Who should rule test?

[midcan5]

Do you understand your core values?
Is liberty more important than equality?
Is the state necessary?
Is government necessary?
Are all values relative?
Are rights more important than duties?
Have you ever regretted something you have done?
Does the free market exist?
Is welfare acceptable?
Are you better than a homeless bum?
Is the separation of church and state a good thing?
Should societies attempt social justice?
Do you read?
Are poor people lazy?
Should health care be available to all?

All 15 questions are Yes or No. Two questions are debatable, four questions are No, Nine demand a Yes answer if you are to rule. A correct score to be a ruler must be near perfect.

If you are ruler material, you should be able to answer without a lot of "it depends."

[Little-Acorn]

Two questions are debatable, four questions are No, Nine demand a Yes answer if you are to rule.

And the "correctness" of these answers was determined by whom? According to what standard?

[LOki]

Do you understand your core values?
Yes.


Is liberty more important than equality?
Yes.


Is the state necessary?
For what?


Is government necessary?
For what?


Are all values relative?
No.


Are rights more important than duties?
Yes.


Have you ever regretted something you have done?
Yes.


Does the free market exist?
Yes.


Is welfare acceptable?
Only if you're receiving it.


Are you better than a homeless bum?
Better at what?


Is the separation of church and state a good thing?
Yes.


Should societies attempt social justice?
No. They should avoid social injustice.


Do you read?
Yes.


Are poor people lazy?
Some are--particularly the chronically poor. Some are stupid. All chronically poor people are lazy and/or stupid.


Should health care be available to all?
Yes, provided they pay for it.


If you are ruler material, you should be able to answer without a lot of "it depends."
Good to know.

[Little-Acorn]

Do you understand your core values? Yes
Is liberty more important than equality? Yes
Is the state necessary? Yes
Is government necessary? Yes
Are all values relative? No
Are rights more important than duties? No, they are equally important
Have you ever regretted something you have done? Yes, why?
Does the free market exist? Not that I know of. Govt interferes with it unjustly, and/or fails to prevent others from interfering unjustly, in every example I've found.
Is welfare acceptable? Meaning, govt paying people who don't work? No.
Are you better than a homeless bum? Better at what?
Is the separation of church and state a good thing? Don't know, it's never been tried or even called for by law.
Should societies attempt social justice? What's that?
Do you read? No, somebody is reading your post to me as I answer the questions.
Are poor people lazy? Most are not, despite the efforts of liberals to encourage and reward such laziness.
Should health care be available to all? Of course. How can it possibly be unavailable, outside areas where it is nonexistent?


Well, some questions were vague and unanswerable, and at least one was completely silly. Probably par for the course for someone who wrote before thinking. These failings render the "quiz" pretty much useless.

[5stringJeff]

Do you understand your core values? Yes.
Is liberty more important than equality? YES, yes, a thousand times YES!!!
Is the state necessary? Only to protect liberty.
Is government necessary? Only to protect liberty.
Are all values relative? No.
Are rights more important than duties? Yes.
Have you ever regretted something you have done? Yes (although I'm sure this "supposed" to be 'no.')
Does the free market exist? Yes.
Is welfare acceptable? No. We should allow people to be free to fail.
Are you better than a homeless bum? Intrinsically, no.
Is the separation of church and state a good thing? In that the state and church shouldn't be telling each other how to run their respective enterprises, yes.
Should societies attempt social justice? Maximizing liberty will bring about the greatest amount of "social justice."
Do you read? Yes.
Are poor people lazy? Some probably are. Not all.
Should health care be available to all? All who can afford it.

All 15 questions are Yes or No. Two questions are debatable, four questions are No, Nine demand a Yes answer if you are to rule. A correct score to be a ruler must be near perfect.

If you are ruler material, you should be able to answer without a lot of "it depends."

[mundame]

Is liberty more important than equality? Yes.
Is the state necessary? yes, because anarchism is the natural default state, where small scale warlords cruelly rule over a block or three.
Is government necessary? See above: the government IS the state.
Are all values relative? Relative to what?
Are rights more important than duties? Not to women, be sure.
Have you ever regretted something you have done? Is there more than one answer to this question? I doubt it.
Does the free market exist? No, it's severely constrained, sometimes positively, sometimes negatively.
Is welfare acceptable? Sure, to some extent. A limited extent. Welfare has severe moral hazard.
Are you better than a homeless bum? Not in God's eyes. Everyone is equal.
Is the separation of church and state a good thing? Sure, otherwise we have Inquisitions or Sharias and jihads, and priests constantly sexing up young boys.
Should societies attempt social justice? Good idea; some society should try the experiment some day.
Do you read? Do cereal boxes count? http://macg.net/emoticons/wink15.gif
Are poor people lazy? Some are, some aren't. Most, however, are presumably of low IQ, because poverty is strongly correlated with lower intelligence.
Should health care be available to all? It is, isn't it? Somebody just has to pay for it. It's a good for sale, like Nikes. Should Nike shoes be available to all? Oh, wait, they are, too, you just have to pay for them.

[Yurt]

232256]Do you understand your core values? it depends
Is liberty more important than equality?it depends
Is the state necessary?it depends
Is government necessary?it depends
Are all values relative?it depends
Are rights more important than duties?it depends
Have you ever regretted something you have done?it depends
Does the free market exist?it depends
Is welfare acceptable?it depends
Are you better than a homeless bum?it depends
Is the separation of church and state a good thing?it depends
Should societies attempt social justice?it depends
Do you read?it depends
Are poor people lazy?it depends
Should health care be available to all?it depends

[mundame]

If you are ruler material, you should be able to answer without a lot of "it depends."


On the other hand, the "it depends" people are the smartest.


Which probably explains a great deal about our dysfunctional political system.

[Yurt]

On the other hand, the "it depends" people are the smartest.

Which probably explains a great deal about our dysfunctional political system.

:dance:

[manu1959]

Do you understand your core values? yes
Is liberty more important than equality? yes
Is the state necessary? yes
Is government necessary? yes
Are all values relative? no
Are rights more important than duties? no
Have you ever regretted something you have done? yes
Does the free market exist? yes
Is welfare acceptable? no
Are you better than a homeless bum? no
Is the separation of church and state a good thing? yes
Should societies attempt social justice? no
Do you read? yes
Are poor people lazy? no
Should health care be available to all? yes

[hjmick]

A test for who should rule? HAH! A true ruler would kill the person administering the test and take his or her rightful place in the seat of power! Mwahahahhah...

[midcan5]

On the other hand, the "it depends" people are the smartest.

'It depends' is prior to the question. Actually I should have left that comment out, as the answers would have been more honest. Couple at a crossroad, 'Dear, which road should we take?' 'Ah, it depends?' Not much of a ruler I would say nor very smart. That thought can be applied to much of life, anyone ever have a boss who can't give a straight answer, very frustrating.

[mundame]

Couple at a crossroad, 'Dear, which road should we take?' 'Ah, it depends?' Not much of a ruler I would say nor very smart.

But it DOES depend. It depends on where they are going, what kind of route they want to take, whether they'd like to stop at a Crackerbarrel or not, many things.

I agree that decisiveness is good, but surely not if it is premature.

[midcan5]

And the "correctness" of these answers was determined by whom? According to what standard?

By me of course.




"The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves." William Hazlitt

[midcan5]

LOki gave it a shot but since he doesn't know what a state or government is, it is hard to determine what he would rule. If I post this again I need to say govern not rule.

Little-Acorn passed even though he questioned a few. The idea here is to stick to yes or no as that forces you to make a decision.

5stringJeff also tried but libertarianism is too close to religious belief and his answers reflect that. Thinking solutions will come from freedom assumes the people providing the solutions share our values - many don't.

Mundame skipped the key question #1, not sure if that was on purpose? she/he has potential but a little too cynical.

Yurt may need psychological counseling as the inability to arrive at a single definite answer is a bad sign. We can only hope he was being one of those troublesome students liberalism (tongue in cheek) caused.

Manu1959, best score so far, definite potential.

[Hobbit]

5stringJeff also tried but libertarianism is too close to religious belief and his answers reflect that. Thinking solutions will come from freedom assumes the people providing the solutions share our values - many don't.

And just how the hell did you draw that connection?

[midcan5]

And just how the hell did you draw that connection?

That isn't a conclusion, it follows from the idea that freedom or a free market left alone will lead to utopia. I can provide others who will argue the point cogently but think about it for a minute.

[midcan5]

I know everyone has been waiting with bated breath so here they are: If you answered the first question yes, you should have had some idea how to quickly answer the others.

1. Do you understand your core values? Yes
2. Is liberty more important than equality? yes
3. Is the state necessary? Yes
4. Is government necessary? Yes
5. Are all values relative? No
6. Are rights more important than duties? debatable but I select yes
7. Have you ever regretted something you have done? Yes
8. Does the free market exist? No
9. Is welfare acceptable? Yes
10. Are you better than a homeless bum? No
11. Is the separation of church and state a good thing? Yes
12. Should societies attempt social justice? Yes
13. Do you read? Yes
14. Are poor people lazy? No
15. Should health care be available to all? Yes

Reasons

You are a leader at some point you have to make a choice. Can one really imagine modern life without a state/government? Is not personal responsibility a primary value? Show me that free market? Have you never known a family in need? Should society allow anything? Ever meet a hard working poor person? Healthcare for all - why not and who else would do it?

Two and six are the tough ones, notice lower case. At first I considered 2 and 6 either/or but I changed my mind on 2. Twelve is tough for some but imagine if no cop existed or no regulator or no law?

Five, eight, ten, and 14 are 'no.' (5) Individual responsibility is/should be a key value and individual freedom is required for that to exist. The push to control our personal life runs counter to this very key American value. (8) the free market is an interesting abstraction / concept? but the actors who make it up do so mostly for self interest. These actors can act anyway they please, so the idea that other actors are also free is a misconception. The free market is more a utopia idea than a reality. A market (without free) is an excellent solution but recognize its potential and problems too. (10) Anyone could end up homeless. (14) Some of the hardest working people I know are poor.


"Freedom depends on how men actually do behave, not upon how they are allowed to behave. It is a matter of character, not of foolproof constitutional devices. For fools are paramount in politics, and there is nothing which they are unable to destroy." (p 156 The Liberal Mind Kenneth Minogue)

http://oll.libertyfund.org/Home3/Book.php?recordID=0089

[Hobbit]

That isn't a conclusion, it follows from the idea that freedom or a free market left alone will lead to utopia. I can provide others who will argue the point cogently but think about it for a minute.

No, freedom and the free market will not lead to a utopia. Utopia doesn't exist. It's literally Latin (or maybe Greek) for 'nowhere.' However, individual freedom IS the best system available for government, as government screws up everything it touches, and libertarianism lets the government get its hands on the least.

[midcan5]

No, freedom and the free market will not lead to a utopia. Utopia doesn't exist. It's literally Latin (or maybe Greek) for 'nowhere.' However, individual freedom IS the best system available for government, as government screws up everything it touches, and libertarianism lets the government get its hands on the least.

Government does the best it can given our support. I would agree bureaucracy is a problem but it is a problem in business as well as gov.

Excellent piece in libertarianism.

"Why I Am Not a Libertarian"

http://www.spectacle.org/897/trust.html

[Agnapostate]

yes, because anarchism is the natural default state, where small scale warlords cruelly rule over a block or three.

A rule of warlords is not "anarchism" inasmuch as it would effectively constitute an authoritarian and hierarchical government just as assuredly as a centralized state would. Legitimate anarchism is dependent on horizontal and non-hierarchical social organization.

[5stringJeff]

I know everyone has been waiting with bated breath so here they are: If you answered the first question yes, you should have had some idea how to quickly answer the others.

1. Do you understand your core values? Yes
2. Is liberty more important than equality? yes
3. Is the state necessary? Yes
4. Is government necessary? Yes
5. Are all values relative? No
6. Are rights more important than duties? debatable but I select yes
7. Have you ever regretted something you have done? Yes
8. Does the free market exist? No
9. Is welfare acceptable? Yes
10. Are you better than a homeless bum? No
11. Is the separation of church and state a good thing? Yes
12. Should societies attempt social justice? Yes
13. Do you read? Yes
14. Are poor people lazy? No
15. Should health care be available to all? Yes

Reasons

You are a leader at some point you have to make a choice. Can one really imagine modern life without a state/government? Is not personal responsibility a primary value? Show me that free market? Have you never known a family in need? Should society allow anything? Ever meet a hard working poor person? Healthcare for all - why not and who else would do it?

Two and six are the tough ones, notice lower case. At first I considered 2 and 6 either/or but I changed my mind on 2. Twelve is tough for some but imagine if no cop existed or no regulator or no law?

Five, eight, ten, and 14 are 'no.' (5) Individual responsibility is/should be a key value and individual freedom is required for that to exist. The push to control our personal life runs counter to this very key American value. (8) the free market is an interesting abstraction / concept? but the actors who make it up do so mostly for self interest. These actors can act anyway they please, so the idea that other actors are also free is a misconception. The free market is more a utopia idea than a reality. A market (without free) is an excellent solution but recognize its potential and problems too. (10) Anyone could end up homeless. (14) Some of the hardest working people I know are poor.


"Freedom depends on how men actually do behave, not upon how they are allowed to behave. It is a matter of character, not of foolproof constitutional devices. For fools are paramount in politics, and there is nothing which they are unable to destroy." (p 156 The Liberal Mind Kenneth Minogue)

http://oll.libertyfund.org/Home3/Book.php?recordID=0089

Your response to #8 is puzzling. You state that if actors in the market are free, other actors are necessarily unfree. This is absolutely false. As an example, Sears is offering a Whirlpool refrigerator (http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_04639922000P?mv=rr) for $899. They made the determination to stock this item and to sell it at this price freely. Are you, or I, or anyone else, forced to buy this item against our will? Of course not. Every transaction must have a willing seller and a willing buyer making the transaction at an agreed-upon price.

And, if you'd like a true picture of a free market, then look at the drug market. It is completely untaxed and unregulated, save for the governments that oppose its existence. But the actors in the market set the prices, to include premiums that make up for the illegality of their trade.