From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@datamann.com)
Date: Sun May 26 2002 - 10:46:31 MDT
Olga Bourlin wrote:
>
> Maybe a child of one of those breeders will one day find a cure for -
> cancer? aging? senility? - so you may yet benefit. In all likelihood you're
> already benefiting. If you think about the innovations and inventions of
> which you are the beneficiary - all produced by other people's children - it
> may help you to appreciate how we're all in this together.
I have yet to need a cure for any such maladies.
On the plus side, I am eligible for educational assistance myself, so my
past taxes were not just financing other people's brats, but my own
continuing education, however the percent of taxes going to
post-secondary education is far less than that spent on primary and
secondary schools. Post secondary educational funding operates under a
scheme of 'choice' as a voucher program, where the student is free to
decide which institution they wish to attend, and you'll notice that the
US post-secondary school system is considered the best in the world as a
result. On the other hand, our primary and secondary schools operate
under geographical monopolies, where the individual student has no
choice of school to attend, and as a result our primary and secondary
schools are considered the worst in the industrialized world.
> At least children are real. What gets me is the tax break given to
> religious institutions - good money going to fantastical supercreatures and
> good real estate going to the storytellers perpetuating the "invisible
> friend(s)" myths. Where are the mental health professionals? (Sadly, some
> of them frequent the House of the Invisible themselves.) Where's the
> outrage?
Where is the outrage over the idea that a tax break is somehow the same
as a subsidy? Being permitted to keep your own money is nowhere near the
same as being given other people's money. The fact is that as hokey are
religious myths are, religious institutions still perform the vast bulk
of charitable work in this country, from operating soup kitchens and
shelters to providing emergency assistance to individuals and families
in crisis, to family counseling, as well as provide top notch primary
and secondary educations that has yet to be equalled by government run
institutions in quality of product, at a cost that is generally far less
than the per pupil cost that governments claim they need to produce a
substandard product.
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