Now the question is, does advocating one regulatory scheme make other regulatory schemes more likely, through some habit-forming mechanism or other? If so, then your version of a libertarian (who thinks the average scheme is bad) should sometimes oppose even good schemes, and your version of a socialist (who thinks the average scheme is good) should sometimes support even bad schemes.
In building bridges between left and right, it’s always a good idea to offer analogies between money and sex, so consider this: utilitarians generally oppose governments telling people whom to mate with and whom not to mate with, even in cases where these people will predictably make decisions that make them and others unhappy, because utilitarians think the good this would do is outweighed by the value of having a bright-line taboo against the government meddling in that sphere. It’s less obvious to me than it is to you that the economy as a whole, or some particular circumscribed aspect of it, isn’t also such a sphere, at least in part.
Since there’s no good that could possibly come from us talking about this other than low-quality thinking and writing practice, I’m putting this sentence here to make myself look like an idiot in case I fail to resist the temptation to post about politics again anytime soon.
Now the question is, does advocating one regulatory scheme make other regulatory schemes more likely, through some habit-forming mechanism or other? If so, then your version of a libertarian (who thinks the average scheme is bad) should sometimes oppose even good schemes, and your version of a socialist (who thinks the average scheme is good) should sometimes support even bad schemes.
In building bridges between left and right, it’s always a good idea to offer analogies between money and sex, so consider this: utilitarians generally oppose governments telling people whom to mate with and whom not to mate with, even in cases where these people will predictably make decisions that make them and others unhappy, because utilitarians think the good this would do is outweighed by the value of having a bright-line taboo against the government meddling in that sphere. It’s less obvious to me than it is to you that the economy as a whole, or some particular circumscribed aspect of it, isn’t also such a sphere, at least in part.
Since there’s no good that could possibly come from us talking about this other than low-quality thinking and writing practice, I’m putting this sentence here to make myself look like an idiot in case I fail to resist the temptation to post about politics again anytime soon.