One of the arguments deployed by those opposed to a free society – you know, those “unrealistic,” pie-in-the-sky Libertarians – is that there’d be no roads. But what happens when the roads which the not-so-free society builds with money taken (by force) from Libertarians (and everyone else) are closed to them?
We get to pay for what we’re not allowed to use!
The Blue Ridge Parkway, for instance. At least one segment of this government-owned (but taxpayer-funded) road has been closed to the people who paid for it for at least two months – long before the government shutdown pretext.
The original pretext was an ice storm that dropped some trees back in late fall here in Southwest Virginia, near the city of Roanoke. But the storm is long gone, the road is clear – and the gates still down.
These gates come down often. All it takes is the threat of weather. The assumption being that because some people are too inept or lacking in judgment to take appropriate precautions, the road must be closed preemptively.
Well, sort of closed.
The armed government workers who “patrol” it (read: drive around all day in government-issued, taxpayer-financed vehicles looking for pretexts to mulct those very same taxpayers) still get to use it.
This echoes the roads of North Korea today – which are funded from the general till but only to be used by the Elect.
One often hears the cry of an angry sheep that “you work for us!” – referring to the government workers, armed and not, who mulct him to provide services he doesn’t want and those he’s not allowed to use, like the Parkway.
This is an interesting interpretation of the facts. On a psychiatrist’s couch, it might be characterized as delusional thinking.
The government no more works for those it mulcts than a dog is the master of its owner – with the distinction being the dog isn’t really capable of looking after himself and the owner really is benevolent.
The government, of course, is not.
And we – most of us or at least some of us – are quite capable of looking after ourselves, particularly if we weren’t forced into a state of dependence on the very government which mulcts us for things we didn’t ask for or want and then denies us permission to use the things we were mulcted to pay for.
. . .
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He dont like this episode mucho but whatevs who would if a show about basic good jewish philosophy Socrates zsaid he was only about nothing.
The he drank Hemlock flavored Sake and played dead with the Witless Protection of his time.
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This will become the norm on all roads once the self-drivers come along. Have to close the road because the AI can’t find the white lines. Have to close the roads because the AI can’t see black ice. Have to close the roads because GM disclaimered their way out of any liability when they wrote up the EULA…
Next when socialized medicine is fully in place, imagine that gate coming down on the hoi polloi who need services but denied to all but the elite political and connected.
Hi Hans,
Yes, indeed. This is why I refuse to tithe to the insurance mafia (Obamacare). My “insurance” is exercise, eating reasonably and (hoping) good genes.
Being at the mercy of cartel quackery is a most unappealing prospect.
Luckily, I’m ‘covered’ through the VA, courtesy of my military service. It satisfies the Obamacare requirement, so I’m good to go. I didn’t even know it until 2-3 years ago when the VA sent me the IRS paper certifying I had ‘coverage’. After that, I stopped paying COBRA to keep coverage from my previous job. Why pay $500+ a month only to have the privilege of paying for the majority of my care anyway, courtesy of the sky-high deductibles?! I think my deductible was like first $5k and 20% thereafter of any hospital stay, surgery, etc. Why pay $6k a year so I can pay thousands more if I go to the hospital?
For routine things, the VA is ok. It’s not the greatest care in the world, but it’s not as bad as some think, either. But, thanks to the Obamacare law, I CAN’T buy an affordable policy anymore. I I could buy a catastrophic policy at least, but I can’t-thanks to freakin’ Obamacare! Since it doesn’t conform to the law, it cannot be sold.
I HAVE to find a way out of here, out of this country. Even if one does like you did Eric and moves to the country, it’s only a matter of TIME before the Clover utopia finds its way to you…
I meant to say that I WISH I could buy at least a catastrophic policy, one that would cover a serious accident on the bike. Though I have never had a serious accident on the bike, I’m worried about all the cagers out there; after all, the laws of physics don’t work in my favor in the event one hits me…