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Liberal segment of the population checking in; that's a complete strawman - we're in favour of gun control because we don't trust our fellow citizens to be responsible with them, NOT because we trust the government.

Regarding state vs federal control; I think you'll be surprised how many liberals are happy with individual states de-criminalizing marihuana and such, there's actually a lot of agreement with libertarians regarding governement power amongst many liberals.

Many of us are concerned about abuses of state power to roll back progress on abortion, teaching evolution, secularism etc. and I don't know your political leanings, but I suspect you'd agree with a lot of these, weren't it coming from the....pfff...liberals - they can never be right, can they?



> Many of us are concerned about abuses of state power to roll back progress on abortion, teaching evolution, secularism etc.

The problem is that you can't pick and choose. If you want limited federal government you have to protest just as loudly against Common Core (federal involvement in education), gun control, environmental action, etc. And the same applies with regards to executive overreach - re: border control and immigration policy.

I think you may be surprised to realize that many conservatives (obviously it depends who we're talking about) will gladly ally with you to prevent both of these, but unfortunately no one on the left was willing to do anything as long as they held the reins of power. I only hope that now that Republicans are in charge, conservatives will not get too giddy with power (and I think there is hope).

Limited government and constitutionalism are the only way to ensure an even balance, and prevent the other 51% (give or take) of the country from forcing their views down your throat.


> The problem is that you can't pick and choose.

This is absolutely false. Governments throughout the world can have extreme levels of control over certain aspects of life while being powerless in other, due in no small part to the willingness of people to accept this control, culturally and politically.

Germans are big on effective bureaucracy and a social safety net that works, yet they're some of the biggest sceptics in privacy, to the point where most people use cash for most transactions.

Americans have a complete unwillingness for a unified ID to the point where all states have to improvise with drivers' licenses and other forms of ID which are not uniform and imperfect next to most other countries' ID cards. Again it's a cultural issue.

Even though most of the state's power comes through the form of silent bureaucracies, people's willingness to accept that power always factors in. If people care enough, the state just can't push on with certain things.




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