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by ifyoubuildit 915 days ago
I wouldn't call myself a libertarian, but I do find it bewildering when people caricature libertarianism like this.

For one thing, if you go through the exercise of examining the parts of the healthcare system and ask yourself "how much is the state involved in this", I think you may come to a different conclusion. I don't know what to call our trash heap of a system, but libertarian seems obviously not it.
1 comments
consumer451 915 days ago
OK, this is interesting. Please help me correct my terminology.

On my part of the exchange, might I suggest that what you see as government involvement could also be called "regulatory capture"? [0]

What I mean is that the monied interests now have major influence on the government which regulates them, so they create "regulation," with the goal of perpetuating their own profit centers.

How can I do better from your point of view? If not libertarianism, what should we call the ideology or ideals that led to this healthcare system with an ever increasing chain of profit centers?

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture

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ifyoubuildit 915 days ago
Like I said, I don't know what to call it. Crony capitalism probably fits, which goes along with your link.

Libertarianism is about liberty, or individual freedoms. Are you free to purchase any drug or test or service or device that you want from whoever you want? Of course not, the state is heavily involved in making these decisions for you.

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consumer451 915 days ago
Ok, so one of the killer apps that I have discovered with LLMs is to further my own personal political depolarization. ChatGPT will always make a solid argument for most any other side.

To help identify what the heck I am talking about here, here is ChatGPT Classic's take on "libertarianism vs capitalism vs crony capitalism vs anarcho capitalism" [0] I found it very good reading.

What I realize now is that I was only holding on to one aspect of "libertarianism."

> Free Markets: Supports the idea that a market free from government interference naturally leads to efficiency, innovation, and wealth creation.

If I may be introspective for a moment, I believe that the reason that I may have used libertarianism instead of capitalism, is because how polarizing "capitalism" has become in the US discourse. I feel like readers would assume that if I am making light of capitalism, then I must support communism or some equally obsolete ideology.

[0] https://chat.openai.com/share/c4f4cedf-a995-4cc5-8feb-268c7c...

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