Myrhaf has some election thoughts. Here's a taste:

Go on over and have a read. I shared some of mine in a comment, which I'll put up here:

I can say there is one accurately reported thing with the millennials: the stupid. Actually, to be more precise, their problem is ignorance - ignorance of history specifically on a scale I haven't seen in their elders.

But I think their influence may yet be overblown - you see, they aren't much for voter turnout either.

I'm with you on Hilary, Myrhaf. On the other hand, I fear those presidential powers which aren't directly checked by congress, such as appointment of judges and the cabinet. (and the Fed)

But the other thing about Hilary is that she will bring less confusion to politics. If we are to move to statism either way, let there at least be less confusion about what is to blame for the resultant misery.

That philosophical confusion is what got America into this mess in the first place - say what you will about how far America has fallen, but we still only elect crypto-socialists and crypto-fascists. Remove the confusion, and you're almost halfway there.

As for the war, I'm not concerned about that in this election as all three candidates will do roughly the same thing (yes, really!). But again, the Dems will be properly blamed for their actions while McCain will only obfuscate the problem like Bush has.

-Inspector

I get the impression Robert Tracinski is coming around to McCain, mostly because of the war. (He has not made a formal endorsement yet.)

I lean toward Clinton, but abstention is also looking good.

Tracinski for McCain? If so, that's not something I'd agree with. Why do people think he'd fight in a non-sacrificial way? The man is positively itching to force people to sacrifice for America and he makes no effort at all to hide it.

Because he's mean? Hilary is just as mean and bitter as he is. And just as crazy, too. I think that they'd be identical as far as the war goes. But then, as I've been saying for years, the essential issue is not the war.

I wrote that in 2006. I still think every word of it is entirely relevant.

Anyhow, as you say - I lean toward Clinton, but I haven't exactly ruled out abstention, either.

There's certainly no rush to decide. The election is still over six months away. We must endure two conventions and then the all-out campaign in the fall, with October Surprises and character assassinations.

In the post you linked to, you say the essential issue is our expanding state -- loss of freedom at home. I agree, and Ayn Rand made that point more than once, as I recall.

One thing that haunts me is the libertarian argument that welfare and warfare go hand in hand. How much of the neoconservative permanent war is due to war being "the health of the state," as Randolph Bourne famously put it?

Aye, well McCain certainly believes that it is not only essential to the health of the state, but also of the individual citizen. And like all "modern" advocates of health, he not only knows what is good for us, but also intends to force us to do it. It's for our own good, you know.

You know, the more I consider it, the more I am starting to think that McCain is just a more charismatic and less obviously condescending version of Hilary.

Christ, with candidates like them, it's no wonder so many people in the US don't vote. At least NZ has an Objectivist-ish party which isn't philosophical weak, such as the US Libertarian Party.

You know, I've thought about that correlation for some time, and I think there may well be a connection there. I'm actually kind of wondering when the mainstream is going to connect the dots.

Oh, and I've made another comment over at Myrhaf's:


Most young folk I have met are aware only of the fact that they are being taken advantage of and that something badly needs to be done about it. However, for the most part they are clueless when it comes to what is responsible for it. For the most part, the only idea they have for a solution is an acceleration of the same statism which caused the problems in the first place. They have been taught nothing else. They hate and distrust the government, also, but attribute its failure to "work" to corruption rather than fundamentally flawed premises.

Ayn Rand said it decades ago in "For The New Intellectual:"

And it holds true today. It's just that the pace and desperation are accelerating.

And it's that attitude which turns young people towards socialism and crime.

Ah, but you repeat yourself. Heh.