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[-] eugenevdebs@lemmy.dbzer0.com 86 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)
  • A government imposes taxation on the citizens to fund the services the citizens are required to use for daily life.

Libertarians: "GOD THIS IS AN UNJUST TYRANNY TO ME AND ONLY ME"

  • A corporation imposes a new service fee and increases the subcription charges, to fund their wallets and act like its better than it was before.

Libertarians: "This is normal and just, everyone is stupid except for me, I read Ayn Rand."

I'm down to talk out what is a just tax, what is unfair, what the taxes should go to once collected, but I think Libertarians are too hooked on think tank propaganda to decide something for themselves.

[-] Aceticon@lemmy.world 26 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

It's even better: a lot of essential or close to it things are pretty much monopolies or cartels (for example, Internet access in most of the US) so people have no actual choice but to pay a specific entity whatever they chose to charge.

It's like tax but without the upside of taxes (which is that they're money that's supposed to entirely end up benefiting you, even if most of it indirectly) because when you buy a product or service from a monopoly or cartel only part of it goes to cover the cost of the actual product or service you're getting and a large fraction or even most of it goes to shareholder dividends, which has zero benefit for you.

I've taken to call these things Taxes Paid Directly To Private Companies.

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[-] Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee 9 points 2 weeks ago

Corporations are fucked up. They will never allow the state to be abolished because they need to collect taxes in order to bail themselves out of trouble and in order to fight wars for them at the taxpayer expense so they can reap the profits... a corporation will never go to war alone. War is fucking expensive and is rarely directly profitable. They want to socialize expenses and privatize gain, which is impossible to do without a government of some kind.

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[-] juergen@lemmy.sdf.org 60 points 2 weeks ago

Surprisingly, tyranny.com is for sale.

[-] EleventhHour@lemmy.world 19 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Do you expect despots to shell out their own money for things like that?

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[-] underwire212@lemm.ee 42 points 2 weeks ago
[-] undergroundoverground@lemmy.world 32 points 2 weeks ago

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

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[-] Balrog@lemmy.dbzer0.com 35 points 2 weeks ago

whitehouse.gov =/= whitehouse.com

[-] macarthur_park@lemmy.world 66 points 2 weeks ago

I went to elementary school when whitehouse.com was still a porn site. I remember a class in the computer lab where we were supposed to do research on the government. Our teacher was very clear about going to the .gov website and absolutely not the .com one.

Whatever adult content blocking they had set up did not work.

[-] magnetosphere@fedia.io 25 points 2 weeks ago

The best short summary I’ve seen in a while

I hate how the american version of “libertarianism” is what people think of instead of the original french left wing ideology.

[-] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 16 points 2 weeks ago

It's deliberate. Left-wing ideologies are basically "we don't really benefit from these traditional hierarchies and we'd be better off if we didn't concentrate resources in the hands of a small number of owners so much", which is hard to argue against.

So those who want to keep their power in the current system try to misdirect the debates themselves with "libertarianism" and "neo liberalism" which are both economically conservative ideologies that try to separate the idea of personal freedom from economic ones and ignore that any "freedom" in business is against a background of negotiation leverage, so more freedom in business gives more advantages to those with more leverage.

That first paragraph is also why conservatives put so much attention towards making it difficult to vote, get a good education, or find various supports. They know trying to argue that they should have control of most of the wealth is a losing argument so they go for confusing as many as possible or keeping them busy with their own survival.

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[-] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 18 points 2 weeks ago

Most "Libertarians" grow up as soon as they read any political theory, I personally became an Anarcho-Syndicalist

[-] Default_Defect@midwest.social 28 points 2 weeks ago

What are your views on sword-based governance?

[-] SpaceCadet@feddit.nl 22 points 2 weeks ago

Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.

[-] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 15 points 2 weeks ago

Supreme executive power derives from a mandate of the masses, not some farcical aquatic ceremony

[-] _stranger_@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago

I'm glad we all agree you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!

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[-] Gleddified@lemmy.ca 12 points 2 weeks ago
[-] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 20 points 2 weeks ago
[-] 0ops@lemm.ee 7 points 2 weeks ago

The Redcoats are coming!

[-] Kalcifer@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 weeks ago

Ha, a rare example of an accurate meme about libertarianism.

Though, to be fair, libertarianism doesn't necessarily advocate for a market devoid of regulation (regulation being paradoxically required to ensure consumer freedom), but, generally, libertarianism seeks to maximize market freedom within the confines of the desired level and flavor of consumer freedom.

[-] Soup@lemmy.world 41 points 2 weeks ago

And yet every libertarian in practice just hates paying taxes and whines when potholes don’t get filled in despite them never reporting them. They’re sad and angry at the world and feel hyper-insecure about asking for, or even accepting, help.

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[-] mechoman444@lemmy.world 11 points 2 weeks ago

Tranny.com is a shitty cam site.

Trust me. I thoroughly checked so you don't have to.

[-] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 11 points 2 weeks ago

Not left libertarians (typically). I'm trying to reclaim this term from the right-wing chuds who have taken it over.

[-] h3mlocke@lemm.ee 13 points 2 weeks ago

Best I can do is Libarbarians

[-] Maggoty@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago

I've seen the term Libertarian Communist around and that makes sense in an international setting. In the US both terms are tainted though. You could try a synonym like Social Autonomy though.

[-] Rozauhtuno@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 2 weeks ago

Libertarian Socialism is the one I see around the most.

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[-] g0d0fm15ch13f@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago

Just like how the American left wing is still right of center, it feels like American libertarians are still auth of center. Glad there's at least one maniac like me out there

[-] cacheson@piefed.social 7 points 2 weeks ago

American liberals are right of center. The American left wing is leftist, we're just small and don't have much influence over politics here.

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[-] Omegamanthethird@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

In my experience, right leaning Libertarians are just Republicans that are kinda indifferent with gays having legal rights.

[-] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 10 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah a lot of them don’t seem to be very committed to libertarian ideas unfortunately. The government isn’t the only force that can restrict liberty.

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[-] drathvedro@lemm.ee 11 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

tyranny.su ☭

Just $5/yr, up for grabs

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[-] toastal@lemmy.ml 9 points 2 weeks ago

All this needs is the political compass overlaid & this is perfect TBH

[-] Etterra@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

I hate to say I misread the site name the first time.

[-] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

Honestly kind of works like a political compass lol

[-] Pistcow@lemm.ee 7 points 2 weeks ago
[-] brbposting@sh.itjust.works 9 points 2 weeks ago

We don’t use that domain anymore

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this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2024
1261 points (98.5% liked)

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