[ExI] the octuplets mother and what it bodes for the future

[BillK]

On Mon, Feb 16, 2009 at 12:08 PM, painlord2k wrote:
> Where did I write they are all of the problem?
>


You gave us a tirade against the welfare state and your taxes being
paid to support poor people and gave California as an example of a
welfare state going broke.

I replied that providing basic life support to poor people was a very
small part of the causes of the financial problems in California.  And
Dagon pointed out that providing life support to poor people is
cheaper for society than paying for them to be kept in prison or
suffering the damage that they cause through crime and theft to help
themselves survive.

All states and western nations are suffering severe financial
problems, regardless of the size of their welfare state.  Even
individuals who have carefully invested for their own pension have
lost a large part of their retirement savings.  The welfare state is
not relevant to the problem.


>
> You tell me that my economic theories are away from the reality, then tell
> me that the current economic situation is unsustainable.
>


Nobody has ever tried to claim that the present system is wonderful or
perfect. And there are certainly going to be severe readjustment
problems after the financial misbehavior of recent years.

But your cry of 'scrap everything and be like me!' has absolutely no
chance of ever swaying popular opinion to follow your theories.
Because most people aren't like you and they won't agree to do it your
way. You cannot expel everyone who disagrees with you or provide the
death penalty for every crime. In any society you have to compromise.
If you can't compromise then you have to leave and find a more
compatible society.

When political and economical changes are being considered then only
slight changes (improvements?) have any chance of survival. (As Obama
is now finding out). A country is like a huge tanker ship. To change
course takes a long effort before you notice much effect.



BillK