• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Why do you still support our system of government?

Why do you still support our system of government?

  • I’m one of the 15% - 20% who think it is working properly.

    Votes: 3 9.1%

  • I’m one of the 15% - 20% but think any problems can easily be fixed.

    Votes: 2 6.1%

  • I’m among the 15% - 20% but think it’s not the system it’s the party running it.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • I’m among the 80% - 85% but think it’s not the system but the people running it.

    Votes: 11 33.3%

  • I’m among the 80% - 85% but don’t think there is anything we can do about it.

    Votes: 2 6.1%

  • I’m among the 80% - 85% but don’t think there’s enough support to reinvent it.

    Votes: 6 18.2%

  • I’m among the 80% - 85% and am willing to act, just waiting for the right time.

    Votes: 7 21.2%

  • I’m among the 80% - 85% but just don’t give a crap.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • I’m not American, and not that concernd about your mess.

    Votes: 2 6.1%
  • Total voters
    33
When all they do is support the interest of foreigners and foreign criminals in USA.

THAT SAYS IT ALL>
 
MoSurveyor said:
He collects taxes and makes laws.
As a simple homeowner I don't do either.
Click to expand...

Well, if you call rent taxes then I can see why you believe what you believe. I don't consider a landlord to be a government. Maybe when I hear renters regularly refer to their rent as taxes I'll change my mind.
 
Federalist said:
Well, if you call rent taxes then I can see why you believe what you believe. I don't consider a landlord to be a government. Maybe when I hear renters regularly refer to their rent as taxes I'll change my mind.
Click to expand...
The article in question calls them that and that's what we've been discussing. I'm sorry you apparently got off course.

Many libertarians overlook the fact that a landlord is a government. The more territory a landlord controls, the more obvious it is that a landlord is a government (in fact, that is the origin of the word “landlord”). Within the territory he controls, a landlord collects taxes (which he calls by the euphemism of “rent”), and makes laws (which he calls by the euphemism of “lease conditions”).
In addition, some landlords have their own security guards to defend their territory, just as city and state levels of government have their own police, or a national level of government has its own military. Some landlords also have their own arbitration process, just as other levels of government have their own court systems.
Click to expand...


We're all forced to pay landlords one way or another, unless we happen to inherit land from our parents before or when we become adults.
 
Last edited:
molten_dragon said:
This. I support our form of government, because I've not heard anything better proposed.

That certainly doesn't mean we don't have problems, but I don't see them as being nearly as severe as some others do, and I think they're fixable, if people only cared enough.
Click to expand...

I don't mean to sound pessimistic but the term Totalitarian democracy comes to my mind when we discuss what form of democracy we have. I have many reasons for this but mostly because we have little participation in the decision making regardless of who we choose to represent us.
 
Paschendale said:
Pasch loves walls of text!! Part 1 of 2

I very much like representative democracy and separation of powers. They are a good way to keep power from concentrating in too few hands. It's capitalism that's the problem. It's the money in politics. It's that our representatives and our elections are for sale. The system of government is pretty good, though certainly not perfect. Allowing it to be sold to the highest bidder is what is destroying it. The closest poll choice I will do is the "I’m among the 80% - 85% but think it’s not the system but the people running it." choice, but it's not really the people running it that I object to. It's the people who own it.



I don't know what "neoliberalism" is or what it has to do with your comment, but the rest of it is spot on.
Click to expand...

It is a word rarely heard of in the US even though the policies gave birth here under Milton Friedman in the University of Chicago. These polices were first spread in Latin America. Chile was the experimental ground after the US CIA staged a coup against Salvador Allende. The dictator Pinochet was put in place to help install these policies whether the people of that country liked it or not. The first step was to eliminate any competing organizations (anything that competed with corporate interest) like trade unions through murder and imprisonment. The next step was to privatize as many public institutions as possible, to take as many nationalized resources as possible and open them to corporations and corporate interest for the purpose of profit. The next step was to decentralize the government or at least use the word "decentralize" because even if things were decided in a local area, they were really decided/controlled through the central government (with people put into power/and or answered to in these local places by Pinochet and his top layer of government.) And, naturally the welfare state was scaled back next to nothing. What happened was mass poverty (nearly half the population which started at 17% poverty ended up impoverishing 49% of the population) when the market hit a bust. This of course just a small history but there are so many good books that talk about these polices which our world institutions have adopted.
 
Federalist said:
I disagree. A landlord is still subject to the laws of the government. For example, the government forbids, say, murder. If a landlord truly were a government, he could declare murder legal in his "country". He can't.

Because he's not a government.
Click to expand...

So since state and local govts are subject to the federal govt then they are not govts? Interesting.
 
Federalist said:
Well, if you call rent taxes then I can see why you believe what you believe. I don't consider a landlord to be a government. Maybe when I hear renters regularly refer to their rent as taxes I'll change my mind.
Click to expand...

Maybe you could explain how rent is different from other taxes (besides in name).
 
What is up with the percentages?
 
radcen said:
Rent is taxable income for those who receive it.
Click to expand...

Sure, its taxable, but that doesn't change the nature of rent. A federal govt may pass a law requiring local govts to contribute a certain percent to its coffers, but it does not change the fact that individuals still pay taxes to the local govts.

Now, I don't know what Federalist's specific stance is on taxing the landlord, but the stance of Austrians/anarcho-capitalists is quite clear: no tax on land rent income.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom