Spike
Posts: 49
Joined: Feb. 2006
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No flame war intended, Ichthyic, but I do admit to a little trolling. 
dhogza,
You will get no argument form me that it is the neo-con faction of the conservatives who interfere in other people’s lives in the ways you list. You left out a few that apply more generally to conservatives as a whole: Putting my hard-earned money into the pockets of some of the most profitable businesses on the planet through corporate welfare, killing thousands and thousands of innocent people in “heathen” lands to protect the interests of big oil and Halliburton, building a giant wall along our southern border to keep out people who are losing their livelihood because of our government’s support of big agra…We could go on all day.
But, lest you commit the lie of omission, which should also break your honesty meter, you need to include in your list the following liberal policies that do affect how you and I live:
It is the liberals who tell me what kind of employment contract I can enter and how much I must get paid, that I have to pay for schools my kids will never attend, that I can’t smoke in a private bar or restaurant (here in WA), that I can’t build on my own land the way I see fit, that I have to pay for a train system I will never ride, and football and baseball stadiums I would never miss (here in WA), that I must participate in a government-run retirement plan that’s unlikely to pay much of anything when it’s time for me to draw, that I have to pay for the campaigns of candidates I would never vote for, and limit my choices on the ballot (well, that one goes for both sides), … We could go on all day.
One important exception to your list is the FDA, started in a liberal era, that -does- tell us what substances we can and cannot put in our bodies – for our own good. Having worked in the biopharmaceutical industry, in the quality control and quality assurance fields, my experience is that many of the rules of the FDA do not make scientific sense. They are merely barriers to entry into the market, designed to keep new companies out and protect the interests of established ones. Many FDA policies have the unintended consequence of keeping effective medicines out of the hands of patients who need them. And, remembering Vioxx, the FDA does not always prevent harmful medications from reaching the market.
There are no FDA investigators looking over the shoulders of bio-tech and pharma employees. It is only the honesty and integrity of those people on a daily basis that gives us medicines that are safe and effective.
There was a request earlier, on another thread, I think, for Wesley to open up an area for more general topics. This discussion does not belong in this thread, since it has nothing to do with UD, but we have nowhere else to put it.
If Wesley wants to dump it entirely as not pertaining to the topic of this board, fine by me. Then, prehaps dhogza can recommend another board where we can continue our discussion, and where Sir_Toejam can join us to diss my "extreme libertarianism."
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