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 01:53:49 GMT
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Viewed:
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236 times
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Frank Filz wrote in message <3A513F9C.2142BF82@mindspring.com>...
>
> 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 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 fairness, as is consistent with our more
virtuous instincts.
>
> 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.
Not exactly... if you feel that the U.S. tax system is unfair, that is fine
by me. I don't know enough about it. I, personally, know of people who have
been treated unfairly by my country's tax laws, and academically I think
it's unfair too. However, I also feel that it is intellectually and morally
inconsistent for us who live as well as we do, to express an unwillingness
to part with wealth that we don't need, regardless of whether it was
forcibly taken or not. It was the actual expression of unwillingness which
offended my sense of fairness. I don't think mandatory tax is necessarily
fair, but I quite willingly pay my tax because 1) my lifestyle is good in
spite of it, and 2) it eases my conscience to know that it has at least a
_chance_ of lessening the imbalance between my lifestyle and that of the
less fortunate, or helping to create a common good.
Cheers,
Paul
LUGNET member 164
http://www.geocities.com/doctorshnub/
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Is space property?
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| (...) And I think that the removal of forced wealth reallocation, particularly when the wealth was not gained corruptly is unfair. Fixing that problem would "push things in the _direction_ of fairness." (...) There are two issues. One is that the US (...) (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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| (...) 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, (...) (24 years ago, 2-Jan-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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