On 01/14/2016 09:22 AM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
I suggest to the more extreme of those people that they take a few
months off, rent an apartment in Mogadishu and, if they survive, report
back on how things are with little or no government.


Pete,

This is a bad argument. Maybe not if you were conversing with
a libertarian.

Conservatives see the only three legitimate responsibilities
of the Central Government to be:

1) regulate the currency
2) protect from invasion
3) protect one citizen from another

The rest is for the states (10 amendment). A central
government is considered by Conservatives and those
who gave their lives in the Revolutionary War (read
Thomas Paine's Common Sense) to be a Necessary Evil
at best.

Looking at #3 above, your Mogadishu argument is not legitimate.
Us "Limited government" folks never once said that we would
ditch Law Enforcement. These is what we'z refer to as
"essential services".

Now, how would you argue that an over bearing central
government is actually a bonus to the citizenry?

Start with the Education department. It meddles and meddles
and meddles where it has no business. It costs out the nose.
And, education keeps getting worse. It is a political
payoff to the education unions that should not exist
in the first place. And it certainly does not need a
SWAT team, even with #3 above.

In my opinion, the education department should be canceled.
Lets the States handle it like they always did. The closer
to the people the better the government.

Then go on to the endowment for the arts. Why should
we be extorted to pay for others' entertainment?

Why is it that the consumer can not decide what light bulbs
he wants, what toilets he wants, what washing machines
he wants? The worst tyranny is that which is done
FOR OUR OWN GOOD! And that is because there is
no end to it.

Conservative believe that the individual is the best
person to make decisions over his own life. Liberals
believe that government can have a positive influence
over the individual through the governments power
of cohesion. It is a freedom versus tyranny issue.

Unless you properly understand the following, you
can not make a reasoned argument with us as to why we
are wrong.

Common Sense (1776)

Society in every state is a blessing, but government
even in its best state is but a necessary evil. We
have it in our power to begin the world over again.

Some writers have so confounded society with government,
as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas
they are not only different, but have different origins.
Society is produced by our wants, and government by
our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness POSITIVELY
by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by
restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse,
the other creates distinctions. The first a patron, the
last a punisher.

Once you understand what is being said in the above
and why so many Americans gave their lives for it,
then you can make a reasoned argument as to why it is
we are wrong.

I will give you a "do over" on your "Mogadishu" argument.

-T