[ExI] Is there a potential libertarianism / democracy tension?

[F. C. Moulton]

On 09/29/2011 02:10 PM, Adrian Tymes wrote:
> On Thu, Sep 29, 2011 at 11:32 AM, Dan <dan_ust at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>> I must have missed this. What parts of the state were dismantled
>> "over the past few decades"?
>
> Financial deregulation, for one. Certain Republicans are all for
> letting banks do as they please. If they could get away with it,
> they'd quickly draft and sign legislation saying that no one may
> initiate force against banks, for any reason. They have at least
> lowered this - lower capital gains tax rates, less things that
> could be cited as legal reasons to initiate force (via police &
> court proxies) against them, and so on.

I have no great affection for either the Republicans or the Democrats
however I think might be just a bit unfair to make critical statements
about just the Republicans.   The fingerprints of both parties are all
over the current mess along with a bunch of bankers, politicians,
regulators, etc.

Concerning the terms "regulation" and 'deregulation"; those terms have
been so abused and misused that they have almost lost any usefulness. 
Just to say that something is better because it is either "regulated" or
"deregulated" missed the crucial point that the details and context are
vitally important. 

Fred