For those of us critisizing the politicians...

So you would stand by as civilization gets ripped apart from anarchy?

If you got your way, you'd realize that it had Gone Horribly Right. Yes, gun control would no longer exist. But that doesn't make shooting any intruders the best solution.

If drugs are legal, then drug crazed lunatics will become MUCH more common.

I don't want to watch the evening news every night and hear about a "high" driver who crashed into a tree and killed his family. It's bad enough with alchohol already.

edited 21st Jun '11 5:05:36 AM by TheProffesor

I'm all for anarchy, actually. I'm a hardcore believer in individual sovereignty.

Unfortunatly individual soverignty is frequently damaged by other individuals soverignty.

Your ideas are, to put it bluntly, impossible to achieve at the moment or for some considerable time in the future. At least not without the deaths of millions and the loss of planet earths ability to maintain life for a couple of centuries.

edited 21st Jun '11 5:11:38 AM by JosefBugman

So I suppose you would give up the internet and TV Tropes, right? You do realize that people would be hijacking internet servers with no one to stop them. Who knows what they'd do.

I suppose you're willing to give up electricity because powerful gangs would be controlling the stations.

I suppose you would sit by and watch people use their "individual soverienity" to kill each other.

And forget the convenience of grocery stores. The supplies will be hoarded by anyone who has the most firepower.

Powerful gangs will rule cities the way they see fit.

No matter what you do, there will always be some form of government, gangs or Congress. At least right now there are laws which are designed to protect the people. In a world without government, all territory will be ruled with blood. I'd much rather have what we have right now.

In many ways this would be a step up. The FDA prevents a lot of good medications from being sold simply because they didn't file the paperwork and bribe them pay the fees.

Also, there have been 5 major disease outbreaks in the last 10 years pertaining to agricultural products and the FDA didn't do shit about them either to prevent it or contain it once started.

Basically, the FDA has proven itself incompetent and not credible on anything. We'd be better off without it or with something different.

edited 21st Jun '11 5:14:33 AM by MajorTom

You say that now, but you don't realize just how much they actually do that doesn't make the news. Little things like saying you can't put pig intestines in hot dogs and that products need a certain expiration date.

There is so much in the world that we have come to ignore. We don't realize the impact they have.

Sure, there is plenty of incompetence, but there is plenty of success as well. We just have a tendancy to focus on the former.

Yes, it also prevents heroin being sold as cough medicine.

And tbh I want to see you and Savage Heathen have a chat Tom, purely because I think you'll get along like a house on fire.

I concur with the OP. We here complain about the Tories all the time - they're doing a half-decent job, mind - but most of us know that life here would be much, much, worse. Even more worse than the cuts.

Do you realise how much the state provides for you? The average OECD nation spends a few hundred thousand on each citizen. That's the police, fire, health (if you have universal healthcare <snigger>), pensions, road maintainance, etc. etc.

We had this exact discussion in class. "We should get rid of government control." I disagree. Sure, the governments of most countries are wrecks, but they still function adequetly. If the government did not exist, I would not be able to go to school. My operation in a month's time would have to cost me thousands, and my grandma would die, because she wouldn't get her free bus pass or free pensioners fuel allowance.

You don't realise that you can't pay for your own services that were provided by the public sector with the tax money you 'save'.

Restrictions on liberty are like cholesterol; some keep the body running better, and stronger, too much makes it bloated, fat, and at risk of cardiac arrest.

edited 21st Jun '11 5:21:18 AM by Inhopelessguy

@OP: Service guarantees citizenship.

They're more like sulphur: An infinitesimal (that is, absurdly small) amount is necessary for aminoacids and shit, any more is poisonous.

edited 21st Jun '11 7:28:06 AM by SavageHeathen

This one has no desire for dismantling of government, but finds that most of the times it does both too little and too much. It neglects it's duties and promises at the same time encroaching on rights of it's subjects. What this one wants is for government to have

• Clear limits that it could not, under any circumstances, cross
• Real accountability, so that it could be held responsible for it's promises and actions

Well the main issue is that we have humans in control of other humans and that with such a system it is difficult to make it work well. We basically need people who are superhumanly moral in control of society. Until then, we suffer through our shoddy governments because they're better than not having government.

edited 21st Jun '11 8:14:19 AM by breadloaf