http://world.time.com/2013/08/05/high-times-in-montevideo-uruguay-enters-brave-new-world-of-pot-legalization/ “It has to do with Uruguayans being so traditionally liberal in a country with a wide separation of church and state,†says Hetzer. “Uruguay officially changed the name of Christmas to Family Day and Easter Week to Tourism Week almost 100 years ago. Unlike other South American nations, Uruguay has been a pioneer in women's rights, divorce, abortion and same-sex-marriage laws, so this new law regarding marijuana has to be seen as a continuation of that liberal tradition.†Liberalism = Freedom? It seems Uruaguay is a much more free and open society then the US claims to be. Conservatives wish to hold us back. Why vote for them? Then again, Uruguay is a tiny nation with a population of 3.3 million. Certainly not an economic, military, or political powerhouse that the US enjoys being. We value our economy and military more then our freedoms. Apparently liberals threaten that way of life. And those of conservative minds will do anything to protect their precious economy and military power, even destroy our constitution and the freedom it is said to give.
There are no liberals to choose from. Unless you're thinking that Democrats are liberals, in which case you're mistaken.
Once in washington it seems, power seduces. Economic power. Military power. They will sacrifice everything. Shit, they already have. Smaller nations like Uruguay are better. I would rather live in a world of many smaller nations, then a few big and powerful nations. The overpowering corruption is too tempting. I would like to see a rise in the envolvement of the Green Party. Much like the rise of the tea party in recent years.
Yes, decentralization is a good thing. That's all anarchism is, decentralization of power taken to its most decentralized state, the individual.
We have to give more power back to the states. State governments need to break their addiction of federal handouts. Federal bureaucracies need to be cut back to allow states to decide what program they wish to fund for themselves. Our foreign policy needs to be drastically scaled back, allowing for the promotion of healthy foriegn trade only. Any foriegn aid would have to be privately funded through various charitable organisations and so on...Will it ever happen? No. Not until states start to secede. Until then, we're swimming in this mess and tiny countries like Uruguay become something to be envied.
I think you're right, what works for one place does not necessarily work in another. I think part of Europe's appeal is that there are many different small countries with different laws and governments. It allows for experimentation and customization, like we allowed weed and prostitution, while other countries have more conservative or religiously motivated laws. Same goes for South America although there are far fewer countries there. Maybe if Uruguay sees a nice drop in crime they'll set an example and others will follow.
Why stop at giving states more power? Why not just abolish the federal government completely? Then it would just be states. Taken further, why not break it down to each city being its own sovereign entity? And so on and so forth until finally there is no government at all, and all individuals are sovereign. Free markets Decentralization Power to the people Non-aggression principle All of these find their most perfect expression in anarchy.
I don't think that is a realistic approach. Like minded people will get together and form communities, they pass laws, set up rules for exchanging goods and services, people will be appointed to perfom duties and ensure these laws are upheld and so on until you have a government. What we need is a balance of power. It's all right there in our consititution. Only since the 20th century has the federal government given itself an upper hand on the power scale, especially after WWII where technologies were being developed that far outpaced what was available down at the local hardware store. It was a unique power. A secret to be kept. Something very dangerous in the wrong hands. The federal government now has a different purpose: World superpower. How intoxicating. How corrupting.
I was just disagreeing with LayLow's comment that if decentralization of the government from the fed to 50 state level governments is a good thing in the right direction (and I agree with that), then decentralization all the way down to the individual is an even better thing. Just like eating 1 or 2 cookies always tastes good, but that doesn't mean eating 300 million cookies is better.
That sounds like a conservative idea, not a liberal one. Based off your description of a conservative Obama would be a Neo Conservative,
Would those communities be voluntary? If I lived in a house in that community do you think they would kick me out if I didn't want to be forced to pay? Who will pass laws and inform everyone in the city about these "laws?" and who will collect everyones money?
An idea that works out for both parties? Cut taxes and thawrt the neo-con agenda. Obama has certainly proven his neo-con colors with his foreign policy. What a shame.
I'm speaking in very general terms. People get together. It's like gravity man, it just happens. What would your orbit look like? Who knows? There are many forces pulling at you. Just hope where ever you land will be a soft one.
We've been progressing out of it for quite some time now. It doesn't always have to stay the same and I don't believe it will.
In the real world, and not some make-believe fantasy land where everyone magically is well-behaved and bad people go extinct, there is such a thing as too much liberty. Just like eating too many cookies.