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I'm pretty libertarian, and open to discussion around it; I've updated my views before and acknowledge there are weaknesses. But most people responding on twitter are making arguments based on significant misunderstanding or straw men of my libertarianism views.

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Aella

@Aella_Girl

Apr 25, 2021

There are some good points against libertarianism, but "if we stop governament programs nothing could possibly full that role better" is not one of them. It's the equivalent of christians going "but without god, there's no reason to do good" - it's basic and a bit ignorant.

177

Aella

@Aella_Girl

Apr 25, 2021

And again, to clearly reiterate - I'm not saying there aren't good arguments against libertarianism out there! But by and large, most of the people in my mentions seem to be stuck on level 1 understanding and critique and it's pretty frustrating.

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Replying to

I think when free markets fail to provide goods/opportunities to people who need them, it is an appropriate use of government power. For example, without Medicaid, there doesn’t seem to be much of a supply (charitable, volunteer, etc) of healthcare services for poor people.

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and

Possibly. But the first step is to ask whether it's free markets that "fail" in the first place. This is usually not true. We do not have a free market in health care, so you can't lay blame for the ills of health care entirely at the feet of the market.

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and

Very fair point. I do have trouble seeing how quality healthcare would be provided to the bottom economic quartile of Americans though, absent government subsidy. Especially compared to something like, say, education.

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and

Generally my view is something like, a lot of the issues we have providing health care to the poor are indirect, ripple effects from government attempts at helping. See

slatestarcodex.com

Reverse Voxsplaining: Drugs vs. Chairs

[Content note: this is pretty much a rehash of things I’ve said before, and that other people have addressed much more eloquently. My only excuse for wasting your time with it again is that S…

5:52 PM · Apr 25, 2021

Replying to

and

Agreed. Consider the areas of the economy people complain about most: health care, education, housing. These are the areas in which govt involvement is greatest. It's not a great track record. As the author says, nobody complains about chairs. Nobody complains about clothing.