Bill Bartlett writes:
> [...]
> >> First you have to get hold of a car.
> >
> >Don't make it hard, Bill. Cars exist. People have cars. How I get
> >the car is irrelevant if we agree that chars are available. If not,
> >then choose some other machine that can be used as a weapon. A gun,
> >for example, or a knife, or a hammer. I don't care. But since we
> >started with a car, let's finish with a car. I have a car in running
> >order.
>
> I was making an important point though. Which is that anarchy or socialism
> is the democratic government of the means of production and distribution of
> *things*, as distinct from our present system of democratic government of
> *people*.
>
> The difference is stark. Under our present system, people are ruled over by
> government, the economy is not. Production is ungoverned, anarchistic.
>
> "Anarchy", if it means anything, means the absence of political government
> and in addition most anarchist thought is socialistic, that is most
> anarchists desire democratic government of the means of production. They
> are only *political* anarchists, they actually want more government of the
> economy. This implies quite a different sort of society than the present
> one.
>
> You are simply assuming it is still a political government of some kind,
> with the government of people slightly differently organised.
I know there is a difference. I am a left-liberal according to the
test below. On the scale provided, the closest thing to anarchist is
libertarian, but I get the impression from some contributors here that
even libertarianism is too restirictive, and there should be no
government at all. My variation on the definition of left-liberal
below would be that I value central funding of economic issues, as
opposed to central planning in general of economic issues.
Note: I've had this for several years, so I don't know if any of the
address info is still valid.
martin
WORLD'S SMALLEST POLITICAL QUIZ
Take the World's Smallest Political Quiz to find your political
identity. Choose Y when you agree with a statement, M for Maybe,
Sometimes or Need-More-Information, or choose N for No.
ARE YOU A SELF-GOVERNOR ON PERSONAL ISSUES?
20 10 0
Y __ M __ N __ Military service should be voluntary. (No draft)
Y __ M __ N __ Government should not control the press, media, or Internet.
Y __ M __ N __ Repeal regulations on sex for consenting adults.
Y __ M __ N __ Drug laws do more harm than good. Repeal them.
Y __ M __ N __ Let peaceful people cross borders freely.
____ My PERSONAL self-government score: add 20 for Y, 10 for M, 0 for N.
ARE YOU A SELF-GOVERNOR ON ECONOMIC ISSUES?
20 10 0
Y __ M __ N __ Businesses and farms should operate without govt. subsidies.
Y __ M __ N __ People are better off with free trade than with tariffs.
Y __ M __ N __ Minimum wage laws cause unemployment. Repeal them.
Y __ M __ N __ End taxes. Pay for services with user fees.
Y __ M __ N __ U.S. government should stop policing the world.
____ My ECONOMIC self-government score: add 20 for Y, 10 for M, 0 for N.
How to use the Self-Government Compass
Mark your PERSONAL score on the left and your ECONOMIC score on the
right. Then, follow the grid lines (rows of dots) until they meet at
your political identity! An example for someone who scored 20 on
Personal and 30 on Economic is indicated with an asterisk (*).
The compass measures self-government. Liberals value freedom of
expression. Conservatives value free enterprise. Libertarians
value both. Authoritarians are against both.
.
./ \.
./ . \.
./ . . \.
./ . . . \.
./ .Libertarian. \.
./ \. . . . ./ \.
./ . \.___.___.___./ . \.
./ . . ! . . . ! . . \.
./ . . ! . . ! . . \.
./ . Left . ! . . . ! . Right . \.
100 \. Liberal ! Centrist !Conservative/ 100
\. . . ! . . . ! . . ./
80 \. . !___.___.___! . ./ 80
\. ./ . . . \. ./
60 \./ . . * . \./ 60
(%) \. Authoritarian ./ (%)
Personal 40 \. . . ./ 40 Economic
Self-Governor \. . ./ Self-Governor
20 \. ./ 20
\./
0 0
_________________________________________________________________
Political Philosophies
* Libertarians are self-governers in both personal and economic
matters. They believe government's only purpose is to protect
people from coercion and violence. They value individual
responsibility, and tolerate economic and social diversity.
* Left-liberals prefer self-government in personal matters and
central decision-making on economics. They want government to
serve the disadvantaged in the name of fairness. Leftists tolerate
social diversity, but work for economic equality.
* Centrists favor selective government intervention and emphasize
practical solutions to current problems. They tend to keep an open
mind on new issues. Many centrists feel that government serves as
a check on excessive liberty.
* Right-conservatives prefer self-government on economic issues, but
want official standards in personal matters. They want the
government to defend the community from threats to its moral
fiber.
* Authoritarians want government to advance society and individuals
through expert central planning. They often doubt whether
self-government is practical. Left-authoritarians are also called
socialists, while fascists are right-authoritarians.
Would you like an information kit about libertarian ideas, including a
best-selling hardbound book, five quiz cards, and more? Send an $8.00
contribution to help with the costs to: Advocates for Self-Government,
3955 Pleasantdale Road #106 A, Atlanta, GA 30340
Tel: 404-417-1304 800-932-1776
The Advocates for Self-Government is a non-profit educational organi-
zation. Our purpose is to present libertarianism -- the freedom
philosophy -- honestly and persuasively. Contributions are tax
deductible under section 501(c)(3).
_________________________________________________________________
Copyright (c) 1995 Advocates for Self-Government, Inc. OK to reprint
quiz as-is with credit to the Advocates. The Self-Government Compass
is adapted from an original idea by David Nolan.
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