Hi from the middle of bible thumper USA

[Tonus]

I was married to a Christian

Now I am divorced.

I am now unmarried but have own a home with my girlfriend who is a tenured biologist at a large university in the state and she has not once asked me to attend church.

4. PROFIT!!!

Welcome to the forums.

[JesusHChrist]

Welcome!

Atheist libertarian here.

I hate god AND big government.

[Brian37]

Welcome!

Atheist libertarian here.

I hate god AND big government.

I hate all god/s as claims. But I do not hate all wealthy people, merely the fact that like politics and religion, ignore the fact that they can get abusive to society as well, and what we have now is one giant Ponzy scheme. So if you want "less government" that comes with personal responsibility to care about the society you do business in. All "less government" would do in our current climate would be throwing gas on the fire.

[JesusHChrist]

Given humans have a strong tendency to look out for their own self interest, it comes down to, do you trust the government more than private enterprise?

I don't know why people put so much faith in governments when they have repeatedly shown their lack of trustworthiness.

It is certainly true business also has a long history of violating customers' trust. Remember Google and their "do no evil" motto? Meanwhile, it turns out they are on a data collection frenzy to be used for their own purposes. And Facebook -- don't use it for other than the most minimal purposes. Don't trust them at all.

But remove the profit motive as is the case with government and I think the potential for abuse is far greater.

It's more a matter of balancing the lesser of the two evils.

[rexbeccarox]

Welcome!

[Brian37]

Given humans have a strong tendency to look out for their own self interest, it comes down to, do you trust the government more than private enterprise?

I don't know why people put so much faith in governments when they have repeatedly shown their lack of trustworthiness.

It is certainly true business also has a long history of violating customers' trust. Remember Google and their "do no evil" motto? Meanwhile, it turns out they are on a data collection frenzy to be used for their own purposes. And Facebook -- don't use it for other than the most minimal purposes. Don't trust them at all.

But remove the profit motive as is the case with government and I think the potential for abuse is far greater.

It's more a matter of balancing the lesser of the two evils.

Listen to what you are saying. I agree people look out for their own self interest which is why you have the concept of neutral government, so that no one entity public or private or religious can gain a monopoly.

It is no more wise to blindly trust a private business than it is a political party or religion. With the global mess the top created you must think I am a fool.

There is only ONE WAY to get that "less government", and right now the conditions are simply not there. When business stops exploiting and stops the climate of a global race to the bottom, then and only then can you realistically get that "less government".

EVERY human action is done by humans and that includes private business, and it does not deserve anymore a free pass than a political party or a religion. I see nothing right now by global corporatism that gives me any indication they give one fuck who they hurt to make a buck. The pipline break, the gulf oil spill, the fertilizer depot in Texas blowing up, the slave wage factories in Bangladesh collapsing are all due to abuse of power. Not wealth itself, but failure to care.

High crime in urban areas and meth labs and gangs in rural trailer parks are all due to failure to care about the conditions. You can blame workers and the poor all you want, but that does not fool anyone. You cant rot society and expect it to survive.

By no means does that mean I want to end the private sector, but to say it is not abusive is bullshit.

[Minimalist]

I don't know why people put so much faith in governments when they have repeatedly shown their lack of trustworthiness.

Because private enterprise would poison you in a heartbeat in search of profit if the government allowed it. The problem these days is that business has co-opted government to permit its continued crimes.

[Brian37]

I don't know why people put so much faith in governments when they have repeatedly shown their lack of trustworthiness.

Because private enterprise would poison you in a heartbeat in search of profit if the government allowed it. The problem these days is that business has co-opted government to permit its continued crimes.

Thank you. And I do get sick of anyone who uses fear mongering to avoid problem solving. You will never find one post on my history on the internet EVER claiming we should become Stalin's Russia or even Chinas goverment. Nor do I want to end the private sector.

I think the private sector when it is not off the rails does great things, but right now global corporatism is killing us and not even allowing mom and pop shops to do right by their employees and I have worked for bosses if it were not for the bullying of big business would do the right thing.

ANYTHING be it public or private, political or religious can go off the rails and become abusive. It is the abuse I want to stop, not private business.

[Neo-Scholastic]

Welcome to the madhouse.

[Darkstar]