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Comment by ianai | Hacker News Reader

Countries are best off that empower their people: the individual citizens.

I really don't like the framing of that. Good countries get the hell out of the way while people use their inherent power of self-determination. If someone powerful spends their time "empowering" you, it means you had none in the first place.

I was attempting to paraphrase Adam Smith.

"No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable." Adam Smith

That's the context I meant for the word "empower".

Would you agree that among the best things an individual blue collar worker can do with that empowerment is to team up with others in a union?

I'd agree that it is one of the smartest things they could do since they are selling their labor.

>If someone powerful spends their time "empowering" you, it means you had none in the first place.

Is that not reasonable? The 'inherent power of self-determination' is pretty weak all things considered. Governments exist to help 'empower' in the myriad of ways that can undermine self-determination.

As an American and having lived (not visited - lived) in a number of countries besides the US, I can say with some certainty that the American ideal of the 'inherent power of self-determination' is greatly exaggerated in the US and far weaker in other places. Government policy and leadership absolutely has an effect on this behavior.

Well, there are some countries with no rule of law, and large ungoverned areas. You are welcome to move to one of your like, then you could have all the empowering you want! (To be clear, that's a joke, as I'm not suggesting you go get yourself killed by a warload or pirates somewhere).

Nobody had any power in the first place. Have you SEEN a baby? My parents raised me to who I was today. They empowered me. They have no power over massive monopolistic corporations though, so I don't see why it's so horrible with further empowerment.

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