Once More For Freedom, Johnny!
Good luck tomorrow, Australia.
posted by Trevor Loudon at
11/23/2007 07:58:00 PM
Friday, November 23, 2007
Good luck tomorrow, Australia.
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8 Comments:
he's so anti libertarian its not funny. how can u support him?
Just like I could support Ronnie and Mags and maybe Sarkozy in France.
John Howard's a decent man and a conservative.
He's into tax cuts and defending his country.
Not perfect, but a good bloke.
Anonymous already said it but I'm going to say it again "he's so anti libertarian its not funny. how can u support him?"
I'm often left wondering how you can reconcile your support for the right wing with your supposed belief in libertarian principles. Perhaps you should drop the libertarian pretense and come out as a straight old fashioned rightwinger. You obviously don't seem to have a problem with strong governements that attack the poor and dissidents as long as they leave the middle and uppper classes alone in suburbia.
I would suggest anon, that your understanding of libertarianism needs a little work.
Maggie, Johnny, Ronnie and also the late great Barry Goldwater are/or were small government, fiscally responsible, pro defence conservatives.At least in theory, if not always in practice.
Such people, for all their faults are the natural allies of libertarians.
While the left can be supported in some social areas, it has little to offer the freedom movement.
I do not support "strong government" of any stripe. I do however believe that decent conservatives are more worthy of support than are socialists.
I should qualify my last statement. On some occasions, libertarian ideas do come from the left. The economic policies of Roger Douglas in 84/87 are one example.
I try to judge politicians and political movements by one standard.
Will he/she or it advance human freedom in the long term, or hinder it?
I think re-electing Johnny howard will help the cause, far more than electing Rudd and the ALP.
It's true Trevor is a libertarian - this is not inconsistent with supporting Mr Howard. I cannot claim to be anywhere near as "pure" in my my beliefs (I consider myself merely a humble pragmatic classical liberal) but perhaps Trevor's reasons for supporting Mr Howard are similar to my own.
The reality of an FPP environment (which, despite a system of preferencing the Australia electoral system sill works under) is that the party I prefer most of all those contesting this election, the LDP, are unlikely to gain a Parliamentary majority. Indeed, they are most unlikely to gain even one seat in either House. It is then, a choice between two lesser blocs. On the "right", we have Mr Howard, a man who has led Australia for several terms of relative economic prosperity. On the other, Mr Rudd, a relative newcomer (he has only led the ALP a matter of months).
There are things I like about Mr Rudd. But on balance, and particularly taking into account the front benches of either side, I find myself far more comfortable with the likes of Costello, Downer and Abbott, than I ever could be with Swann, Gillard and Garrett.
As a classical liberal (even a pragmatic one) I think I would still struggle to vote for Howard. There are things I dislike about him and as some have pointed out he certainly isn't a proponent of libertarianism. It reminds me a little of the stance of some French socialists in the 2002 French Presidential, of "holding their nose" voting for Jacques Chirac over fascist opponent Jean Marie Le Pen. I'm not comparing Le Pen to Rudd but you see my point. Given the choice between the Coalition and the ALP's front bench offering of 70% trade unionists, I think you can guess who I will be cheering for later this evening.
BOOM !
What a cow this Democracy Bitch can be !!!
No respect for the "Babies Overboard" lie.....
No respect for the patently racist demonisation of Aboriginals.....
And you say George W. Howard's a decent man Trevor ? What planet are you on chum ?
Good riddance to the Mad Old Bastard ! So twisted that he thought the promise to hand over to "The Smirk" Costello was gonna be an electoral turn on.....
Might pay you to ponder on what the WWII heroine Nancy Wake had to say about him.
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