From: J.W. Harris (index@cox.net)
Date: Wed May 15 2002 - 11:28:55 MDT
The libertarian political POV is extremely attractive to me.
BUT, for the second time (*) in my life, I have accepted government
welfare.
I just (yesterday) signed the paperwork to accept a Pell Grant (USA
federal money) to send me back to college in July. (Bonus: adding in
the Montgomery G.I. Bill (veterans benefits), I'll actually make a
slight profit going back to school, so I'll be able to give up
unskilled temp work!)
(It even looks like I'll be able to test out of a whole year of a two
year degree in network admin, maybe more. Many of the required
courses are really basic computing or sciences, and I've already done
college-intro English. Unfortunately neither the Pell Grant nor the
GI Bill will pay for such 'credit by exam'. Fortunately, at this tech
college, they cost an average of only $31 per course.)
And yet, it bothers me that I failed to save up enough money to do
this on my own, that my education is being paid for (in large part) by
taxes coerced from others.
I guess I have two choices: reject the government welfare, continue
working crappy jobs because I don't have paperwork to back up my
(incomplete) computer skills, and thereby cause hardship for my
family; OR try to be useful enough to society to make up for the tax
money I'll be consuming.
I guess the easy answer is "be useful", and treat Libertarianism as a
goal to work toward, rather than a perfection I must already adhere
to.
(*) 'second time'? Actually, no, now that I think about it. I was
recently reviewing my tax paperwork. For you USA list members, have
you noticed the tax credit for having a child? If you earn a low
amount, the federal government actually gives you a larger 'tax
refund' than you paid in taxes in the first place. But was I willing
to refuse this money? Another case of not living up to my ideals.
One more reason to feel queasy about the IRS and the rest of the
bureaucracy.
J.W. Harris
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