JMN950

@Shadow99885491 @ivars_auzins @magattew Anyway, I won’t debate democracy further, so you can have the last word. Take care, and all the best to you and your loved ones.

@Shadow99885491 @ivars_auzins @magattew Democracy can become tyranny of the majority. I reject a system where 51% can legitimize higher taxes or spending. In fact, that structure often blocks reforms aimed at shrinking government.

The government often says, "You can't sell that food" or "You can't open that school" unless you follow 500 complicated safety rules.  They say they are protecting you. But look closer: big companies love these rules because they have the money to follow them.  A regular person doesn't.  These "safety" rules act like a giant wall that keeps the small guy out so the big guy doesn't have any competition.

@nairobimercury @wmnjoya Calling Kenya a “libertarian paradise” is incorrect. It’s ranked “mostly unfree” in the Heritage Foundation’s Economic Freedom Index, reflecting bureaucracy, high taxes, and government spending—policies that run counter to libertarian principles. x.com/NdunguWainaina…

@wmnjoya Wandia, sometimes it's good to shut your mouth, when you don't know what you are talking about. In this case, silence would be golden. Go read a novel instead.

One of the problems of the Kenyan economy is that most of Kenyan economists are trained in the capitalist/liberalism/libertarian tradition and we lack prominent economists of alternative philosophies. The two men in the panel are of that school. The Americans sealed our economic thinking in a capitalist cage with the Sessional Paper no 10 of 1965. They created a myth that capitalism is a form of "African socialism" and crushed any intellectuals who mentioned the need for theories that incorporate African sovereignty. ES Atieno Odhiambo explained how that happened in his classic article on democracy and the ideology of order. So we just have conversations on how to make our rotten colonial economy more efficient, and Kenyans, especially the media, don't have the tools of political philosophy to see through those conversations. Because, and I have to repeat this, we accepted the lie that thinking and the humanities are irrelevant to so called practical problems. wandianjoya.com/uploads/3/1/2/…

@Shadow99885491 @ivars_auzins @magattew I don't believe voting has ever accomplished much. I prefer a decentralized country where almsot everything is handled at the local level.

@jmndatascience @ivars_auzins @magattew I hate our government. I also hate politicians. What I do know is that our electoral system is beyond great and they can't make laws if we vote them out

@Shadow99885491 @ivars_auzins @magattew I don’t believe government protects people; politicians often act in self-interest. That’s why I’m an anarcho-capitalist. That said, I’d accept a very small government capped at under 15% of GDP, with strict limits preventing expansion.

@jmndatascience @ivars_auzins @magattew Not calling government 'heroic'. Just pointing out that YOUR government protects YOU and YOUR companies made Nigeria so wary of vaccines that they die of preventable disease

@Shadow99885491 @ivars_auzins @magattew Tuskegee was a government failure, so calling government heroic is off. You seem unconcerned with people being used as guinea pigs given your support for state mandates. Those policies, alongside Big Pharma ties, have fueled vaccine skepticism.

@jmndatascience @ivars_auzins @magattew Remember Tuskegee? Remember all the PRIVATE companies that used Africa as their guinea pigs because government wouldn't allow YOU to be abused? Remember my account of people dying/disabled because my government didn't do their job? Remember the measles outbreak? Good luck

@Shadow99885491 @ivars_auzins @magattew I don’t care how rare clotting was—my concern is not forcing people to take vaccines after hearing such risks. You clearly favor government mandates that impose financial consequences. Don’t talk about “consent” when you discard it for government actions.

@jmndatascience @ivars_auzins @magattew 1. clotting issues were less than that with birth control 2. Covid clotting was a lot more

@Shadow99885491 @ivars_auzins @magattew So? Clotting cases are not something to be played about or underestimated.

@jmndatascience @ivars_auzins @magattew They paused it for two fucking WEEKS!

@Shadow99885491 @ivars_auzins @magattew So the workers who complained about the government mandates didn't exist?

@jmndatascience @ivars_auzins @magattew You could refuse and go on furlong. You could even get UIF if you did

@Shadow99885491 @ivars_auzins @magattew Not everyone’s body is the same. Legitimate worries existed, which is why SA paused the J&J rollout in April 2021—out of caution after rare clotting risks (TTS) were reported elsewhere, even with no local cases. The pause showed regulators and people took side effects seriously.

@Shadow99885491 @ivars_auzins @magattew Whether people begged for vaccines is irrelevant. My concern is whether the government—or government-backed workplace policies—should pressure people with financial consequences, like job threats, suspensions, or dismissals, for refusing.

@Shadow99885491 @ivars_auzins @magattew I never asked about your family. You brought up your wife after repeatedly avoiding my questions on consent, since you seem to favor forcing vaccines on those with legitimate concerns. You champion consent privately but discard it when the government is involved.

@jmndatascience @ivars_auzins @magattew My city buried children because EHPs didn't do their job at spaza shops. My city buried families because EHPs didn't do their job on PRIVATE water tankers. My city has people disabled because EHPs didn't check for listeriosis. But all you care about is my family getting vaccines

@Shadow99885491 @ivars_auzins @magattew I’m not talking about you and your wife. I mean people legitimately worried about vaccine risks—should they have been forced? Just because your family is safe doesn’t justify forcing others into that decision.

@jmndatascience @ivars_auzins @magattew Wife and I got our Covid vaccines in 2021. Did booster and wife gets her 4th/5th this year. We are fine

@Shadow99885491 @ivars_auzins @magattew Neither was the COVID‑19 vaccine harmless—which you approve—but the government forced it on people, and real risks existed. So again: you’re okay with harm as long as it comes from the government?

@jmndatascience @ivars_auzins @magattew The first polo vaccine wasn't developed by government

@Shadow99885491 @ivars_auzins @magattew The first bunch of Polio vaccines gave people Polio due to "faulty manufacturing" which were the same worries about the Covid-19 vaccine. So you're okay with harm done provided that its government?

@jmndatascience @ivars_auzins @magattew Haven't had polio or mumps so I guess they work. The good news is that it is free where I live

@Shadow99885491 @ivars_auzins @magattew So people should be forced (or strongly pressured via job loss) to take vaccines by government guidance, but when it comes to private companies, you draw the line at non-consent?

@jmndatascience @ivars_auzins @magattew My wife is a nurse. I think I will take her advice over yours

@Shadow99885491 @ivars_auzins @magattew You’re the last person to accuse me of wanting “bad laws & companies” to harm people, since you have no issue using government to force people to take questionable vaccines.

@Shadow99885491 @ivars_auzins @magattew No, that’s not my point—you’re missing it. My argument: bad actors exist on both sides. The real question is who limits and repairs damage better long-term—top-down government rules or private coordination.

@Shadow99885491 @ivars_auzins @magattew True informed consent means individuals (or families) weigh risks and benefits themselves—not facing job-loss through government-backed mandates. You champion consent, yet it disappears when the government’s involved.

@Shadow99885491 @ivars_auzins @magattew Good for her. That's her choice. Don't force other people to take it since not everybody's bodies are the same. People react differently to any medical product — age, health conditions, prior immunity, etc. All of it matters.