Well I first better mention that I believe in helping people, but I hold my own personal liberties of far higher importance than the well being of others. Maybe this makes me a horrible person, certainly my sister thinks so, but I'm sick of being told what to do by people I have nothing in common with. She is a banker, and considers the economy of utmost importance, I do not. I would sacrifice a shitty economy for my liberties.
So even when it's pointed out that removing certain liberties would be beneficial for society as a whole, I still often disagree.
The following might seem like the ramblings of a crazy person. I've been fucked by the court system here on many occasions, I have never been violent or stole things as an adult.
You ask how the government dictates my life.
I like to call our generation (here in Ireland), the snowless generation. We are the first generation of kids not allowed play in the snow. (complete guess but my dad was beaten in school, don't think they had much concern for safety then). Why? Because the courts will award the parents potentially millions because a kid slipped and broke his foot or something. So even as a kid the government was dictating my life.
I am friends with a girl who runs a creche. In the past two decades she has had to make so many ridiculous changes, kids can't play on grass, no slides, for two examples.
The current people in charge of my government would have me, and most of my friends, locked in a cage because I like to smoke weed and take mushrooms/cocaine. They would nave no remorse and congratulate each other on "cleaning up the streets".
In the US you are not allowed pay someone to have sex, unless of course you video it and distribute the recording.
I can't go down to the river beside my house and fish, it's against the law.
I setup a business when I was younger, fitting cars/vans/trucks with gps trackers. Started taking off and I had to shut down because some bigger corporation was pissed off that I was doing so well and found some regulation I was breaking. Regulations are important but most of them only serve big corporations that can hire people to ensure they are met or find loopholes. Ireland is rich largely because we have a low corporation tax, meaning we are rich because we take advantage of these retarded laws, not because we deserve it in any way.
I could go on and on. I can't even walk down the street in the outfit I was born with because some people consider it "icky".
But I'm not a true libertarian, I believe there should be a social floor in which no one falls below. Some basic healthcare, food and water, education, and safety. This is already covered here in Ireland. Although I think it should be done differently, stop giving cash in hand financially irresponsible parents for each kid they have, start giving meals in schools instead, for example.
I am not a "taxation is theft" libertarian, and would be vilified by most "true" libertarians for my opinions. Mostly I just think it's the direction we should be taking.
US optimism, I'm very cynical. Strange to me that even after someone like Trump is elected, you still stand by the system in place. Big government seems to me to be a large problem in the US. 300+ million people voting on one guy to "represent" you all? f*****g mental.
Each state could 'experiment' different things, you can have the freedom to move from state to state if you dislike, states can adopt other states policies if successful. Yes there would be many disasters, but at least things would change more.
