They shouldn't necessarily feel offended. I'm American and it doesn't offend me when people criticize the U.S. government. After all, I'm doing the same while it's still allowed.

That's one way you all are better. Another is decentralization of power. Americans now look to the federal government as their solution of first resort, which is a disaster for both pragmatic and libertarian reasons. It would be much, much better for individuals and families to do what they can for themselves, then turn to the community if that's not enough, and then to move up the ladder to the state level and federal government should it prove necessary.

Fortunately there are other countries that do not seem to be on this path, and the Empire has not yet instituted exit visas.

Well, unless you're on the "no fly list". Which you'd know if you were... right? Hmm.

There's really not much keeping your neighbor from doing that now. And there's nothing that would stop people in a libertarian society from choosing to cooperate to protect themselves from violence.

You mean, the problem that private currencies make it harder for politicians and bankers to steal from everyone?

That's okay. "Insightful" usually just means "I agree" anyway.

This is like living in a state that only has state-owned liquor stores and asking, "But without government, who will sell booze?"

Right, that's the whole point of this thing.

Obamacare is fascism, because that, cronyism, crony capitalism, oligarchism, and corporatism are more or less synonymous with the practice of mutual support between state policy makers and executives of preferred corporations. Considering that the individual mandate is a huge boon to health insurance corporations, Obamacare certainly qualifies.

But when the army nationalizes an industry, as in Phreakiture's example, that's not economic fascism, that's socialism. It's probably confusing because the right wing talk radio echo chamber has been shouting "Socialism!!!1!!1!!!" for the last five years for everything Obama does whether it's really socialism or not.

Agreed. I just hope no one counters with the suggestion that the rigged-as-a-three-masted-schooner electoral system qualifies.

He didn't say anything anti-capitalist. And I'm a capitalist, so I think I'd have noticed.

There's a madrassah joke in there somewhere. But I take your point.

One of the many ways that higher education is not a free market is that most students pay for books with easily borrowed money. The distorting effect that guaranteed federal grants and loans have on the prices of everything in academia can scarcely be overstated, and the ludicrous cost of textbooks is one of these ways.

Otherwise I thought your analysis was great. And I'm with you, existing commercial publishers can all go die in a fire. Open educational resources for the win!

Thank you! Especially since in this case I was saying that usually I agree with the 3-D naysayers, but that Gravity is a singular exception.

That's one option. Another is that those of us who've been here a long time can keep our home, and new people who don't like the site for which they've signed up can discuss the movies they like better on a site that better matches their interests.