Don't blame me, I voted for the other guy. (Politics General)

What do people here think of Dave Rubin?
 
To me, he has many of the same issues that Sargon does, and he also claims to be a champion of free speech while he blocks people on Twitter.

Thoughts on Ben Shapiro?

@Hypnosryan  
The issue there is that it’s only a technicality, one that can be fixed if that amendment can be passed making all national elections publicly financed,

@LeoNero  
I personally think he’s a condescending idiot who makes very one-sided arguments.

@Hypnosryan  
Does he support Trump or not? I can’t tell.
 
Never mine, seems like he doesn’t. But what makes him a condescending idiot to you?

@Commune  
Practical survival instinct demands a few things that could be considered moral.

@Hypnosryan  
I have no idea who he is, and since Sargon is a point of comparison I don’t want to and I’m going to pretend I never even saw the name.

This is more local politics, but I wish the State of Utah would privatize the liquor stores already. It would make sense since at least half of all Utahns want them privatized, and Utah is supposedly pro-free market.

@SonGokuMonkey  
Because Utah is a borderline theocracy run by people who if given the chance would bring back stoning for Gays/Interracial couples/unmarried woman little girls over the age of 13,

@Thanotos Omega
 
One reason I’d like to move away from Utah. The separation of church and state doesn’t seem to exist here. Our elected politicians don’t represent us; everything they do goes through the LDS Church leadership first.

@LeoNero  
But I thought skeptic youtubers weren’t conspiracy nuts, I mean don’t they also bash those crazy creationists and annoying Christian zealots who think Rock music was made by the devil?

@SonGokuMonkey  
They’re only free market when it’s convenient for them

@neutralgrey  
True for just about any government, but Utah especially.

Free Market policies don’t generate more freedom anyway. They lead to things like lower wages and long work hours, and not everyone has the means to start their own business.
 
I won’t deny that the Market is effective at meeting people’s demands, though.

Quick question but would the US economy be considered a free market economy? I just want to be sure on this

It’s not illegal to talk to Russian people, right?

@PonyPon  
Nope, now going to them with the hope of committing collusion? that’s illegal

@PonyPon  
Depends on who the person is and what you’re talking about.

@neutralgrey  
I wouldn’t consider it a true free market capitalist economy (capitalism according to the dictionary means “an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state”). Too many regulations, taxes, regulatory fees, etc.; and too many special interest groups control most of the wealth. It’s more like fascistic corporatism (corporatism means “the control of a state or organization by large interest groups.”) Capitalism and corporatism are two different things.

@neutralgrey  
Oh, absolutely. It’s one of the most free-market economies in the world, as far as I can tell.

@neutralgrey  
Depends on who you ask. Can it be both Cronyism and Free Market at the same time?

@Hypnosryan  
Personally, I don’t see why not. To me, capitalism means a limited amount of government intervention in the economy. There are several countries, such as the Nordic countries, that intervene in their economies more heavily than the U.S. does its, but they nonetheless avoid going full state socialist.

…I just got three different responses to my question on wether or not the US is a free market economy. What the fuck?
 
@SonGokuMonkey  
This guy says no.
 
@HeadlessHorselessHorseman  
This guy says yes.
 
@Hypnosryan  
And this guy says kinda sorta.
 
What the hell?

@neutralgrey  
Well, it’s not necessarily an easy question to answer. Looking it up, capitalism is generally defined as private ownership of the means of production, like SonGokuMonkey said (probably best to disregard my definition of it, then). But he believes that the economy is far too regulated by the government, whereas I believe it’s regulated too little. Nonetheless, I think it’s widely agreed by most economists that the American economy is, at the end of the day, very free market.
 
Also, free market capitalism seems to be defined as a kind of capitalism, so there’s that.

So, while it’s true that Anarcho-Capitalism has never been tried before, the closest thing to it was probably the Congo Free State which was the private property of King Leopold II. It had a privately owned police force even.
 
And guess what? It lead to a population decrease due to the atrocities committed within’ it.