From: Stephen D. Williams (sdw@lig.net)
Date: Fri May 11 2001 - 18:53:55 PDT
Jeff Bone wrote:
...
> Go Matt!!! John's near-felonius "logical" sophistry here is pretty damn close to
> Dave Long's perennial argument that pisses me off every time he spouts it...
> namely "if you want to pay less taxes, just get a job that pays less." Not the
> same, of course, but similar and suggestive.
That's totally the opposite in reality: if you want to pay less taxes,
get a job that pays MORE. In this case the taxes will seem, and in fact
will be less of a burden than they are if you make less. Dan has made
this point, but even at my meager level it's quite plain. Of course, in
strict dollar terms, Dave is write, but pay is highly relative.
>
> > Linus says Newton, the
> > IETF, etc, have enabled more progress by sharing rather than hoarding, and
> > all you can say is "bullshit", as you send your SMTP mail after reading an
> > HTML article over HTTP, found via DNS.
>
> Good old Ben Franklin serves us well with his PoV, from his autobio, re: a stove
> he built:
>
> "This pamphlet had a good effect. Gov'r. Thomas was so pleas'd with the
> construction of this stove, as described in it, that he offered to give me a
> patent for the sole vending of them for a term of years; but I declin'd it from a
> principle which has ever weighed with me on such occasions, viz., That, as we
> enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an
> opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely
> and generously."
Wow, now that's a reference! Cool!
>
> > But all things aren't equal. Note the different lifespans in modern
> > countries with socialized medicine vs. the United States, despite the same
> > knowledge base and potential for government actions.[1]
>
> Now, Matt, correlation doesn't equal causation; you can't claim that socialized
> medicine --> greater healthy lifespan just from the facts in [1]. There are a
> very large number of variables involved, including critically important things
> like dietary habits, exercise habits, population genetics, work culture and other
> stress impactors, etc. If you wanted to prove your assertion above, you'd have to
> prove that access to healthcare has a significant impact on healthy lifespan, and
> you'd have to prove that socialized medicine improces access to healthcare. If
> you're up for proving that then you can probably win some kind of big-kudo prize
> and change the world; but if you can't prove that, be careful with your claims.
> :-)
I hope someone's watching our discussions who can give those kind of
prizes!
>
> $0.02,
>
> jb
sdw
-- sdw@lig.net http://sdw.st Stephen D. Williams 43392 Wayside Cir,Ashburn,VA 20147-4622 703-724-0118W 703-995-0407Fax Dec2000
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