There are no stupid answers, only stupid people.
10/28/2010 10:17:48 PM
1) protect individual rights*2) protect the nation against foreign threats3) enforce private contracts*Every individual has the right to do whatever they please, as long as they don't, without consent, unreasonably harm or endanger anyone else's person, property, liberty, or right to the same. (The commons are private, and belong to everyone, therefore, protection and maintenance of basic infrastructure and the environment are included.) (Also, corporations aren't individuals.)That's it, y'all!
10/28/2010 10:26:02 PM
Government's role is to contract out prisons to private firms, who can then donate to candidates who support tougher crime laws, so they can make more money by imprisoning more people.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130833741More seriously, I think you can find a lot of the answers here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Constitutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bill_of_RightsGenerally they should set up the basic societal framework and infrastructure for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Beyond that, they should strive to represent the will of the people (without trampling the rights of minorities). And it never hurts for them to keep the positive & negative externalities of their decisions and actions in mind.I'm sure I could give a more thoughtful answer if I didn't have a major headache right now. That answer is somewhat vague, and everything rides on how you define the terms used. I might come back to this thread later.
10/28/2010 10:30:37 PM
10/28/2010 10:36:36 PM
Generally speaking, to protect the rights and liberties of its people. I'm sure you could find some ideological inconsistency somewhere in my views, but I'm pretty much for the maximum net preservation and promotion of freedom, and I think that this is a pretty good guideline when setting policy and deciding on the role and scope of government.
10/28/2010 10:42:48 PM
to act as my mommy and ensure I never have to go out to do anything for myselfwhile not daring to trample my right to act loud and obnoxious and in the faces of "normal" society[Edited on October 28, 2010 at 11:40 PM. Reason : I am stuffed full of straw
10/28/2010 11:39:36 PM
^Wait, yeah.... that's it. I retract my other post.The role of government is to steal from the rich so everyone can be free of responsibility.Free food, free housing, free school, free health care, and everything else should be free and provided by the government.Rich people NEVER work hard or deserve their money, so government exists to take that money to allow people to get free bypass surgery from the heart attack they had from being paid to sit on their couch and eat [free] food.Everyone has to be equal. (Except for a few rich people -- so the government can steal from them.)
10/29/2010 12:06:09 AM
10/29/2010 12:08:44 AM
being serious now, the issue is with ensuring that the basic rights of individuals are not restricted on the basis of being in an identifiable and socially undesirable minority group
10/29/2010 12:14:21 AM
^^lol.... You are fucking stupid.Americans who are male: 151.4 million (49%) = minorityAmericans who are non-white: 77.2 million (25.2%) = minorityAmericans who are non-religious: 39.91 million (13%) = minorityAmericans who are gay: 8.8 million[?] (2.9%) = minorityAmericans who are you: 1 (0.000000326%) = minority NOES, B/C MCDOUCHE SAYS SO ^
10/29/2010 12:30:30 AM
10/29/2010 1:08:43 AM
10/29/2010 1:24:51 AM
10/29/2010 1:40:12 AM
^Ya know, I put the "[?]" there specifically so that no one would have to post all of that...Anyway...
10/29/2010 1:52:26 AM
If you want to define an individual as a minority, it doesn't bother me at all. I was just making the point that you don't need to go that extra step to convince anyone that individual liberty is an American value.
10/29/2010 2:18:04 AM
10/29/2010 7:48:10 AM
10/29/2010 8:06:43 AM
10/29/2010 9:46:09 AM
10/29/2010 1:02:54 PM
10/29/2010 1:12:18 PM
make insurance free
10/29/2010 1:21:12 PM
nothing is free
10/29/2010 1:22:31 PM
10/29/2010 1:52:23 PM
10/29/2010 1:57:50 PM
10/29/2010 2:47:18 PM
Well duh... that goes without saying.Government has its role, which makes certain wonderful things possible (justice, etc.) but we're talking about free association.It's from free private people that we can do anything. ANYTHING!* Government is limited -- even liberals will admit that.(* see first post)I said: "Sometimes individuals form groups"You can't just go and form your own government. In a private opt-in scenario, sure...[Edited on October 29, 2010 at 5:05 PM. Reason : ]
10/29/2010 4:55:14 PM
I agree with Indy. Except for maybe the "corporations aren't individuals" part because he probably is meaning that corporations/businesses shouldn't be afforded the same privacy/freedom rights, which I don't fully agree with.Everything else sounds right.
10/29/2010 5:09:27 PM
10/29/2010 6:50:35 PM
10/29/2010 7:14:53 PM
10/29/2010 9:04:01 PM
Much like theDuke, I'm less offended by people who have a different idea about the role of government and then extrapolate specific policies from that than by people who lack logical consistency in their beliefs. If you and I have dramatically different ideas about what government should be, but your positions are logically sound based on your belief system I can respectfully disagree, but if you're all over the fucking place it's very hard for me to take anything you say seriously or respect you on an intellectual level.
10/30/2010 2:59:25 AM
Except for socialism. Socialism has been dis-proven by maths and is therefore never logically sound. (j/k)
10/30/2010 3:12:05 AM
I have absolutely no problem with socialist-style government, as long it's 100% opt-in.
10/30/2010 3:29:34 AM
And somewhere else
10/30/2010 9:28:07 AM
It seems like this topic has sprung up many times before, but it's good to see it happen again. Each of us should constantly review our beliefs on what government is there to do, and what it must not do. People tend towards complacency, especially during times of relative peace and economic stability.However, before anyone ever asked the question posed by the OP, another question had to be asked first, whether or not it was verbally communicated: Should there be any government at all? If you do believe in self-ownership (and I really hope that most of us do), then why should any individual or group be able to impose their will upon a person without their consent? Let's use taxation as an example. Even most libertarian thinking people will agree that we must have a national defense, thus we must use taxation as a way to fund it. Maybe I disagree with you, though. Maybe I don't want to participate in that system. What happens? Well, the consequences must be severe, or no would pay, so I go to jail. My freedom is taken away because I didn't want to pay protection money, despite the fact that no one was directly harmed by my actions. This breach of liberty is justified, though, because it's for the "common good" that we have a national defense to prevent invasion, and further loss of our liberties.I bring up that example not to advocate anarchy, although philosophically, I am an anarchist. However, governments will naturally expand to fill the voids where anarchy exists, or new governments will arise out of anarchy. That's why I am practically a minarchist. If there will be a government at all, it should be limited to the very basic function of protecting rights. Coercion and theft should be punished, though I'm not convinced that contracts should be enforced. I would rather see caveat emptor applied to all business transactions, including contracts.
10/30/2010 11:36:42 AM
This is why I don't usually vote Libertarian, either, even though I usually can't tolerate the GOP offering, and it would have to be a very unusual circumstance for me to cast a vote for any Democrat.
10/30/2010 11:56:53 AM
^^Yeah, I'm pretty close to being an anarcho-capitalist, but I think you have to enforce legal contracts in order to protect personal property rights. Imagine a world in which there was no legal repercussion for not paying your mortgage, credit cards, or car. It would completely destroy the lending unsecured lending market.
10/30/2010 12:26:45 PM
Protecting the bourgeoisie. It does a pretty good job.
10/30/2010 12:31:10 PM
10/30/2010 1:52:22 PM
^ x5 Government from anarchy is more or less a given. While I would prefer the non existence of government, this is realistically impossible. Even without "government" as we recognize it, individuals and groups of individuals will seek to force their will upon others without consent. Therefore, it seems best that a consented to government be made, and limited as much as possible, both in size and scope. Also important is mobility between governments, this allows individuals to constantly consent (or not) to being governed by any one group. This is why I'm always in favor of limiting rules and regulations to the most local form of government as possible. It's much easier for me to decide I don't like living in cary or raleigh and change that, than living in NC or the US.Incidentally, what do you (or anyone else) think is the optimal size of government in terms of individuals represented? Further, is there a size of government which does not encourage professional politicians or is that an inherent problem with any government, large or small?
10/30/2010 3:01:16 PM
10/30/2010 5:46:59 PM
10/30/2010 6:02:19 PM
I guess I wasn't clear.I meant stuff like convents or clubs, where the scope of the government is limited to adults that choose to join.In other words, socialism that lacks consent from even one person under its rule, is unjust.I'm just saying that opt-in groups may decide how to govern [only] themselves. Everyone must consent, though.
10/30/2010 6:35:10 PM
^ Communist anarchists think about the same way. The problem becomes control over the means of production. What happens if the workers all opt-in but the factory owner opts out? Capital relies on coercion for protection.
10/30/2010 7:18:21 PM
The workers are free to leave the arrangement at any time and find another employer, aren't they? Wage slavery isn't a concern if there is competition for labor.[Edited on October 30, 2010 at 7:54 PM. Reason : ]
10/30/2010 7:54:00 PM
Establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.
6/16/2011 1:16:06 PM
6/16/2011 1:35:55 PM
to amass arms and take shit from wherever in the world it feels like
6/16/2011 6:16:54 PM
6/16/2011 6:22:35 PM
To legitimize mob rule.
6/16/2011 6:22:55 PM