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Re:The Bitcoin Whales: 1,000 People Who Own 40 Percent of th... by Nursie on Friday December 08, 2017 @01:42PM (#15880824)
>> I personally don’t understand how anyone who thinks the government is awesome

This is where I think some libertarians wander off from what those largely in favour of state actually think.

I think a lot of people would agree there's a lot wrong with government, but most would also rather have one. They just want one that's run better.

Your libertarianism seems quite pragmatic and I personally sympathise with the ideas behind libertarianism - lack of coercion, lack of people making arbitrary moral decisions (like drug laws) and imposing them on society.

However I also like public services, welfare safety nets (BI is indeed interesting) and various other things that only come with state-level cooperation.

Re:The Bitcoin Whales: 1,000 People Who Own 40 Percent of th... by ryanwaggoner on Friday December 08, 2017 @03:08PM (#15881574)
I think a lot of people would agree there's a lot wrong with government, but most would also rather have one.

I would argue that most libertarians aren't anarchists, but it's a popular strawman tactic from those arguing against it (particularly on the left). It's almost a cliche: "You know where is a libertarian paradise with no government? Somalia! Hurr durr!"

I think we all agree that government has problems. Libertarians just think that the problems of government are inherent and fundamental, so the solution is usually in less government (but not no government), while "liberals" (huge spectrum here, I know) seem to think that the answer is more government.

And we all agree that we need better government, but libertarians think that public accountability works better the closer the citizenry is to the decisions being made, and liberals seem to favor more centralized decision-making, I guess for efficiency? I'm not entirely clear on why :)

Re:The Bitcoin Whales: 1,000 People Who Own 40 Percent of th... by _Tev on Sunday December 10, 2017 @06:34PM (#15894128)
The more / less government is false dichotomy. That's why leftists make jokes about you, even smart-sounding libertarians like you always make these stupid black / white statements.

Universal healthcare being one example (at least our system seems simpler than your deductible / premium / medicare / medicaid / etc. chaos), UBI being another.

Re:The Bitcoin Whales: 1,000 People Who Own 40 Percent of th... by ryanwaggoner on Sunday December 10, 2017 @11:26PM (#15895154)
More / less is a spectrum, so by definition it can’t be a dichotomy :)

Also, don’t know what “our system” or “your chaos” refers to, but if it’s the setup for another screed about how universal healthcare is superior to the current US system, save the wear and tear on your keyboard. I’ve heard it many times and I agree.

Re:The Bitcoin Whales: 1,000 People Who Own 40 Percent of th... by _Tev on Monday December 11, 2017 @12:01PM (#15898325)
You are right, not a dichotomy. But main point stands - it is useless metric.
Re:The Bitcoin Whales: 1,000 People Who Own 40 Percent of th... by Nursie on Friday December 08, 2017 @03:14PM (#15881625)
I don't much care for that, but like I said, I do like a welfare safety net, public health service and other public services.

I'm not saying it's all libertarians, but I have interacted with quite a number on the net, over the years, who would scrap those things entirely. I, personally, think inefficient government is a price worth paying for such things, but that we must seek to do better.