The only proper purpose of a government

[Doubletap]

"The only proper purpose of a government is to protect man’s rights, which means: to protect him from physical violence. A proper government is only a policeman, acting as an agent of man’s self-defense, and, as such, may resort to force only against those who start the use of force. The only proper functions of a government are: the police, to protect you from criminals; the army, to protect you from foreign invaders; and the courts, to protect your property and contracts from breach or fraud by others, to settle disputes by rational rules, according to objective law.

But a government that initiates the employment of force against men who had forced no one, the employment of armed compulsion against disarmed victims, is a nightmare infernal machine designed to annihilate morality: such a government reverses its only moral purpose and switches from the role of protector to the role of man’s deadliest enemy, from the role of policeman to the role of a criminal vested with the right to the wielding of violence against victims deprived of the right of self-defense. Such a government substitutes for morality the following rule of social conduct: you may do whatever you please to your neighbor, provided your gang is bigger than his"-Ayn Rand

 

[g5000]

That all sounds great, and a large part of me agrees. However, Ayn Rand's brand of libertarianism (or if you wish, her godless Objectivism) is one which takes no preventive measures whatsoever.

For example, the regulation of our food and drugs. Rand's minions are silent about doing anything preventive before you take food or medicine into your body, and only punishes the wicked after they have killed you with their poison for profit. As if the fear of punishment will stop evildoers. This is an attitude which is the epitome of gullibility and suffers from a profound ignorance of human nature and history.

 

[Nova78]

The only proper purpose of the U.S government is to rob you blind........

 

[Doubletap]

Private "watchdog" organizations would work best. There are also the courts which could convict & prosecute the offenders.

 

[Oddball]

That all sounds great, and a large part of me agrees. However, Ayn Rand's brand of libertarianism (or if you wish, her godless Objectivism) is one which takes no preventive measures whatsoever.

For example, the regulation of our food and drugs. Rand's minions are silent about doing anything preventive before you take food or medicine into your body, and only punishes the wicked after they have killed you with their poison for profit. As if the fear of punishment will stop evildoers. This is an attitude which is the epitome of gullibility and suffers from a profound ignorance of human nature and history.

The preventative actions should be taken by the insurers of and investors in the given companies....Huge federal bureaucracies like the FDA act as noting more than defacto protection rackets for the purpose of keep BigPharm big.

 

[bripat9643]

That all sounds great, and a large part of me agrees. However, Ayn Rand's brand of libertarianism (or if you wish, her godless Objectivism) is one which takes no preventive measures whatsoever.

For example, the regulation of our food and drugs. Rand's minions are silent about doing anything preventive before you take food or medicine into your body, and only punishes the wicked after they have killed you with their poison for profit. As if the fear of punishment will stop evildoers. This is an attitude which is the epitome of gullibility and suffers from a profound ignorance of human nature and history.

Your whine is based on the theory that corporations make big profits by injuring or killing their customers. Simply to state it is sufficient to reveal its stupidity.

 

[candycorn]

Feel free to leave. Boats leave for foreign lands every day; planes every hour.

 

[Oddball]

So are you free to leave...Move the fuck to China.

 

[jillian]

"The only proper purpose of a government is to protect man’s rights, which means: to protect him from physical violence. A proper government is only a policeman, acting as an agent of man’s self-defense, and, as such, may resort to force only against those who start the use of force. The only proper functions of a government are: the police, to protect you from criminals; the army, to protect you from foreign invaders; and the courts, to protect your property and contracts from breach or fraud by others, to settle disputes by rational rules, according to objective law.

But a government that initiates the employment of force against men who had forced no one, the employment of armed compulsion against disarmed victims, is a nightmare infernal machine designed to annihilate morality: such a government reverses its only moral purpose and switches from the role of protector to the role of man’s deadliest enemy, from the role of policeman to the role of a criminal vested with the right to the wielding of violence against victims deprived of the right of self-defense. Such a government substitutes for morality the following rule of social conduct: you may do whatever you please to your neighbor, provided your gang is bigger than his"-Ayn Rand

where'd you lift that from? on this board, you give links.

as a poitical theorist, ayn rand was a decent novelist.

but it's nonsense.

i guess that whole part of the constitution that guarantees RIGHTS and charges the government with the general welfare of its populace and gives it the right to govern commerce among the several states is a figment of our imagination.

randians are such putzes.

 

[jillian]

So are you free to leave...Move the fuck to China.

that would probably suit you better,

 

[LordBrownTrout]

Feel free to leave. Boats leave for foreign lands every day; planes every hour.

The founders would keep on sailing if they saw this current form of government.

 

[Oddball]

So are you free to leave...Move the fuck to China.

that would probably suit you better,

And you'd be a better fit in Venezuela.

 

[Nova78]

Feel free to leave. Boats leave for foreign lands every day; planes every hour.

Good, why don't you get on one ......one that is with an oil leak....

 

[BlindBoo]

Ayn Rand was anti-pseudo-conservative. She hated Raygun (the grand-daddy of all pseudo-cons).

 

[jillian]

Ayn Rand was anti-pseudo-conservative. She hated Raygun (the grand-daddy of all pseudo-cons).

you forgot the fact that she died collecting social security benefits.

 

[Oddball]

Ayn Rand was anti-pseudo-conservative. She hated Raygun (the grand-daddy of all pseudo-cons).

As an avowed anarchist, she also distrusted libertarians, if she didn't detest them outright.

 

[boedicca]

Ayn Rand was anti-pseudo-conservative. She hated Raygun (the grand-daddy of all pseudo-cons).

you forgot the fact that she died collecting social security benefits.

Isn't it grand when leftoids claim people shouldn't receive the benefits for which they have paid taxes?

 

[BlindBoo]

Ayn Rand was anti-pseudo-conservative. She hated Raygun (the grand-daddy of all pseudo-cons).

you forgot the fact that she died collecting social security benefits.

Hahahaha so I did.

 

[Oddball]

Ayn Rand was anti-pseudo-conservative. She hated Raygun (the grand-daddy of all pseudo-cons).

you forgot the fact that she died collecting social security benefits.

A program to which she paid into, under threat of incarceration if she refused, therefore was perfectly within her moral code recoup that which was taken from her by compulsion.

Seems you authoritarian looters like to ignore that little tidbit of fact.

 

[kwc57]

That all sounds great, and a large part of me agrees. However, Ayn Rand's brand of libertarianism (or if you wish, her godless Objectivism) is one which takes no preventive measures whatsoever.

For example, the regulation of our food and drugs. Rand's minions are silent about doing anything preventive before you take food or medicine into your body, and only punishes the wicked after they have killed you with their poison for profit. As if the fear of punishment will stop evildoers. This is an attitude which is the epitome of gullibility and suffers from a profound ignorance of human nature and history.

Ever heard of Underwriters Labratories? We accept government intervention into every aspect of life because they have wheedled their way in inch by inch and it seems the norm to us now. This is why liberals accept and expect a nanny state. They've come to believe it is the norm, an actual role of government and now come to expect it. Imagine if companies employeed people to do what the government has taken over and done quite poorly?