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What's a Libertarian?

From Fox News and John Stossel's blog.

"I want government to leave us alone. We who feel that way often call ourselves "libertarian". In my FBN show and syndicated column this week, I start with the first objection to pure libertarianism that typically comes to mind: the absence of a government safety net.

My wife’s first response to that was:

"That's cruel! What about the poor and the weak? Let them starve?"

...I [asked] some prominent libertarians that question, including Jeffrey Miron, who teaches economics at Harvard.

"It might in some cases be a little cruel," Miron said. "But it means you're not taking from people who've worked hard to earn their income (in order) to give it to people who have not worked hard."

But isn't it wrong for people to suffer in a rich country?

"The number of people who will suffer is likely to be very small. Private charity ... will provide support for the vast majority who would be poor in the absence of some kind of support. When government does it, it creates an air of entitlement that leads to more demand for redistribution, till everyone becomes a ward of the state."

People will suffer when they can't/won't/don't compete, don't marry someone who CAN and WILL compete, and don't take the time to learn how to benefit from a capitalist society--POVERTY SHOULD BE UNCOMFORTABLE!! A social safety net does nothing more than kill incentive to work and compete, making poverty comfortable...a little TOO comfortable, judging by the number of people who've been collecting unemployment bennies for two years now, when there's perfectly good census jobs (as well as other jobs) available.

Posted by Cute at 11:45 PM

Labels: politics