tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post4949357787799165604..comments2023-10-20T05:51:51.625-04:00Comments on The THINK 3 INSTITUTE: Are 'Bailouts' a deal-breaker for Libertarian-Occupation collaborationSamuel Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post-42628354437870242011-11-02T14:50:32.540-04:002011-11-02T14:50:32.540-04:00Ed. Welch claims to be responding to an official &...Ed. Welch claims to be responding to an official "Declaration" from OWS, but it's unclear how representative of all occupiers the unsourced document he quotes from actually is. If libertarians want a voice in the occupation movement they owe it to everyone else to question seriously whether capitalism is as perfectly consistent with liberty as they assume, just as leftists should question whether it's as unconditionally evil as they assume.<br /><br />Crhyme, Welch seems to join some rightists in exaggerating the importance of debt forgiveness for the occupation agenda as supposed proof of the occupiers' irresponsibility, but he also seems to miss the point that the cost of college education is handicapping the country. If he wants Americans to be entrepreneurial innovators and multitasking virtuosi, shouldn't he be committed to making the intellectual tools available to them -- or do we need to have those skills already somehow in order to work our ways through college?Samuel Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post-78571084707800667212011-11-02T08:29:59.268-04:002011-11-02T08:29:59.268-04:00I can agree, in principle, that the government sho...I can agree, in principle, that the government should not be in the business of "debt forgiveness" of student loans or other. However, I do believe the government SHOULD be in the business of providing the best education for it's citizens in the first place, removing the need for student loans completely.<br /><br />Although libertarians will never concede anything other than their "every man for himself" philosophy, that only marks them as the demi-human sludge they are, since not one of them could truly survive on his/her own in the wilderness for a protracted period of time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post-26887450134085964392011-11-02T03:35:55.517-04:002011-11-02T03:35:55.517-04:00imo, Welch is reacting much more to "OWS insp...imo, Welch is reacting much more to "OWS inspired commentary" in the mainstream liberal Democrat blogosphere than to OWS itself. As far as I know, OWS has not actually issued any demands, as the stupid media incessantly reminded us for weeks. The specific OWS grievance he is responding to seems more to be rejection of "bailouts to me but not for thee" as a fundamental violation of the principle of fairness. <br /><br />With respect to the larger issue you bring up (in the title), it may well be that OWS has not issued any demands because it does in fact contain contingents of libertarians and pro-capitalist type folks as well as socialists and anti-capitalist type folks. The reciprocal interaction of these groups in a consensus process like those used at the assemblies allows each of these groups to block one another.Ed.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12245872003153622503noreply@blogger.com