Craig24 Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 I saw this blog and wanted to get some perspective on it from the good folks on this board: http://www.flickr.com/photos/granitepics/3...in/photostream/ This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock, powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the US Department of Energy. I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility. After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. I watch this while eating my breakfast of US Department of Agriculture inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.... The writer's purpose was to demonstrate the alleged benefits of statism (he didn't use that term of course) that we all so thoroughly enjoy in order to soften the criticism against universal health care. It's scary to think of how much we "depend" on the state for our survival. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fountainhead777 Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 Yeah but the implication is that none of this could exist without the government which is absolutely false. As long as consumers are rational and intelligent none of those things would be a problem. Additionally there would be more options and more advancement as is always present in a free market system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidOdden Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 A more accurate statement is that it is extremely difficult to find a realm that is not substantially controlled by the government, so government control is hard to escape. Imagine the possibilities if the government didn't impose monopolistic restrictions on power, or water, or television. Think of all the lives that would have been saved is the USDA had not falsely declared foods to be "safe". Or the lives that would have been saved if pharmacuetical makers were free to introduce new products. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve D'Ippolito Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 The problem is most people have seen this as "normal" all their lives and cannot imagine the government *not* being involved in such things anymore, and the prospect of ending that involvement can make them panic. (And that is not much of an exagerration, if it is one at all.) For whatever reason, the government did *not* get itself involved with garbage collection where I live (perhaps someone realized it was coals to Newcastle), and people moving in often seem taken aback that they have to shop for and sign up with a garbage company. It's totally abnormal to them, though it obviously works--it's not just theory here. (I recall in fact one relatively pro-capitalist talk show host blithely asserting in passing during a monologue that garbage was something government had to handle, because it was a natural monopoly or some such (ahem) rubbish. I *almost* called in to try to set him straight.) OTOH, the electric/gas/water/sewage utilities here are not simply a government-sanctioned monopoly (but I repeat myself), they are actually owned by the city government, so this is not by any means a capitalist paradise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'kian Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 I saw this blog and wanted to get some perspective on it from the good folks on this board: Let's count fallacies, omissions and package-deals too: This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock, powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the US Department of Energy. Package-deal: The power monopoly, while protected and regulated by the government, is a private company. Omission: Have you looked at the state of the US power grid that government interference and regulation hath wrought? I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility. This one is factual. After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels Package deal again: the channels may be regulated, but they'd exist just as well, if not better, absent regulations. In fact, they exist in spite of the FCC, not because of it. to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like The NOAA determines the weather now? Wow! Why did it choose Global-warming/Climate-change? Interesting Freudian slip, though. using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This is a complete fallacy. NASA has never designed or built anything, not a single piece of hardware. Every satellite, every rocket rocket, every last nut and bolt NASA has ever launched into space or blown up, were designed and built by private contractors, paid for with tax-payer money. I watch this while eating my breakfast of US Department of Agriculture inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.... Package-deal again. The implication is not only that food and drugs exist because of government, but that absent government what little food or medicine you'd get would be liable to kill you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L-C Posted August 23, 2009 Report Share Posted August 23, 2009 He confuses "is" with "has to be". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maximus Posted August 23, 2009 Report Share Posted August 23, 2009 Amazing how all that food we grew (using manure as fertilizer) and chickens and livestock we raised didn't kill us when we had the farm. Drank unpasteurized milk stained through a cheesecloth Got water out of a spring that ran right out of the hill, too. Didn't get sick once. Hmmm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SD26 Posted August 25, 2009 Report Share Posted August 25, 2009 I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility. This one is factual. Not always. In my area, most households have individual, private wells. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juxtys Posted August 25, 2009 Report Share Posted August 25, 2009 Amazing how all that food we grew (using manure as fertilizer) and chickens and livestock we raised didn't kill us when we had the farm. Drank unpasteurized milk stained through a cheesecloth Got water out of a spring that ran right out of the hill, too. Didn't get sick once. Hmmm... My grandfather spent most of his life drinking milk with high lead concentration, water from a well that was quite shallow and ate food grown with dangerous fertilizers while some seeds were even boosted by nuclear radiation, he still suffered from from absence of vitamins and even food. Despite the STATE MONOPOLY of agriculture and oil companies that put lead into their petrol and fertilizer producers who went several times above safety limits, inefficient and unclean food production he managed to live for 83 years. Yes, state actually takes care of things quite well! *Sarcasm* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maximus Posted August 25, 2009 Report Share Posted August 25, 2009 My grandfather spent most of his life drinking milk with high lead concentration, water from a well that was quite shallow and ate food grown with dangerous fertilizers while some seeds were even boosted by nuclear radiation, he still suffered from from absence of vitamins and even food. Despite the STATE MONOPOLY of agriculture and oil companies that put lead into their petrol and fertilizer producers who went several times above safety limits, inefficient and unclean food production he managed to live for 83 years. Yes, state actually takes care of things quite well! *Sarcasm* Ah, the joys of the former Soviet system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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