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Is a Common[er’s] Liberal/Conservative/Libertarian Agenda Possible?

[Reworked from a Facebook thread]

I think one of the many problems with political discourse is that liberals/progressives insist on seeing libertarians as monolithic supporters of the corrupt status quo, when in fact most of us are trenchant critics of corruption who seek allies in creating a more just and free world. Likewise, too many conservatives and libertarians fail to see or seize opportunities to make allies with liberals and each other, preferring to see knaves and fools, rather than fellow citizens who are dismayed by spiralling corruption and economic difficulties.

Call the current system “capitalism” and “free markets” if you want — even when it is a form of heavy-Govt corporate fascism that protects a few and, via #LimitedLiability and extensive, heavy economic regulation, shifts risks/losses to society and reduces the ability of the rest of us to cooperate and to work — but it is NOT AT ALL the capitalism or freed markets that libertarians favor.

Sadly, the breakdown of society that our crony-capitalist system is producing leads to even less mutual trust and greater partisan animosity. This deterioration makes fighting over government even more important — and makes it harder for both liberals and conservatives to hear what many libertarians are saying, and leaves many on both Right and Left reflexively defending counterproductive policies that do little but favor an ever-more powerful and intrusive Government, thus make themselves tools of the crony elite parasites running the show. Yet we must build bridges to mutual understanding and to changes in institutional and legal structure that will enable us to revitalize our society, our communities and our economy.

Discerning libertarians want to empower PEOPLE, not Government or Corporations — both of which are now thoroughly intertwined institutions that, by their very NATURE, incentivize insiders to make decisions that benefit themselves while shifting costs to others outside of the organization.

What are the ways we can EMPOWER people to keep each other (and the kleptocrats) in check?

They largely involve restoring accountability, by reducing #MoralHazard, through the approaches of freeing up small and accountable businesses, and strengthening society and by restoring pitchforks — by gradually winding back the false “protections” by Government that serve instead to put foxes in charge of chicken coops//wolves in charge of sheep. Here are a few ideas:

– STOP making new #LimitedLiability corporations (one state at a time) — they are the very reason for the vast regulatory states that the corrupt have captured;
– DEREGULATE at the state and federal levels for existing and NEW SMALL, LOCALLY-OWNED businesses — they will then be able to compete with and tame the dinosaurs, via “Creative Destruction”;
– REDUCE shareholder “protections” for NEW listed/public companies — the shareholders will know what they are getting into and will be more incentivized to control plunder and excessive risk-taking by executives;
– LOWER #DepositInsurance for NEW and small banks and slash their Govt-imposed regulatory burdens (and deregulate banking entirely for non-corporations, like mutual companies) — depositors will vote at least with their feet to better-controlled banks, which will succeed and will supplant the “Too Big To Fail” banks that both plunder and debase society and, because they are insured, are the subject of plunder by their execs/traders and the investment banks, rating agencies, accounting firms and traders that help them win big bonuses by loading up on risk;
– END the cursed #DrugWar and many other Govt policies whose chief purpose is to provide illusions of “protection” but IN FACT are just devices of looting and controlling WeThePeople.

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