RomeoStevens comments on Politics Discussion Thread February 2013 - Less Wrong Discussion
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I have more of a request for an elaboration of the position of others.
In very broad terms, what do you support the government doing? I'm not looking for a list as much as a rule governing your approval.
For example, I'm basically a small government geolibertarian. I'd have the government primarily protect your negative rights, set up laws and courts to resolve disputes as an alternative to the private resort to violence, and as major part of those laws enforce private property as the rules governing enjoying the fruits of your labor, or exchanging those fruits or that labor with others. The geo part comes from the belief that property in natural resources is not similarly justified by labor, and so requires compensation to others if you want sole use of some resource. I'm generally hostile to intellectual property and the mixing of corporate limited liability and free markets.
I'm against the government treating you, your labor, or the fruits of your labor as a resource to draw upon for purposes other than those stated above.
Briefly, I support the government creating rules of the road so that we can live in proximity without violence, otherwise free to pursue our own interests.
The major alternatives I hear from people are approving of whatever the majority decides through free and fair elections, or approving of doing what is good, or the above plus the legally enforced right to a list of "needs", to be supplied by treating others as resources to supply those needs.
I'm requesting that others similarly elaborate what they approve of the government doing, particularly where you approve of different things than I do.
To hijack this thread a bit, please don't upvote or downvote based on agreement with my preferences on government.
non-exclusive enforcement of contracts
non-exclusive protection of private property
national defense
sensible redistribution which would never actually happen so I'm agin it
most importantly, none of these should be open to the democratic process