# A question about socialism... and one about libertarianism

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socialism-and-one-about-libertarianism/855033>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [June 4, 2020, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socialism-and-one-about-libertarianism/855033 "2020-06-04T09:23:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socialism-and-one-about-libertarianism/855033/21 "2020-06-08T04:57:59Z")

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Huh, I thought the privately owned road thing was a mainstream position. Thanks for the information; I’ll certainly be looking at that specifically from now on.

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**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socialism-and-one-about-libertarianism/855033/22 "2020-06-08T08:54:03Z")

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I’m a middle-of-the-roader! _Art for profit and art for purpose both have merit._ Can’t we afford _both_?

BBC and PBS have produced some great programs. Some arts, e.g. opera, with insufficient mass-market appeal, are kept afloat with U.S. government subsidies. Is that so bad?

> [@adaher](#):
>
> … In practice, that doesn’t happen because socialists aren’t too tolerant of dissent. The uncivilized ones kill people …

So it’s socialists, but not fascists, anarchists, Zionists, or the CIA who kill people. Got it. Socialists who don’t even have long-form birth certificates, I suppose. Public support for the arts is the first step toward genocide. … _Sheeeeezh! Just go away, okay?_  
As for “libertarianism,” we have better things to do with our time than playing whack-a-mole with the latest definition of that obscenity. (Note that _I_ called myself a “libertarian” back in the relatively rational 20th century.)

As far as I’m concerned, when someone calls themselves a “libertarian” today, they are in one of three categories:  
(1) People who hate paying taxes but like to smoke Dope;  
(2) Pseudo-intellectuals who know the definition of “external costs” but “know” that external costs can never be assessed because all gummint workers are lazy and corrupt;  
(3) Wackos who think dams so big that only government can build them are not the answer to flood threats, but insurance or Chicago-traded weather derivatives are. I [discussed this 3rd group in this thread.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=697077)

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**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socialism-and-one-about-libertarianism/855033/23 "2020-06-08T09:19:08Z")

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> [@UltraVires](#):
>
> But again says who?
> 
> Who decides whether this particular artist can “visualize a finished work”? Who decides whether he can “handle the tools and materials”? Who decided that these were the “two special qualities” and who decided that this person then now “deserves an audience,” presumably at taxpayer expense so he can complete the work, to judge his work?
> 
> There are a lot of bald declarations in there that seem to probably almost exactly correlate with what you believe is good art. And, with respect, why should we all pay for what you like?

Who decides whether a man can build a house (or a spice rack) or not? Look at a couple of examples of his finished work. I sure hope the man who built your house had learned some things about handling wood and hammers.

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