More up for debate


Everything should be up for debate, right? It’s the hallmark of an open society. Nothing should be off the table – that way tyranny lies.

So. Why shouldn’t bigger stronger people just take what they want when they can get away with it? #UpForDebate

Why shouldn’t bigger countries invade smaller countries and take all their wealth? #UpForDebate

Why shouldn’t rich people work poor people to death? There are always more poor people. #UpForDebate

Why shouldn’t companies make their workers operate in whatever conditions happen to occur? Why bother with safety regulations? If some workers die, others will take their place. #UpForDebate

Why shouldn’t companies sell whatever product they can? It’s the customer’s job to figure out if the products are safe or not. #UpForDebate

Why shouldn’t countries refuse to let people of the wrong race or ethnic group immigrate? What’s wrong with filtering people out according to how viscerally you dislike them? #UpForDebate

Comments

  1. Wylann says

    All libertarian talking points. Unfortunately, while intended as parody, many of those really are considered up for debate. =(

    Those who do so tend to use slightly less direct language, but no less monstrous intent/results.

  2. moarscienceplz says

    Henry VIII confiscated Catholic Church property and executed many priests. Good idea? #UpForDebate

  3. moarscienceplz says

    CEOs who are paid millions of dollars per year work a thousand times harder than janitors #UpForDebate

  4. says

    Should poor people be allowed to breathe? They’re taking oxygen that they didn’t pay for! Oxygen that’s in short supply in China where they will pay top dollar for it.

  5. Your Name's not Bruce? says

    Cholera, smallpox, bubonic plague, Ebola. Not all that bad? #UpForDebate

  6. RJW says

    Slavery should be reintroduced, the unemployable would be housed and fed at their owner’s expense, everyone would be engaged in productive work. No need for government intervention and all that social democratic nonsense.
    That would surely introduce a new Golden Age in the West, we have the example of Athens.

    Discuss.

    Privatisation of law enforcement would also be consistent with libertarian principles.

  7. karmacat says

    Why not make children work as soon as they can walk. The smart ones will survive. The others not so much.
    Why not make babies work because all they are really doing is eating, pooping, and sleeping. They are not being very productive are they.

  8. says

    Since many of those things you list are products of society and are part of the general purpose of society (keeping the stronger from totally exploiting the weaker, etc) libertarians are being literally antisocial. Which is inconsistent since they are themselves products of and sheltered by society.

  9. Onamission5 says

    Children working in unregulated garment industries and why I am all for it. #UpForDebate

  10. Barb's Wire says

    Why welfare? What about bringing back workhouses and poorhouses like in the good old days? You know, like the era when they would put people who owed money in prison and made them work there too. Can you say “jobs programs”, anyone? Just putting the fundamentally lazy “back to work”, right? #UpForDebate

  11. RJW says

    We can’t leave the agenda to the Right– perhaps a new topic,” Since Western ‘democracies’ are in fact plutocracies, no one should possess assets greater than say, $1,000,000 or $500,000. Any assets above the permitted upper limit should be confiscated and distributed among the rest of society or used to fund public goods.

  12. Blanche Quizno says

    Instead of using up all that land and chemicals and stuff to embalm and bury dead people, why not just grind them up and use them as fertilizer? Or grind them up and can them as pet food? Or grind them up for school lunches? Kids already accept the notion of “Mystery Meat”, don’t they? #UpForDebate

  13. jonathangray says

    What’s wrong with filtering ideas out according to how viscerally you dislike them? #UpForDebate

  14. Blanche Quizno says

    ^ See? THAT’s what happens when you dare to think outside the box! Or the coffin, in this case.

    Why don’t the poor just stop being poor? #UpForDebate

    How did I think of that brilliant contribution, you ask? Well, I was watching a clip from the Daily Show, where Aasif Mandvi was addressing right-wing charges that subsidized health care will transform the US’s “best health care system in the world (if you can afford it)” into a third-world nightmare of lines and primitive conditions. If you would like to see it for yourself, it’s here: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-march-6-2014/third-world-health-care—knoxville–tennessee-edition

    The funfun starts at 3:34 and leads to this exchange:

    Fox Commentator Todd Weilman: “People like a free lunch. And I’ll be honest: If you’re poor, stop being poor. You know, get a GED, have a job for over a year…”

    Aasif Mandvi: “Right. So if you’re poor, just stop being poor.”

    Weilman: “That’s a good idea.”

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