| | One of my buddies is a cradle-to-grave "Libby Libber Leftie" (a term I invented).
We were playing 2-handed Hearts last night (a game I invented) and we started jib-jabbing each other about politics. He said to me: "Eddie" (my good friends call me that), he said, "Eddie, what would your "libertarian society" even look like?" He then went on a controlled rant about old, impoverished folks dying in the streets (without a "safety net").
Trusting in his powers of visualization moreso than in my powers of description -- I said, "Like it was for the first 75 years (the 1st third) of this country's history; when there was no general income tax or IRS." [or something very close to that]
He told me that times were "too different" then (for effective visualization of a libertarianized U.S. here and now), so I back-peddled and offered up the roaring '20s as a visual (thinking that, because entitlement programs hadn't been invented yet, that the visual would suffice).
He said that the 1920s are what it is that led to the Great Depression, and instead of battle him on that, I fell-back once again to the only moral leadership of this country in my life-time: Ronald Reagan.
Boy, did he ever get hot under-the-collar! You would have thought that mention of Reagan was like mention of the Devil, himself! His limited argument against Reagan involved deregulation of the airlines, and he said that a monopoly is coming (where only a few airlines are left to fly the friendly skies).
He said that the 1950s were the "Golden Years" of America (he had been born by then), and credited President Eisenhower and his progressive 90% tax on all millionaires.
If anything, what I'd like from you bright folks out there in my cyber-home, is a set of 12 answers to the following (I've answered one of them):
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Reagan
Pro
1.
2.
3.
Con
1. "pro-life"; helped somewhat to dis-calibrate the objective moral compass of Americans
2.
3.
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Eisenhower
Pro
1.
2.
3.
Con
1.
2.
3.
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Thanks!
Ed
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