No, it's also a thing rich people and big corporations do all the time. Governments do that also on behalf of those people and their interests. Like, say, the did it for mr. Rockefeller: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludlow_Massacre with the national guard. But rich people are also perfectly capable of doing it for themselves. In the same case, Rockefeller had an armed guard or his own killing people. Now, at least nowadays, corporations do it a little less in the US, but even US corporations have people "vanish" and be killed all the time, in Latin America, Africa and elsewhere.
You seem to think that that's a feature. It isn't - it's a huge bug. I have no interest in being "controlled by the general public and it's will".
Too bad, because it's either that, or a few guys controlling everybody else. Your country is not your playground, and nobody owes to you or anyone else anything from birthright or something. So everybody has to decide together.
If govt has power, it will act in his behalf, no matter how much you'd like otherwise.
Sure, it's a tradeoff. You give some people the power to act on your behalf in order to protect you from big bullies, and they might use it for their interests (or even for some of the bullies interests). Still, there is not other option -- except to give free reign to bullies and try to "protect yourself". Good luck with that. Their boss is a little bully, and still most people bend over backwards to accommodate him and spend their hours working overtime of fear they will get fired and end up on the street. If just your employee can do that to you, good luck with the real big bullies out there (from the health industry, to the banking industry, ..., to the mob).
The only option is that you give power to the government but you are vigilant about how it uses it (something of which we do a really bad job). There is no option b. It's not something it's up for some guy from Nowhereville to decide upon, as if he has some unique insight others lack -- it has been found to work this way since historical times and all over the world.
Govts kill millions (actually approaching 100M in the last 100 years) and you equate that with the equivalent of a weekend's worth of drunk driving. (And then there's Ted Kennedy....)
And no, it isn't "rich or govt". For all your bleating, Larry Page, Larry Ellison, and Bill Gates don't give a damn about me. Meanwhile, every pol wants a piece.
Your "only option" doesn't work, so it doesn't much matter what would happen if it did.
"Govts kill millions (actually approaching 100M in the last 100 years) and you equate that with the equivalent of a weekend's worth of drunk driving."
Governments kill millions? You seem to confuse governments with wars. Or you mean "kill millions of their own", like, say, Pol Pot? Then you confuse government with dictatorship AND civil war at the same time. Sure, dictatorship is a form of government, but we were talking about representative democracy here.
Historically, every time the governments have gone to war has been to make some rich people richer. It's not called the "military-INDUSTRIAL" complex for nothing.
And no, it isn't "rich or govt". For all your bleating, Larry Page, Larry Ellison, and Bill Gates don't give a damn about me
Exactly. But that's not in your favor. It's just that you are an ant to them, and they can crush you whenever they want if it serves their interests. From Bill Gates illegally bribing and extorting PC makers, to Larry Page using his search monopoly to pollute the results and crash the competition.
There's always an excuse when a govt kills millions.
> Historically, every time the governments have gone to war has been to make some rich people richer.
Not even close to true.
>> And no, it isn't "rich or govt". For all your bleating, Larry Page, Larry Ellison, and Bill Gates don't give a damn about me
> Exactly. But that's not in your favor.
Actually, it is. They don't bother because it doesn't "serve their interests". Govts do.
> From Bill Gates illegally bribing and extorting PC makers
to make more money and sell windows pcs for less than market rate. Wow, I was hurt.
The problem with the "buy a market" strategy is that you never actually finish. As soon as you stop buying and start trying to make "extra profit", competitors appear and undercut you.
You do know that breaking up standard oil INCREASED prices to consumers. It was basically a move by railroads to raise their rates.
> to Larry Page using his search monopoly to pollute the results and crash the competition.
You're seriously claiming that Google gets users by giving them worse search results?
No, it's also a thing rich people and big corporations do all the time. Governments do that also on behalf of those people and their interests. Like, say, the did it for mr. Rockefeller: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludlow_Massacre with the national guard. But rich people are also perfectly capable of doing it for themselves. In the same case, Rockefeller had an armed guard or his own killing people. Now, at least nowadays, corporations do it a little less in the US, but even US corporations have people "vanish" and be killed all the time, in Latin America, Africa and elsewhere.
You seem to think that that's a feature. It isn't - it's a huge bug. I have no interest in being "controlled by the general public and it's will".
Too bad, because it's either that, or a few guys controlling everybody else. Your country is not your playground, and nobody owes to you or anyone else anything from birthright or something. So everybody has to decide together.
If govt has power, it will act in his behalf, no matter how much you'd like otherwise.
Sure, it's a tradeoff. You give some people the power to act on your behalf in order to protect you from big bullies, and they might use it for their interests (or even for some of the bullies interests). Still, there is not other option -- except to give free reign to bullies and try to "protect yourself". Good luck with that. Their boss is a little bully, and still most people bend over backwards to accommodate him and spend their hours working overtime of fear they will get fired and end up on the street. If just your employee can do that to you, good luck with the real big bullies out there (from the health industry, to the banking industry, ..., to the mob).
The only option is that you give power to the government but you are vigilant about how it uses it (something of which we do a really bad job). There is no option b. It's not something it's up for some guy from Nowhereville to decide upon, as if he has some unique insight others lack -- it has been found to work this way since historical times and all over the world.