Are you a statist?

[derspiess]

I have my suspicions that there are a number of economic statists on the forum-- I'm curious to see how many of you would own up to it.

[Admiral Yi]

It's a perjorative term so I doubt anyone is going to answer in the affirmative.  Maybe Ide.

[Grey Fox]

Bueller, I am going to need a full explanation.

[merithyn]

Bueller, I am going to need a full explanation.

What the not-frog said.

[Razgovory]

A person who doesn't want to live in Somalia.

[Eddie Teach]

I believe the state should take a disproportionate amount of taxes from those who benefit the most from our capitalist system. I do not however, believe the state should attempt to set up an alternate system.

[Neil]

I guess it depends on how one defines 'statist'.

[derspiess]

However you define it yourself.

[Neil]

In that case, absolutely.  Anyone who says otherwise isn't thinking it through.

[merithyn]

However you define it yourself.

Having never heard the term before, I'm going to define it as "Someone who likes their state." In which case, my response is no.

[Jacob]

I'd say no.

I believe the state needs to be significantly involved in a number of crucial aspects of public life. I believe in progressive taxation and a state administered social safety net, I believe the state can and should be involved in providing a number of public goods others would prefer to be privatized (and which in many places are in private hands); I believe that a well organized state provides crucial benefits.

So I have a positive view of the potential of the state. There are numerous messed up states, but the solution to that is to clean up how they're organized, not to do without.

On the other hand, I believe the state ought to serve the population as a whole, and to serve the interests of individual citizens. To me, a statist is someone who believes that citizens serves the interest of the state.

[mongers]

Good post Jacob, I'm in large agreement.

Not sure we can have a useful debate about the issue as statist seems to almost exclusively used as a pejorative term. 

It would be better if the thread OP be rephrased in more neutral terms.

[Valmy]

Having never heard the term before, I'm going to define it as "Someone who likes their state." In which case, my response is no.

I hope you realize Zombie Abe Lincoln is going to hunt you down now.

[merithyn]

I hope you realize Zombie Abe Lincoln is going to hunt you down now.

He didn't like it either. He got the hell out as soon as he could, too, didn't he?

Besides, believe me, this is NOT Honest Abe's state anymore.

So, is anyone going to answer my original question of what the OP is asking?

[Neil]

I hope you realize Zombie Abe Lincoln is going to hunt you down now.

He didn't like it either. He got the hell out as soon as he could, too, didn't he?

Besides, believe me, this is NOT Honest Abe's state anymore.

So, is anyone going to answer my original question of what the OP is asking?

Indeed.  Now it's Obama's state.