Good is Evil
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well, not really, since what i'm saying is that if you don't want to debate what-ifs, you should focus on improving the system we actually HAVE instead of wishing taxes would disappear.High Revolutionary wrote: »No system is without flaws. You point out firefighters allowing a house to burn down due to a homeowners non-payment. I just pointed out an example of two public institutions defrauding taxpayers of millions. I just ? for tatted you, but that's beside the point.
no, but what it means is that i can't act as if police functioning in a paid-for-by-the-state manner are going to be free of abuse. you're arguing that if we privatize firefighters, it will resolve the problems you see (corruption, taxation) while also claiming the problems we cite won't happen. this is a little dishonest.High Revolutionary wrote: »If I cite one example of police brutality does that mean that we should do away with police altogether?
when you consider that the argument is being made that taxation is not theft because it pays for things like firefighters, it's not really a side issue.High Revolutionary wrote: »Because firefighters are a side-issue. The overall point which is being lost in the minutiae is this: killing is wrong, stealing is wrong. Just because someone puts arbitrary labels on them like a declaration of war and taxes doesn't change the issue.
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The Lonious Monk wrote: »
This is an argument for more responsible usage of tax money, not against the concept of taxes to begin with. And I'm not a fan of pointless wars either, but the idea that putting tax money towards Defense is wrong is a bit silly.
Do you know what a black box recorder is in the context of a vehicle? It will basically record the speed, direction, breaking, etc... of the car during an accident. Am I supposed to be afraid or wary of something like that? It's not some high level spy device that will let the government monitor and control your every action.
They are good counter-examples because you suggested that it was unlikely that firefighters would refuse to fight a fire if the resident hadn't paid their bill. He gave you an example of it happening over a $70 fee, that pretty much debunks your point. If it can happen over that small an amount of money, think about what would happen when people hadn't paid their firefighter bill for months. And what is this nonsense about a free market automatically breeding competition. Last time I checked electricity and gas utilities are privatize, and in most places in this country, you don't really have a choice. I got screwed over by the gas company in my area. I couldn't say "? you" and go to another gas company because they were the only ones. Say what you want about government beauracracies. At least they will pretend like they care when you complain. When you complain to a private company that knows you have no choice but to stick with them, they will basically laugh in your face.
It was a war. It's not like the ? just happened one day. As wrong as I think the war was, they went through a process that ended in a declaration of war. Saddam didn't surrender. The people in the country didn't surrender. They fought back. Again, I think the Iraqi war was BS, but it was still a war. It was two sides fighting. Comparing that to a spree killing is just stupid. There is no way you can justify that kind of misrepresentation.
This is the fundamental question: are you willing to fight in that war?
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1cbND1XLlk&feature=relmfu