From: shapiro@trade.enet.dec.com (Steve Shapiro)
Subject: Re: Libertarians on Rush Limbaugh
Organisation: SKS Computer Consulting, Inc.
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation - Marlboro, MA
Date: 13 AUG 92 09:23:51 EST


In article <1992Aug12.173713.25109@usenet.ins.cwru.edu>, cb926@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Edmund Joseph Ryan) writes...

>Naturally, the rest of the day he never let anyone call to
>reply to his arguments. Censorship? In debate, you allow 
>both sides to give each other sides.

Having not heard that show, let me ask this... did he explicitly restrict
anyone who called from replying to his arguments?

Unfortunately I find similar situations to be the case when it comes to people
dealing with many Libertarian ideas. While I am mostly conservative, I tend to
follow most of the Libertarian party line. These are the issues where I digress
most with what Rush purports.

Drugs is one issue, abortion is another. Sure, I can open the abortion can of
worms here and some twits will start cross posting to every newsgroup under the
network, but I will refrain from doing so. Simply stated, I find that the
Libertarian party line on drugs, abortion, prostitution and criminal
'reformation' (including gun control) to be the most volatile things going on
today. Democrats and republicans alike dance around the issues, but I have yet
to see them solve them!

I am a firm believer in things that 'work'. 'Right' and 'wrong' don't always
enter into the picture since these become such grey areas. ie: what one person
feels is 'right' may be considererd 'wrong' by someone else. In such cases I
avoid the 'right/wrong' approach. Instead I look at if things are working or
not working. 

For example, is the 'war on drugs' working? ie: is the use of drugs and the
crime associated with it decreasing on a scale commensurate with that of the
effort? No. The method and approach does not provide a solution. It does not
work.

Is the 'war on prostitution' working? No. Our cities have an ever increasing
population of hookers and a larger and larger clientele.

Is the 'war on guns' working? No. There are more and more crimes being
committed with more and more firepower. The cities with the most restrictive
gun control laws have the highest incident of crimes where guns are used.

Obviously our approach is not working. So try something different. Imagine if
all citizens were trained in the use of firearms and were required to carry
one. Want to guess how many gang members would try to terrorize a subway car if
they thought that everyone on that car was armed? ZERO.

But I digress...

the point is that so many people want to dictate to other people what is
'right' and what is 'wrong' that they lose track of the picture as to what is
working and what is not working.

>Then the
>grand master put on a commercial and then returned to give his
>speal about how govt. needs to set standards and how if we 
>legalized drugs we could cause the downfall of society. 

Hmmm. Interesting. Especially since conservatives are the advocates of less
government intervention in our lives.

Governments don't set standards. They reflect the standards that society itself
sets.

Society provides us with the drug use situation, not the government. Apparently
someone believes that the government can protect us from ourselves. Hmmm. That
is strange since I recall someone once saying that people should expect less
from the government and be glad that the government ignores them. 

Sometimes I think that I am seeing a contradiction.

Regards,
Steve.

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