[MD] Sin Part 1

[ARLO J BENSINGER JR]

[Case]
Just to keep it a three way here, let me point out that you guys are addressing:
what should be taxed and how. These are issues for legislative bodies to
debate. I think they are worth discussing but only if we are considering the
pragmatics of taxation.

[Arlo]
Agree, Case. I know we've talking about taxation "points" before. I do not feel
taxation is either immoral or illegitimate. As I've said repeatedly, I am happy
to pay taxes for the infrastructure I have at my disposal. Platt has said that
the military and police are the legitimate functions of government, and I'd
argue the reason is they are concerned primarily with protecting property
rights. Platt needs a man with a gun to protect his property, but school
lunches or public parks or libraries don't matter because they are not "his".
(You see the effects of mercantilism here, no?)

I've made the argument (won't rehash it entirely) to the effect that access to
information underscores intellectual-level growth, and basing access to
information on social-wealth, restricts (and kills) dynamic intellectual
evolution. Hence, public libraries are a legitimate function of government.
Now, I do not argue that all books should be free, along with all Internet
access, but reasonabley available (per social negotiation) to those without
social means of acquisition (libraries with public internet terminals, for
example). I _WANT_ as many people as possible accessing as much information as
possible. If my money goes to that, I am happy. And I benefit because my
society improves, because intellect improves.

The bottom-line question is this. What goods (if you commodify everything)
should only be available to people with social-level means of acquisition? What
do we commodify and sell in the marketplace, and what do we not? Or, if you
follow the mercantilistic discourse, do we commodify everything? Is
"healthcare", for example, a good that should be bought and sold only to those
with financial means? The neocons position relies on social-Darwinism, namely
that the poor are "lazy and stupid" (witness Ham's recent post on why people
are poor), and commodifying healthcare is a way to "let the unproductive die
off".

Anyways, I think we should let Platt try to spend a year paying for privately
what he gets through governmental taxation, and lets see what he says when he
has less money than he does now. God forbid he needs EMT services, and can't
find his credit card when they get there...