Freedom is not safe

Explaining liberty to hippies on hipforums is like going on the Inuit forums and being asked to debate the concept of "snow."

 

There are 20 free online dictionaries, and only libertarians always assume nobody knows how to use one, and its best to just make up your own.

 

But you're here conversing with the dumdums. Slumming?

 

He's awful at smack talk, which is a conversation killer among conservatives.

 

To post 21: You must have not lived through the 60s--70s and what hippies stood for and how government was called out on many issues. Or maybe you just refused to get involved. Don't know.

 

Hey Scratcho, I'm not sure what you are getting at, but I remember the 70s very well. Politics was a constant bummer but there was always fun to be had. What were you involved with politically in the 70s? Were you a Yippie? Were you excited about Carter power?

 

Nixon, the war, the weed laws and other things were some bummers. I never participated in demonstrations--one because I've never been much of a joiner, two-because i have a temper when I'm fucked with, which meant that I knew / KNOW that it wouldn't have worked / would not work out now very well , were I to be confronted with various scenarios that demonstrators have to deal with. I didn't care one way or the other Carter much. Of course I'm always thankful when republicans are out of office. If anything, back in those days, I suppose I could have been called a hippie. I sure heard that from others--especially straights when my hair was down to my ass. And i did my share of "substances". The era of the hippies is long gone, by the way. There are a few of us old ones around here, but as the years went by, most of us found that it was necessary to work steady when you had kids. Some made it tho on the periphery without working "for the man",as it were. Those 60s and 70s were exciting and heady days not be duplicated again.

When in the 50s I and some friends went to San Fran to see some "real beatniks ", I remember thinking "whats wrong with those people?And why are they doing that?" A series of changes and a few years and ---there "we "were.

 

I guess it's how you look at it. There's still some far out people though. They don't necessarily follow any particular formula but there are some real creative, interesting folks hither and yon. I never get tired of meeting people who boogie to a different beat. I always preferred the term "freaks" anyway; it seems like a bigger tent sometimes. I prefer people who think for themselves and follow their dreams more than follow someone's vision of how it ought to be. Worked with a guy once who considered himself a hippie but didn't listen ANY of the music I expected. He said the secret to staying "hip" was to NEVER LISTEN TO RECORDED MUSIC. He always listened to whatever was new, edgy and live. He believed it would keep him young forever. I wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't aged a day.

That's it, exactly. It's a never-ending dance of nonconformity. I hung out with an elderly flapper when I was a kid; she understood, but couldn't share half her stories cuz I was too young. She'd get a great big smile on her face and then say... "Oh, I can't tell you that one!" Met another old lady who was married to an American military officer during WW2 who was stationed in the Midwest. There was gas rationing but she had an UNLIMITED supply - and used it! Drove everywhere and was usually the only car on the road. Had picnics on the roadside with her friends and enjoyed every minute. A mobile party convertible in an immobile country. It's all about having fun where you find it. Illegitimus non carborundum.

 

( to post 28)Agreed on the far out folks. None more interesting.A flapper! Haven't heard in a while. Born in '39, I remember those little ration stamps in the house during THE war. Funny thing about the gas. Over in a town called Coalinga in the oil fields there was some that could be put in a cars gas tank -RIGHT OUT OF THE GROUND. I know that will be hard to believe, but my ex father in law had some in a container on his back porch close to the water heater--and BOOM-- burnt the ass end off his house! I heard some of the old timers around there say that that was true about öut of the ground."

 

According to Libertarians, freedom is your right to buy handguns, and have the highest rates of suicide, alcoholism, rape, abortion, child abuse, crime, divorce, while your population implodes, and blames the evil government and corporations they still insist lie to them for their own protection. I support lying to conservatives, who are often uncomfortable discussing the truth.

 

For starters, the Federal Government has no legitimate business in our gardens, in healthcare, or in our schools. The drug war: keeping criminals employed. If you think healthcare is expensive now, just wait until it's free. Government school: why you and your kids are so stupid. (Not YOU of course - it's just a slogan.)

Surveillance sucks and stop feeling up my grandmother when she wants to fly to Florida. When cryptography is outlawed, kgTWhUkifezOpUaiLZW0bDAG!

Helmet laws suck. Abolish prescriptions. Give me liberty or give me peace.

 

Keep voting Libertarian until you have TOO MUCH freedom - then you can ease up a little.

 

Lack of a referee looks pretty ugly…there’s a lot of space between no rules (libertarians) and the grinding oppression of an all powerful authoritarian government. I grew up with a gravel pit across the street. One day the excavator operator noticed bones in the side of the cut. Turns out it was a Native American burial site spanning 2000 years. After a dig by the local museum, the operator went back to hauling gravel away bones and all. In the absence of laws at that time about native rights nobody stopped him. So yuppies of Oshkosh, WI wound up with human remains in their patio…would you want that for your ancestors?

my relatives worked in woodworking plants in that same city and they and their coworkers were missing digits and more….no guards on the machines no OSHA. Bet they would have welcomed a few regulations.

I worked in an apple orchard and a coworker of mine died of “Parkinson’s” at age 55. Course he sprayed the orchard 12 times a year with lead arsenic and DDT. Wonder why DDT and 24 5 T of agent orange fame are not sold anymore? Ask some Vietnam Vets.

And the list could go on Ad Infnitum. Rand Paul and his ideas serve only the already rich. Not you and I.

 

I see that the Colorado Cake Baker, Jack Phillips is still being harassed. Seems that this treatment exceeds anything that a corporation could do to you.

 

And not wear masks or get vaccinated in the middle of a pandemic. BTW libertarians tend not to blame the corporations, just the evil government.

 

Libertarianism seems to me to be just another rationalization for selfishness; nothing is a problem to me unless it's a problem for me personally.
Half a million homeless, or half a million going into foreclosure or bankrupt from medical bills, one in three children living in households that might not have enough food to last the month; not my problem (unless it happens to me).

 

Do you think people who go into business should be free to practice racial discrimination like Ollie's barbecue back in the sixties? Should we repeal the Civil Rights Act provisions that prohibit that, lie Ron Paul wanted? What's the difference? Libertarians tend to focus one value, personal liberty from government, as the only one that matters. Not much concern for social justice. I take a utilitarian view--what's good for the greatest number of people in the long run. And I think social justice has to fit in there somewhere.

 

Interestingly, back in the day, libertarians were called "Liberals", and "liberals" meant people who saw government as a threat to liberty. https://danielmiessler.com/blog/the-difference-between-classical-liberalism-and-libertarianism/ In economics, these folks are still called "classical liberals". But in the nineteenth century, it began to dawn of some of these that private corporations, pursuing their liberty, could be as great or a greater threat to other people than government. And that the only way to protect individuals from the robber barons of industry was government regulation. Hence, today's liberals (social liberals, to be precise) are associated with government intervention to protect equality and the liberties of the underprivileged and some classical liberals now call themselves libertarians. But some don't, because they think libertarians are too dogmatic about it.
Classical Liberal > Libertarian? - Econlib
Libertarianism and Classical Liberalism: Is There a Difference?

 

To complete the picture, where do "conservatives" fit in? Like the classical liberals, they want government to stay out of the economy, but want it to regulate our morals: sex, porn, drugs, marriage, reproduction, etc.

 

Freedom is the ability to know when your vote is worthless. Libertarians keep attempting to rig elections, even though the idiots always vote for whichever clown advertises the most. Free your mind, and your words follow you, not the other way around.