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Originally Posted by Cloud No.9
actuslly cuba does have a better education system. first proof of this is the highest literacy rate in the world. and the doctors they produce for thier high quality health service.
I checked into this. The United States has a 97% literacy rate. ...strangely enough, so does Cuba, the exact number. While I could argue a few things, and I'm sure you could too, this is almost a moot point by default, so we'll drop this, eh?
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laissez-faire existed in britain until about the 1880's when it statred to tail off. (liberals started the welfare state)
It wasn't laissez-faire because it wasn't entirely free. Just as in America it was the same. Besides, I'm more or less advocating for a free society around the charts. The British government clearly controls the people's freedom of press, among other things. It's true that Britain was very capitalistic, but it was never pure, uncontrolled laissez-faire capitalism.
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murder and theft can be justified be some people. so can torture if you take what people say on this forum. so yeah people will justify what they see fit.
Does that make this right?
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you mention the government as purely intended for defence and war. this was actually the reason for the creation of the welafre state.....
sorry i need to give another lesson. back in the 19th century britian fough the crimean war. it found that alot of the conscripts were under-nourished, disease and flea ridden and were not acceptable to fight. this opened the eyes to some people that alot of people were very sick and dying and as such without them the country could not fight wars like it used to (urbanisation and industralisation also highlighted this). it saw that something was needed to keep the people healthy so they were fight enough to defend their country. the foundations of the welfare state were created by the liberals to combat this. and so things began to transform into what they are today.
I said the government exists as a means to protects the citizens' rights. If we lived in pure anarchy, a man could shoot any other man without retaliation. A government exists as a means to make sure the people's rights aren't being infringed.
First off, that is semi-propoganda. It is a proven fact that the more capitalistic a society is the more productive the people are, the higher the living standard, etc. Making it seems that the people of a capitalistic society are flea-ridden and sick is sort of ...debatable. And if you need the fact to be proven in a general sense, please recall the Cold War - and ask yourself who won and why.
I believe in only a free, voluntary army - a conscription bill is unconstitutional (I'm using American terms, here. In the general sense, it violates man's rights.)
I also want to point something out. Here in the United States, socialism is regarded as evil by nearly everyone. Even those that advocate socialistic changes try to avoid the word "socialism". Our problem, as a whole, is that people apologize for being so individualistic. I mean, I was getting a totally different history lesson. The teachers taught that free societies were beneficial, even if they grumble under their breath that people need some control. I just thought it's funny you were taught so... how do you say... negatively on capitalism.
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to say that africa could feast right now is frankly disgusting.
I think it's quite disgusting you'd rather Africa to starve.
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an under funding only exists if the funding does not. make the funding exist (tax the beurgoise) and things will stop being so poor for the impoverished.
End justifies the means argument, again. Find another way. How about grant the poor the freedom they deserve and let them work for a living for their own personal wealth? Why reduce the poor to pawns for the State?
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are you saying that if you want to be a millionaire and work hard enough you will become one? that's why so many are on the dole? because they don't want to become millionaires? they just want to live below the poverty line?
...more or less, yeah. Or that they are being taught that it's evil to acquire wealth, that the rich man is poor in spirit?
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capitalism only reinforces the class system. look at where my country was 100 years ago and tell me that everyon was equal.
It was barely capitalism and not free. Is everyone happy now, being taxed out of hell for the government?
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you can rise above your class and stature only with the right education. and you will not recieve this if you are in an impoverished family who cannot pay for private schooling. poor schools make poor results. invest more and you will get more out.
Public schooling is statist. That's a whole 'nother argument.
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class is ot based on wealth. no matter how much you earn you will not become a member of the aristocracy.
America has no aristocracy. We don't have an old woman who throws a sword at people's shoulder to make them "better" human beings. That's clearly a violation of people's rights. All men are created equal.
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happiness is a right as a human being. to work is a right as well. to say people do not have a right to work and no right to be happy is what hitler said about the jews at nuremburg.
My family is Jewish, you know. They escaped to America because they recognized they had the most chance in this country where the pursuit of happiness and the pursuit of welath, as rights, are preserved.
Happiness cannot be a right. Define a "right". "I have the right to be happy!" is only a half-truth. "I have the right to pursue happiness," is. If you have the right to a 9-5 job, I ask you - by what standard? -at whose expense? Who will you force to pay you?
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capitalism does not promise freedom and so does not promise rights.
Capitalism is a free market. ...this is just a ridiculous argument, sorry, I don't even feel like addressing it.
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(sorry the replies are a little chopped up and all over the place)
Quite all right.