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To: sergeantdave

"Any so-called libertarian that advocates unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats writing law is no libertarian. Let me help you out a bit - unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats writing law to control the citizenry is, by definition, a dictatorship."

Perhaps we should elect FBI agents, military personnel, CIA agents, and the President's administrative assistant. Those guys are all bureacrats (just with more glamorous jobs than the jokers at the DMV)? The EPA, like all agencies is accountable through our elected offcials.

Come to think about it, I'm not all that fond of elected officials who in some ways are only accountable to the mob that voted them in. Somehow, I wouldn't have any fondness for Communists even if they were elected into office.

As for being a libertarian, that means believing in markets and the liberty of people to participate in markets. But given that markets work best when there are no externalities, I actually want the government to internalize these to transactions. You know, things like courts where I can get a contract enforced, police to arrest con-men and other fraudsters. It's economics 101 - crack a book and check it out.

You've confused libertarianism with anarchy.


32 posted on 02/08/2005 8:43:19 PM PST by New Orleans Slim
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To: New Orleans Slim

Pretending that bureaucrats are not an external force on free markets won't get you to first base in understanding Econ 101. And to expect politicians, who have granted law-making powers to bureaucrats, to control bureaucrats is naive.

You're also confusing the libertarian concept of enforcing decisions through common law in the courts with bureaucrats writing and enforcing law. One is government dominated control of people by unelected bureaucrats. This is bad for self-government. The other - using common law through the courts - is people controlling their lives via self rule, a well known tenet embraced by both conservatives and libertarians. This is good and what the founders had in mind when forming a republic system.

If you're going to embrace a libertarian viewpoint, I'd recommend a trip over to CATO to learn about the libertarian view of markets, the harmful effect of a bureaucracy on markets and free market solutions.

Start with Jerry Taylor over at CATO.


35 posted on 02/09/2005 5:21:32 AM PST by sergeantdave (Smart growth is Marxist insects agitating for a collective hive.)
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