Re:Show HN: Compare news from the political left and right
by pdonis on Saturday April 17, 2021 @03:52PM
(#26846946)
> libertarians believe that corporations should have the right to do basically whatever they want that doesn't physically infringe on another's own freedoms to do whatever they want
No, libertarians believe that actual people should have that right (subject to the non-aggression principle, which is actually more than just "doesn't physically infringe on another's freedoms"). Corporations are not actual people.
To a libertarian, corporations are tools that individual people can use if they want to work together to accomplish some common purpose. But most "corporations" in today's society are no such thing; certainly Facebook is not. Most stockholders in corporations today have no actual interest in what the corporation does or what common purpose it is serving; they view their stock as just a money-making asset. (Indeed, most "stockholders" in individual corporations today are mutual funds, not individual investors.) None of this is libertarian; it is due to government manipulation of the financial system and government regulation of corporations and investments. In a truly libertarian world something like Facebook could not even exist.
No, libertarians believe that actual people should have that right (subject to the non-aggression principle, which is actually more than just "doesn't physically infringe on another's freedoms"). Corporations are not actual people.
To a libertarian, corporations are tools that individual people can use if they want to work together to accomplish some common purpose. But most "corporations" in today's society are no such thing; certainly Facebook is not. Most stockholders in corporations today have no actual interest in what the corporation does or what common purpose it is serving; they view their stock as just a money-making asset. (Indeed, most "stockholders" in individual corporations today are mutual funds, not individual investors.) None of this is libertarian; it is due to government manipulation of the financial system and government regulation of corporations and investments. In a truly libertarian world something like Facebook could not even exist.