[PLUG-TALK] Re: Col Co.

Jeme A Brelin jeme at brelin.net
Sat Nov 13 09:02:34 UTC 2004


On Fri, 12 Nov 2004, AthlonRob wrote:
> I'd be willing to pay more road taxes and live with fewer well-kept
> roads if it meant I didn't have to pay as much to support fiscally
> irresponsible government projects.

Well, the reason the money you DO keep in your pocket goes as far as it
does is one huge government project called "global dominance" that
involvse massive public subsidies to global corporations which undermine
local economies overseas and built the most destructive military force
the world has ever known in order to ensure that dominance is not
questioned or subverted.

I suspect that you, as a more Libertarian leaning (note the capital L)
individual understand that project and would like to bring it down as much
as I would.

In fact, ultimately, I think, our visions of the ideal world are probably
quite similar.  The main difference, of course, is that I think people
should pull together to ensure the best possible life while you seem to
think that we should individually shoot for the best possible lives we can
even if that means exploiting or pushing down those around us to get
there.  While you see my goal as hopelessly idealistic and unattainable, I
see yours as brutal and inhumane.  You think I'm naive for assuming that
the majority will not simply "sponge" off of a productive minority and I
think you're naive for not realizing your system's inability to plan for
the future and its virtual equivalence to feudalism.

I think we'd both realize right away, should our respective systems be
implemented in any kind of scale, that the way we live today could not
possibly continue.  Economies would shrink in scale drastically and the
world of cheap energy and disposable goods would be gone forever.

What you call "government" is way more than just government.  Government
is your scare-word that attempts to equate all public works with the
regulation and enforcement that governs people's lives as imposed
authority.  But, in fact, the portions of what you call government that
you would like to dismantle are the portions that don't do any governing
at all!  These are the public agencies that provide services to people and
make their lives better.  And most importantly, these public services are
a minority when compared to those public agencies designed only to impose
the will of the powerful ont eh powerless.  That is the government you
should be fighting against.

> I don't believe we're helping people so much by giving them everything
> for free.

By working for wages that cannot support themselves or their families, by
working one or more part-time jobs that do not provide healthcare, by
remaining out of work and part of the pool of unemployed that is used to
threaten the job security of those in our increasingly de-skilled labor
force, the people who receive public assistance are providing an
absolutely necessary service to the economy.  Should they not be
compensated for that service?

If you have a system that REQUIRES some people to be out of work and
REQUIRES some people to be paid less than a living wage, then those people
are working FOR the system.  And if that system REQUIRES compensation for
those who contribute, then those people should get compensation.

J.
-- 
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     Jeme A Brelin
    jeme at brelin.net
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