[extropy-chat] Public Transportation (was suitcase nukes)

[Brian Lee]

There is no "right" to driving a car on a congested highway. Nor is there a 
"right" to having a fast computer.

The problem is that lots of people driving on a highway with huge cars 
impedes the rights of others. One of the purposes of tax law is to guide 
taxpayers towards acts deemed moral or desired by the government: i.e. 
buying a house, having children, donating to charity. So tax cuts on cars 
that are smaller or use less gas or pollute less would be a way to encourage 
people away from buying suburbans as daily commuter vehicles.

To pre-emptively address some responses: of course some people need 
suburbans because they have tons of kids or live in the mountains or 
whatever. Most SUV drivers don't "need" them specifically and current tax 
law encourages SUV purchases (small business tax breaks on 6000lb+ vehicles, 
registration fees by cost not by weight, etc etc).

BAL

>From: Mike Lorrey <mlorrey at yahoo.com>
>To: ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
>Subject: Re: [extropy-chat] Public Transportation (was suitcase nukes)
>Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2005 06:48:03 -0800 (PST)
>
>
>--- Bret Kulakovich <bret at bonfireproductions.com> wrote:
> >
> > And with the new 2005 sedans averaging 200+ horsepower - I think we
> > need to start hitting these excessives with some sort of additional
> > tax. (There. I said it. And me of all people.)
> >
> > Because the average commuter rail train comes out to 3 horsepower per
> > rider, and the average sedan on the highway is carrying one person,
> > perhaps 2.
>
>Imagine if people said that about computer megaflops. Rights aren't
>about needs.
>
>Mike Lorrey
>Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
>"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
>It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
>                                       -William Pitt (1759-1806)
>Blog: http://intlib.blogspot.com
>
>
>
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