[ExI] Private and government R&D

[Rafal Smigrodzki]

On Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 10:09 AM, Stathis Papaioannou<stathisp at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> We potentially have this situation: 100% of the population is be
> willing to be taxed for a particular project on the understanding that
> everyone else will also be taxed, but 0% of the population is willing
> to contribute to the project voluntarily if they know that no-one else
> need contribute. Therefore, a project that everyone supports and is
> happy to pay for is never undertaken.

### No, this is not something that everyone supports - it's something
everyone wants to pretend they support, and shifting 99.999% of its
cost on others (especially the rich) is just the way to have your
hypocritical cake and eat it too. If people really want something,
like building a cathedral, they *will* pay on their own.

Don't confuse your desire to pretend you are good with actually being good.

Rafal