Shutdown over. Republicans blinked.

[Sava]

That's not a belief that a reasonable person would hold.

That's like, your opinion, man.

No. "Statism" has a definition. What he believes... isn't it.

[PLATO]

Only if you don't know what words mean.

From wiki

In political science, statism (French: étatisme) is the belief that the state should control either economic or social policy, or both, to some degree.[1][2][3][4] Statism is effectively the opposite of anarchism.[1][2][3][4] Statism can take many forms from minarchism to totalitarianism. Minarchists prefer a minimal or night-watchman state to protect people from aggression, theft, breach of contract, and fraud with military, police, and courts.[5][6][7][8] Some may also include fire departments, prisons, and other functions.[5][6][7][8] Welfare state adepts and other such options make up more statist territory of the scale of statism.[9]

[Ben Kenobi]

I demand proof that you are either reasonable, intelligent, or reasonably intelligent. I'd prefer proof of all three, but I'll settle for one.

He lives in San Diego?

[Guynemer]

From wiki

In political science, statism (French: étatisme) is the belief that the state should control either economic or social policy, or both, to some degree.[1][2][3][4] Statism is effectively the opposite of anarchism.[1][2][3][4] Statism can take many forms from minarchism to totalitarianism. Minarchists prefer a minimal or night-watchman state to protect people from aggression, theft, breach of contract, and fraud with military, police, and courts.[5][6][7][8] Some may also include fire departments, prisons, and other functions.[5][6][7][8] Welfare state adepts and other such options make up more statist territory of the scale of statism.[9]

You forgot

[Ben Kenobi]

My point is that DD isn't a "tea bagger", and by accusing him of such, Oerdin does a disservice to 1) himself, B) the rest of we Poly liberals, and thirdly) DD.

No, no, he's right. Conservatives are all a monolith who follow the tea party orders and think that Sarah Palin is a milf. I mean seriously. We even have get togethers and rallies and stuff. There's a tea party email that gets sent out every morning to instruct us on how to talk about things and what to say. Oerdin's a hero for finally exposing all the teabaggers for who they are - clones of an unholy union between Rush Limbaugh and Christine O'Donnell.

[Sava]

You forgot

"Statism", in political science, is not used to describe any existence or instance of government. It is used to refer to more extreme or absolute versions of centralized government.

[DinoDoc]

This is like the greatest thread ever.

[Sava]

And it's specifically used by Rand'ians.

A statist system—whether of a communist, fascist, Nazi, socialist or “welfare” type—is based on the . . . government’s unlimited power, which means: on the rule of brute force. The differences among statist systems are only a matter of time and degree; the principle is the same. Under statism, the government is not a policeman, but a legalized criminal that holds the power to use physical force in any manner and for any purpose it pleases against legally disarmed, defenseless victims.

Nothing can ever justify so monstrously evil a theory. Nothing can justify the horror, the brutality, the plunder, the destruction, the starvation, the slave-labor camps, the torture chambers, the wholesale slaughter of statist dictatorships.

from http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/statism.html

Government control of a country’s economy—any kind or degree of such control, by any group, for any purpose whatsoever—rests on the basic principle of statism, the principle that man’s life belongs to the state.

Ayn Rand's thoughts aren't generally accepted to be true.

[Ben Kenobi]

I think this is where I'm supposed to post a pic of Sarah Palin, Christine O'Donnell and Ayn Rand. Better pull out the Tea Party handbook to the chapter, "conservative babes are proof positive that God loves the tea party."

[Sava]

The problem is that "statism" is often used by people like DD to lump any form of government in with totalitarianism. By the broadest possible definition, sure, statism is every group of people that has existed beyond pre-historic times... probably even before that. A family of four led by the father? Well, that's technically statism.

But nobody actually believes that except Randian idiots. That's why more specific and nuanced definitions exist.

Jesus Christ, are you really all this stupid?

[DinoDoc]

Damn it Ben. If you want to post pics of Conservative Women, do it right and go for the gold:

[Ben Kenobi]

Jesus Christ, are you really all this stupid?

We're a monolith, sava. We all think the same things and do the same things. We love our guns and religion, brother sava, and we'll pray for you so that eventually when you die, you'll be slightly less damned.

[Ben Kenobi]

Oooh! I see your bet and I raise you!

[Sava]

Ick.

And I say ick because she's not hot enough to get over her being a terrible person.

[Ben Kenobi]

I hear your hetero card was declined, sava.