FTR's political compass

[a500lbgorilla]

I don't understand how people don't understand how people can score deeply in the green or blue quadrants.

I feel like that's being irate at the god damn government for controlling half my life while completely embracing it as it controls the other half of my life. Maybe its just because the freedom to smoke weed or have gay sex or practice any religion is closer to home than economic freedom.

Maybe you feel wrong. Sometimes the gov't is just what we call it when we all pull together to do something, a sometimes check and balance on the free market.

Take for instance the free markets solution to high fructose corn syrup. If you put fructose in food, people will like it, people will buy it. Therefore, put more fructose in food.

Too much fructose in the food supply? You get an obese people. An obese people are a diseased people.

If only we could have some mindful force to fight back against that trend.

How's about we all come together and do it for ourselves. Let's call it - government.

[Renton]

Too much fructose in the food supply? You get an obese people. An obese people are a diseased people.

If only we could have some mindful force to fight back against that trend.

How's about we all come together and do it for ourselves. Let's call it - government.

Again not trying to derail the thread but this example of government need I find curious. If people want to eat food with HFCS then they should be able to, and companies should be able to meet that demand. This doesn't even have to do with economic freedom; it falls squarely on the bottom edge of the compass. If you want to mitigate the externality of this, an obese people, you might as well tax everything on the planet that is associated with risky behavior as well.

Also, the reason why HFCS is in all our food instead of sugar is due to protectionist policies and corn subsidy. It is largely a govt enabled problem.

[a500lbgorilla]

Again not trying to derail the thread but this example of government need I find curious. If people want to eat food with HFCS then they should be able to, and companies should be able to meet that demand. This doesn't even have to do with economic freedom; it falls squarely on the bottom edge of the compass. If you want to mitigate the externality of this, an obese people, you might as well tax everything on the planet that is associated with risky behavior as well.

Also, the reason why HFCS is in all our food instead of sugar is due to protectionist policies and corn subsidy. It is largely a govt enabled problem.

If people want

Want is precisely the problem here.

I want to stop smoking, but I also want a cig.

And HFCS is only an example because it's a real example.

[d0zer]

Also, the reason why HFCS is in all our food instead of sugar is due to protectionist policies and corn subsidy. It is largely a govt enabled problem.

This is definitely an example of failed government intervention. Subsidies as a whole seem too heavy handed an approach for an interventionist government. The results are too difficult to predict, and typically are done with tunnel vision on one goal, bi-products of said intervention are ignored or disregarded.

[a500lbgorilla]

This is definitely an example of failed government intervention. Subsidies as a whole seem too heavy handed an approach for an interventionist government. The results are too difficult to predict, and typically are done with tunnel vision on one goal, bi-products of said intervention are ignored or disregarded.

It's also a glorious triumph. Like how waste whey from cheese production becomes valuable proteins or waste compost can became valuable methane, there was an enormous pile of cheap waste corn that someone turned into a ubiquitous sweetener.

[d0zer]

It's also a glorious triumph. Like how waste whey from cheese production becomes valuable proteins or waste compost can became valuable methane, there was an enormous pile of cheap waste corn that someone turned into a ubiquitous sweetener.

I also am awed by industry's ability to capitalize on opportunities in innovative ways.