When capitalism is totally unregulated by law, capitalism and hedonism are the same thing.
Now you are making another mistake common among anti-capitalists, namely that of equating capitalism with anarchy.
Governments proper role is to protect us from force and fraud, which is accomplished through laws. So laws that punish fraud are necessary, and expected to be rigorously enforced, in a laissez-faire capitalist society.
When I asked this question I said nothing about anybody’s principles... I was talking about politics and public policy.
Politics, and public policy, are an extension of ones principles being applied in a social context. I am now even more intrigued as to your political beliefs since you seem to be making the case that you hold opinions about politics and public policy that are, by your own admission, devoid of any principles.
You are claiming core principles that can no longer exist in the real world.
Individual rights shall always exist so long as there are individuals. Whether these rights are recognized and protected in no way erases their existence.
This means that you have no intention of compromising anything for the common good.
"“The common good” is a meaningless concept, unless taken literally, in which case its only possible meaning is: the sum of the good of all the individual men involved. But in that case, the concept is meaningless as a moral criterion: it leaves open the question of what is the good of individual men and how does one determine it?
It is not, however, in its literal meaning that that concept is generally used. It is accepted precisely for its elastic, undefinable, mystical character which serves, not as a moral guide, but as an escape from morality. Since the good is not applicable to the disembodied, it becomes a moral blank check for those who attempt to embody it.
When “the common good” of a society is regarded as something apart from and superior to the individual good of its members, it means that the good of some men takes precedence over the good of others, with those others consigned to the status of sacrificial animals. It is tacitly assumed, in such cases, that “the common good” means “the good of the majority” as against the minority or the individual.
Observe the significant fact that that assumption is tacit: even the most collectivized mentalities seem to sense the impossibility of justifying it morally. But “the good of the majority,” too, is only a pretense and a delusion: since, in fact, the violation of an individual’s rights means the abrogation of all rights, it delivers the helpless majority into the power of any gang that proclaims itself to be “the voice of society” and proceeds to rule by means of physical force, until deposed by another gang employing the same means." - Ayn Rand,
Capitalism; The unknown ideal
I find it ironic and highly disingenuous on your part that you come here harping about respecting other people’s rights when the name you call yourself mentions an Indian tribe- whose land was stolen.
Fallacy, Ad Hominem of Tu Quoque: A tu quoque argument attempts to discredit the opponent's position by asserting his failure to act consistently in accordance with that position; it attempts to show that a criticism or objection applies equally to the person making it. It is considered an ad hominem argument, since it focuses on the party itself, rather than its positions.
Seneca is my Latin name and so naturally I was drawn to translating and reading the works of Lucius Annaeus Seneca.
"Let us therefore act, in all our plans and conduct, just as we are accustomed to act whenever we approach a huckster who has certain wares for sale; let us see how much we must pay for that which we crave. Very often the things that cost nothing cost us the most heavily; I can show you many objects the quest and acquisition of which have wrested freedom from our hands." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4BC - 65AD)
That quote is particularly relevant given that collectivist hucksters have always tried to sell the "common good" to other men at the cost of their individual liberty.
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