Scott,
Okay, Robert, now that you have called me a house nigger, let's examine your black and white existence, okay?
In not answering you yesterday, I have put an expectation in your head that I am working on some grand complicated answer to a difficult question. Neither is true. It is not a difficult question; it was simply late last night when I saw your post.
Do you carry a driver's license? Have you ever paid taxes? Ever benefited from a government program, like roads? Public university? Ever obeyed a speed limit? Paid a traffic ticket? Parking ticket? Obeyed a cop? Used a public library? Attended a public concert or museum?
Not all of the items on your list are the same. Let us examine them in context.
Yes I carry a driver’s license. This is not particularly evil of me, as I believe drivers should be licensed. What I do not believe is that they should be licensed by the government. I refuse to say, as you have, that the government does some good things (assuming you think this is a good thing). Such a statement would acknowledge that my life belongs to society and that society has the right to dispose of it and my property as it sees fit.
Of course I have paid taxes, parking tickets etc. The choice between paying and refusing to pay is the probability that I will end up in jail. Faced with that choice, I paid taxes. Do I approve of taxes? No. Do I say so? Yes. Do I justify the theft by saying, “well, some of the proceeds produce something of which I approve? No. To take that position lends respectability to theft.
I have benefited from a public program, attended a public university (although my degree is from a private one), used a public library and attended concerts and museums. I do not consider these forays into evil. After all, They are not ‘free’; I am paying for them. The fact that the money that produced them was extorted does not prevent me from attending them. It, in fact, propels me to attend to get my money’s worth. But, I do not justify the theft by saying, “well, some of the proceeds produce something of which I approve; because theft is wrong and because I am usually disappointed. ‘Public works’ are invariably banal except when created in the private sector and purchased by "public entities" as was the case with Sesame Street.
Have I ever obeyed a cop? Every chance I get.
If the answer to any of the above is yes, by your own definition, you are a hypocrite.
You have to explain how you reach that conclusion. Handing over one’s wallet to an armed bandit does not make one a hypocrite; saying to yourself or others, “he probably needed the money more than I did, or perhaps he will put it to some ‘good’ use”, is.
Why haven't you founded Galt's Gulch yet?
Why would I do that?
It's all black and white, right?
Yes, being forbidden by force to practice morality does not negate the existence of morality.
Or are you writing your entries here from a Federal Pen?
No, but I did jot down a few notes with a federal pen. I clipped it at the post office.
Seriously, do you not get this?
What’s to get?
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