Subject:
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Re: Is space property?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Tue, 2 Jan 2001 02:40:28 GMT
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Viewed:
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284 times
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Paul Baulch wrote:
> Should I compare the paunchy, corn-fed Middle American with a nuclear
> family, two cars, a big house in the 'burbs and enough disposable income to
> amass a considerable Lego collection, complaining about the government
> talking from him what is effectively luxury wealth, when there are two
> billion other human beings in the world who work four times harder than him,
> for a bowl of rice a day? That troubles my sense of fairness a great deal -
> and it would explain why, when I heard people protesting/whinging about
> paying tax, I felt tempted to tell them to "get stuffed".
I do find it unsettling that the majority of humanity doesn't live under
the same conditions I do, but I don't see a clean way to get from where
we are now, to a utopia where everyone has a "fair" allotment of "stuff"
(life necessities, goods, peace of mind, health, whatever). I'm not even
really sure what my definitions of "fair" and "stuff" would be (though I
don't feel that "fair" means we all have the same amount).
I do find your opinion troubling. You wish to tell me to "get stuffed"
because I have all these nifty toys to play with, yet feel the system of
taxation is unfair (but I would remind you - I might be quite happy to
give as much or more of my income to charity than currently is given
between how the government allocates my tax dollars, and the additional
money I give directly to charity), yet you obviously are happily
involved in the same "luxury" hobby.
I also happen to believe that a totally free market with "taxes" only
covering a minimum of services, and said taxes being as close to user
fees as possible, that we would all be better off. I would also point
out that the farm worker in a "third world" country may be happy just
the way he is (though I suspect most would definitely be happier with a
better government, and almost assuredly would be better off with better
health care and more availability of food). I would also lay most of the
blame for the conditions of living in the "third world" on the people
themselves. We (US and Europe) have better conditions primarily because
we fought for them. We demand that the government treat us fairly, and
that a court system exist which limits the ability of the rich and
powerful to screw us over. We also have dramatically reduced our
birthrate so that we are not overwhelming the resources of our countries
(though of course we are also importing huge quantities of food, but I
also feel like I've heard before that the US is actually a net exporter
of food). Of course there is also something to be said for those who
have climbed the cliff first to give a hand to those still at the base
of the cliff. One way I'd like to see the US change which would make
that lending a hand work better would be to scrap the immigration laws.
Don't make Mexican workers have to practically sign up as slaves to be
able to get a job in the US doing stuff no US citizen wants to do. If
the Mexicans (and other Central and South Americans) could freely enter
the country, they would have the ability to tell the abusive farmers:
"Good bye, I'm going to work across the street for that other farmer who
makes sure I have the proper protective gear and pays twice as much as
you do."
Frank
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Is space property?
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| Frank Filz wrote in message <3A513F9C.2142BF82@m...ng.com>... (...) I would agree that life probably can't become even mostly fair for humanity as a whole. However, that would be a very poor excuse not to strive to push things in the _direction_ of (...) (24 years ago, 2-Jan-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
| | | Re: Is space property?
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| Warning: Long, long rant by the resident imperial historian follows. Grab a donut (or an ear of corn, if you're a Middle American like myself). ;) (...) It doesn't. The lifestyle we enjoy in the US, UK, Europe (as a whole), Japan, Oceania, Canada, (...) (24 years ago, 2-Jan-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Is space property?
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| Christopher Weeks wrote in message ... (...) believe, (...) seem (...) As an atheist, here is my take on human rights: Rights are, as far as I can tell, a human social construct, a "base-level" set of behavioural rules that originate from (...) (24 years ago, 1-Jan-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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