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Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
You're funny when you're militantly ignorant. Please keep telling me about different kinds of regulation.
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You call defense and investment and you call me militantly ignorant?
Quote:
Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
While we seem to disagree on semantics here, you are proving my point.
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There are certain products individuals can't buy and certain products that are not for individual consumption. Certain people can't buy food so the government steps in and buys it for them. Defense is something that individuals can't buy individually so the government has to step in a buy it for the collective. But when a person can buy a product, and it is for individual consumption, then the choice should be left up to the person whether or not to buy the product. If they have a choice and it only affects them why should the government step in. All consumer products, including media, is included in this catagory. Can you not see that?
When ever governments have stepped in and controlled consumer markets the results have always been disastrous. Can you name a consumer market where the government has stepped in where it hasn't been disastrous?
Quote:
Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
As I understand, you think the market performs poorly, but you're not willing to have the government spend any money to fix it.
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The market is performing fine. The people are getting exactly what they want. I just don't like what the people are asking for. But that is my problem. When the market is not providiing the people what they want at the best quality and at the best possible price then there is a problem with the market.
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Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
OK. I'm with you there. I was thinking that the remedy for an insufficiency of a certain kind of speech was more speech, actually.
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More speech. It doesn't work that way either. If I think there should be more people in movies eating apples or talking about science, I am not going to force hollywood to put the heroes of the movies to eat apples or talk about science.
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Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
If people democratically choose to tax themselves to have the government buy these things, it must be the right choice, right?
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Absolutely not. It is almost always the wrong choice. Whenever the public decides that the government should take control of a consumer market, or start producing a consumer product the results are disastrous. That is what the whole soviet system was based on. But many democracies have taken control of certain consumer markets and always to disastrous effect. Look at farms subsidies, quotas, tariffs etc. Government should not be in the business of producing, controlling, etc of consumer products.
