Fun exchange on Reddit

This is from a comment thread on and article about Rand Paul's seven-hour filibuster in the Senate in lone opposition to the PATRIOT Act.

I feel the commenter spoke for a lot of America - he sounded at once opinionated yet complacent. The elite is desperate to hang on to the status quo, and legions of television watchers are there to back them up in the fight to maintain it. So here's the exchange:

[–]harveyardman (_) 1 hour ago (1|0)

I deeply disagree with about half of those positions. I believe in public schools and I believe that we are the government. I think the EPA and the FDA should do better, but I believe they are generally good. As for civil rights, I do not believe that any businesses have the right to exclude or treat people differently because of their race, religion or gender. Paul's idea of civil rights and mine do not coincide.

Rand Paul is a libertarian, which means that he would be a parasite if he could. He is not interested in maintaining or improving society, but in being as un-involved in it as possible, not contributing to it, while partaking happily in its benefits.

If he had his way, the United States would be a loose association of states, each making its own rules, and "e pluribus unum" would have no real meaning. I find his views largely anti-democratic and unAmerican, although as I implied, even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

[+]thisnotanagram -1 points0 points1 point 2 minutes ago (0 children)

[–]P@riot (_) 2 minutes ago (1|0)

It's all about representation for me, as it was the founding fathers.

On schools - students are legally obligated to go to zombie factories where they learn to become wards of the state. The money spent on bombs this year would more than pay for vouchers so at least working parents have some say in the matter.

On EPA, FDA, IRS, FEMA etc. - While many feel they provide valuable services, they legislate without being elected to do so. This is an egregious assault on our personal freedom, since we have such little recourse against their mountains of regulation.

Civil rights > property rights? Wouldn't it be better if everyone knew who the racists were? Boycotss > silent biggotry, IMO.

Libertarians believe the "benefits of society" come from the people in that society, not people acting as a government. Cut out the middle man, the waste, and there will be more benefits of which to partake.

"loose association of states"

Exactly as intended by the framers and State delegates who signed the Constitution. BTW they invisioned no more than 33K people per US representative. It's now over 700,000 people per US rep since it was capped a century ago.

Again, it's all about representation. Your state's congress has a much more representative body than the US congress. Use it to your advantage and be the change you wish to see; instead of trusting the federal, imperial, corporatists voting unrepresentative-wise for more war and financial bubbles and desperate status quo.

Commenting as: thisnotanagram

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It's all about representation for me, as it was the founding fathers. On schools - students are legally obligated to go to zombie factories where they learn to become wards of the state. The money spent on bombs this year would more than pay for vouchers so at least working parents have *some say* in the matter. On EPA, FDA, IRS, FEMA etc. - While many feel they provide valuable services, they legislate without being elected to do so. This is an egregious assault on our personal freedom, since we have such little recourse against their mountains of regulation. Civil rights > property rights? Wouldn't it be better if everyone knew who the racists were? Boycotss > silent biggotry, IMO. Libertarians believe the "benefits of society" come from the people in that society, not people acting as a government. Cut out the middle man, the waste, and there will be more benefits of which to partake. >loose association of states Exactly as intended by the framers and State delegates who signed the Constitution. BTW they invisioned no more than 33K people per US representative. It's now over 700,000 people per US rep since it was capped a century ago. Again, it's all about representation. Your state's congress has a much more representative body than the US congress. Use it to your advantage and be the change you wish to see; instead of trusting the federal, imperial, corporatists voting unrepresentative-wise for more war and financial bubbles and desperate status quo.

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It's all about representation for me, as it was the founding fathers.

On schools - students are legally obligated to go to zombie factories where they learn to become wards of the state. The money spent on bombs this year would more than pay for vouchers so at least working parents have some say in the matter.

On EPA, FDA, IRS, FEMA etc. - While many feel they provide valuable services, they legislate without being elected to do so. This is an egregious assault on our personal freedom, since we have such little recourse against their mountains of regulation.

Civil rights > property rights? Wouldn't it be better if everyone knew who the racists were? Boycotss > silent biggotry, IMO.

Libertarians believe the "benefits of society" come from the people in that society, not people acting as a government. Cut out the middle man, the waste, and there will be more benefits of which to partake.

loose association of states

Exactly as intended by the framers and State delegates who signed the Constitution. BTW they invisioned no more than 33K people per US representative. It's now over 700,000 people per US rep since it was capped a century ago.

Again, it's all about representation. Your state's congress has a much more representative body than the US congress. Use it to your advantage and be the change you wish to see; instead of trusting the federal, imperial, corporatists voting unrepresentative-wise for more war and financial bubbles and desperate status quo.

Here's a permalink to in case you want to see more replies: http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/hjrf5/give_it_up_for_rand_paul_and_his_7_hour/c1w4xn4