Comments by "Harry Mills" (@harrymills2770) on "John Locke & John Stuart Mill's Philosophies (Pt.1) | Brandon Turner | POLITICS | Rubin Report" video.

  1. We're talking about guys getting close to some crucial ideas. Put Locke's work in the context of his time and he was pretty forward-thinking. Advanced the science of government. Not an end-all, be-all, just as Magna Carta wasn't. But still important thinking for our time and all time.
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  2. Aristotle and Plato are milestones on the road to enlightenment. Surely we've evolved beyond much of the prevailing thinking of their time, but that's no reason to scoff.
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  3. A libertarian would also be looking to wean the national government off its addiction to getting involved in everything under the sun. It's becoming more and more obvious that society and people are evolving far more rapidly than legislatures, courts and executives. California's taken things so far, even the most obstinate big-government types can't deny how foolish it is to micromanage society from central authority.
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  4. There's a difference between being born into a social contract that guarantees you the fruits of your own labor and provides a setting in which you can improve your worth and thereby gain more fruits. Good things happen for more people if all you do is guarantee that one person can't take another person's shit, without their consent.
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  5. Yes, there is a basic role for government, for sure. I'm not sure the anarcho-capitalists aren't on to something, though. The true source of neverending wealth is repeat customers, and that requires trust, and trust is not a matter of law or regulations. Trust is good faith in the past projected into the future. This is Adam Smith's Invisible Hand that all the high-sounding philosophers have no answer to, but even ancient Chinese philosophers understood the FACT that order arises spontaneously. Over-control leads to chaos and harm.
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  6. You're just butt-hurt because a lot of people believe the facts argue against collectivism and the use of force to impose one's will on others, because of the presumed "rightness" of the (latest) cause or (trumped-up) crisis.
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  7. I think "social contract" is a stab at getting to the importance of culture - the DOMINANCE of culture. Depending on the culture, and its uniformity, all kinds of wacked-out schemes can work pretty well. I prefer a system rooted in individual rights, which harnesses greed for the greater good, without the need for victims or force of compulsion.
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  8. Those who honor contracts will be the only ones getting 2nd contracts. A voluntary system - a MARKET - quickly corrects itself towards sustainability. Only sustainable practices persist. But as long as other states practice government, we are obliged to do so, also. The trouble with unfettered capitalism is we've rarely seen it. There's always some fascist who wants the rules bent in their favor, and always someone in government or bureaucracy willing to oblige them.
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  9. And how does that differ from the current state of things?
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  10. I adore Jimmy Dore, but like all my adorable progressive friends, he sees a lot of the symptoms and obvious abuses, but doesn't see to the root of the problem, which was putting government in charge of too much. We do need a central government for the common defense, as long as there are other countries that would otherwise hurt us. But we don't need to police the planet, so gov't's gone too far in that direction. And there's nothing in the constitution about the federal gov't doing charity work. That's the job of us in our communities, and we should take pride in our communities. Keepin' folks fed ain't the feds' job, except in national emergency, but to be in a state of national emergency - on a war footing since December, '41 - perpetually, for decades without end says that the feds have been totally unable and unwilling to declare victory and leave the petty stuff to the folks at home. It's debilitating to our states, towns and neighborhoods, imo.
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  11. I don't think any of those guys got things perfect, but they were pointing towards my own version of "imperfect," so I'm grateful to 'em. Hobbes is interesting, too. Kind of a rational Christian, reasoning honestly from some good (and some not-good) assumptions. But still pointing towards a different understanding of the proper limits to the authority of government over the individual. Important milestones in the history of modern thought.
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  12. it's funny how religions will ally themselves with science on the one hand, and then align against science on the other. And it's interesting how belief systems have evolved. Even though fewer affiliate themselves with any specific religious affiliation, there's still a strong residue of "reason to what is" and "strive for what should be, in love." It's kind of an Orange Catholic sort of thing we should all be able to agree on.
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  13. So are you talking Austrian School, here? Sometimes those dudes go so far down the rabbit-hole, they seem to turn themselves around. I think they're leaving something out of their theory, else their anarcho-capitalism thing would be in full swing, already. They haven't accounted for the mobilization of many against one or two cases of bad abuse that were ended by being exposed, and institute an authority of some sort to police those kinds of abuses, just when the light of day ended the worst of it and put other would-be assholes on notice. Voluntary shunning is underrated as a force for good in a free market. Get caught out, you're out of business. No government agency to cushion the blow or prop you up, because you're too big to fail.
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  14. Yes. We became fascist in the name of fighting fascism. End justified the means in order to fight the end-justifies-the-means people. I heard somewhere that we're still in a state of emergency stretching clear back to FDR that gives them the loophole to run a command/crony economy. Free markets didn't see to it that our beef were injected with antibiotics since WW II. And can I get some non-homogenized milk, out there? Pasteurization is only common sense, but homogenization is a hoax on humanity. Maybe I want to skim the cream off my milk, once in awhile.
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  15. You are correct, ArtemiaSalina. "The market never lies." But government can lie to itself all day long and impose its will where it can. The bloated monstrosity that sits atop us, now, is unable to respond to the kinds of rapid changes taking place. There are too many new things popping up that haven't been legislated on, yet. At some point, on some level, at all times, society is well ahead of government in the realm of "What's possible?" Thing about Uber and Couch Surfing and how established businesses tried to use gov't to lock those innovations out, even though they're a more efficient way to allocate resources, and just a way cooler way to interact with the culture you're visiting. Kids with their noses in their smartphones can spread info nationwide in seconds, one text message or phone call at a time. As long as that infrastructure's up, there's just too much for gov't to process (in my uninformed opinion), and way more advantage in individuals having such coms available, as long as the stuff works. Ideas. Good ideas. From rocket stoves to backyard vacuum-tube production.
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  16. It doesn't necessarily take a governing body to shun any business or person who didn't honor a contract. Your reputation would be ruined. You'd be shunned from the market, because everybody'd know you and nobody would trust you. Government should be reluctant to legislate on specific matters. It's not. The market changes faster than gov't can legislate. I'd rather put whistle-blowers on a pedestal, with all kinds of protections - even rewards thru donations by grateful citizens. Transparency could possibly take over where regulations must leave off. Still, it's a reasonable thing to have a local police force and local, state and federal courts to adjudicate civil and criminal matters, but especially criminal matters. The law and the courts are so the citizens don't just settle their own matters with whatever weapons come to hand.
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  17. Where do you start but at security of one's person? And after that, security of one's property. You secure those 2 things and freedom of action quickly manifests in higher and higher levels of self-sustaining complexity and better living. That's what saddens me about so much of Africa. Too many folks whose rights ain't bein' respected. Natural rights. And we aid and abet a lot of it, because in the minds of some, natural resources > natural rights. They need an American-style revolution to take place. The good people need to stand up and say it ain't right to take other people's stuff. We don't want anybody else's stuff. Just leave us to do our own stuff, and maybe do some trading with us.
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  18. Dismissing Plato is rejecting scholarship. A scholar knows everything that's been done or written about the subject, and Plato's a big, early part of the subject. A music scholar knows that they didn't always tune pianos (clavichords, harpsichords) like they do now, but that doesn't mean you throw out the Baroque period of music.
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  19. Good convo.
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