[LianneForbess]

http://www.the-privateer.com/ideas.html

The best way to reach an understanding of the principles of economics, or politics, or anything else which involves the interaction of people, is to start by taking all the other people out of the picture.

All clear thinking about these problems begins with the idea of one man or woman in nature. Or, to put it another way, imagine yourself in the shoes of Robinson Crusoe.

Starting from such a situation makes it far easier to see the fundamental and irrefutable principles of economics. Here they are:

* TANSTAAFL: There ain't no such thing as a free lunch!
* No one can consume more than he or she has produced.
* Nobody gets any if there ain't none.
* Don't eat the seed corn.
* After food, shelter, and clothing, the most important economic good is TIME!
* All productive work begins between the ears.

With more than one person (it makes no difference if it's six or six billion) in the picture, here are the fundamental and irrefutable principles of politics:

* Everyone has the right to life and liberty.
* You have a right to pursue happiness - there's no guarantee that you'll catch it.
* The payment for successful effort is ownership.
* Both parties must benefit or no voluntary exchange will take place.
* There is no such thing as the "right" to anything produced by another person's effort.

That's all there is to it. Just as the highest mathematics are built on the
fact that 2 + 2 = 4, economics, politics, and finance, are built on these principles.

[Angry White American]

Then Congress comes into session and all that goes right out the window.

Losers become winners. People who do nothing consume everything and then some.

We would enjoy more freedom if it were more difficult to buy our government right out from under us.

[gghrdfffhfyj]

We would enjoy more freedom if it were more difficult to buy our government right out from under us.

That line is pretty much the perfect summation of my political stance.

[Gadarett]

It's also the best case I can think of for limited, Constitutional government.

Main street is really the only place that benefits from such freedom..

[beenBinybelia]

FIRE THE CORRUPT CONGRESS. CHECKMATE THE COMMUNIST PRESIDENT. IF THE NEW CONGRESS DOES NOT CLEAN UP THE MESS, INCLUDING THE PERVERTED AND TYRANNICAL JUDICIARY, REPLACE IT. NO CONGRESS AT ALL IS MUCH TO BE PREFERRED TO THE PRESENT STATE OF AFFAIRS.

[pooncophy]

My happiness means living in a nigger and jew free country.

[Cibirrigmavog]

FIRE THE CORRUPT CONGRESS. CHECKMATE THE COMMUNIST PRESIDENT. IF THE NEW CONGRESS DOES NOT CLEAN UP THE MESS, INCLUDING THE PERVERTED AND TYRANNICAL JUDICIARY, REPLACE IT. NO CONGRESS AT ALL IS MUCH TO BE PREFERRED TO THE PRESENT STATE OF AFFAIRS.

Indeed. Fire the Communist in Chief. He will destroy everything given a few more years in office.

[Lån-Penge]

So, you're a Libertarian: you want a tiny, tiny government. But, you want all your freedoms protected by that itty bitty government. And, you want free market, which will lead to big companies, which will have enough power to grow bigger and bigger, until they are bigger than your itty bitty government. And there's churches. When they organize, they can be quite a power too. There's also The Military. They've been known to seize power on occassion and keep it. And then there's highly organized and wealthy criminal gangs as well as just the people, stirred up into mob.

I can see how government can grow too large, but I don't think it could survive, if it was as small as the libertarian model. The old phrase is, "I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub." ~Grover Norquist

Grover Glenn Norquist (born October 19, 1956) is president of taxpayer advocacy group Americans for Tax Reform. Norquist is a member of the board of directors of the National Rifle Association,[9] the American Conservative Union,[2] as well as the Advisory Council of GOProud,[10] in addition to being the co-founder of the Islamic Free Market Institute.[11]

~Wikipedia

[Erunsenef]

So you've looked me up. That's a good start. I'll answer you in a moment, my dog appears to need to shit.

[Dndjzirw]

Now, down to business.

You must devise a perfect personal philosophy. Even if that is impossible, you must try.

So let us think about this.

Many a man has hungered for true freedom, for liberty. And many of us tend toward anarchy, for a while. But that won't work. No one wins when we spend all our time killing each other. So what do we do? We devise a way to protect man's natural rights. We protect his rights to his own life, to freedom of movement, and to the ownership of what he himself produces with his hands. In order to do this, and to make it fair, we need "government". We need a protection from other nations, we need a fair court system, we need someone to guard our contracts.

Now, if we manage to do the few simple things that government is needed for, then the rest falls into place. It's quite simple, but never easy.

[jacknates]

GOVERNMENT SERVES US; WE DO NOT SERVE GOVERNMENT.