-----Original Message-----
From: Dick.Gray@bull.com <Dick.Gray@bull.com>
To: extropians@extropy.com <extropians@extropy.com>
Date: 14 December 1998 20:13
Subject: Re: Property [was Re: The Education Function]
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>
>Samael writes:
>
>"Democracy is as fundamentally silly as any other political system. Just
>because everyone else voted for something doesn't make it right."
>
>
>I'm with you 100% here. So, knowing this, why do you still believe in
>government?
I care about people and I believe that in certain situations that people ought to be helped. I don't believe in public funds going towards art, theatre, etc. I do believe that when it comes to technology and most forms of commerce the capitalist system is the best. And in general capitalism will give everyone a better tomorrow. But looking around I can see hundreds of thousands of people starving to death when we have the technology to feed the world and educate them all to university standard for a tiny fraction of the amount we spend on arms each year.
[1] A company moves into a very poor country and employs it's people doing horrible jobs for a pittance. Eventually more companies move in, they have to compete for labour, wages rise, quality of life rises, education rises and the companies have to find someone else to make trainers. Great - in the long run. In the short run I'd rather that we were sponsoring education in these countries and making people happy now. Even if it did mean you had to pay an extra $5 for your trainers and they were made in Ohio.
Samael