4 ms·
"Alaska is one of the most conservative states" + "none of us trust the Government to spend this money for us, better than we could spend it ourselves" = not ir
by JackFr 13y ago
"Alaska is one of the most conservative states" + "none of us trust the Government to spend this money for us, better than we could spend it ourselves" = not ironic at all.
- pessimizer 13y agoI don't get a check for the usage of the natural resources of Illinois. If I did, it would be a handout, because I didn't put them there, and I don't own the land. One would assume that conservatives would be against people getting money just for living somewhere, without having to work for it.
- smackfu 13y agoThe money exists and is given to the government, the difference is just whether the government should decide to give it to those who need it most, or whether it should be distributed equally.
- pessimizer 13y agoIt isn't given to the government by me, though. It's given by the people who extract the resources out of the land.
- toast0 13y agoThe money is given to the government because the government levies taxes. The government could also choose to reduce the levies so that there's no surplus to distribute, and avoid choosing how to distribute the surplus.
- Kluny 13y agoThe money is given to the government, and the government didn't put it there either. However, the job of the government is to serve you. So I disagree that it would be a handout.
- randallsquared 13y agoThere is a natural rights argument for Georgism, a political philosophy which would suggest that land (as a natural resource) being originally unowned, everyone has the right to an equal share of it.
- kelvin0 13y agoIt is usually admitted that there are huge overlaps between conservative and libertarian philosophies. Thus if one equates conservatives with libertarians, one can (falsely?) conclude that there is an incoherence with the idea of libertarians receiving handouts (see Atlas Shrugged, and Ayn Rand's 'propaganda' for more details)
- symfoniq 13y agoIf you are equating Ayn Rand with libertarianism, you might find this interesting: http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ar_libertarianism_qa http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ar_libertari...
- jtbigwoo 13y agoYes, but the libertarians like her and her work. It doesn't matter that she didn't like them.