stewart@ihldt.UUCP (R. J. Stewart) (12/05/84)
Recently someone posted an article that essentially claimed (from memory, but essentially correct): "The U.S. government does not lessen your freedom since, despite taking about 25% of your income, it does not limit where you can go, what you can say, etc." In re-reading an article I posted, I recognized a counter-example to this. The situation is: > My wife and I have not had children, in large > part because we don't think we can afford them. Please tell me at > what point I incurred an obligation to pay for other people's > children? By taxing me [in large amounts, by the way] to pay for the education of children of other people, the government* has adversely affected my decision on having my own children. Ironic, no? Anyway, since this is one of the most important decisions I'll ever make, I claim that my freedom has been (substantially) lessened. Bob Stewart ihldt!stewart *to be precise in this context, the word "government" should be read: "the special interest groups that control the actions of the government".
larryk@tektronix.UUCP (Larry Kohn) (12/07/84)
In article <2632@ihldt.UUCP> stewart@ihldt.UUCP (R. J. Stewart) writes: > >By taxing me [in large amounts, by the way] to pay for the education of >children of other people, the government* has adversely affected my >decision on having my own children. Ironic, no? Anyway, since this is >one of the most important decisions I'll ever make, I claim that my >freedom has been (substantially) lessened. > ONE MIGHT ALSO SAY (fill in the blanks): By taxing me [in large amounts, by the way] to pay for the _____________ ________________________, the government* has adversely ________________ ___________________________________. Ironic, no? Anyway, since this is one of the most important _____________________________, I claim that my ______________________ has been (substantially) _______________________. THEN ONE CAN SAY, SO WHAT? > >*to be precise in this context, the word "government" should be read: >"the special interest groups that control the actions of the >government". ANYONE OUT THERE THAT CAN HONESTLY CLAIM NOT TO BELONG TO ONE OR MORE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS? SO NOW WE KNOW WHO THE ENEMY IS!