So answer me this: who’s going to provide an infrastructure if not the government? Who’s going to build roads? Who’s going to provide police and firefighters? Who’s going to raise an army? Every society is at some level collectivist, otherwise it would be anarchy.
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There are goods that are because of their nature public goods. National defense, a justice system, firefighters, maybe vaccination…
Like in the case of a lighthouse it makes sense to finance and run them publically because you cannot prevent freeloaders from using them.
Those goods are rare and can be provided for less than 5%GDP as they allways have been…
The infrastructure will be built IF there is an economic demands for it and the streets and so on would be much cheaper and exactly were they are needed…
Youd still have all the infrastructure you need and pay for, just way cheaper and better and noone would extort mony from you if you just dont care for highways…
You’re not going to convince me that public healthcare and education are the “communist evils” that you seem to believe they are. Wanting some basic services to ensure that everyone is given a chance to succeed isn’t as terrible as you think it is.
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Of course they are an evil.
They are more expensive and less effective than they would be on a free market.
They also create a mindset of dependency…
Hell, they actually create dependency…
However clever and efficient a government system gets it will never beat thousands of competitors constantly looking for an edge…
That is why you want market forces to deal with the complicated stuff…
If necessary give everyone a school and medic check and then hands off and let the marketforces work their magic…
That is not pure libertarian doctrine, but I think you could sell a majority these ideas and they would WORK…
[quote]BabyBuster wrote:
Headhunter wrote:
BabyBuster wrote:
Equating poverty with laziness is nothing more than a cop out to justify to yourself why you aren’t obligated to do anything about it. It allows you to dehumanize those who live in poverty so you don’t have to feel bad when saying you have no obligation to them, and not just because they are your countrymen, but because they are humans just like you and deserve some simply amount of basic dignity.
At whose expense? Why does someone else’s need form a claim on me? Am I the slave of someone whose mother chose to be a crack addict or whose father gambled away their food money?
Why do you insist and repeating your questions? It’s already been answered - because you live in a society. If you don’t like the answer, that’s fine, but bring something new to the table.
They have a claim on you because you received beneficial government support when you were starting out, where they received garbage. Your school probably provided you with the basis you’ll need for a successful education. Don’t you think they deserve that same chance? If the American dream is to be given a chance, doesn’t everyone need to have some basic starting point?
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LOL! Schooled in inner-city Detroit, worked nights in an factory (plus various odd jobs) and paid MY OWN WAY at the University of Michigan. One of the women there once offered me a financial aid form: ‘Free money’, she said. My response: ‘I don’t want any free money.’
Look, I grew up with the poor and illiterate, with drug heads and gang bangers. I know these people. GIVE 'EM NOTHING!!! Survive and prosper, or die. Life is truly a fight to the death.