[net.politics.theory] Hypocracy of Socialists

mwm@UCBOPAL.CC (Mike (I'll be mellow when I'm dead) Meyer) (09/28/85)

To respond to an ad hominem flame with an ad hominem flame:

In article <1338@teddy.UUCP> Larry Kolodney write:
>Does anyone else find it tremendously ironic that the two biggest libertarian
>flamers on this list, JoSH, and Rick McGeer, both spout their tirades from
>PUBLICLY SUPPORTED EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.

Not really, considering that the number of people employed by the
government, and the percentage of computer power run by the government.
Refusing to work at such facilities because they are government run would
silence all opposition to the statists. They, of course, would love this
situation.

>Not only that, but virtually every libertarian on this net works at either
>a publicly supported college, or an electronics or computer company whose
>existence is supported by the Department of Defense.

Surprise, surprise, surprise. Virtually every person on this net works at
either ... . Big deal.

That the DoD supports these institutions is immaterial to a libertarian
philosophy. That the government - through the DoD - supports them is not.

On the other hand, to a socialist, that the government supports them doesn't
matter. That the DoD is the arm of the government in question should. So why
do so many socialist post from such places, mit for example?

>These people are oh so eloquent in their defense of the mythical free market, 
>demeaning humanitarian welfare programs as wasteful, destructive, and downright
>evil.  At the same time, they seem to have absolutely no qualms about taking
>their own form of welfare, the welfare for the elites in this country that
>comes in the form of wasteful defense contracts, unrestricted research grants,
>and the like.

Ah, now we're back to working for the government. Whether that's bad - to a
libertarian - depends on the flavor of libertarian at hand. Some of us don't
consider government programs, be they welfare, defense, or whatever, as bad.
Just the organized coercion used to get that money. To such people, working
for such programs is a minor sin, as compared to working for the IRS or
depending on coerced funds for a living. After all, those same kinds of jobs
would exist in a free market, but not the IRS.

>Half of all engineers in this country are deployed directly or
>indirectly by the DOD.  So many are Libertarians, or at least
>fiscal conservatives.  What a joke!!

Yeah, isn't it a joke that many of the people trained in logic and rational
thought should shy away from redistributionist philosophy. Of course, it
couldn't have anything to do with logic inherent in that philosophy.

	<mike

P.S. Yes, I know I'm posting from a uc site. I did/do qualms about this, and
will discuss them by mail on the off chance anyone is interested.