My guess: Government overreach is bad, but I like roads and stuff.
1 Like
Iām missing somethingā¦ (genuinely not sure what this means, as I donāt think I misspelled anything)
Pedros??
2 Likes
I wondered about that. Out here in ultra rural land, that could well be the case.
Maybe heās also a Napoleon Dynamite NF
Isnāt that ultimately the fiscal belief of just about everyone, including most US āsocialistsā? Some government is clearly good. Too much government is clearly bad. So weāre quibbling over where the best balance is.
One thing is, āDonāt take my stuff.ā For some lib-ians, that means taxing for the general fund.
And also ādonāt force people to act against their faith.ā But also ādonāt force your faith on others.ā
Pretty much. 
I recognize that libertarianism is an -ism that is particularly reliant on unrealistic assumptions to work in the real world. For a libertarian utopia to be achieved, it requires people to make rational decisions with proper foresight, and to be charitable towards one another / generally be decent peopleā¦and neither of those things are the case.
So, my initial reaction towards government is to be distrustful of it, and have a preference towards being left the hell alone. However, I reluctantly accept the notion that government has a proper role (for example) on matters where individuals are likely to make myopic decisions, or where the efficiencies of government involvement are too great to ignore.
The subject of universal healthcare is a great example. While Iām extremely skeptical of government getting involved in making decisions as personal as healthcare (remember that the person who pays the bills gets a say in whatās being bought), I think itās clear that the American individuals and organizations have been too myopic in making decisions about healthcare. The mess we have in the US today is great enough that, while I think there are other things the government could do to move us out of the current messā¦
Iām a libertarian in the sense that I distrust government and want to be left alone. Iām pragmatic in the sense that I distrust individuals and corporations at least as much as I distrust government.
But not the roads I donāt drive on or the stuff that I donāt personally use.
Eta: On a personally amusing side note, living in Newfoundland, Iām getting annoyed about the existence of several roads I rarely drive on. The province has atrocious road conditions in many parts of the province. Massive, multigenerational potholes, broken pavement, and overgrown ditches. The province simply doesnāt have the money to routinely maintain all the roads that have been built. The issue is compounded by a rapidly collapsing rural population in many parts of the province. Communities that made sense in the days before powered small vessels simply make no sense today. You donāt need to live within rowing distance of the fishing grounds today and so we can have more centralized communities. As a result, we have hundreds of kilometers of highway that serves 10s to low 1000s of people at the cost of $10ks to $1,000ks per year for little economic benefit. There are all sorts of communities at the end of isolated roads. Their population ranges from 60 to 130 people with an average age of 62 and a population growth rate of -15% per census period (~5 years). They want the province to repave their stretch of highway at the cost of several million dollars. The community is an economic sinkhole where the primary income source is retiree benefits from the government or unemployment insurance.
I just saw 2 commercials on a local broadcast here for a candidate for governor in SC. Why?
I think people are starting to realize that this movement has no answers for how basic services will stay funded instead of with property taxes.