attempt to) debunk libertarianism, have Thom debate someone from the Ludwig Von Mises Institute, not the clueless statist-Republican Dan Gainor and the warmongering Ayn Rand Institute who are not libertarians at ALL. Reason Magazine and Cato also barely count as libertarian.

I should also inform you that the people of Somalia have repeatedly resisted the UN's tyrannical attempts to impose its "democratic" tyranny on them. What does that tell you about how much "the people" love democracy there?

On the tea parties: the tea party movement is not anti-government. They oppose some aspects of government while supporting others. By your logic, your (correct) support of the absolute right to build the Ground Zero [community center] would make you an advocate of Somalia as well.

monsieurb54's picture
monsieurb54 12 years 41 weeks ago
#3

"While Bush's speech writer Michael Gerson calls the libertarian tea party concepts of eliminating social security and other social safety net program as untested, in fact the tea party ideology has been tested. If you'd like to check it out, just move to the libertarian paradise of Somalia. "

Post-hoc-ergo-propter-hoc fallacy. By this logic, the progressive social-democracy ideal has been disproven, because there is no democracy in Somalia either.

Put into economic terms, printing a bunch of green pieces of paper and spending it -- be it in the form of social security, "stimulus", war spending, welfare, etc -- does nothing except redistribute wealth. It cannot create wealth. It cannot create investment, because it pulls funds from the private sector that can now no longer be invested in things consumers actually voluntarily purchase. The first spenders of the newly printed money benefit from an increase in purchasing power, yet the ones that lag behind pay dearly in increased prices, decreased supply, etc. Society is -- objectively -- poorer and less wealthy. And those on fixed incomes, ie the poor and middle-class -- are hurt the *most* by these policies..

Check out Henry Hazlitt's brilliant "Economics in One Lesson" for more on this topic and the "lesson" of government intervention. Also recommended is Frederic Bastiat's "What is Seen and What is Not Seen".

making progress's picture
making progress 12 years 41 weeks ago
#4

KBR Employee Legislative Issues Survey

My mom works for KBR and she emailed me this internal memo:

Thank you for your time to complete the legislative issues survey. Your input is invaluable as we continue to advocate for pro-business policies and on behalf of KBR and KBR employees.

Please provide us your input on the following issues. For each issue’s question, select AGREE or DISAGREE.

Trade
Trade is a significant component to American prosperity and to American businesses effectively participating in the global marketplace.

Select agree or disagree for each item in the followng questions

Question 1: Trade policies should:

Promote fair and open trade

Enhance investment, expansion and job creation

Limit or discourage market-opening trade agreements

Allow for the creation and implementation of trade agreements with key partners

Enforce existing trade and compliance rules

Taxes
Sound tax policies provide stability for both individuals and commerce. While required to sustain the essential functions of government, tax policies shape economic decisions and have profound consequences on doing business in a global market.

Question 2: Tax regulations should:

Increase the corporate tax rate
Increase the tax rate for individuals
Encourage savings and investment by both business and individuals
Promote capital formation
Spur private sector innovation and development to enhance global competitiveness
Support measures that ensure a level playing field for American commerce and avoid punitive or discriminatory provisions

Energy
The supply, availability, sustainability and cost of energy are all critical components of economic viability.
Question 3: Energy public policies should:

Respect the role market forces play in determining effective solutions
Strengthen energy transmission and infrastructure

Advance economically viable energy efficiency

Promote private development of renewable fuel sources and industries

Encourage onshore and offshore drilling within the U.S.

Labor and Employment
People and talent are rapidly becoming one of the strongest competitive advantages within any business.
Question 4: For American companies to thrive in the global economy, public policies should:

Guarantee workplace regulations are fair, flexible and balanced

Protect the right of American workers to private ballots when voting whether to unionize

Ensure the strength of the private retirement system

Preserve freedom of speech protections in the workplace

Regulation
Regulatory activities are required for implementation of public policy, the protection of the public from the unscrupulous, and the establishment of a parameter which enables the conduct of responsible commerce.

Question 5: Public regulatory activities should:
Reflect a cost benefit perspective wherever possible
Foster investment, innovation and economic expansion among American businesses
Avoid punitive or discriminatory action
Ensure the most favorable environment possible for domestic job creation

Question 6: There are many significant legislative issues that impact KBR and our employees, many of which have different levels of impact depending on the business unit’s focus. Rank these issues in order of importance to you, your job and KBR’s ability to achieve our business goals. 1 being the most important and 5 the least important.

Trade
Taxes
Energy
Labor and Employment
Regulation

Question 7: Decisions made by elected officials at all levels of government affect KBR and our employees. The decisions made by what level of government are of most concern to you? Rank these in order of importance to you. 1 being the most important and 3 the least important.

Local Government
State Government
Federal Government

Question 8: Do you think legislative issues and governmental decisions have:

No impact on your ability to do your job and KBR’s ability to reach our business goals
Moderate impact on your ability to do your job and KBR’s ability to reach our business goals
Significant impact on your ability to do your job and KBR’s ability to reach our business goals

Question 9: Please tell us any other legislative or governmental issues that are important to you as a KBR employee.

Question 10: As a KBR employee, would you like to become more engaged in the governmental and political process?

Yes
No

making progress's picture
making progress 12 years 41 weeks ago
#5

BORDER WARS TV SHOW on the National Geographic channel! WTF? National Geographic used to be an educational organization. When did it decide to fear monger?

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/border-wars/all/Overview

Rodriguez's picture
Rodriguez 12 years 41 weeks ago
#6

National geographic is another "subtle propaganda" tool.

Have you seen the show "Locked up abroad"

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/locked-up-abroad/all/Overview

It's a show about white people that speak English (American/British) being arrested in countries where people don't speak english and are dark skinned. NG talks to the white criminals as if they are victim of evil dark skin government and thank God they escaped.

When you hear the story of why they got put in prison, you think to yourself "Well, they are criminals" But NG doesn't see it that way, come on buddy, they are white and speak English, they can't be criminals.

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