Friday, July 31, 2009

High-Speed to LA

As a Libertarian, it’s really hard to be optimistic about the direction our country is going. Both the left and the right are so far to the center that neither are close to my philosophies.

Gambling, Drugs, Prostitution, and Nuclear Power are all basically illegal in a country that could use every one of them. We are worried about funding as well as clean energy, and those issues can be solved if we just learn that living in a Republic is better than living in a Democracy. If we just taxed the sins then everyone could pay less in taxes, and the people who drag society down will at least be paying taxes instead of wasting tax dollars in jails.

California, where I live, is a perfect example of why a Democracy doesn’t really work. Here we can vote on ballot measures for spending in the state, which reminds me very much of the Ben Franklin quote, “When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.”

During the election we voted on a high-speed train going from LA to San Francisco. It would cost the state billions of dollars, and the tickets for it would be $50. On Southwest I can fly the same distance in about the same amount of time (airport time included) for only $10 or $20 more. So, in my opinion the train wasn’t worth it to me, because I wouldn’t be for it if it was an option in the free market.

When I told my sister this she told me that she voted for it because it wasn’t me paying for it, it was the collective pull of many people. But the way I see it, if I wouldn’t pay for it myself, why would I want to tax it on the rest of the state?

This has gotten off topic, but I’m going to begin posting a lot of articles on here about my Libertarian beliefs, because this is the internet, and the internet breeds Libertarians. The free exchange of information really does seem to create a more Libertarian way of thinking. I believe that is because it allows people to see past the common misconceptions of the world that we have.