From: Damien Broderick (d.broderick@english.unimelb.edu.au)
Date: Sat May 25 2002 - 23:26:45 MDT
At 12:53 PM 5/25/02 -0400, Dossy wrote:
>> Samantha, in a capitalist society the use of tax money to fund public
>> college is taking your money from you to train your competitors.
>> I can see where those without a university degree would object.
>However, training them just enough so they can be self-sufficient
>instead of parasites is in my best interests.
This, although expressed in terms rather more cold-blooded than I'd like to
see, strikes me as so self-evident that I can't comprehend how so many
people on this list fail to grasp it. It's not the same as paying
protection money to thugs, because that never lets up and does nobody any
good (except the thugs, and I suppose the victimized, who are marginally
less victimized than they might be). It's investment in the
commonweal--which means *me and you*, d00Dz.
Brian W's view of life in capitalist utopia as the war of all against all
was a nightmare when Hobbes dourly analyzed such a state 350 years ago.
We've learned a few things since then about governing human affairs in ways
closer to a maximal happy outcome for people making up a community.
Educating people's brains is still fairly close to the starting point.
(Although there's plainly plenty of disagreement possible over *how* that
education should be conducted, and what is involved.)
Damien Broderick
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