People often make the mistake of thinking that there is some magic line that separates economic liberty from "personal liberties." It's easy to see why that tends to happen. Most people do not make their own products and services. They're just cogs in the machine of a company or government agency, therefore the most contact they regularly have with economic liberty is in their property rights and what they can buy off the shelf at a store. There are a few fundamental rights that go beyond that, that are part of economic liberty issues, that these people tend to miss, but which they should care about if for no other reason, than it benefits them:
- The right to productively and peacefully make use of one's talents and ideas. (The right to produce a product from your own labor)
- The right to work together toward a common goal. (A key aspect of freedom of association, which is traditionally a "personal liberty" issue)
- The right to better oneself in ways that aren't at the expense of others.
- The right to explore new territory in the fields of art, science and engineering. (If the government heavily regulates how and what you can build, it controls the ability to explore the arts, sciences and engineering.)
Economic liberty is not about corporations. In fact, corporations are often strident enemies of economic liberty. They often fight for restrictions on the ability to research and produce products that affect them. The key to a freer society where governments and corporations do not run rough shod over the rights of the common man, is to push back the encroachments on individual freedom, especially economic liberties, for all law-abiding citizens to the very maximum that society can tolerate.
I have to admit, your viewpoints on Personal liberties are right on. I also have to admit that I'm coming around on the Ron Paul support. I took the advise of some guy on the curb with a sign that said "Google Ron Paul." I did, and what he's preaching seems to make sense. I haven't been able to figure out where he stands on the Fair tax, (I'm a big supporter.) I'm guessing you could tell me though.
I am not sure what his exact position is. I'll have to look it up for you if I get the chance is. My guess is that, knowing that he wants to get rid of the IRS among many other federal agencies, he would be strongly in favor of a simple federal sales tax and tariffs. If given the chance, I'd also wager that he would have the 16th amendment repealed, thus making a progressive income tax unconstitutional.
I have a partial answer for you, Timm. According to Cato@Liberty, a very good blog run by the Cato Institute, Ron Paul plans to abolish the personal income tax altogether. I don't support the idea of a 23% fair tax because that is just too high. What we need is a 10-15% federal sales tax because that would be a true tax on the rich, who often find ways of saying that they have no real income to tax. Every new piece of property they'd buy would be taxed, ranging from the food they buy, to the million dollar houses they move into.
Enough Said, I like that position. Somehow I knew you'd find an answer for me.
Hey, those of us who support the man have to do a little work to counter the people who would have you believe that he is in bed with truthers, nazis and is a rambling fool who would have us buy into economic policies that would make us the Argentina of North America.
I wouldn't bet on Paul endorsing a national sales tax unless he can be convinced that it is constitutional. My personal bet (and I'm just guessing here) is that he would only support a few tax vehicles that already exist, such as tariffs, rather than creating a new tax vehicle.
For the record, I think the Fair Tax is a horrible idea. I think it would only be a short amount of time before the income tax was resurrected; then we would have both a sales tax and an income tax, in addition to tariffs and whatnot. When the idea of an income tax was first being tossed around, it was promoted as a replacement for the tariff and something that would only affect the very rich. It wasn't long, though, before the tariff was back, bigger and badder than ever. Eventually, income taxes became more burdensome, too, and affected a lot more people than just the top few percent. This is the sort of scenario I envision with the introduction of a sales tax.
Rachel and I were watching some of his videos on Youtube, and it sounded like he was in favor of a national sales tax if we could get rid of the income tax.