Fair or not, Bill Maher makes funny fun of libertarians. Casting satire aside, is Maher on to something?
Maher says “the conservatives whose obsessions with Ayn Rand have “ruined” the political philosophy for him.”
According to Huffingtonpost.com:
Once a supporter of Libertarianism and its views on government intervention, Maher explained why he thinks politicians such as Paul Ryan and Rand Paul are “intellectually stuck in their teen years” and have turned a once promising movement into a free market-obsessed, “nanny state”-fearing delusion.
Maher went on to defend his new views on Libertarianism by mocking the party’s tendency to reject government services even when they are arguably very useful:
“To everyone who keeps trying to shame me about abandoning my Libertarian moorings, my message is this: I didn’t go nuts, this movement did. Like when you see a stop light, your reaction should be ‘Great, an easy way to ensure we don’t all crash into each other,’ not, ‘How dare the government tell me when I can and cannot go!”
Maher strongly implies that libertarianism is akin to being in an arrested stage of development
It is arguably very useful for society for everyone to own their own home.
It is arguably very useful for society for everyone to be provided with clothing.
It is arguably very useful for society for everyone to be provided with food.
It is arguably very useful for society for everyone to be provided with a car as to increase mobility.
It is arguably very useful for society for everyone to be provided with an income that enables them to contribute to the economy via consumption.
It is arguably very useful for society for everyone to be provided with a computer and cell phone to increase the velocity of information.
See the problem?
What I don’t see is where your argument comes from as far as this post goes.
I rewatched the video to make sure I hadn’t put the wrong one up.
I don’t think children in the United States should be hungery or malnurished. That’s about the only statement I would agree with, regardless of which thin air it was pulled from.
Maybe Cato has gone liberal in his old age.
Spelling it out, I’m doing two things:
1.) pointing out that an imagined objection to stop lights is a strawman argument which is as absurd as arguing that everyone should have a cell phone and
2.) pointing out that “very useful to society” isn’t the only test that should be applied when determining whether or not something should be provided by the government. Everything that China does is useful to their society – just look at their growth rates. Raise your hand if you want to live in China. No?
Too early in the morning for such giant leaps of logic. I took it as a comedic way to say that the two libertarian boys, Paul and Ryan, had ruined libertarian ideas for many of us.
Fair enough. Although I think that Rand Paul is being unfairly lumped in with Ryan, who is and has always been a fraud.
Their names are so alike I get them confused. @Cato
Bill Maher is right on the money and funny to boot. Libertarianism is not a governing philosophy. No freedoms are absolute; otherwise I’d like to drive without car insurance, and without a license or registering my vehicle.
Btw, neither Ryan nor Rand have done a damn thing in Congress. None of Ryan’s budgets passed. All Rand has done is take a “courageous” stand against drone use on American soil. If these guys a re the best republicans have, they are in a lot if trouble.
@Starryflights
I agree he’s funny, I dig his act. He’s also somewhat full of shit when it comes to characterizing libertarian positions. As are you.
I know all sorts of people who are full of it.
@Cato the Elder
You don’t know what libertarianism is, fool.
Ok, Cato-
It is arguably very useful for society for many to live in the street.
It is arguably very useful for society for many to be without clothing.
It is arguably very useful for society for many to starve.
It is arguably very useful for society for many to be without mobility.
It is arguably very useful for society for many to be without an adequate income that enables them to contribute to the economy via consumption.
It is arguably very useful for society for many youngsters to be without a computer and cell phone to increase the velocity of information.
See the problem?