I see libertarianism as a youthful milestone, for those who see through the "infinity free shit" offer of socialism. And if discovering libertarianism is an intellectual milestone, then leaving it behind is one of maturity and empathy, when you see that are also very hardworking people who've been screwed over.
And the right should continue to hammer the left's complete betrayal and disdain for the actual working class:
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Well, there's a distinction, I should think, between lolbertarian and libertarian. The lolbertarian is obsessed with ideology, with absolutes, and with dumb shit like weed and sex work. They tend to push for such ridiculously utopian visions of society that such an ideology can't really stand up to scrutiny with the reality of the world's structure.
Libertarian, by contrast, seems to me like taking those more lofty goals and bringing them down to earth - taking an interest in results, realities, and minor victories. Can you ever roll back the role of state to pre-civil-war levels? Yyyyeah, no. Can you try to stop the aggressive expansion of federal oversight and power from creeping into evermore areas where it has no business? Probably not, but it's better to try at that.
It's important to remember that the center left has no real devotees in modern american politics - just hucksters and suits wearing the skin of it, whereas the progressive left has plenty energetic devotees. Center-left and center-right largely want the same things and agree on things to a shocking and striking degree; it isn't until you drift into the leftier-parts of "mainstream" and on into progressive that you find the real disdain. Center democrats and republicans yell at each other for a little while before they sit down with a beer and start talking about sportsball. So make sure you focus in on the ones huffing their own farts above all else.
Yes, it sucks that America gutted its manufacturing industry, but the rust belt hasn't been the steel belt for forty years. If you're sitting there lamenting the better times for four goddamn decades, that's on you. And your parents, and probably your parents' parents, because that's two entire generations of time to get the hell out or find something else to do.
We're at a point where feeling bad about the rust belt is about as ridiculous as feeling bad about all the coppersmiths who were out of a job when bronze was discovered. Almost everyone who was working in a factory in 1980 is either dead or retired by now. It's time to move on.
Not to mention the fact that spending all your money on drugs isn't a legitimate form of poverty either.
Do you think that industry just drops off and the jobs vanish when it's "done" all at once? Look at northern england, southwest france, virtually all of eastern germany, and so-on as further examples that decay isn't tripping off of a sheer cliff. You sound just as boog as the progressive yuppies you were trying to dunk on.
"Just get up and move" is that lolbertarian perspective - you think that shit's cheap? That you can bring the family along with you, or that people who've gone through shit schools farting them out lacking any skills at all can compete when American industry
everywhere has no need for skill-less work? When factories that employ thousands of people gradually outsource jobs before they close up and shut - what, you think that just has no effect, or some capital will magically open up a new opportunity?
If they can find a way to get skills, sure, there's something. Doesn't work for most people - and if you can't get into the local unions, chances are you're going to have a hard time working in any shops. Even then if you're lucky, there's only so many decent factory/manufacturing jobs out there.
I got out of all that shit. I'm fine. I leveraged my ability to do much for the immediate future in exchange for getting out of it. There are not enough slots where the job opportunities are for everyone to get out of it. There are a number of jobs in the cities, too few; there's a number of job in the suburbs, too few. These places are already at-capacity. But man, we should've put you in charge of the opioid crisis. "Just stop doing it!" would have saved so many lives.
People born middle class are almost guaranteed to get out of these places, and they do. The poor and the working class rarely get that opportunity - according to you, because they're living in luxury. By all means, take a spin in whatever your neck of the woods' hinterlands are - go tell those people to get fucked. If they're in eastern Europe, well, communism ended like 30 years ago, right? Greece? Dude, The Eurozone crisis was -a decade- ago! Poor in Scandinavia? May as well neck yourself!
We can have a discussion, but if you're going to put words in my mouth
I was replying to a guy who said that becoming a heroin addict was a justifiable reaction to your factory shutting down, and I say it is not. They lost a no skill, no education job. There are plenty of those. Become a truck driver.
Ah, so you're just a clown. Put your nose on next time, pal.
Trucking is one of the most insecure industries around, thanks to self-driving shit. No matter how far off that invention is, capital is dumping into it. Smaller truckers can barely afford to lease their own trucks. There is a demand for skilled labor in the US - you think bumfuck has a place where you can get certed for it?
Pssst. There's a reason the rust belt liked heroin. It ain't because that shit costs money or is hard to make.