I am guilty of being a mean bully when talking about libertarianism as an answer to many of the problems our current system is mired in. In fact, I have been called many names by many people because my answers, while true to libertarian principles, don’t offer the warm and fuzzy feelings to get people who are “feelers” to come along with the common sense approach libertarianism offers. A case in point:
I think that we should allow someone with 10, 20, or even 30 kids with 5 or 10 different women to suffer the consequences of his irresponsible actions. But inevitably, the “feeler” says, “what about the kids…do we let them starve?” Damnit. As much as I want to punish this idiot for his reckless behavior, how can I demand a consequence that hurts the kids? This is the problem with Malthusian responses, and this is what happens when libertarian principles are applied decades (or centuries) after governmental policies have taken hold. We need to find a way to pry the lips of the recipients from the teats of society without sounding like draconian heartless monsters. What if there was a dyed in the wool liberal, but he wasn’t a mindless fool with no common sense…maybe he works in the same office. What if we had a civil conversation without emotion, on just the issue of…say…unemployment. What would that sound like?
I did this, and it was very eye-opening. You see, he was on unemployment briefly, and he knows people who still are (who doesn’t?). In my line of business , salesmen start out on salary, build a route, and when it becomes advantageous (or someone is not pushing themselves because they are happy on a salary) there is a conversation with the boss that goes something like this. “Hi John, starting next month, your salary will go away and you will get a commission on your sales. This commission is currently going to be $200/week less than your salary, so we are going to give you $200/week to make up for it this month…but next month, we will only give you $175/week…the next month, $150/week…until you are only on commission. This is your incentive to really bust your butt and get your sales up…hopefully you will be much higher by the end of the 2 months and you won’t miss the extra money, but if you aren’t, you will either make due with the fruits of your labor, or you should look for different line of work. We think this is fair, and are willing to help you in any way, but the clock is now ticking.” Why not apply this principle to unemployment? Genius.
I went one step further, I proposed that due to current levels of unemployment fraud (to the tune of $19 BILLION), we should allow CPA’s and businessmen to petition the State to take over this endeavor. Before you go ape-poop over this, hear me out. Three companies are started by entrepreneurs who staff their company and hire case managers who get paid (as does the company) on a % of money saved vs people helped OFF the system. These companies are audited by the State to make sure they are running by the books, but if you don’t think private managers will be more efficient and effective than the current morons doling out money to whomever (mostly because it isn’t their money, and they get paid and pensions for just showing up) then you are part of the problem anyways. There would be competition, as the three companies would be fighting for the best success rates…and this could be by offering a temp agency service, retraining and schooling…etc. Get the FED out of the equation altogether, and let the states experiment with different theories and tactics…will it be perfect out of the gate? Probably not in every state, but isn’t having 10 or 20 states try something new and succeed, better than all 50 states failing with the same method? Well, my liberal friend and I still disagree about a lot of things, but this meeting of the minds really accomplished something, and he also doesn’t think I’m a big bully who wants kids to die in the street now. So…is this a perfect system? No. Is this the perfect Libertarian answer? No…but it is a lot better than our current system, and it utilizes the principles to which we subscribe, while allowing the warm and fuzzies to be felt by those who distrust anything privately handled…and who knows…maybe the next big company employing thousands can be the one that helps fight fraud and government waste by taking on the role of unemployment distribution? Or…maybe we can have some of those genius IRS accountants quit/get fired and go to work in the private sector…saving the public kajillions of dollars in public pensions, salaries and benefits? Who wouldn’t support that idea?
You won’t hear solutions from the Republicans or Democrats…because to offer real solutions is to admit that the system is broken…and make no mistake, these two parties OWN this system. When either party talks about overhauling any program…they are just whistling with a mouthful of cinnamon. There is no way either party will undertake real reform, because the visceral response from the “opposite side” will always kill it. Then we have a decade of fighting back and forth with statements like, “They want women dragged out into the street”, or “they want to kill all the female fetuses which is the real war on women ”…are you kidding me? You are what we have to choose from? How about you allow real people to sit down with no party agenda, no blowhard mouthpiece making up things to polarize their base…someone like me…who represents the softer side of libertarianism…hahahaha, I’ll never get used to that.
- REV
Check out http://www.libertarianinternational.org
ReplyDelete