1edwood79

I see.

Why.?

Aggression is coercion, fraud, assault or theft against another individual or their property. You can be as intolerant as you want to be as long as you don't do any of those things. The hallmark of liberty is tolerance. You want to form a socialist commune, it's ok with me as long as you don't force people to join or force me to pay for it.

Though I believe there is some truth in the writing of Ayn Rand, her works are not representative of libertarianism,by a long shot.Try some Hayek, Fredric Douglas or Henry Thoreau. Regulation is, like any business, only as good as the people administering it. That means they can F stuff up just as bad as any corporation. Why is it you would trust people wielding immense power in government more than those who run corporations. At least it a private entity screws up or is dishonest you can sue the crap out of it. You just admitted that government in Flint and Louisiana don't work. As a tax payer why should I want to buy more of that.

Is no one else disturbed by the fact that experienced nurses are being forced to get BSNs to keep jobs they have been doing for years? Where are out unions and professional organizations on this? If they were truly representing the best interests of nurses, or for that matter patients, they would be defending us from this BS, not advocating it.

The US government is, exponentially, the biggest polluter in the nation. Why? Because it far too frequently acts as an unchecked entity. If you want to see an example of the kind of destruction caused by unchecked government fraud, incompetence, perjury and disease just explore the Flint water crisis. There were no private companies involved in that one. Or, maybe take a look at some of the devastation the Tennessee Valley Authority has caused over the years. I'd also point out that competition has very little to do with many public contracts. It is the shortsightedness and sometimes fraudulent behavior of your beloved government personnel that lead to the "predators" getting the contracts. How you going to fix that? More government to oversee your government? This isn't a black and white issue. Instilling some libertarian values into our leadership doesn't mean ending government. It means decentralizing power and allowing market competition as often as possible.

I agree. I'm not placing the blame on Obama. The ACA is just the icing on the cake. You can't tell me you haven't noticed an acceleration in the process. Small hospitals and even large clinics are being snatched up left and right. Doctors who own their own practices are becoming a rare breed.

The new system is less responsive, less innovative, more intrusive, and more expensive.

You are describing the system we have now, not a free market system. The situation you describe, including corporate red tape, happens because Government, Big Pharma , Insurance and Big Hospital Systems are colluding, eliminating competition, driving prices up and efficiency down. Entities in competitive systems can't set prices too high because if they do someone else will offer lower prices and take their business away. Competition also encourages quality. Even our central planners accept that as evidenced by their attempts to artificially inject competition into various parts the system. Ever worked anywhere they want you to treat anyone you interact with, even your coworkers, as "customers?" It's a common practice these days. Where I live big health systems are rapaciously gobbling up smaller hospitals and systems. They are also buying large shares in insurance companies. Stand alone hospitals are rapidly becoming a thing of the past. This is happening mainly because current health care law encourages it. It smacks of monopolization and oligarchy, things previously abhorred by Americans. Our great trust busting Teddy Roosevelt must be rolling in his grave over this perverse use of American law. VW did what they did because of the perverse laws they are acting under. That is not to excuse their behavior. I'd also point out that they are paying heavily for their transgression. And even cheating, they were making desirable high quality product because of the competition they face. Do you believe that a tightly controlled health system behaving in similarly egregious manner would be treated the same way by the powers that run it. The more Government controls something the less likely it is to fess up to its mistakes. We've seen this again and again. Look at what's happened to the Vet.

I like Ron Swanson. The character is a parody, but a gentle one.

Even in that "horrible" Gilded Age things were steadily getting better for the common man. Markets respond to the public interest and generally gets it right. Those who aren't right go out of business. Centralized planners tell the public what its interest is and when it is wrong causes shortages which leads to rationing and in the long run cause disasters like the starvation we've seen in socialist countries.

I only hate collectivism, or the notion that individuals should be forced to participate in whatever the powers that be decide is the common good. Affordable Health Care would be great. I'm OK with labor organizations as long a participation is voluntary. Why would anybody hate education? Libertarians are great team players. They aren't very good at being forced to do things, especially when those things are clearly detrimental to the common good.

And you think that giving those same people power through government is a better idea?

Do you really think that Big Pharma isn't right in there making the rules?

Ooh! A true raving neocon. I so seldom see those in the wild.