IseWolf22 said:
pineknollshoresking said:
IseWolf22 said:
pineknollshoresking said:
IseWolf22 said:
pineknollshoresking said:
IseWolf22 said:
pineknollshoresking said:
IseWolf22 said:
pineknollshoresking said:
Where are the people like this? Civ, Isle, Hokie...
Dean Alfange, a progressive and labor activist, wrote the following 163 words as first published in Reader's Digest in 1952:
"I do not choose to be a common man. It is my right to be uncommon. I seek to develop whatever talents God gave menot security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me. I want to take the calculated risk; to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed. I refuse to barter incentive for a dole. I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence; the thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of utopia. I will not trade freedom for beneficence nor my dignity for a handout. I will never cower before any earthly master nor bend to any threat. It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid; to think and act myself, enjoy the benefit of my creations and to face the world boldly and say 'This, with God's help, I have done.' All this is what it means to be an American."
I'm not sure why you think this applies to me. On the vast majority of issues I'm for little to no intervention from the state. The things we generally argue about are areas where conservatives want more state power and not less. I'd argue I'm one of the biggest proponents of small government on this board.
What areas do you have a smaller government mindset than other outspoken people on here?
Military spending, war on drugs, immigration, police reform, free trade, pro section 230, etc.
elaborate on each...
To preface this, you may think these positions are wrong, and that's OK, but I think they still qualify as more "small government" than the standard conservative position today.
Military spending - Cut it. Less troops abroad. Higher standards for intervention. Spend less on defense contractors.
War on Drugs - the government shouldn't care what you put in your body. I am the ultimate authority on my own body. Decriminalize substance abuse and you cut down on enforcement costs and incarceration
Immigration - Make it easy to enter the country legally. A wall is a massive government project. Spend less on ICE
Police reform - police are literally the Government's armed enforcement of laws. The loss of life and liberty by the state needs to be viewed with extreme scrutiny
Free trade - voluntary exchanges of goods and services make both parties more wealthy. It doesn't matter of the other county has tariffs, tariffs are just a tax on your own population and drives up the cost of goods
Section 230 - I dont want the government policing speech on a privately owned platform, no matter how much I disagree with their moderation decisions
Actually, I respect your points. I think those words would come out of my mouth as well.
Military Spending - I completely agree; however, I'm not sure that is where the real money is. Being in the Military is like being a tenured teacher when it comes to benefits. I'm not sure what to do there...
War on Drugs - the problem we have here is our health system. If we can get the government 100% out of healthcare, then I can support your view 100%
Immigration - I agree, make it easier for legal immigration; however, stop illegal immigration. To me, both are American workers killers.
Police reform - on the surface, it's easy to want to do reforms, based on today's rhetoric; however, the system has been co-opted by woke local public figures that it's hard to figure where to start.
Free trade - that one bothers me. I agree with the premise; however, what China (the CCP) has done to us is extremely scary. I say done to us; however, we had willing participants. In fact, they are wanting to move the world currency standard to something like a crypto currency. If that happens, the US could, and probably will, see a dire future.
Section 230 - I get what you are saying... let me ask this? Do you think companies, like Google, are too big? Too much control? What do you do when a company like DuckDuckGo, Google, Bing, etc.. intentionally suppresses results of indexed sites they don't agree with.
Military - It's ~15% of the total federal budget, ~50% of discretionary spending. The real expense is not solider salaries and benefits, it's defense contractors. A single Tomahawk missile is $1 million. We spend about as much as the next 10 countries combined. We subsidize defense for the rest of the world.
War on Drugs - The healthcare expenses from drug use are much smaller than the what we spend to incarcerate drug users and fight trafficking. I'd also argue that the drug war drives up prices, benefiting the cartels south of us and destabilizes those countries, driving more migrants to the US.
Immigration - I don't think you can really stop illegal immigration. Visa overstays don't get the press of the southern border, but many years they outnumber border crossings. And I don't think you can deport everyone already here. I'd rather have all of them legal and working.
Police reform - I agree it's been tainted by the current state of discourse. However there are many race neutral reforms we could pursue. You've said that you like John Stossel, you could start with his views on police reform
Trade - This is an entire thread in itself. But to boil it down, I don't think a bad outcome is possible when two entities willingly exchange money for goods. Consumer surplus is created and total wealth increases.
230 - I do think big tech is too big, but that's only because we all still use their services. There are literally 100s of social media sites. People can and should abandon the big players if they are acting badly. Let the market decide. I do have some sympathy for the idea that we should allow free speech on platforms, but I've yet to see a single proposal that get's us there without unintended consequences. I try to view new laws with the assumption that at some point, my worst enemy will be in charge. In that scenario I have yet to see something better than the status quo, which is to allow platforms to moderate themselves as they see fit
Military - I'm comfortable with it being 15% of our budget. That being said, I would definitely consider pulling troops out of most of the locations we are in. The cost of defense missiles, well I don't know if the prices are fair or not. Nonetheless, it should be reviewed and I think we have to keep our defense capabilities extremely high.
War on Drugs - regardless of the healthcare expenses as it relates to drugs, we have to get the federal government out of health care! Would you consider a much stronger penalty for driving or anything else if one affects another when the one is using?
Immigration - I'm not expecting to stop illegal immigration 100%. We do need to do everything possible to stop it! I view this as a jobs issues for US citizens!
Police reform - I'll look at John Stossel's views.
Trade - I would ask you to do some research on China. Perhaps, start with the documentary "Death by China". It's older now; so, things have only gotten worse.
230 - what you have to be concerned about is internet access. If the ISP starts moderating and/or filtering content, then that is a problem. We do have competition; however, the companies are all big. My guess, which I'm not sure if this is good, is that congress will classify them as utilities and regulate them.
Military - "High" budget. Sure. Higher than the next 10 countries combined? That's crossing into absurd
WoD - No problems with criminal penalties for use while driving, shooting, or operating heavy machinery
Trade - I'm quite familiar with China. They are a real life example of authoritarianism at it's worse. I still don't think tariffs work. They punish your own population more than the other country.
230 - There is a good argument to be made to treat ISPs as a utility. Not so for social media
Here is where are in trouble with slowing military spend... Taiwan is a major world chip manufacturer. Essential Silicon Valley West. I Being that this industry has been outsourced over there, Thaiwan now becomes of National Interest to us.
Now, look at what China is saying they want to do.. kind of the same as Hong Kong. We have no choice but to defend them, from China, for all types of reasons. What would I truly like? Return the manufacturing back home, then allow that issues to work itself out; however, that's not where we are right now.
Also, be careful what you ask for with free trade. If and when, China does move on Taiwan, we have to protect of interest. China will not do us any favors with control over our technology.
Also, look at China's push right now to move the world away from the dollar and to some type of Bitcoin. Based on what I read, if we were to decouple the dollar from the Hong Kong dollar, this would put China on the run, before they can take action.