tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20077444.post6995227946241884468..comments2024-03-26T04:21:43.535-05:00Comments on Free Association: TGIF: Clinton v. Bush in 2016Sheldon Richmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15672237234580563637noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20077444.post-26042115948219593902015-05-11T09:52:47.177-05:002015-05-11T09:52:47.177-05:00That's really stupid, and I say that as a libe...That's really stupid, and I say that as a libertarian of deep and abiding conviction, and a Reason fan of long standing. In a match-up between Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton the <i>best case</i> scenario is you get Jeb Bush. At worst you get Hillary. And it's not a 'few months'. It's four to eight years of them. The idea that at the end of all this, people will throw their hands in the air and say, "wow, that sucked! Let's all vote libertarian" is a pipe-dream, with something pretty psychotropic in the pipe. Winning the Presidency is completely out of our grasp right now. Building a movement towards more freedom and less regulation at the State level (via governorships, most plausibly) is something that has a fighting chance of working. I'm afraid you're making the common mistake of letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.daggooglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10651423791218631787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20077444.post-6778989882249008692015-05-10T18:28:25.617-05:002015-05-10T18:28:25.617-05:00I'm afraid Banger nailed it.
Bush will be her...I'm afraid Banger nailed it.<br /><br />Bush will be hero of the conservatives, Hillary will be the Progressives' darling, and the banks with the most ties to Saudi Arabia (the less direct the better) will decide the general direction where our weapons and treasure will go to extract more treasure and sell more munitions.<br /><br />Worse than everyone going along to get along will be the comforting gnashings of the gatekeeping dissidents and the permissible levels of rebellion they demonstrate.thombroganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01594541646576425696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20077444.post-30475421827948789162015-05-09T14:49:30.356-05:002015-05-09T14:49:30.356-05:00I don't think a stale campaign between Clinton...I don't think a stale campaign between Clinton and Bush is going to cause very many people to suddenly see the Emperor has no clothes because the Emperor has virtual clothes and that's good for the vast majority of the public. Very, very few people are interested in major change of any kind--they want a predictable world where our brave heroes in uniform protect our freedoms against hordes of Muslims and evil Russians or whatever. And, at home most people like the security of order and oligarchy that keeps things in place. As an old radical I understand resistance to change even under favorable conditions--people actually resist change even if they theoretically like the change. Most Americans don't want their country to be a the global police force yet that's what the U.S. ha become and there is virtually no interest in changing that and I've spoken to people who represent radically different demographics and they almost all willingly and gratefully swallow the blue pill. <br /><br /> For those of us who are libertarians or anarchists like me this election will remove any illusions of democracy. The next step for us is forming alternative communities and that may take some time since Americans are socially and politically illiterate.Bangernoreply@blogger.com