[MD] Sin Part 2

[pholden at davtv.com]

[Case]
As for FedEx versus the Post Office, FedEx took only the most
profitable portion of what the Post Office was charged with doing. They
are totally incapable of daily delivery of 35 cent envelopes and tons
of junk mail to every single structure in this country. By skimming off
the portion the actual was profitable one could argue that they
actually forced up the cost of the public system. On the other hand the
competition they provide has resulted in a better system and the US
postal rates for overnight delivery are currently lower than the
private sector and with comparable levels of service.

[Platt]
I don't think the Post Office is capable of daily delivery of 35 cent
envelopes either. :-)

[Platt]
Chaos and chance doesn't regulate a free market. Thousands of
individual value judgments do. I think someone called it the "invisible
hand."

[Case]
The invisible hand is exactly as you describe it. It is the law of
large numbers. All those individual judgments can be plotted into
probability curves. Those curves are valuations of chance. Businesses
use them to predict trend and product placement and the shopping habits
of their customers.

Governments can, do and should do the same thing to formulate public
policy, to stimulate economic activity in some areas and discourage it
in others.

[Platt]
No business or government can predict economic activity accurately.
When the government tries to and starts messing around in economic
activity, the results can be catastrophic -- as the great Depression
illustrated.

[Platt]
Left to starve? If you want to know about starvation, check out
communist Russia.

[Case]
This was not a discussion of the Sins of others. I was hoping for an
honest assessment of where WE miss the target.

[Platt]
I don't detect mass starvation in the U.S. If it exists, please point
it out. And what is the "target?" An unearned chicken in every pot?

[Platt]
The principle of equality before the law was established by the
founding fathers. You should thank them.  

[Case]
I do but I think you also should admit that the constitution had to be
amended four times to make it crystal clear that they were serious
about that principle.

[Platt]
Illustrating once again the wisdom of the founding fathers -- making
provision for amendments.

[Platt]
The entrepreneurial free market allowed industry to invent methods that
turn waste into useful, profitable products.

[Case]
Only after rivers caught fire and the air became so thick with waste it
was barely breathable at times. Only after whole communities had to be
abandoned when young and old contracted cancer. That legacy of shame is
the product of your pure free market. You should thank your elected
officials these practices have at least been slowed down.

[Platt]  
A few isolated incidents and you're willing to condemn a system that
has brought you untold health and wealth. But, I know you relish sob
and scare stories.

[Platt]
What beggars the imagination is the naive idea that this country has no
enemies and that we could do away with the military.

[Case]
What is sad is that we seem to have so few friends. The sincerest form
of flattery would be imitation. Do you see a world envious of us and
plotting to steal what we have? I see a world resentful of us for
pushing them around and trying to exploit them.

[Platt]
I see an ungrateful world for all that we've have done for them.

[Case]
The military is built into our system but we have always been rightly
distrustful of its use.

[Platt]
Well, maybe we can agree -- distrustful of government power? You bet.

[Case]
Why are you so fearful, Platt? If your government promotes policies
that cause you to be afraid shouldn't you question what they are doing?

[Platt]
Me, fearful? Of what? Second-hand smoke? Global warming?
U.S. debt? Poverty in our midst? Running out of natural resources?
Seems to me you leftists are the ones who are fearful. As for
government policies, what policies do you have in mind?

[Case]
I don't minimize the tragedy of 9-11. But I have seen no evidence that
it was the act of a foreign government. It fact I don't recall seeing
definitive evidence proving we know much of anything about who did it
or why. It appears to have been the work of a relatively small group of
criminals and tracking down criminals and bringing them to justice is
not what the military does.

[Platt]
Yeah, I know. You leftists saw no threat in allowing the butcher of
Baghdad to get atomic bombs and see no danger from Iran or radical
Islam. After all, their vow to wipe Israel off the map and kill all 
infidels can't be serious.

> [Case]
> I don't blame capitalism I blame you; you personally, for
> sanctimoniously proclaiming that a man who can not work because he is
> distracted by unwelcome voices in his head is unworthy of compassion.
> I blame you for judging a woman raped by her uncles at the tender age
> of 10 for having low self esteem. I blame you saying tough tittie to
> anyone who's Value does not measure up to your standards.

[Platt}
I blame you for being a hypocrite because you talk the talk but don't
walk the walk like Mother Teresa.  

[Case]
You don't know me, Platt.

[Platt]
I have no reason to think you are like Mother Teresa. Of course, I could
be wrong. 

[Case]
We disagree but I have always respected what you say and your role in
this forum. Ham's comments on this matter have been morally and 
intellectually repulsive. Are you seriously endorsing his smug pomposity?
Are you his lackey these days?

[Platt]
Blaming people for their beliefs is hardly respectful. I'm disappointed
you would lower yourself to that level and then compound it by
launching personal attacks. Unworthy of a response except to point out
that Ham seems to be your nemesis. 

[Platt]
An apt expression of Marxist morality where the ethical paradigm isn't
premised on right and wrong but concern with oppression, giving a pre-
emptive pass to anyone in a one-down position, regardless of that
person's beliefs or conduct. Highest value is placed on victim status,
particularly victims of "oppressive" American capitalism and
imperialism, or in Case's case, a "perverse incarnation of Darwinism."

[Case]
Helping people who are down on their luck, protections of widows and
embodiments of Marxism? It seems to me these are central to all peoples
of faith, to all civilized nations. How we ought to act and how we
ought to treat others are THE central issues of all morality. To
abrogate this is to embrace immorality. It is true that there are those
who can not be helped. It is true that there are those who will take
advantage or any system we contrive. But to refuse aid to people who
need it because some fraction of their number will get more than their
share is simply obscene.

[Platt]
I suggest you read Lila to discover the "central issue of morality."

[Case]
Go visit your local United Way. Volunteer at one of the agencies they
support. Just as an exercise apply for food stamps or any public
benefit. Go with a woman needing day care for her children and see what
kind of facilities and resources are available to her. Calculate for
yourself how much money you would get on your social security benefits
and a part time job and see if you can find housing that fits your
budget.

If you think "victims" in this country are wallowing in wealth at
public expense you just not informed. Under what circumstances would
you be willing to take your grandchildren to a public soup kitchen? How
bad would things have to get? How unpleasant do we need to make it for
a young mother to diaper her baby before you are satisfied that she is
not a communist?

This isn't about political ideology. This isn't about some abstraction.
This is about how we treat our fellow citizens and how we would hope to
be treated if our situations were reversed.

If you are telling me that common decency is the exclusive concern of
Marxists then I have been sorely misinformed on what it means to be an
American.

[Platt]
Common decency means you fight to defend liberty but otherwise mind your own
business. That’s what it means to be an American.

Regards,
Platt




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