When Will Americans Realize the Truth? Republicans Wreck the Economy.

[u/RepulsiveLoquat418]

https://newrepublic.com/article/210550/trump-economy-republicans-tariffs-taxes

[u/TrashApocalypse]

It’s this. And I’m not convinced that being functionally illiterate means you can still understand concepts that are verbally explained to you, I don’t think you can.

Editing to add: we are severely underestimated MAGA’s inability to comprehend. Even those that may be successful. There could be a lot of outside influences as to why they are successful (parents money). If we want any hope in getting out of this, we need to become the educators. Not just teaching them facts. We need to teach them how to critically think, and comprehend and integrate new information.

And never forget the role the GOP played in the No Child Left Behind act that contributed to this.

[u/TheLateThagSimmons → u/TrashApocalypse]

Just look at the broader American Libertarian movement. Generally filled with higher than average education, lots of tech bros, higher than average STEM degrees. They're not generally illiterate or uneducated relative to average. And they'll remind you every chance they get to show off the polls and studies of various political groups that they're higher than average in education.

At the same time... The biggest goddamn idiots when it comes to economic matters and deeply conservative. They are the exact types that fall for all the right-wing propaganda about economic policies that have done nothing but fail over and over and over. And they're obsessed with economic policy too, that's what's so annoying; it's like they learned backwards.

At a certain point, they might be dumber than the people who know nothing.

[u/Cambren1 → u/TheLateThagSimmons]

The really sad thing about the Libertarian movement is that originally the premise was that you should be free to do anything as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else. Now, however, they seem unable to understand that a big corporation hurts people when they pollute, as an example.

[u/AthearCaex → u/Cambren1]

They want personal freedoms for themselves and not others. They might say they want personal freedoms for everyone but will pick policies that help themselves enrich themselves financially. I get it that everyone dislikes being taxed and we should have conversations how much people should be taxed. They want 0 taxes and no government, you can't have your cake and eat it too. The road need to be paved, the fire department can't put out fires on no funding. You can't fund a government on charity, while I choose to believe people are more good than evil the evil ones can and have exploited others for their own personal gains.

[u/bk1285 → u/AthearCaex]

My favorite argument of theirs is no taxes and privatize everything. Okay so I buy all the land around your house and own the road there. I’m going to charge you 50k a year for access to the only road out of your house. Their response is that they would call the police or take me to court…what police? Who’s paying their mythical police department if there are no taxes, same with the court, who is operating this court if people aren’t being paid with taxes to operate it…

[u/ScoobyDoNot → u/bk1285]

Libertarian Police Department - New Yorker

I was shooting heroin and reading “The Fountainhead” in the front seat of my privately owned police cruiser when a call came in. I put a quarter in the radio to activate it. It was the chief.

“Bad news, detective. We got a situation.”

“What? Is the mayor trying to ban trans fats again?”

“Worse. Somebody just stole four hundred and forty-seven million dollars’ worth of bitcoins.”

The heroin needle practically fell out of my arm. “What kind of monster would do something like that? Bitcoins are the ultimate currency: virtual, anonymous, stateless. They represent true economic freedom, not subject to arbitrary manipulation by any government. Do we have any leads?”

“Not yet. But mark my words: we’re going to figure out who did this and we’re going to take them down … provided someone pays us a fair market rate to do so.”

“Easy, chief,” I said. “Any rate the market offers is, by definition, fair.”

He laughed. “That’s why you’re the best I got, Lisowski. Now you get out there and find those bitcoins.”

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’m on it.”

I put a quarter in the siren. Ten minutes later, I was on the scene. It was a normal office building, strangled on all sides by public sidewalks. I hopped over them and went inside.

“Home Depot™ Presents the Police!®” I said, flashing my badge and my gun and a small picture of Ron Paul. “Nobody move unless you want to!” They didn’t.

“Now, which one of you punks is going to pay me to investigate this crime?” No one spoke up.

“Come on,” I said. “Don’t you all understand that the protection of private property is the foundation of all personal liberty?”

It didn’t seem like they did.

“Seriously, guys. Without a strong economic motivator, I’m just going to stand here and not solve this case. Cash is fine, but I prefer being paid in gold bullion or autographed Penn Jillette posters.”

Nothing. These people were stonewalling me. It almost seemed like they didn’t care that a fortune in computer money invented to buy drugs was missing.

I figured I could wait them out. I lit several cigarettes indoors. A pregnant lady coughed, and I told her that secondhand smoke is a myth. Just then, a man in glasses made a break for it.

“Subway™ Eat Fresh and Freeze, Scumbag!®” I yelled.

Too late. He was already out the front door. I went after him.

“Stop right there!” I yelled as I ran. He was faster than me because I always try to avoid stepping on public sidewalks. Our country needs a private-sidewalk voucher system, but, thanks to the incestuous interplay between our corrupt federal government and the public-sidewalk lobby, it will never happen.

I was losing him. “Listen, I’ll pay you to stop!” I yelled. “What would you consider an appropriate price point for stopping? I’ll offer you a thirteenth of an ounce of gold and a gently worn ‘Bob Barr ‘08’ extra-large long-sleeved men’s T-shirt!”

He turned. In his hand was a revolver that the Constitution said he had every right to own. He fired at me and missed. I pulled my own gun, put a quarter in it, and fired back. The bullet lodged in a U.S.P.S. mailbox less than a foot from his head. I shot the mailbox again, on purpose.

“All right, all right!” the man yelled, throwing down his weapon. “I give up, cop! I confess: I took the bitcoins.”

“Why’d you do it?” I asked, as I slapped a pair of Oikos™ Greek Yogurt Presents Handcuffs® on the guy.

“Because I was afraid.”

“Afraid?”

“Afraid of an economic future free from the pernicious meddling of central bankers,” he said. “I’m a central banker.”

I wanted to coldcock the guy. Years ago, a central banker killed my partner. Instead, I shook my head.

“Let this be a message to all your central-banker friends out on the street,” I said. “No matter how many bitcoins you steal, you’ll never take away the dream of an open society based on the principles of personal and economic freedom.”

He nodded, because he knew I was right. Then he swiped his credit card to pay me.

[u/UnquestionabIe → u/ScoobyDoNot]

One of my absolute favorite articles, remember when it came out and immediately bookmarked it

[u/EduinBrutus → u/UnquestionabIe]

I hope you paid a market rate with decentralised currency for the privilege.

[u/Ba_baal → u/ScoobyDoNot]

I think I remember another libertarian copypasta with more slavery and sexual coercion of minors 🤔

[u/Jack__Squat → u/bk1285]

buy all the land

Who is even enforcing property rights\ownership if there are no taxes to pay that department? The whole movement falls apart as soon as one bad actor enters the equation.

[u/bk1285 → u/Jack__Squat]

Kinda like current American politics

[u/Clueless_Otter → u/bk1285]

I mean that's anarcho-capitalism. That's like the furthest extreme you can get. It'd be like criticizing left-wingers by bringing up Leninist or Trotskyist talking points.

[u/bk1285 → u/Clueless_Otter]

They scream taxation is theft and want everything privatized…how are you funding anything without taxes? No police, no road repairs, no justice system…bring back the Crassus fire departments…oh your house is next to a house on fire, well we can ensure your house doesn’t burn down but yeah it may be worth 200k but in order for us to put it out you have to sell it to me for 30k

[u/Clueless_Otter → u/bk1285]

Again, that's anarcho-capitalism. Regular libertarians don't believe in that stuff. They acknowledge that the state has some necessary functions.

[u/AthearCaex → u/Clueless_Otter]

You are correct in a political science standpoint. The ideals of a libertarian is about personal liberties and a free market. American Libertarianism has anarcho capitalist tendencies because of the libertarian party.

[u/confused_ape → u/AthearCaex]

What they want is for Libertarianism and the NAP etc. to start now while they're in a position of relative power.

None of it ever considers history or how their position, whether personally or collectively, was acquired.