Big surprise: John Stossel using another bullsh*t example to push Libertarian ideology

[JHB]

Usually when this level of fantasy is reached, there's a dragon involved...

Fox Business host John Stossel on Sunday asserted that most government was unnecessary because companies like Walmart would spontaneously provide assistance to disaster victims "in many more ways" than the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) could.

"Ever feel like government makes too many plans that come to naught?" Fox News host Tucker Carlson told Stossel during a segment on Fox & Friends. "It's kind of a bold idea. You're saying that not every human activity needs to be planned from above. Some things spontaneously work themselves out pretty well."

According to Stossel, Americans would be better off with less government and more "spontaneous order," a term coined by economist Friedrich Hayek which states that order will naturally emerge from chaos.

"If you hadn't seen a skating rink, you would say, 'No, you need skating police, people go in this direction,'" Stossel observed. "Think of how much of life is spontaneous... Jazz, there's no direction. So much of life is spontaneous, but our instinct is to say, 'Government, give us a plan.'"

http://crooksandliars.com/2015/02/john-stossel-most-govt-unnecessary-because

Just so you know, the rink he's at for his cutesy-poo "example" is the one in NYC's Bryant Park. It DOES have "skating police", the ice-skating equivalent of lifeguards. I've seen them on more than one occasion direct people who were wrong-way skating to turn around and go in the proper direction.

His part about Walmart and disaster relief leaves out far more -- and far more important -- facts.

But you knew he was lying when you read the word "Stossel".

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. John Stasshole needs to move to a country where there is no functioning government -

like Somalia. Hardly any government, lots of guns, a Libertarian paradise.

[shenmue]

2. Is it a coincidence that he and Geraldo both have big-ass mustaches?

[JHB]

6. That's hardly the only similarity...

Both joined the NYC local ABC station in the 70's, both were fairly decent reporters on local matters (Stossel was actually on the consumer protection beat, and was doing an honest job of it), both had ambitions of going national, both only got so far on that score, and both went "independent" and tacked rightward, both ending up on FOX.

[shenmue]

7. Yeah, I remember that

[FSogol]

8. Big-ass is a term that certainly applies to both Stossel and Geraldo.

[sendero]

3. If I were as stupid...

.... as John Stossel, I'd keep my mouth shut.

[GoneFishin]

4. What a friggin' moron.

[GeorgeGist]

5. 2nd law of thermodynamics ...

never heard of Friedrich Hayek.

[JaneyVee]

9. LOLbertarian!

[glasshouses]

10. So easy to say when you have a few million sitting around

[MiniMe]

11. It would work as well as "trickle down economics"

And the companies would start saying "what's in it for me!"