From: Charles Bell <quester@eskimo.com>
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 95 17:50:32 PST
To: Al Thompson <alt@iquest.net>
Subject: Re: "bad" government
In-Reply-To: <m0rZNJT-000E68C@dorite.use.com>
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.950131173836.26397K-100000@eskimo.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


On Tue, 31 Jan 1995, Al Thompson wrote:
>  
> If strong government resulted in liberty and freedom, then the
> most intrusive, all-encompassing governments would result in 
> its citizens having the most liberty.  Is this the case?  I would
> look at the (former) Soviet Union, Iran, Cuba, East Germany, etc., 
> for your answer.
>  
This is an example of reasoning by extremes, which always becomes 
reductio ad absurdum.

Unrestricted individual freedom leads to unrestricted freedom of 
`private' corporations.  Private corporations uncurbed by society's law are 
autarkies: internally totalitarian, externally predatory, as amoral as 
amoebas.

Is this the shape of the future you seek?

Charles Bell